Kwok ’n’ Roll

What does it mean to be the first non-White General Secretary of the world YWCA? How does an African woman break the glass ceiling — not just once, but repeatedly — to lead global organizations and reshape the landscape of Christian theology? Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro from Kenya is one of those rare leaders. She served as the founding coordinator of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, cha...

Is peace a feminist issue? In the first episode of Faithful Provocations, theologians Kwok Pui Lan and Mary E. Hunt challenge the assumption that men — popes or presidents — speak for all of us on war and peace. As Pope Leo XIV and Donald Trump clash over the Iran war, and the first female Archbishop of Canterbury prepares to visit the Vatican, two feminist theologians ask the questions the headli...

Is there such a thing as a "just war"? For centuries, Christian theology said yes. Today, the Church isn't so sure. In this conversation, Dr. Kwok Pui Lan discusses with Dr. Kyle Lambelet one of the most urgent questions in Christian ethics: has Just War Theory run its course? Drawing on Catholic teaching from Augustine to Pope Leo XIV, and the growing movement toward nonviolence within the Church...

The debate between Pope Leo XIV and Trump over the Iran conflict has put American Catholics in a difficult position. Many back the Pope's call for peace — but does that mean we should defer to him on all moral issues? Is Pope Leo XIV progressive on war and peace, yet conservative on gender? And what do we make of JD Vance warning the Pope to "be careful" when speaking on morality? Dr. Kwok Pui Lan...

President Trump's criticism of Pope Leo XIV as  “weak on crime" and too liberal has ignited a firestorm — and Catholics are fighting back. Trump's Truth Social post drew sharp rebukes from Catholic leaders across the country, including three American Cardinals, who called his remarks deeply disrespectful of the Pope — the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. Meanwhile, Catholic mem...

What if everything you learned about God's power is incomplete — or even wrong? In this conversation, Kwok Pui Lan sits down with Thomas J. Oord to explore one of the most provocative questions in contemporary theology: is God truly all-powerful? Drawing on open and relational theology and process theology, they challenge the traditional doctrine of divine omnipotence and ask what it means to reim...

In an era of intense conflict, the intersection of Jewish identity and feminist principles has become a battleground. This video explores the unique challenges facing Jewish feminists — from reinterpretations of scripture to the political weaponization of antisemitism. In this conversation, Dr. Judith Plaskow, a pioneer in Jewish feminist theology, discusses the origins of Jewish feminist theology...

Why does the Christian Right call the war against Iran a “Holy War” – and what does that reveal about the soul of White Christian Nationalism? In this conversation, Dr. Carter Heyward – feminist theologian, pioneer of lesbian theology, and one of the first women ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church, USA –  breaks down the Seven Deadly Sins of White Christian Nationalism, including the lust...

She made history as Canada's first Indigenous female Moderator of the United Church of Canada — and her journey to get there was anything but easy. In this powerful conversation, Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne opens up about her personal story: from struggles with substance use to answering a call to ministry. Her path is one of resilience, faith, and radical transformation — and it has everything to d...

Dr. Martin Nguyen is a professor of Religious Studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut. He is a scholar of Muslim theology and Islamic studies. He discusses the roots of U.S. Islamophobia and its impact on the American impression of the Middle East and the war in Iran. Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis, Americans have had negative reactions to the theocratic regime. Se...

John and Samuel Munayer are brothers and younger Palestinian theologians living in Jerusalem. They have coedited The Cross and the Olive Tree. They shared what life is like living in Jerusalem during the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. The war has disproportionately affected the Palestinian communities because they may not have bomb shelters. John and Samuel shared their stories of how they became in...

Dr. Peter C. Phan is the Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University and a Vietnamese-American Catholic theologian. In this episode, he shares how his personal experience as a migrant has shaped his theology. In the book Christianity and Migration, Dr. Phan explores the overlap between migration studies and Christian theology. His theology of migration offers new wa...

Dr. Septemmy E. Lakawa teaches mission studies, trauma theology, and feminist theology at Jakarta Theological Seminary. She interviewed women who have experienced violence and responded to the sexual abuse of Chinese women in Indonesia. To do justice for the abused victims, she urges us to address their ruptured lives and the wounds that remain. She believes that love is still possible for these v...

Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins is a professor of evangelism and church growth at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. He discusses his forthcoming book, Inclusive Love: Seeing the Black Church in the Rainbow, and his journey of affirming and embracing LGBTQ brothers and sisters. As an acclaimed photographer, he shares his experience creating portraits while honoring each person as created in God...

The Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson is the former moderator of the Metropolitan Community Church and a longtime LGBTQ rights activist. She reflects on the political changes that have occurred a year into Trump’s second presidency, especially their impact on the LGBTQ community. She praises the efforts of clergy and faith leaders in Minneapolis for their protest against ICE and their witness to the Gospel. S...

Dr. Raimundo César Barreto from Brazil teaches World Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. He discusses the recent U.S. bombing of Venezuela and the Donroe Doctrine from the long history of American hegemony of the continent. His work focuses on the study of ecumenism in Latin America, not from the top, but from grassroots movements working together to address land disposse...

Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite is an emerita professor and president of Chicago Theological Seminary. She is a feminist theologian, political commentator, and author of mystery novels. As a long-time public intellectual, she reflects on one year into the second Trump administration and the protests against ICE brutality in Minneapolis. She discusses how clergy and faith leaders bear witness in their non...

Sr. Mary John Mananzan, a Missionary Benedictine nun, is a pioneer in Asian feminist theology. She was a keynote speaker at one of the first Asian theological conferences in Sukabumi, Indonesia, in 1981. An educator and activist, she co-founded GABRIELLA, a federation of women’s organizations in the Philippines, and served as its chairperson for 18 years. She discusses the early beginnings of Asia...

Yenny Delgado is a Peruvian psychologist and theologian. She is of Native descent and founded Publica Theology, an online public square where faith, ancestral memory, womanism, and politics converge. She also promotes women doing theology in Abya Yala, facilitates dialogues that elevate women’s visions, and encourages theological reflection from womanist and feminist decolonial perspectives. “Abya...

The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers, an Episcopal priest, is Canon in Residence in St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York. At a time when church membership declines in America, Spellers points to the broader trends of disaffiliation from institutions. She interviewed dozens of the Nones, Dones, and Unchurched in San Francisco, Atlanta, the Twin Cities, and New York to find out why they are passing on...

Dr. Frank M. Yamada is Executive Director of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). There are about 270 schools in the ATS belonging to evangelical, mainline Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox church families. Over the past several decades, theological education in North America has undergone significant changes. In this episode, Dr. Yamada describes the chal...

This episode celebrates the 20th anniversary of the publication of my book Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology. When I published it in 2005, I did not plan on writing a book on postcolonial theology. It was only from hindsight that I realized that I was using postcolonial theory to scrutinize some of the assumptions of feminist theology. After the book was published, I was glad to see t...

Dr. Deanna Ferree Womack is Associate Professor of history of religions and interfaith studies at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. In this episode, she discusses how missionary discourses and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims contributed to the rise of American Islamophobia in the late twentieth century. In addition to texts, she examines the portrayals of Muslims in postcards, ph...

Prof. Dr. Ulrike Ernst-Auga is a German Protestant theologian and a scholar of cultural and religious studies. She is also the President of the International Association for the Study of Religion and Gender. In this episode, she discusses how she uses postcolonial, postsecular, and queer perspectives to study religion and gender across different contexts. As Christian nationalism has grown, she ex...

Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock is a noted Asian American feminist theologian, activist, and world authority on moral injury. She was Senior Vice President for Moral Injury Recovery Programs at Volunteers of America. In this episode, she explains what moral injury is and the difference between moral injury and PTSD. She describes how moral injury affects her family, especially in her relationship with he...