Vox Veniae Podcast

Each Sunday we begin our liturgy with “welcome to Vox as participants and hosts of our liturgy. Liturgy means the work of the people, and this morning we are all invited to care for and serve one another.” On this Sunday after Pentecost, Christopher Mack considers how we work out this “work of the people” in our being and in relationship to one another in a pace and posture that gives our faith le...

On this Pride Sunday, Amy Wolfgang invites us to consider “What Else..” in uncovering Psalm 100 for how we anchor to our belovedness and receive the message of liberation for which our hearts long.  [Psalm 100]   Reflection Questions: Where can you reclaim your right to make joyful noise this month? How can you enter the divine conversation with “What Else”? When you hear the phrase, “You are God’...

We regularly begin our liturgy with “welcome to Vox as participants and hosts of our liturgy. Liturgy means the work of the people, and this morning we are all invited to care for and serve one another.” On this Sunday after Pentecost, Christopher Mack considers how we work out this “work of the people” in our being and in relationship to one another in a pace and posture that gives our faith legs...

On this Pentecost Sunday, Vox Veniae celebrates its 20th Anniversary. Pastor Vanessa leads a panel of Sarah Chu, Parker Short, and Gina Bastone to reflect upon our rich history of being a voice of grace in Austin, first near UT campus, and then in East Austin. We remember the rich roots that have inspired, liberated, and formed us over our first 20 years. We also dream about how these roots call u...

On this Ascension Sunday, Rev. Jenna Sullivan ponders the strange story of Jesus' dramatic ascension back to heaven forty days after the resurrection. Jesus' last words evoke questions and disorientation for his disciples and they can do the same for us today. They can also inspire us to look for Jesus in new forms and get to work living out his teachings. This story gives us permission to ask Jes...

Nic Acosta contrasts the temptation of creating god in our own image with the God revealed in Christ and proclaimed in scriptures. We are challenged to live into God’s Story rather than trying to live life the other way around. [Acts 17:22-32]   Reflection Questions: When in our lives have we felt the warmth and love of God, whether or not we recognized it at the time? How might someone in my life...

Christopher Mack explores how Stephen’s life of re-telling God’s Story stripped from our lens of the myth of redemptive violence allows us to behold Divine Love and resist the real world oppression of death-dealing forces and their stories. [Acts 7:54-60]   Reflection Questions:Glimpsing the Heavens, Resisting on Earth What’s a realistic way for you to practice the presence of God this week? How d...

Eric Robinson examines M Scott Peck’s non-linear stages of pseudo-community, chaos, emptiness, and true community through the lens of the early church in Acts. He wonders what it would look like if we were okay with seasons of necessary chaos and intentional emptying to experience true community. [Acts 2]   Reflection Questions: What communities in your life are in chaos right now? Where might God...

Vanessa Maleare explores the diverse terrain of our souls, and the friction and invitation to flourishing we experience in community. [John 20:24-27]     Reflection Questions: What is the complex landscape of your soul at this moment? What is needed for your soul’s continued flourishing? Is it challenging to imagine yourself evolving alongside others in our individualistic society?

Christopher Mack acknowledges the Jesus Movement has given us many reasons to leave, while encouraging curiosity around reasons we might choose to stay, and ultimately invites us to include and transcend the different stages of faith we have experienced as we participate in Jesus’ calling to love neighbor and love God by forming Beloved Community.       Reflection Questions: Where does your heart...

On Easter Sunday, Christopher Mack contrasts the fear that caused the agents of empire to fall like dead men to the fear and great joy of the women at the tomb who go forward to tell of the vindication of the Jesus Way over the way of empire’s death dealing destruction. We are encouraged to listen to the conversation resurrection life is having with our own, listening to our sorrows, while we sing...

On Palm Sunday, Vanessa Maleare confronts the feelings of sadness, disappointment, and frustration we experience when something is different than we anticipated. Jesus didn’t act like the violent warrior king many of the people anticipated. What do you do when you face unmet expectations? Vanessa invites us to choose how we respond by realizing that “I can change what I do next.”   Belonging in th...

On the fifth Sunday of Lent, Christopher Mack acknowledges we live in times where nerves can easily get fried and hope can seem in short supply. Everywhere we turn, it seems the world is on fire. The Hebrew people also wondered if the chaos engulfing their world would ever relent and give way to new life. A valley of dry bones seemed to offer evidence of a sealed and gruesome fate. Yet for Ezekiel...

Belonging in the Wilderness: The Wild Bone Dried On the fifth Sunday of Lent, Christopher Mack acknowledges we live in times where nerves can easily get fried and hope can seem in short supply. Everywhere we turn, it seems the world is on fire. The Hebrew people also wondered if the chaos engulfing their world would ever relent and give way to new life. A valley of dry bones seemed to offer eviden...

On this third Sunday of Lent, Eric Robinson roots us in a spirituality of the wilderness. Eric reminds us of how anxiety spreads through systems and communities to scapegoat either one of the most powerful people in the group or the least powerful. He encourages us to resist the temptation to emotionally fuse with anxiety or to cut ourselves off, but to instead self-differentiate. We are encourage...

On the second Sunday of Lent, Lilly Louise Ettinger reminds us powerfully and poignantly that the wilderness is not always received as a gift. We often find it the last place we want to be. Yet we still often find ourselves in the middle of it. Lilly suggests prayer labyrinths, morning pages, and the power of presence as lodestars to guide us in the wilderness.   Belonging in the Wilderness lays b...

On this first Sunday of Lent, Christopher Mack invites us to open ourselves to God’s Presence in the wilderness through Henri Nouwen’s suggested practices of contemplative prayer, forgiveness, and theological reflection. Belonging in the Wilderness lays bare the tension between our vulnerable humanity… our desire to simply be, without hustling for worthiness or trying to fit in… and our longing fo...

God’s Love is in plain sight all around us, yet it seems so obscure. We may feel orphaned from homes where we once experienced spiritual vitality. Coercion and condemnation have left us on the streets looking for a better way. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ first words are, “What are you looking for?” and they’re followed by an invitation to “come and see.” We aren’t given certainty or a system to sell....

God’s Love is in plain sight all around us, yet it seems so obscure. We may feel orphaned from homes where we once experienced spiritual vitality. Coercion and condemnation have left us on the streets looking for a better way. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ first words are, “What are you looking for?” and they’re followed by an invitation to “come and see.” We aren’t given certainty or a system to sell....

God’s Love is in plain sight all around us, yet it seems so obscure. We may feel orphaned from homes where we once experienced spiritual vitality. Coercion and condemnation have left us on the streets looking for a better way. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ first words are, “What are you looking for?” and they’re followed by an invitation to “come and see.” We aren’t given certainty or a system to sell....

God’s Love is in plain sight all around us, yet it seems so obscure. We may feel orphaned from homes where we once experienced spiritual vitality. Coercion and condemnation have left us on the streets looking for a better way. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ first words are, “What are you looking for?” and they’re followed by an invitation to “come and see.” We aren’t given certainty or a system to sell....

God’s Love is in plain sight all around us, yet it seems so obscure. We may feel orphaned from homes where we once experienced spiritual vitality. Coercion and condemnation have left us on the streets looking for a better way. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ first words are, “What are you looking for?” and they’re followed by an invitation to “come and see.” We aren’t given certainty or a system to sell....

God’s Love is in plain sight all around us, yet it seems so obscure. We may feel orphaned from homes where we once experienced spiritual vitality. Coercion and condemnation have left us on the streets looking for a better way. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ first words are, “What are you looking for?” and they’re followed by an invitation to “come and see.” We aren’t given certainty or a system to sell....

God’s Love is in plain sight all around us, yet it seems so obscure. We may feel orphaned from homes where we once experienced spiritual vitality. Coercion and condemnation have left us on the streets looking for a better way. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ first words are, “What are you looking for?” and they’re followed by an invitation to “come and see.” We aren’t given certainty or a system to sell....

Whether conscious or unconscious, we often view much of our humanity in opposition to our spiritual life. We know our predilections to vices and addictions. We find ourselves making and breaking the same commitments or resolutions each year for change that remains elusive. We realize we are intensely engaged in the same argument or relational rut, as predictable as Black Friday sales. Yet Jesus’ a...