Art & Faith Conversations

Host, Libby Johnson, will guide you through a spiriutal practice that focuses on peace.  Through prayer, lectio divina style reading, and question prompts to ponder, this episode will lead you in a devotional style practice of gathering your scattered thoughts and calming your anxious heart. This is an episode you can return to again and again as a way to start your day by centering your throughts...

Andrew Nemr is an international tap artist, TED Fellow, speaker, mentor, and writer.  Andrew started tapping at the age of 3 being mentored by Gregory Hines starting at a very young age. He's a solo artist in dance, visual art and music but also travels the world as a speaker, mentor, and coach in a variety of settings and has had his life story featured in an independent film by Windrider called...

Jaclyn Williams is a preacher, chaplain, educator, and performing artist. She is an assistant professor of the practice of preaching and chaplaincy at Fuller Seminary. She joins the podcast to talk about embodied preaching and the unique style she has of integrating her performing art skills to enhance her pedagogical practice with students. As well as her MDiv and PhD in theological studies, she...

Mark Buchanan is a professor of pastoral theology at Ambrose University. He has authored several book on spiritual formation and rhythms of the soul. He joins the podcast to talk about his book, God Walk-Moving at the Speed of Our Soul . We discuss the spiritual practice of physically walking and how formative it is for our faith when we slow down enough to keep pace with a 3mph God. We talk about...

Julianna Rubio Slager is the artistic director and co-founder of Ballet 5:8 dance company out of Chicago. She returns for the second time to the podcast to talk about the powerful language of the body through dance and how it can speak in ways words cannot. We discuss misconcenptions about the body and dance among church culture and the importance of making peace with our bodies in surrender to Go...

Dr. Curt Thompson is a leading psychiatrist in the field of interpersonal neurobiology and spiritual formation. We discuss why art and artists are invaluable to understanding what it means to be human and to live a purposeful life.  Curt specializes in helping others seek and discover the intrinsic desire we all have to feel known, loved, and connected and shares how beauty and creativity play a c...

David Taylor returns to the podcast to talk about his latest book, A Body of Praise-Understanding the Role of our Physical Bodies in Worship. Click to Order A Body of Praise We discuss our five senses as the way we experience God's closeness and grace and how artists give us language and portals to engage our senses more fully in worship and life. David aruges that the body is not merely a neutral...

Jane Boutwell is an artist who describes herself as having an inquisitive mind, a heart connected to nature and a soul yearning towards God…a child of dirt and dance…a beauty bringing blessing writer… a poetic painter and potter. Her creative work includes tactile, intuitive, and deeply-in-touch-with-nature ways of being in the world. She finds her passion in a variety of creative mediums and expr...

Justin McRoberts returns to the podcast to talk about his newest book, Sacred Strides: The Journey to Belovedness in Work and Rest.  In this episode we discuss the myth of finding balancing but rather discovering the tensions and rhythms in different seasons of life. We also talk about the significance of practicing a day of Sabbath and the pitfalls of focuisng on utitliy in our creative and spiri...

Week 5 of a series of audio meditations to guide you through the season of Lent. Each Lent episode is an exceprt of a more in-depth writtten series that includes movement prayer and visual art as well as poetry and scripture.  Visit Lent Week 5 to go deeper Music provided by Dear Gravity Journal Prompt Questions: What are some ways you can slow down and be cared for in this season? How might you n...

Week 4 of a series of audio meditations to guide you through the season of Lent. Each Lent episode is an exceprt of a more in-depth writtten series that includes movement prayer and visual art as well.  Visit Lent Week 4 to go deeper Music provided by Dear Gravity Journal Prompt Questions: What are some things that make you feel securely planted? What kind of a season do you sense you are becoming...

Week 3 of a series of audio meditations to guide you through the season of Lent. Each Lent episode is an exceprt of a more in-depth writtten series that includes movement prayer and visual art as well.  Visit Lent Week 3 to go deeper Music provided by Dear Gravity Journal Prompt Questions: What are the main daily influences on your imagination and your senses? Take inventory for a couple of days a...

Week 2 of a series of audio meditations to guide you through the season of Lent with poetry, an embodied prayer practice and journal prompts. The audio recordings are an excrept of an in-depth written Lent series that also includes movment prayer and visual art.  Visit Lent Week 2 to participate. Music provided by Dear Gravity Email: artandfaithconversations@gmail.com Instagram: @artandfaithpodcas...

Week 1 of a series of audio meditations to guide you through the season of Lent. The audio recordings are an exceprt of a more in-depth written Lent series that includes movment prayer and visual art.  Visit Lent Week 1 to participate  Music provided by Dear Gravity Email: artandfaithconversations@gmail.com Instagram: @artandfaithpodcast  

Melanie Penn returns to the podcast to talk about some of her latest music and how creative work is needed now more than ever. She describes beauty as an act of defiance against the dark times of the world and how artists play a significant role in healing from the events since 2020. We discuss the many changes and new norms we've all experienced including some big changes and loss that happened i...

Bette Dickinson returns to the podcast to talk about the inspiration for her series of paintings in her new book, Make Room in Advent: 25 Devotions for a Season of Wonder. Bette appeared as a guest on the podcast in Septemeber to tell us about the book. In this episode we dive deeper into why the Church needs to integrate more art into spiritual practices and how art actually makes room in our liv...

Phaedra Jean Taylor is a visual artist exploring the disciplines of encaustic painting and watercolor. She is inspired by ideas of play, journey, memory, and belonging which we discuss as being healing concepts in her spiritual journey after being raised in a thrid generation Jehovah's Witness family. Her art making is hard to describe without hearing her incredible conversion story when she met t...

Co-authors, Audrey Elledge and Elizabeth Moore, recently released their first book, Liturgies for Hope-Sixty Prayers for the Highs, Lows, and Everything in Between. Hear the story of how the prayers orginated as anchors of hope for their church in NYC in 2020 at the height of the pandemic to becoming a published book. The liturgies include everything from the ordinary moments of life to the dark d...

Rachel Marie Kang is an author and poet releasing her frist book, Let There Be Art: The Pleasure and Purpose of Unleashing the Creativity within You. The book serves as an invitation to create right where you are and dispels the myths that art is reserved for only an elite few. She explores the ordinary acitivities of life such as cooking, play, silence, and laughter and invites readers to discove...

Mike Yeager, executive pastor, producer, and songwriter at Awaken Chruch in San Diego talks about thier newest project, Move of Heaven. Mike received his PHD in structural engineering and spent time in Florence, Italy studying cultural heritage and structural assessments of buildings and monuments. We discuss how his heart was drawn back to the church and then to music when the church wanted to re...

On 9/11 I was flying home to the United States from Switzerland when the pilot came on the intercom and said we'd be landing in Newfoundland due to attacks on the U.S. I share my story every year in written from so decided to put it in audio form on the podcast. It is one of hope and mercy on one of the darkest days in history. Please consider a dontation to the podcast to help continue the produc...

Bette Dickinson is a prophetic artist, writer, and speaker who invites audiences to connect with God through visual parables of the spiritual journey. Bette earned her MDiv through Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and has worked with ministries like InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, World Vision, Infinitum, and Kensington Church to awaken the soul through beauty and wonder. She tells about her n...

 A short seaon finale wrap up episode with host, Libby John, who shares some of the honest truths about keeping a podcast going. She also gives a commission to artists to be confident in their role as "border-stalkers" who don't ever feel like they quite fit in like artist, Mako Fujimura, talks about in his book Culture Care. Don't miss the special benediction blessing she shares at the end. To su...

Gregory Andrus is a photographer, author and speaker who has a powerful story of overcoming alcoholism and homelessness. After a near death expereince, he found he'd been given a second chance at living. This became a catalyst to him discovering his artistic gifts and callings to highlight the diginity of others through sharing the portraits and stories of total strangers he meets along the coast....

Michael Gatlin, along with his wife, have served as senior pastors of the Vineyard Church in Duluth, MN since 1997. Michael is also a member of the National Board of the Vineyard movement and has helped plant many churches over the years. Before his full time career in pastoral ministry, Michael worked as a designer and also had a thriving vocation as a watercolor artist. He has walked through man...