New Kinship

Taka Chan has been a queer, celibate Christian in campus ministry long enough to have seen both deep friendships and losses. He joined David and TJ to share stories of friends, pastors, and communities who have walked with him—and those who haven’t. We hope you’re encouraged by his reflections on God’s provision, even in the midst of uncertainty about what comes next. Note: This episode uses the t...

Sometimes--as in the case of Rev. Zach from Ep. 73 --we record an episode with folks and then, before we can release it, life takes interesting turns. Since talking to us 6 months ago, Zach is in the process of leaving the Episcopal denomination in the US and considering his ministerial call in a new way. He stopped by (metaphorically) to update us and share some more thoughts. We’re grateful for...

Reverend Zach joins TJ and David to share his unexpected journey from being in a same-sex marriage (Side A) to embracing a historic Christian sexual ethic (Side B). Raised Roman Catholic and shaped by a call to ministry, Zach talked about the questions that surfaced during seminary, how getting married changed his understanding of marriage, his longing for friendship, and the theologians and write...

Dear listeners, join me on a special story with my neighbor Martina. She has fled to the US as an asylum-seeker in fear of her life from persecution and murderous extortion. Since then, she’s become not only a friend, but a partner in neighborhood hospitality and church community! Her ability to stay here is literally a matter of life and death, so some friends and I raised funds to help cover her...

Dr. Julia Sadusky, a Catholic and licensed psychologist from Colorado, joins David and TJ to unpack the Chiles vs. Salazar Supreme Court case and what’s behind the debates around conversion therapy. Julia talks about how she brings together her faith and psychology, and why—as a conservative Christian—she chose to support Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” for minors, through an amicus brief....

What is the nature of sin and desire? At a theological level? We’re diving in with Joel Carini (from The Natural Theologian ) for a theological conversation about desire, sin, attraction, and the resources that the reformed theological tradition has (or doesn’t have) for same-sex-attracted, celibate Christians. Also includes: comparisons to psychology vs. biblical counseling, and how Harry Potter...

David, Lakshmi, and Erin dig into the intersection of wealth, faith, and community, particularly from the standpoint of middle-class Christians. Sparked by Lakshmi’s seminary research on Christian engagement with wealth accumulation in a neoliberal capitalist system, we explored theological and practical approaches to wealth: What does it mean to have or accumulate wealth? What are the impacts of...

“ In our society is a big assumption that what it means to be truly, fully human is to not need other people… So you face a choice: is it fundamentally a bad thing to be a person ? Or, is our account of a person as ‘someone who’s independent and autonomous’ fundamentally untrue? And [if so] we have to make room for our genuine neediness in our account of what it means to be human and what we owe t...

“Paul [in 1st Corinthians] really does seem to think that what I do with my body, Christ has done with his body. Like, when I use my body to abuse other people, I have taken Christ's body and used it to abuse people, which for a Christian is the maximum sacrilege that you could do. But when I do something loving or caring or giving… I have taken Jesus' body and blessed others with it.” So. You hea...

What is marriage actually for? What is sex for? The way we answer these questions reveal the stories we tell ourselves and each other. So then: what is the story we see unfolding in the Bible? And what would it look like for the Christian story to be our primary narrative? In this episode, Tyler Parker takes us through the first part of the Biblical story. God’s kingdom on earth, how human marriag...

My recent friend Faith, who I met at an OTL Dialogue , has a gift for questions. So when Faith expressed interest in asking me about my community living situation, I was grateful she was up for recording our call, because she’s a careful thinker who understands systems from a deep rootedness in the organic nature of community and personhood. And boy, did she make me think and reflect. Leaving our...

In this bonus review episode of Revoice 2025, TJ and David (and a couple friends at the end) discuss their experiences at the recent Revoice 2025 conference held in Seattle, Washington. What we forgot to mention in the recording was how incredible the “Build” theme was this year, as the different main speakers walked us through Nehemiah and Art really hit it out of the ballpark with his exhortatio...

In LGBT and Christian communities, Ron Koustas has seen a lot. When his longtime partner was diagnosed with AIDS—in the early years before life-saving medications were available—Ron became his partner’s caregiver. As he revisited the Christian faith of his youth, Ron eventually joined and then served in ministries to gay folks in New York City. He’s seen ex-gay churches try to help people “become...

In Japan, where Christians are a minority and “being gay” carries some different cultural meanings than it does in the US, Aogu Fujihashi offers to LGBTQ people the support and discipleship he would have wanted to receive as a teenager. This week, David and TJ talk with Aogu about Japanese Christianity, his journey toward a Side B understanding of faith and sexuality, his spiritual influences (fro...

After hearing about TJ’s previous experience at OTL (Oriented to Love), I, David, felt prompted to fly to the city of brotherly love and experience this dialogue retreat himself. God did more than I could have asked for or imagined in this sacred weekend in conversation with other Christians from diverse perspectives and backgrounds, with purposeful differences across the Side A (progressive views...

In conversations around Christian faith and sexuality, especially in the U.S., it can feel like everyone’s expected to pick a “side.” But it’s not the same—or at least the same lines being drawn—in other places. In this episode, we talked with Aogu Fujihashi and Kaz Okaya about their experiences in the Japanese Christian context, where the conversation around LGBTQ+ identity looks a bit different....

Grace Thomas came out as a transgender woman at age 61—after decades of life as a pastor, husband, and father. That alone makes her story remarkable. But what’s even more compelling is the way she tells it: with gentleness, honesty, and deep care for the people in her life. In this episode, Grace shares how her transition has shaped her relationships with her children and her wife, what it’s been...

In this bonus episode, we chat with Mike Vick about the American Solidarity Party. We explore the party's foundations, which are influenced by Christian democratic values and Catholic Social Teaching. Their thorough set of ethical platforms grounded in human dignity, the common good, and solidarity (in a way that neither Democratic nor Republican parties are offering!!) would really be a breath of...

What if friendship—not romance, not marriage—were the central relationship in your life? That’s the question Rhaina Cohen asks in her book The Other Significant Others. And wow, do we love this book. David, TJ, and Elena sat down with Rhaina to talk about what it would mean to build a life around deep, committed friendship—and why our current relationship hierarchy (romantic > everything else) mig...

I mean, I don’t know you. Maybe you didn’t grow up in an evangelical Christian subculture. But if you did, there’s a high likelihood that the ideas you absorbed about how men and women behave—and what it even means to be masculine or feminine—were influenced heavily by C.S Lewis’ famous Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet , Perelandra , and That Hideous Strength . On this fascinating episode,...

What if celibate people are really just repressing their sexuality? Or the Bible writers banned same-sex sex because they couldn’t imagine a modern, egalitarian, consensual marriage? Join TJ (social science researcher) and David (communitarian vibes) as they name 7 “myths” of sex, celibacy, marriage, and love, and talk about LGBTQ flourishing for Christians. Note: This episode uses the terms “Side...

This episode contains a brief mention of violent murder. Teresa is a queer woman who grew up in the Philippines and has worked in the U.S. in campus ministry for several years. She brings thoughtful reflections on identities, faith relationships, and family interactions across multiple cultures. We’re honored to be her friend! Note: This episode uses the terms “Side A” and “Side B” (and X, Y) as s...

Church unity is hard, folks. The United Methodist Church (UMC) had a momentous global meeting last year (2024), with the major outcome of allowing—or at least not preventing or taking action against—performing same-sex marriages and ordaining non-celibate gay leaders in the church. Methodists around the world have WIDE disagreements on how they even interpret this outcome, much less what they shou...

The United Methodist Church (UMC) had a momentous global meeting last year (2024), with the major outcome of allowing—or at least not preventing or taking action against—performing same-sex marriages and ordaining non-celibate gay leaders in the church. Methodists around the world have WIDE disagreements on how they even interpret this outcome, much less what they should do about it. This conflict...

Tyler Parker weighs in on topics like bisexuality, Christianity at Harvard, liberation theology, and celibate partnerships. A valuable conversation… but that goes without saying. Join us! About Our Guest: Tyler Parker is a campus minister at Harvard College, where he studied government and filmmaking during his undergraduate studies. He is a follower of Jesus, is bisexual, and is filled with a dee...