Spiritual Misfits Podcast

In this episode Will is joined by Christine Redwood, Belinda Groves and Nathan Nettleton to discuss the emergence of the Open Baptists, a new Baptist movement within Australia. The Open Baptists seek to reimagine what it means to work together as Baptist churches, focusing on partnership, collective decision-making, and freedom of conscience. They hope to retain the Baptist identity while challeng...

The Reverend Dr Karen Pack is a religious historian, ordained Christian minister, Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrant, and current President of Spiritual Care Australia . For over twenty five years she has been engaged in training pastors, chaplains, leaders and teachers in Australia, North America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Her doctoral research explored the marginalization and era...

In this conversation, Will Small, Thomas Jay Oord, and Becca De Souza discuss open and relational theology, the challenges of suffering, and the process of deconstruction and reconstruction in faith. They also touch on the topic of LGBTQ+ affirmation within religious institutions. Thomas shares his personal journey from a classical theist position to open and relational theology, emphasizing the i...

Well hello again my friends!  If you’ve been listening in recent weeks I hope you have enjoyed these talks from Future Church Conference. I am excited to share that a few of us met this last week to start planning the next one — it’s going to be great. Follow New City Church or Spiritual Misfits on Instagram for a date announcement soon. This will be the last piece of content for now from the inau...

Hello again friends!  The last few weeks there’s been less of my voice on the pod, which has probably been a refreshing change. However if you proceed with listening to this one, it is my talk from Future Church Conference. Which ironically strongly reinforces the point that you should listen to many voices other than mine. I won’t redo my talk in the intro spiel here — but you will hear both my s...

Hello Spiritual Misfits!  This week I have another brilliant talk for you from Future Church conference which happened in January this year. We know the questions and themes we were exploring in the room that day are so pressing for many of us, and so it’s great to be able to share these talks with you if you weren’t able to join us.   A reminder that there will be another Future Church Conference...

Hello good people! In January this year a group of us hosted the first ever Future Church conference . It was a fantastic day — we had people travel from South Australia, Queensland, Victoria…converging in Redfern Town Hall for an exploration of what the church of tomorrow could look like at its most expansive, welcoming and imaginative. We delved into some heavy topics, but it was a really inspir...

Hello good people, In January this year…which feels like a long time ago right now….a group of us hosted the first ever Future Church conference . It was a fantastic day — we had people travel from South Australia, Queensland, Victoria…converging in Redfern Town Hall for an exploration of what the church of tomorrow could look like at its most expansive, welcoming and imaginative. We delved into s...

Scott M. Coley is a lecturer in philosophy and the author the forthcoming book ' Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power and the Ideology of the Religious Right.' In this conversation Scott gives an excellent overview of how propaganda can function in reinforcing systems that benefit those who are currently in positions of power and privilege. He also explains the role of 'legitimisin...

Growing up my understanding of Islam was largely informed by Christian sources telling me what was wrong.  I actually remember a book I owned called ‘why are there so many gods?’ In and of itself this is not a terrible question, but the contents of the book included a 1-2 page summary of all the major (and many minor) religions of the world. And at the end of each one it had ‘the catch’ - a couple...

Rachel Collis has often felt like the ‘non-Trekkie at the Star-Trek convention’ at church. Still, she has shown up over the years, through faith, doubt and everything in between. We explore her story as well as the powerful music she makes, closing our conversation with one of her songs, ‘the least of these.’ Check out more of Rachel’s work here: https://rachelcollis.com/ Want to reach out and let...

We're adding a twist to our beloved Pub Theology episodes: bring a friend - who brings the topic. This time, Will has brought Carlynne Nunn. And Carlynne has brought shame and disappointment. Great topics for a lively ol' pub chat! Pour a drink of your choosing and join us for a rich and wide conversation about the dark and uncomfy things in life and faith.  Want to reach out and let us...

Dear friends,   If you are listening on the day this comes out, happy resurrection Sunday!  And if you are listening at any other time that’s cool because resurrection is not restricted to Easter Sunday. It pops up in all kinds of places, often where it's unexpected.  This conversation with Josephine McDonnell Inkpin is a wonderful reminder of that, and I am just delighted to share it with yo...

James Watson is a musician, music educator and a lovely fella who possesses many of the same qualities as a golden retriever. He’s warm, loveable and quick to make friends. He’s also deeply thoughtful and considered, as you’ll hear in this conversation about changing churches, evolving beliefs and the ‘little hurts’ that can build up in communities over time. At the end of the chat he shares a son...

Rob Waters, Gomeroi poet and storyteller and the current Australian Poetry Slam champion joined me for a rich and deep conversation about an all-encompassing spirituality that exists beyond the boxes of a compartmentalised life. Rob shares about the grounding role of Country and Story from a First Nations perspective. We then explore the prophetic role of the poets in speaking truth in an unjust w...

Hello my friends A few words at the top here before the episode starts. I had to rearrange some interviews I had lined up for this week — so I’m pulling a great conversation out of the archive for you. Given that last weekend was Mardi Gras, I thought I’d replay this wonderful panel conversation we recorded just over a year ago in conjunction with World Pride. It was a great chat with Karl, Karen...

Will and Hannah debrief their thoughts after binging 'Prosper' on Stan.  We avoid spoilers, and there's still plenty of interesting questions here for people who haven't watched the show. So get yourself a cuppa and join us as we discuss wealth,  celebrity pastors, corruption and more. Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a messag...

Emily Hayes is the minister at Alice Springs Uniting Church. Mitch and Will met Emily towards the end of 2023 at a gathering and began a fascinating conversation which they pick up in this episode, exploring things like calling, discernment, and a spirituality of place and deep listening.  Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d lov...

Sarah McCammon is an award-winning National Political Respodent for NPR and the author of the upcoming book: ' The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living and Leaving the White Evangelical Church' . ‘The Exvangelicals’ is part-memoir and part-journalism, providing a guided tour through the significant religious and political social shifts happening in our current historical moment, interwoven with...

If you listened to our advent episode you got to hear some beautiful Christmas music from Peter Espevoll with some production from Jon Reinhardt (who you may remember if you listened to the ‘experience of David Bentley Hart’ episode). What you may be surprised to hear is that despite putting out a Christmas album recently Peter’s musical background is primarily in the death metal scene - some of y...

Kristen LaValley is a writer whose works  offers “insights that intersect doubt and belief, hope and suffering, beauty and heartache, complexity and simplicity.” Questioning and curiosity have always been a natural part of Kristen’s faith from her childhood through to now. Kristen’s upcoming book, ‘ Even if He Doesn’t ’ opens up some of Kristen’s own experiences of suffering, confusion and heartac...

Nils von Kalm is an award-winning freelance writer, whose work seeks to lift people's dignity. Nils explores the intersections between faith and the complexities of life. In this conversation Nils shares vulnerably about formational moments in his own life, including his experience of the ' Men's Rites of Passage ' (founded by Fr. Richard Rohr) and his visits to Gaza and Israel...

Liz Cooledge Jenkins joins Hannah and Will for a conversation about her new book 'Nice Churchy Patriarchy', unpacking all the subtle but damaging ways patriarchy can operate in 'nice' Christian spaces and inviting us to imagine and participate in more equitable and just ways of creating faith communities. Connect with Liz's work here:  https://lizcooledgejenkins.com/ About...

Jonny Cornford from Filthy Hope podcast joins Will Small for a crossover episode. In the first half of the episode we exchange some of our own stories and discuss our motivations for making work like this, then in the second half we get into an honest ‘filthy misfit’ discussion about prayer. Learn more about Filthy Hope here: https://www.unitingheartandsoul.org/filthy-hope Want to reach out and le...

I’m taking a little breather between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. Thankfully, there are so many incredible conversations in our back-log. I’m pulling a few favourites out to revisit - like this one! If you’re in Sydney (or willing to travel) join us on the 25th of Jan for Future Church Conference ( futurechurchcon.com ) with Joel Hollier, Safina Stuart, Karen Pack and Christine Redwo...