The Loft LA - Progressive Christianity in Podcast Form

Jesus' spiritual path is centered on love, and we embody love through actions that aim to ease the suffering and promote the flourishing of all life. Throughout his ministry Jesus shows us that compassion begs for embodiment and that compassionate actions are contagious. www. TheLoftLA.org

Jesus' way of radical compassion is, in fact, radical. In his parables on forgiveness and love, he encourages his followers to forgive those who have wronged them as many as seventy-seven times and to love their enemies! Given our polarized society, is this kind of compassion possible or even practical? www. TheLoftLA.org

Jesus' path of radical compassion is not limited to grounding ourselves in the truth of our belovedness and recovering our compassionate core. In its truest form, compassion always moves us to compassionate care towards others. As we see in the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, compassion for others can break boundaries, dismantle stereotypes, heal, and transform both others and ourselves. www. TheLof...

Compassion can be misunderstood as mere tenderness or sentimentality. Self-compassion moves us to ask ourselves, "What do I need to help alleviate my suffering?" The answer to this question changes depending on the circumstances. Sometimes, we need to rest in our belovedness. At other times, when we need to protect or provide for ourselves and our loved ones, self-compassion can be fierce. We find...

The speeches of Dough Emhoff, President Barack Obama, and Gov. Tim Walls gave us a very different portrayal of masculinity and, unsurprisingly, raised the alarm of some Christian conservatives. In this episode, we discuss what progressive Christian masculinity can look like, and we critique the toxic masculinity of "biblical patriarchy." The books we mentioned in the podcast were: The Making of Bi...

The cultivation of compassion is a process of recovery—of retrieving the compassionate instinct that has become buried and obscured, either in the moment or over time. In this way, self-compassion, personal restoration, and healing are essential components of Jesus' spiritual path of compassion. Our tradition teaches that every human being is created in the image of God, and thus, God's compassion...

The persuasive power of the Black Church tradition has been center stage during the first two days of the Democratic National Convention. The speeches of Senator Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock and Michelle and Barack Obama found their footing in the black preaching tradition. In this episode we discuss the connections between the Black Church tradition and progressive politics.  The Loft Conversations p...

The cultivation of compassion is a process of recovery—of retrieving the compassionate instinct that has become buried and obscured, either in the moment or over time. In this way, self-compassion, personal restoration, and healing are essential components of Jesus' spiritual path of compassion. Our tradition teaches that every human being is created in the image of God, and thus, God's compassion...

Jesus' spiritual path of compassion invites us to stay grounded in the truth of our belovedness. But all too often we become disconnected from this truth and forget. In moments of stress, anxiety, or loneliness we can even begin to think that perhaps we aren't worthy of being loved. However, Jesus invites us to remember who we are and whose we are so that we can reground ourselves in the sacred So...

The Loft Conversations podcast has now become The Progressive Christians Podcast - and has its own podcast feed. So please subscribe to the new feed to keep up with the latest progressive theological discourse. The show will continue to appear in The Loft Gathering feed for a few weeks. Has Western Christianity weaponized marriage and made those who are single, especially women, feel as though the...

To practice a Christianity that models itself after Jesus' teachings is to follow a spiritual path of transformative compassion. Indeed, compassion was fundamental to Jesus' ministry and the primary lens through which he engaged his community. What might this compassion look like today? How might compassion transform our relationship to the Sacred, to our communities, and ourselves? www. TheLoftLA...

This Sunday, Dr. Kyle Brooks leads us in an exploration of Ephesians 3:14-21, with emphasis on the 20th verse–which speaks to how God's power within us enables us to do more than we can ask or imagine. Rev. Dr. Brooks, a native of Detroit, MI, serves as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. His work broadly explores the communicative con...

We are pleased to welcome Rev. Blair Trygstad Stowe back to the Loft, to lead us further into a conversation about what evangelism can look like in our tradition and community. (Spoiler: Our conversation will lead to the communion table, because we believe in the abundance of grace.) Rev. Blair Trygstad Stowe is an ordained elder in the Cal Pac Annual Conference of the UMC. Rev. Blair has served a...

Believe it or not, there is a business story in the Bible. It's about this small business that got $0 in revenue one night…until something happened and revenue went through the roof. Let's be honest about work, money, and success for a little bit – the way that Jesus might want us to be for a Sunday morning. James Kang is the co-founder of PASTORIA – something that he calls The Regenerative Innova...

We're continuing our summer series of guest speakers and are excited to welcome Rev. Blair Trygstad-Stowe to The Loft. www. TheLoftLA.org

We are pleased to welcome Rev. Kevin Kim Wright back to The Loft, to speak from the center on this last Sunday in Pride Month. An ordained United Methodist pastor, Rev. Kevin serves as Chief of Staff for the Point Foundation here in Los Angeles. In conversation with a double story of healing from the Gospel of Mark, he invites us to consider the ways we are invited to step out of powerlessness and...

We are pleased to welcome Rev. Dr. Kyle Eugene Brooks as our guest preacher in the Loft. Rev. Dr. Brooks, a native of Detroit, MI, serves as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. His work broadly explores the communicative conditions of religion, politics, and black expressive cultures. In his teaching, his courses reflect his wide-rangi...

Everest Harvey and Rev. Molly Vetter - In listening to the lives and stories of Trans siblings, we understand more about God, who exists beyond the boundaries of our categories. www. TheLoftLA.org

As Christians, we are called to love our enemies and to practice nonviolent resistance. But is this commandment impractical or even dangerous for Christians who want to stand against the evils of "christian" nationalism? We are taking a two month break while Dr. Carter is on research leave to work on his forthcoming book project. Loft Conversations will return in August. As we map out our series f...

As we begin Pride month, we open a conversation about why LGBTQ+ inclusion matters to our faith. Although loud voices might try to claim otherwise, Christian theologies build a compelling case for our call to celebrate diversities in sexual orientation and gender identity. www. TheLoftLA.org

Far too many progressive Christian churches are defined by what they don't believe. How might centering our conversation on what we do believe strengthen our religious communities?

Jesus' way of nonviolent resistance and love of enemies is often dismissed as impractical and idealistic. To be sure, the persuasive power of the myth of redemptive violence is dependent upon our belief that our enemies are not worthy of love. However, if our enemies are lovable and we choose not to love them then we are morally culpable for our failure to love. It is no wonder then, that Jesus ta...

At their best, Christian communities should reflect the vision laid out in Acts 2, collectively sharing our gifts, tragedies, joys, and resilience. However, we have struggled to live up to or into this vision of a peaceful Christian community. Why? Peace requires repair, and for our churches to become an oasis of peace, we must learn how to work through the obstacles that divide us so that we can...

The protests to the war in Gaza taking place on college campuses around the world remind us that students are often the conscious of our society. In part 2 of our episode discussing the war in Gaza, we focus on what is happening in Westwood California, where our church and the Univeristy of California, Los Angeles is located.

The suffering and violence that is taking place in Gaza is unconscionable. According to the United Nations, at least 34,560 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 77,765 injured; nearly all of the 600,000 children now sheltering in the southern border city of Rafah are injured, sick, or malnourished. In part 1 of our episode discussing the war, we examine Rev. Dr. Carter's suggestion that non-v...