The Brown Line Church Podcast

Maybe you’re already doing a lot of the practices and behaviors and reflections you need to in order to experience deep connection with God, but you’re just not calling those things “connecting with God”. What if the opportunity to feel spiritual enjoyment, health, purpose, aliveness, and hope (even in the midst of despair or injustice) is closer than you think? Kyle kicks off our new series...

May 23 is a day of action for our church, as we talk about justice for the unhoused, and organize a way that we as individuals can each provide relief to our neighbors experiencing suffering due to homelessness.

Expectations and hope (and also maybe some fear and anxiety) are building as more of us become fully vaccinated and life’s many calendar invites for in-person gathering begin to return. Kyle wonders if we can take this as a “blank slate” opportunity, and offers a prayer/meditation practice for helping us wisely reintegrate into a less social-distanced life.

For Mother’s Day this year, we’re thrilled to welcome special guest Cheryll Hanawalt, mother of our co-pastor Kyle. Kyle interviews his mom about motherhood, God, healthy spirituality, and community.

In relationships, it’s experiences above all that build trust. The same is true for relationship with God, so we want to consider together: what personal experiences have shown you God might be all-loving? If you grew up religious, you may have been taught that you can’t trust your experience, because you’ll just make God in your own image, and that’s why you need a strict set of beliefs. We hope...

For some of us, who grew up being taught "the Bible is without error", the violence attributed to God in the Bible presents major cognitive dissonance. For others of us, it doesn't feel quite so major, but it still doesn't make sense! If the Bible is a resource to the modern spiritual life and the pursuit of love and justice in the world (and we believe it is!), what on earth do we do with its vio...

For black and brown Americans, the judgments of authorities too often lead to harm and mistrust (even death, as in the shootings of Daunte Wright & Adam Toledo). On the surface, the God of the Bible can seem just as cruelly authoritative, but what if God is actually the opposite? In our culture obsessed with determining guilt vs. innocence, judgment becomes a weapon people use against each oth...

We collected awesome, honest questions from people in our community about how it’s hard to believe in an all-parts loving, no-parts punishing God. Hayley, Kyle, and Vince (our pastors) have found there ARE actually satisfying responses to these hard questions, that can free us up to feel spiritually alive and active. Even better: there are a number of them. We don’t all have to come to the exact s...

Much of conventional American religion paints a split personality picture of God (part loving, but part punishing). This leaves many struggling with self-punishment and perfectionism. For Easter Sunday this year, Vince paints instead a consistent picture of the God Jesus shows us (all loving, no part punishing) who helps us have more grace for ourselves, not more punishment.

Today's prayer guide helps us listen to our bodies, hearts, minds, and souls.

Today's prayer guide is a practice in praying for others.

Today's prayer guide leads us in a breathing prayer.

Today's prayer guide leads us in a prayer often called "the Jesus prayer".

How we long for change and justice to come about in one fell swoop! But Revolution never seems to happen that way. Does that mean it’s not worth hoping for? When we hold together the traditional Palm Sunday story (of Jesus entering Jerusalem as a triumphant King) with the traditional Holy Week stories (of Jesus exiting Jerusalem en route to his execution), we get a picture of Revolution that isn’t...

Today's prayer guide gives us a place to put our feelings about the things that are outside of our control

Today's prayer guide leads us in a self-reflection practice.

Today's prayer guide helps us listen to our bodies, hearts, minds, and souls.

Today's prayer guide is a practice in praying for others.

Today's prayer guide leads us in a breathing prayer.

Today's prayer guide leads us in a prayer often called "the Jesus prayer".

After a week of senseless violence against people of Asian descent, after a year of inexcusable public scapegoating of people of Asian descent (behavior that, for much of our country’s history, has persisted without acknowledgement), this Sunday is a day to commit again to the very heart of the Jesus way: interrupting scapegoating.

Today's prayer guide gives us a place to put our feelings about the things that are outside of our control

Today's prayer guide leads us in a self-reflection practice.

Today's prayer guide helps us listen to our bodies, hearts, minds, and souls.

Today's prayer guide is a practice in praying for others.