Texas Impact's Weekly Witness

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Matt Gaventa, senior pastor at University Presbyterian Church in Austin. Matt is a Texas Impact Board Member, and our executive director's pastor, and Bee has been very excited about his sermon series leading up to the nation's 250th anniversary. After listening to Scott's conversation with Matt, we hope it gives you something to think about during this historic...

This week, Scott was joined by Judge Manpreet Singh, the first Sikh judge elected in the state of Texas and first Sikh woman judge in the United States. Judge Singh talked with Scott about how the Sikh faith has called for equality for centuries and discussed how Sikh values connect with work in the public sphere and influence her own work. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to lis...

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Marcus Jones, author and University Chaplain at Huston Tillotson University in Austin after having previously served as the Executive Director of the Wesley Foundation at Midwestern State University, leader of the MOSAIC Cross-Cultural Center, and as Executive Director of UTA Wesley at the University of Texas at Arlington. Rev. Jones has extensive experience wor...

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Dr. Jim Rigby, who has served as the pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin for 40 years. Rev. Rigby has garnered attention over the decades for his commitment to justice and a progressive brand of Christianity, and he has been in the news recently as Senate candidate James Talarico's pastor.  Rigby is getting more attention than a typical candidat...

This week, Scott was joined by Dylan Corbett, founder and executive director of Hope Border Institute in El Paso. Dylan is a leader in the immigration space, working with and advocating for immigrants in communities across the globe before he landed in Texas. Dylan is especially influential in the Catholic Church when it comes to immigration concerns. He met with Pope Leo at the Vatican to share s...

This week, Scott was joined by Rev Tamika Nelson, executive director of United Campus Ministries of Greater Houston. Rev. Nelson was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); has served a United Methodist Church; and now works in a campus ministry affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the United Church of Christ. United Campus...

This week, Scott was joined by The Rev Becky Fox, pastor and head of staff at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lubbock. Covenant has a long history of engaging in justice ministries and advocacy in Lubbock and beyond. Scott and Becky discussed the important role churches like Covenant play in rural Texas and the role faith communities and faith leaders play in responding to the current political mo...

This week, Scott was joined by Sister Denise LaRock, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who has been working in the San Antonio area in ministries related to immigration for the last decade.  Sr. Denise discussed her religious order and their focus on justice and compassion ministries. She also talked about her work in the immigration space and the role the faith community plays in advo...

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Brooke Dooley, associate pastor of youth and young adults at Friends Congregational Church in College Station. Brooke also serves as the youth director for the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ.    Brooke discussed her call to ministry, from a closeted youth trying to find a space in College Station to a liberal activist; then, her journey...

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Jody Harrison, a Baptist minister, member of the Baptist Women in Ministry Board, and a former chaplain and Capitol staffer. Jody is a member of several Texas Impact teams as well as a veteran of numerous political campaigns. Jody joined the pod for a fascinating conversation about her path from policy and campaign staffer to Baptist minister, reflecting on both...

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Mel Caraway, a retired United Methodist pastor and long-time Texas Impact Board Member. Mel is a leader in the faith-based climate advocacy space at the denominational level and international level as a long-time COP attendee.  Rev. Caraway joined the conversation to talk about his faith journey and how climate advocacy became his area of focus.  He also talked...

This week, Scott was joined by Almas Muscatwalla, co-founder of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanksgiving Square. Almas provides leadership in a number of North Texas faith spaces and is a leader in encouraging pluralism and interfaith dialogue.  Almas talked about her Ismaili Muslim faith tradition and how it encourages a commitment to community. She also discussed challenges facing our communities in...

This week, Scott was joined by Imaad Khan, a former policy analyst with Texas Impact who made numerous appearances back in the early days of the podcast. Imaad talked about his faith and advocacy journey pre-Texas Impact, including how his faith and family shaped his desire to study and work in the public policy space. He also offered reflections on his work post-Texas Impact and how he views our...

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Trent Ormsbee-Hale, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Weatherford, TX. For long-time listeners, that congregation might be familiar, because he served with and then followed Texas Impact's past Board President, Rev. Franz Schemmel as the pastor upon Franz's retirement. Scott and Trent reminisced on their shared history. Scott knew Trent and his husband Anthon...

This season on Weekly Witness, we are highlighting faith leaders who advocate for justice and equity. Our conversation this week is a great reminder that "faith leader" does not always mean "clergy." As a lay-person, Robert Rivera has been a leading faith voice in the communities he has served, including in high levels of leadership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and as the Direct...

This week, Scott welcomes Rabbi Josh Fixler, associate rabbi at Congregation Emanu El in Houston to the conversation. Josh is a friend of the program—so much so, in fact that we had trouble narrowing down the conversation because Rabbi Fixler has a wide-ranging justice portfolio. We landed on Christian Nationalism and civic engagement, because Rabbi Fixler has extensive expertise in those areas, a...

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Mara Bim for a conversation about her faith journey and work in the immigration space. She is familiar to many in the Texas Impact audience as a longtime friend and advocate, and she was recently a featured speaker at the Texas United Women in Faith Legislative Event. Rev. Bim serves as the Justice and Advocacy Fellow at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas and a...

The Texas Impact team started the week with Bee and Rev. Dr. Becca discussing the scientific method and the idea that government officials can't unilaterally repeal science following an announcement from the administration that they had "repealed a scientific finding." So, it seemed particularly well-timed (shall we call it divine?) that we had already scheduled Regina Banks to join the podcast fo...

Weekly Witness is back with a new look and a new sound, as well as new content. The Texas Impact team recognizes that this is a unique moment in history, and we believe it is especially important for people of faith to lead and engage. So, we want to use the podcast to highlight faith voices who are leading in the areas of justice and advocacy. We want to give them a platform to inform, inspire an...

We have finally made it to the end of 2025, or, at least the end of the 2025 Weekly Witness recording calendar. And, what a year it has been-from regular and special sessions with both good news and news that made us question those in power, the Texas Impact team has walked with you to effectively advocate on issues important to Texans of faith. Joining Scott for the year-end review are members of...

This week we continue our year-end series talking with the Texas Impact team about where we see public policy in 2025 as we prepare for a big year in 2026. Last week we talked to Membership Manager Kat Karbach about Texas Impact membership and this week we continue the series with Texas Impact's Executive Director Bee Moorhead and outside legislative counsel Beaman Floyd. As we reflect on public p...

This week we kick off our year-end series talking with the Texas Impact team about where we see public policy in 2025 as we prepare for a big year in 2026. Membership Manager Kat Karbach kicks us off to talk about Texas Impact membership. Many listeners have participated in Texas Impact teams, joined us for advocacy events, made calls as part of the Rapid Response teams, and you obviously love the...

This week, we continue coverage of the United Nations climate negotiations known as COP30 held this year in Belém, Brazil. Last week, we had the Texas Impact team reporting from Belém, and today, Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards joins the program soon after returning from the COP to talk to us about the latest from the conference with a few days remaining. Becca wears two hats—one as Dr. Becca Edwards, the...

The Texas Impact team is on the ground and churning out great content from the  United Nations climate negotiations known as COP30 Belém, Brazil. Make sure you are following along on Texas Impact's substack and YouTube as well as through Texas Impact's media partnerships with the Austin Chronicle, Baptist News Global, and United Methodist Insight.  This week on Weekly Witness, members of that dele...

The election is over, and even though there weren't big statewide or federal races on the ballot, local elections and good public policy matter, and so we are excited to welcome Texas Impact's Outside Legislative Counsel Beaman Floyd back to the program to talk about the election results and where we go from here in the legislative calendar. Now that the constitutional amendment election is in the...