The Progressive Christians Podcast

"Authoritarian parenting—especially the evangelical variety—isn't just abuse. It's training. It teaches kids that love = fear. That power = safety. That obedience is the highest virtue, and questioning authority gets you a backhand and a one-way ticket to Hell," writes journalist Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. In this episode we discuss the psychological consequences of authoritarian parenting and how it...

How do progressive Christians interpret Christ's life, death, and resurection as reconciling human beings to God? What are the theological implications of conservative Christians viewing Trump as a "messiah" figure? In this episode, we discuss the historical approaches that Christians have used to interpret Jesus' role in mediating salvation for human beings. We also discuss the dangers of conflat...

In our polarized culture, it has become increasingly difficult to talk across political or religious differences. Yet we know that in order to get people to see the merits of—or even begin to practice—progressive Christianity, we must speak to them and invite them to do so. In this episode, we are joined by Malynda Hale to discuss her approach to talking to religious and political conservatives. T...

In this pop culture minisode, Rev. Blair, Juila, and Westley discuss aspects of arts and culture rattling in their brains this week. We offer our recommendations for what to watch and listen to and close with some more serious reflection on the challenges and opportunities of being in a relationship with emerging generations. The Progressive Christians Podcast is a ministry of The Loft , a worship...

Why was Mahmoud Khalil, a legal resident of the US arrested, and why has his arrest led to hundres of protests across the country? What does it have to do with Project Esther, a policy created by the Heritage Foundation (the same foundation that created Project 2025) to curb speech that critiques Isreal and the US policy on Palestinian civil rights? In today's episode, we discuss the weaponization...

A significant percentage of Trump supporters are conservative Christians, and in this episode we ask - how can they support him despite all of his lies? Using Trump's joint address to Congress as a starting point, we examine the current conservative movement's moral flexibility around what is "technically true" and what "feels true." We end our conversation on a high note by discussing some good n...

Failing to bother to love is the scriptural concept of sin Jesus teaches in the gospels. In this episode, we build on this concept of sin and discuss why moral injury can make it difficult for progressive Christians to talk about sin constructively. We then discuss our theology of sin in light of President Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the defunding of USAID.  Th...

Christians should not believe in the bible, they should believe in the living God attested by the bible. This statement used to be reflect an orthodox (i.e., traditional) approach to the bible, but now belief in the bible is often a litmus text for how serious a Christians faith is. In this episode, we describe some of the problematic approaches to the bible, notably the biblicist approach and the...

Can you be queer and Christian? Does gender and sexuality even matter with respect to your theological beliefs? In today's episode we address the surprisingly recent disagreement about whether Christianity can accept the full participation of persons in same-sex relationships and persons whose gender identity does not match the one assigned at birth by medical authorities. We were grateful to be j...

In today's episode we discuss the dangerous and inhumane treatment of undocumented immigrants under the Trump administration. We were grateful to be joined by the Rev. Dr. Britta Meiers Carlson, whose research focuses on the church's engagement with the US immigration system. Rev. Dr. Meiers Carlson is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Practical Theology at the University of the South and an ordai...

At the National Prayer Breakfast President Trump announced that he was creating a task force to "eradicate anti-Christian bias" in the government and in institutions that receive federal funding. In this episode we discuss Trump's remarks during the prayer breakfast and the eradicating anti-Christian bias executive order. Surprise bonus episode! There is a lot going on right now that deserves our...

We read (a lot) of it so you wouldn't have to. In this episode, we discuss the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, the 900-page document that Trump "had nothing to do with" but accurately describes almost everything that his administration has been doing during his first few weeks in office. We examine the four pillars that inform their political ideology, how these pillars are rooted in half-trut...

"Without women we don't have Jesus. We don't have Christianity. We don't have any of it," writes Claire McKeever-Burgett, theologian and author of "Blessed Are The Women: Naming and Reclaiming Women's Stories from the Gospels." In this episode we speak with Claire about her amazing book, what inspired her to write it, and the importance of women's stories in the story of Christianity. Claire's new...

It is not worse than we thought—it is exactly what we thought it would be! During our conversation, which felt a bit like our post-election analysis, we examined the first few days of the Trump presidency and discussed how progressive Christians might respond and resist. We also discussed former president Joe Biden's legacy and what's going on with TikTok and Meta.  In this episode, Rev. Dr. Carte...

In today's episode we discuss the impact of the LA fires on our community and dissect the conservative conspiracy theories about the origin of the fires and how they have been handled. We then discuss the legacy of President Jimmy Carter, a Southern Baptist and the first Evangelical president of the United States. We compare and contrast his progressive evangelicalism with what we see in the MAGA...

Los Angeles is suffering from a historical fire. Thankfully, Julia, Westley, Rev. Blair, and Dr. Carter are safe, but we are thinking about and actively working on ways to support our local community. If you are interested in supporting, please check out the links below. In this episode, Rev. Dr. Carter is solo, recording from San Diego, where he and his family have evacuated from the Pallisades a...

Evangelism is a word you rarely hear in progressive Christian spaces. In this episode, we discuss why that is the case (hint: trauma) and what a progressive Christian vision of evangelism could look like. This episode is part of our Progressive Christianity 101 "What Is" series. At least one episode per month will examine topics from within the Christian tradition from a progressive Christian pers...

Merry Christmas! In this "minisode," the Progressive Christians podcast crew discusses our favorite Christmas traditions. We close the show discussing how grateful we are for each other and for y'all, our amazing listeners.  Our goal is to create a platform for Progressive Christians to discuss topics that are important to us in a way that reflects the radical love that we see in our tradition. It...

In this episode, we discuss what we each have learned about Christmas as a progressive Christian that opened up the Christmas story in new and meaningful ways. We end with a discussion about the Netflix film, Mary, and how paying closer attention to the social and political circumstances that Jesus' mother faced should move Christians towards a feminist (i.e., anti-sexist) analysis of the story of...

In this episode, we discuss the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the public reaction to it. While we believe that violence is not the solution to the healthcare crisis in America, we discuss how certain forms of violence, i.e., the violence of denying people the health coverage they have paid for, are the root cause of so much suffering in our country. We conclude by discussing w...

Everyone is talking about Wicked, and there is so much to discuss! Throughout our conversation, we discuss the themes related to politics and religion that appear throughout the film and tie them to our contemporary moment. For this episode, we were delighted to be joined by singer, actress, and activist Malynda Hale . Malynda and Julia give us an insider's perspective on the film, which you don't...

Many of us typically visit family and friends over the holidays, but the recent elections have complicated what should be a joyous occasion. Can you share a table with someone who voted for candidates who embraced nationalist ideologies? In this episode, we discuss how to "Thanksgiving" with family and friends who voted for Trumpism. The articles and scripture passages we discussed in this episode...

Given the results of the 2024 presidential election, what is the state of progressive Christianity? In this episode, we discuss the role Christian Nationalism played in the election of Donald Trump and how we plan to respond to it through this podcast. We give our big takeaways from the presidential election, and we end by discussing Rev. Dr. Carter's appreciation of People Magazine's sexiest man...

We really want to hear from our listeners - what do you need from us right now? What type of content would be most helpful for you? Please leave a comment on this episode or in a podcast review. We love you all and our aim is to become a place of refuge, hope, and resistance. In this episode, recorded on Wednesday November 6th, we begin to digest the results of the 2024 presidential election. It i...

Congregations aligned with Christian Nationalism are funding state and local political candidates, helping people run for school boards, and training local police departments. How and why is this happening? In this episode we discuss Christian Nationalism, it's political rise, and its growing influence in mainline congregations and politics. Articles and authors discussed in this episode: https://...