20 Minute Takes

Faith communities have the power to help give shape to people's lives, for better, and sometimes for worse. On this episode of 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Erina Kim-Eubanks. She's the co-pastor of Bethel Community Presbyterian Church in San Leandro, CA, a multigenerational church community that she and her husband have helped to replant since the Covid-19 pandemic. In...

Eschatology refers to the area of theological reflection that makes meaning of "the last things;" it often conjures up notions of apocalypticism, heaven, judgment, or even the book of Revelation. On this episode of 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Sara Améstegui Deik about how eschatologies help to form our broader theological imaginations. Sara is a scholar based in Bolivi...

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Jemar Tisby. He's a bestselling author, historian, and producer of the recently released documentary: Jesus Was A Migrant , directed by Lauren Vernea. They discuss today's political landscape surrounding immigration, the consequences of politics leading theology instead of the other way around, and the various stands of Christia...

20 Minute Takes is back with a new episode featuring Kristin Lee. She's the author of the recently released book: We Mend with Gold: An Immigrant Daughter's Reckoning with American Christianity. In this conversation, she and Nikki Toyama-Szeto discuss the experience of Asian American Christians and how an exilic spirituality informs how Asian American communities can show up today. You c...

On this special episode of 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Rev. Dr.  Gabriel Salguero of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC) about the current state of immigration in the United States, and how Christians are called to be people of welcome.  Listen in on this podcast, and check out their resource: Advent Welcome: Room in the Inn. You can follow Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguer...

Can a tech company be a good neighbor? In this final episode of Season 7, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Chi-En Yu , Product Manager of Dayspring Technologies. They discuss how Dayspring has committed to think about compensation, their time, the clients they take on, and their responsibility to the Bayview neighborhood in San Francisco. Listen in to learn how they show up as a company that is seeki...

This week on 20 Minute Takes, we are sharing a part of Nikki Toyama-Szeto's conversation with Jemar Tisby and Mark Labberton on a new project and podcast: Credible Witness . They discuss the changing landscape of our world today, and the ways in which the credibility of Christian life is more important than ever.  You can find the episode in its entirety here. Jemar Tisby is a historian, spea...

This week on 20 Minute Takes, we talk Avril Speaks . Avril is an accomplished film producer, showrunner, and director. She serves as Senior Program Director for Christians for Social Action's Storytellers Collective initiative. Avril shares about her journey with storytelling and how her vocation as a filmmaker is tied to her faith journey. She helps gives a glimpse of the challenges and oppo...

On this episode of 20 Minute Takes, we speak with Eugene Cho , the President and CEO of Bread for the World —"a nationwide Christian advocacy organization that educates on hunger and equips people to advocate for policies to end it in the U.S. and around the world." He shares about how his ministry as a church pastor is deeply connected to his advocacy and justice work today, and how a v...

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto speaks with Lauren Kim, National Organizer and Spokesperson for Young Evangelicals for Climate Action . In this conversation, Lauren shares about how climate action became a crucial part of her faith journey,  shares stories of how young people are caring for creation, and gives some practical first steps for people looking to integrate creation car...

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Malcolm du Plessis and Jalen Seawright of Common Hymnal, a songwriting collaborative that writes music of praise and protest, centering especially the voices of people who've been historically marginalized by Christianity. They discuss their music, the landscape of the Christian music industrial complex, and what it means to write be...

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Michael Kim-Eubanks. Michael is a musician and co-pastor of Bethel Community Church in San Leandro, CA. They discuss the passage and signing into law of California's SB 4 (which allowed faith institutions among others to build multi-family homes on their properties, allowing for the development of 170,000 acres of land for developmen...

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Dr. Jenny Dyer, the founder of The 2030 Collaborative . They discuss the reality of foreign aid from the United States, how the recent funding cuts have directly impacted global health and the lives of HIV/AIDS patients around the world, and how it came to be that the American Christians in the early 2000s began to address the global HIV/...

This week, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with author, theologian, and pastor, Gary VanderPol. They discuss climate justice, and practical ways that faith communities can approach Christ-centered climate action prayerfully, personally, and politically.  If you're interested in learning more about how to start up climate action small groups at your church, you can email Gary here: garyvp@gmail.com 2...

On this episode of 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Kevin Nye. Kevin is a writer and advocate working toward ending homelessness by engaging best practices. He's the author of the 2022 book, "Grace Can Lead Us Home: A Christian Call to End Homelessness." In this conversation, Kevin challenges listeners to think about homeless systemically, dispels some common myths abo...

Welcome to 20 Minute Takes Season 7!  What happens when we have learned to distrust our desires? And how does that get in the way of our pursuits to live in whole and just ways in our world today? Listen in as Nikki Toyama-Szeto interviews author, coach, and consultant Tracey Gee talk about her new book The Magic of Knowing What You Want: A Practical Guide to Unearthing the Wisdom of Your Desires....

In this final episode of season six, Nikki talks with Tony Deik. Tony is a Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem, Palestine. He is on faculty at Bethlehem Bible College, and currently resides in Bolivia with his family. Tony talks about the centrality of justice in the Christian scriptures, and how Christians might begin to understand justice as an act of worship and witness. They also discuss Chri...

How can churches be good neighbors to families experiencing housing insecurity? This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki talks with Edith Yoder. She's the CEO of Bridge of Hope , an organization that has equipped Christian faith communities to end and prevent homelessness since 1987. Edith shares stories of transformation and empowerment as churches have learned to extend meaningful relationships...

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki talks with Rev. Janna Louie, co-founder of the Coalition for Asian American and Pacific Islander Churches (CAAPIC). In this episode, they discuss the complex historical dynamics that affect Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters, and the work that CAAPIC does to encourage AAPI Christians to show up as engaged citizens who participate robustly in the democ...

Please enjoy this encore presentation of this episode (originally aired on March 16, 2022). This week, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Kristyn Komarnicki (CSA's Director of Dialogue & Convening / Program Manager for Oriented to Love) about practical tips for transforming conflict through curiosity. After listening to this episode of 20 Minute Takes, your ability to handle conflict, have dif...

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki talks with Jesse Rudy. Trained as an attorney, Jesse is the Founder and CEO of Redeem International, a Christian faith-based nonprofit that protects some of the world's most vulnerable widows and orphans from violent abuse and exploitation. They talk about the phenomenon of land theft in Uganda, its effects on women and children, and how their organization&...

This week, David de Leon interviews CSA Executive Director and 20 Minute Takes host, Nikki Toyama-Szeto. Nikki shares what it looks like to lead a justice organization justly. She unpacks her organizational leadership theory anchored in intercession, and gives advice for how new leaders might integrate their spirituality into their leadership practice. Follow Nikki on Instagram , X (formerly Twitt...

Please enjoy this encore presentation of this episode (originally aired on June 29, 2022). This week, David de Leon chats with Tim Ignacio. He's a Pilipino American community worker (and rapper!) in Metro Manila, in the Philippines. In this conversation, Tim shares about his story and vocation, the power of a ministry of tambay (loitering), and why he considers himself a balikbayan , and not...

This week, Nikki talks with Bill White. Bill is co-pastor of City Church Long Beach. Bill shares the story of his son coming out and how that experience challenged his theology and ultimately deepened his faith in Jesus. He discusses his church's journey of transformation through challenging conversations, and how critical it is for church communities to practice healthy modes of disagreement...

This week, Nikki talks with Rick Barry , the executive director of the Center for Christian Civics . Rick helps Christians to think about what it looks like for their communities to show up in the public square, and in this episode, he helps us to wrap our minds around what civic discipleship looks like and helps to break down the variety of ways people understand "politics" today.  You...