Faith Forum

Bishop Jake Owensby is our Faith Forum guest. Jake Owensby is the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Western Louisiana, an author, and a speaker. His work explores the spirituality of everyday life. In both his writing and his speaking, Jake seeks to help others experience for themselves where God is in their ordinary, sometimes messy lives. The most recent of his six books is  Looking for God in M...

A Faith Forum conversation led by The Reverend Chip Edens and Liz Clasen-Kelly, CEO of Roof Above.

A Faith Forum conversation with The Reverend Stuart Hoke, led by The Reverend Connor Gwin.

What do we do when life comes crumbling down around us? How do we rebuild our lives and find hope in the wake of loss?   On August 23, 2011, a rare 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook the foundations of the National Cathedral, causing significant damage. At that moment, so much seemed lost. In the face of seemingly insurmountable costs, could the cathedral rebuild or would it need to be closed?   The V...

Minister, musician, and musicologist Braxton D. Shelley is a tenured associate professor of sacred music and of divinity in the Department of Music at the Institute of Sacred Music and Yale’s Divinity School. A musicologist who specializes in African American popular music, his research and critical interests, while especially focused on African American gospel performance, extend into media studi...

Dr. Susan Golden is the author of the book Stage (Not Age),  and also serves as an advisor to startup companies focused on healthy aging and longevity. Susan holds a Doctor of Science in Health Services from Harvard University School of Public Health, and a Master of Public Health from Boston University Medical School.

Lisa Miller, Ph. D., is the New York Times bestselling author of The Spiritual Child and The Awakened Brain. Dr. Miller is a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University, the Founder and Director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program and research institute in spirituality and psychology and has held over a decade of...

How do we know if we are being faithful? How do we know if we are practicing our faith adequately? Just as doctors measure vital signs when determining the health of the body|so we must learn to recognize the vital signs of the life of the spirit as we move into a post-Christian age. The Very Reverend Kate Moorehead Carroll contends the same is true for our spiritual health and offers thoughtful a...

The Reverend Dr. Paul Wallace is a teacher, pastor, scientist, writer, and speaker. He currently teaches physics and astronomy at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, and serves as Pastor for Adult Education at First Baptist Church of Decatur. Paul writes and speaks at the intersection of faith and science. This topic often gets bogged down in conflict, jargon, and pointy-headedness, and he lo...

Brian McLaren’s latest book, Do I Stay Christian? addresses in public the powerful question that surprising numbers of people - including pastors, priests, and other religious leaders - are asking in private. Picking up where Faith After Doubt leaves off, Do I Stay Christian? combines McLaren's own experience with that of thousands of people who have confided in him over the years to help readers...

Zach Gottlieb is the 17-year-old founder of "Talk With Zach," a Gen Z movement and community that hosts important conversations to change the culture, inspire activism, and make the world a better place. "Talk with Zach" has been featured in TIME, TODAY, Katie Couric Media, The Huffington Post, and Challenge Success, among others. His motto: “We can’t change what we don’t talk about.” The Reverend...

Dr. Lisa Strohman discusses mental wellness as it relates to our digital lives. Strohman is widely known for her advocacy and education on this topic|and has worked with thousands of parents|schools|and children around the globe. An attorney|clinical psychologist|and author|Dr. Strohman is the founder and director of Digital Citizen Academy|one of the first organizations to address the global issu...

A panel discussion with local nonprofits about the current trends in mental health|addiction|and more for teens and adults in Charlotte. 

Eric Liu is co-founder and CEO of  Citizen University |which works to build a culture of powerful and responsible citizenship in the United States. He also directs the Aspen Institute’s  Citizenship & American Identity Program |and is the author of several acclaimed books. Liu served as a White House speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and as the President’s deputy domestic policy adviser. He...

Susan Golden joins The Reverend Chip Edens for a conversation on the opportunities and challenges of adapting to new stages of life, especially as lifespans lengthen and resources for aging become more widely available.

Dr. Marisa G. Franco is a psychologist and friendship expert. Her psychology practice and research focus on the powerful role of friends in shaping who we are and why we flourish. She and The Reverend Chip Edens discuss her new book "Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends."

James Alison is considered one of the world’s preeminent theologians. Educated at Oxford University, his work focuses on themes of God's unconditional love, listening to voices on the margins, and the importance of embodying the values of grace, forgiveness, and mercy in the Christian community. In 2009, Alison was dismissed from Catholic clerical status for being gay, forbidding him from teaching...

Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, professor, theologian, New York Times best-selling author, and one of the United States' best known preachers. In 2014|TIME magazine placed her in its annual TIME 100 list of most influential people in the world. She has been an Avon lady, a cocktail waitress, a horseback riding instructor, and a hospital chaplain, but her favorite job was teaching worl...

Lisa Miller, Ph. D., is Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, Teachers College and is Founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program in spirituality and psychology. Dr. Miller is a foremost scientist on spirituality across the lifespan, with her work published in top research journals including JAMA-Psychiatry, American Journal of Psy...

Kate Bowler, PhD, is an associate professor of the history of Christianity in North America at Duke Divinity School. She is the author of Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, which traces the history of the movement based on divine promises of health, wealth, and happiness. After being unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age 35|she penned the New York Times bestselling...

Annette Gordon-Reed is an American historian and law professor. She is currently the Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard University. Gordon-Reed is noted for changing scholarship on Thomas Jefferson regarding his relationship with Sally Hemings and her children. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book Award for Nonfiction and 15 other prizes i...

Rob Mendez sounds like any other football coach on any other field across America — passionate, authoritative, knowledgeable — but he is like no other coach you know. Coach Rob has no arms or legs. He moves in a custom-made wheelchair that he operates with his shoulders. Coach Rob diagrams plays on a smartphone attached to the chair, using a stylus that he maneuvers with his mouth. Coach Rob first...