Irenicast - A Progressive Christian Podcast

Our conversation on race takes an honest look at the team's understanding of race as a complex construct that has shaped every aspect of our identities, our relationships and our lives. Raj suggests the topic in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy. Dr. King called us into uncomfortable spaces to do challenging work in the areas of economic justice, anti militarism, prison reform and...

Linda Kay Klein author of PURE: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free joins us this week.  Sexuality, sexual purity as Christian faithfulness, girls, boys, women, men, shame, guilt, American Evangelicalism, political opportunism, the Virgin Mary, healing, hope and community – these are just a few of the topics Linda discusses with Irenicast co...

'Tis the episode before 2019 and all through the show, we are politicizing Christmas and hoping to grow.  Our new hosts are ready, and chosen with care. As we continue to cultivate a place for our souls to be laid bare.  So, gather in and listen to our chatter, as we serve up something fun and challenging on a digital platter. Let us call out together without haste, Merry Christmas to all and lay...

Pastor Casey Tinnin, who is a gay pastor shares of his journey out of fundamentalism, coming out, and his process of being ordained in the United Church of Christ.  Jeff and Pastor Casey have a lively discussion about the influence that fundamentalism and conservatism played in Casey's coming out process. Pastor Casey talks at length about his journey, and how his faith was formed in the wake of s...

In confronting masculinity, Jeff, Allen, and Raj discuss building a better social construction for themselves, particularly by tackling toxic masculinity and male supremacy. They examine their formations as cisgender-straight-males, reveal personal challenges, challenge each other and wonder what could be. Patriarchy is examined in relationship to male supremacy and toxic masculinity. A definition...

Parenting during deconstruction, nurturing the spiritual child and adolescent in our care and in our hearts -- Rev. Bonnie Rambob (from episodes #113 and #123) joins Allen and Jeff to delve into this much-requested topic.  Drawing from Lisa Miller's research, other sources and their own experiences with parenting and ministry, Jeff, Allen and Bonnie discuss ideas about natural spirituality and the...

Halloween and heritage, ancestors and the thinning of the veil between worlds- Rev. Raj Rambob (From episode #113) joins Jeff and Allen to talk about all this and more in Irenicast's fourth Halloween special. In past Halloween episodes, they have discussed the supernatural, the devil and witches.  This year they reflect on the holiday itself. They reflect on the larger historical development of th...

How and why are the Enneagram and Progressive Christianity having their moment? Pastor Casey Tinnin joins Jeff and Allen for a discussion about personality typing, self-knowledge, emotional intelligence, relationship styles, and more as we dive deep into "heart-centered" types and the Enneagram in general. Pastor Casey Tinnin, in addition to being an Enneagram guru, is the pastor of Loomis Basin C...

Is Christian celebrity culture a blessing? A Curse? Simply inevitable? From psychological needs, hagiographies, and cult of personalities to new structures of power, Jeff and Allen tackle the phenomena involved in celebrity and how these operate within Christian culture. This episode's segment pivots and addresses "The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel," a much-talked-about document spons...

Jeff and Allen have another conversation with Jennifer Knapp about the many things she is currently working on .  The discussion takes us through her recently finished theology degree from Vanderbilt University, her upcoming tour and finally one of her favorite cooking methods. For those unfamiliar with Jennifer Knapp's work, she has been a recording artist since the late 1990s.  She started her m...

How does loving haters work in the Trump era? A year and a half into Donald Trump's  presidency, what do we see when we look across the aisle? Jeff and Allen welcome back Mel (The artist formerly known as Mona) to revisit episode 90 , in which they resist cheap peace, struggle with the tension of loving those who vilify the vulnerable, and wonder aloud about the lack of practical vision for the be...

Poverty and protest: let's fight poverty not the poor. That's a message Jeff, Allen, and Bonnie find so central to their faith, two of them joined MLK and Rev. Barber's Poor People's Campaign, risking arrest to speak it. In this episode, hear about the intersections between that story, the way communities of faith misconstrue the poor, whether or not some things are "earned" (including unearned in...

In revisiting the Holy Spirit, Jeff and Allen explore their Pentecostal and "cessationist" roots through deconstruction and beyond.  Scriptures, liberation and process theology, ecology, pragmatism, panentheism, and more combine to inform their perspectives in this lively discussion. They also give an update about the state of the podcast and play a game in which they have to guess whether a name...

As some Evangelical churches shift toward progressive policies and theologies, do they do so in proximity to whiteness? What does it mean to be progressive or to inhabit progressive spaces? Guest Joey Torres discusses his doctoral research and contemplates the trajectory of American Evangelicalism. Joey Torres is a doctoral student and teaching assistant in the Study of Religion at UC Davis.  To l...

Jamie Wright, author of The Very Worst Missionary, sits down with Jeff and Allen this week to discuss her new book. They talk about the failings of short term mission trips, the North American Missions Industrial Complex, being authentic, church ministry, and more. In 2007 Jamie and her husband uprooted their family from the life they knew to the unknown land of Costa Rica to be missionaries.  Des...

It seems too often that euphemisms in our culture go beyond softening social interaction to propping up the powerful. This week Allen and Jeff explore euphemistic language in various Scriptures, political spin, and how it might create life (or manufacture manipulation) in our own speech. Maybe we don't take language seriously enough? More pointedly, how do we choose between softening words to fost...

Author Austin Channing Brown shares with us about her new book, I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness , and life of work as a black woman in predominantly white ministries and spaces. The discussion touches on topics from writing to anger, creativity, expression, parenthood and more. Austin is a freelance writer and speaker with a particular focus on black womanhood and faith...

Evangelicals meet to discuss their political base and its connection to Trump, forming two cohorts with markedly different ideas about how to respond, and Jeff helps Allen develop a more nuanced understanding of cult-like culture. Evangelical Summit on Trump ( 01:04 ) The Culture of a Cult ( 19:52 ) Judging a Book by It's Cover ( 44:12 )   RELEVANT LINKS From Our Conversation on the Evangelical Su...

They say "that's what friends are for,"  but who are they and what is it? Finding and maintaining friendships seems like frustrating business for many of us: Jeff and Allen included. This episode asks whether it's better to have a small group of close friends or a large group of ones further away, the possible limitations of our social brains, and more, before capping off with another "Top Three"...

Allen believes the church is for cultivating story.  So let's talk about that. And in this episode, the hosts answer "Ask Me Anything" questions submitted by listeners, including science and miracles, spiritual formation for children, and revisiting pacifism. Cultivating Story Conversation ( 00:55 ) AMA Segment ( 31:02 ) RELEVANT LINKS   From Our Cultivating Story Conversation Intersections Roundt...

Is there value in reclaiming repentance?  The word itself connotes different things for all of us and, in this episode, Jeff and Allen unpack the stuff it brings up for them. Is it condemnation or invitation? Transformation or challenge? After the conversation, they try to guess who said what on another edition of Famous Christians for 100.   Reclaiming Repentance Conversation ( 01:03 ) Famous Chr...

This is the story of Intersections, told by pastors Allen, Casey, Bonnie and Raj -- a diverse group of clergy with their own stories of leaving Evangelical and Fundamentalist communities of faith. Together they've established a group for spiritual conversations between people with similar paths. Jeff and Adam (from Divine Cinema) host the roundtable. RELEVANT LINKS From Our Intersections Roundtabl...

Pain, media portrayal, and empathy. Who of us hasn't come across images of suffering?  Jeff and Allen discuss the nature of pain, the way presentations of suffering get used, and alternately consumed, and how we might provide spaces for healing in honest and genuine ways.  The episode ends in a moment of honesty through admission how their inner "fundies" occasionally slip.   Conversation on Pain,...

Of all the out of context verses Revelation has its fair share.  One of the most used and abused passages of the New Testament, the "hot or cold" verse means exactly the opposite of what you think it means. Jeff and Allen discuss the virtues of doing good work (read: being useful) despite religious affections, then share the most useful and useless items in their own lives.   Conversation on Out o...

Mona returns to the booth for a discussion on Christian hegemony and its negative impact on Christianity.  There are those that believe the United States is, and should continue to be, a Christian nation.  However, what makes a nation Christian?  Who decides what form of Christianity becomes the dominant form?  Have we really ever been a Christian nation?  These are some of the questions  Jeff, Mo...