In Good Faith

Utah Make a Wish creates magical moments for children suffering from debilitating illness--and that magic can turn into mental and physical health miracles. Steve interviews Jared Perry, the CEO of Utah Make a Wish in this bonus episode of In Good Faith.

"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens is a classic story of redemption and change that has become a central part of many family's holiday celebrations. Hana Sharif, Artistic Director for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, is contributing to this legacy with her second annual production of the classic story. Hana spoke with Steve about the spiritual power of theater and what it means to share thi...

Four guests talk about our sacred responsibility to protect and appreciate the natural environment. J Phoenix Smith works as an ecotherapist and is called to the station of elder in the Lucumi tradition. In these roles, she promotes the health benefits of spending time outside, both individually and communally. Victoria Loorz talks about the true meaning of the wilderness coming from a background...

Steve talks with Mark Miner, a close friend, about his struggle to overcome addiction and how God reached out to him to heal and nurture.

America's religious diversity is growing. Eboo Patel argues that emphasizing that diversity will make the United States stronger, especially if US citizens invest in civic institutions. Patel's use of the potluck metaphor is especially pertinent. Named “one of America’s best leaders” by US News and World Report, Eboo is Founder and President of Interfaith America, the leading interfaith organizati...

Eckart Tolle's "The Power of Now" (1997) was many North Americans' first introduction to what we now recognize as mindfulness. The In Good Faith production team--Heather Bigley, Austin Ball, and Peter Ellison, chat with host Steven Kapp Perry about their thoughts and reactions to the book's ideas, and even trying some of the meditation practices described in the book. Join the book club by reading...

While we might normally think of grief as the collection of emotions we feel after the death of a loved one, in this episode of In Good Faith, we explore some of the many different ways grief can manifest and consider some new ways of responding to grief. First we hear Julie Milor Donovan discuss how losing a child changed her outlook on life. Next we hear from Dr. Joanne Cacciatore, professor at...

Dr. Farina King joins the podcast to discuss her experiences with the spiritual power of the peoples and places of Dine culture. To learn more go to https://farinaking.com/. Farina King, a citizen of the Navajo Nation, is the Horizon Chair in Native American Ecology and Culture and Associate Professor of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma, in the ancestral lands of the Caddo Nat...

Dr. Simran Jeet Singh is the Executive Director of the Inclusive America Project at the Aspen Institute. Recognized among TIME Magazine’s “sixteen people fighting for a more equal America”, he is an Equality Fellow with the Open Society Foundations, Senior Adviser on Equity and Inclusion for YSC Consulting, and a Visiting Professor at Union Seminary. He is a regular contributor to The Washington P...

Steve speaks with Aubrey & Tim Chaves as they prepare for the upcoming Faith Matters Restore Gathering. The couple discusses how their faith crisis led to a stronger marriage and connection to their faith community. Aubrey and Tim grew up near Salt Lake City, Utah; the two married after Tim served an LDS mission to Montevideo, Uruguay. He attended BYU for his undergraduate studies before earning a...

The Divine often reveals itself to us in ways that are deeply personal and unique to our own tradition. Despite the power of these experiences, we can sometimes become complacent in how we experience divinity, and deprive ourselves from finding God in new ways. In this episode, we hear different ideas about God's characteristics and attributes. First, we hear from Dr. Abhishek Ghosh, a religious s...

What is the role of social justice for religious institutions? Dr. Terrence Smith talks about the journey to a more just and equal community in his hometown of Raymond, Alberta, where he has served for several years as a leader for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as well as a family doctor for 47 years. Across decades, he has worked to establish the physical, mental, and spiritual...

Steve speaks with Barbara Brown Taylor, New York Times best-selling author, about her book "Holy Envy," and how to find God in the faith of others. Barbara Brown Taylor is a best-selling author, teacher, and Episcopal priest. Her first memoir, Leaving Church, won an Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association in 2006. Her next three books earned places on the New York Times bests...

Can people really change? How does change really happen? Steve met with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg over zoom to discuss these questions and to consider a better way of seeking repentance in the modern age. Their discussion is centered around Ruttenberg's upcoming book, On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World. This book examines and reinvigorates our modern understanding of rep...

In this episode, we talk with Indigenous American guests about the people they gather with, as well as the places where they gather. Farina King speaks about the trauma of displacement which indigenous children faced during the era of America's residential schools, which she writes about in Returning Home: Dine Creative Works from the Intermountain Indian School. Nathan Hadfield talks about his in...

Mauli Bonner is a Los Angeles-based vocal director and song writer. He and his wife Chantel founded the charity Lift Up Voices that provides opportunities with music and arts to young people. He wrote and directed an award winning film His Name is Green Flake, that tells the story of some of the first African American pioneers to the Utah Valley. The movie inspired a monument dedicated to those pi...

Dr. Richards is a clinical psychologist at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center with formal training in theology and comparative religion. Earlier in his career, he pursued psychedelic research at Spring Grove Hospital Center and the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in Baltimore. His graduate education included studies at Yale, Brandeis, Catholic University, the Andover-Newton Theological...

This week we bring you interviews with people who are actively engaged in their book, the sacred text at the center of their religion and faith. We hear from Dan McClellan, scripture supervisor for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who tells us about his tiktok career. Duncan Williams, a Buddhist priest and University of Southern California professor of Religion, explains how the Su...

Dr. Matthew Wickman talks about what he calls Divine Silence, and how we can still have a relationship with a God who seems--on the face of things at least--not to speak to us directly. In Good Faith is the place to hear stories and accounts from believers, told in their own words. Our hope is to listen with an open heart, celebrating the power of faith and belief, and what those stories mean to t...

Dr. Lisa Knopp, associate professor at University of Nebraska-Omaha, discusses her seventh book "From Your Friend, Carey Dean," with producer Heather Bigley. Lisa is a death penalty abolitionist who became the friend and penpal of Carey Dean Moore, a death row inmate convicted of murdering two men in August 1979. Moore spent 38 years on death row before his execution in 2018. In that time, Lisa an...

This week producer Heather Bigley speaks with Raj Mankad, the Op-ed Editor of the Houston Chronicle. A shorter version of this interview ran in Episode 111 about building new communities of faith. Raj's story continues in a discussion of finding community in one of the most diverse cities in America as he raises his children. In Good Faith is the place to hear stories and accounts from believers,...

We speak to religious artists in the United States and gather different perspectives about how art and spirituality influence each other. We chat with Kimia Ferdosi Kline, a Bahai visual artist whose work focuses on relationships, and J. Kirk Richards, a Latter-Day Saint painter whose work is explicitly for Christian audiences and talks to us about the ways he portrays Christ. We’ll also explore h...

Nava Kavelin, formerly the Senior Research and Writer at the United Nations for the Bahai International Community, talks with producer Heather Bigley about Nava’s work at the UN and how it inspired her to start a Los Angeles-based media production company, all with an eye to serving others. Nava also shares how her mother's death impacted her relationship with God. Host Steven Kapp Perry talks wit...

Ramsay Taum is the founder and president of the Hawai'i-based Life Enhancement Institute (LEI) of the Pacific. Working with Hawai'i’s travel, leisure and retail industry, Ramsay integrates Native Hawaiian cultural values and principles into contemporary business. Mentored and trained by respected kupuna (elders), he is a practitioner and instructor of several Native Hawaiian practices including ho...

We discuss the foundation of Ikar, a Los Angeles-based synagogue, with Melissa Balaban and the creation in Denver of the Christian nondenominational church Highlands to support LGBTQ families with Rachel McClair and the Reverend Dr Jenny Morgan. And we talk to Dan Foster in Australia from Backyard Church Online, a church for people who don’t like church, as well as Raj Mankad, the Op Ed Editor for...