Queer Theology

One thing we often hear is that people are so overwhelmed they can’t possibly start making changes or living their authentic life right now. But that is often EXACTLY the time to start! We’re not talking about doing something rash or unsafe, but taking one small first step. Sometimes you might not know what the next steps will be until you take that first step!    In this episode, we talk about how to notice if “not the right time” is “exactly the right time.” We got some questions to help you determine if now is the time to begin the move from surviving to thriving and we’re here to support you in all this. It can be scary to start, but it is SO worth it. We’re encouraging you to take that bold, brave, baby step into growth!    We put together a checklist of a few different exercises you could try out — that all take less than 5 minutes — and it’s available to Patreon supporters and Sanctuary Collective members. If you’re not already a member, you can sign up at Sanctuary Collective.    If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT   Photo by Andrea Piacquadio The post Moving From Surviving to Thriving appeared first on Queer Theology.

As we head into the new season we are reflecting and setting intentions for the fall. Maybe it’s the years we spent in school, but September just kinda always feels like the beginning of the year in a way!   This summer we hosted a bunch of amazing guests, we held the Queerness Every Day Challenge, and we kicked off a cohort of Flip Your Faith. One of the things that we continually notice is how often people feel they are alone. Alone in a journey, alone in deconstruction, alone in their questions. And when they find that they are not alone, that there are others going through a similar journey, it is a transformative experience of community building! So we encourage you to set some intentions with us and start something small that will lead to a much bigger goal or practice.    Add your name to our email list at queertheology.com  Have a question for us? Send a voicemail or text at (240)200-0922 Add your name to the waitlist for the next cohort of Flip Your Faith: queertheology.com/waitlist  Send us an email at connect@queertheology.com Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.    If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT   Photo by Ece AK from Pexels The post Start Small… but Start appeared first on Queer Theology.

For the final episode of our Summer Guest Series we are joined by Cindy Wang Brandt. Cindy describes herself as ‘someone who wants to find interesting things and do them’ and, as we found in this interview, she definitely does that and has so much wisdom from her experiences!   Cindy Wang Brandt is an author, podcaster, and speaker. She hosts conferences and communities that help parents heal from religious trauma to raise children with healthy spirituality.   We discuss how religious trauma shows up and how it can be defined. We unpack what it means to go forward with healthy spirituality and parent in a way that is not harmful. Cindy talks about deconstructing and setting boundaries after leaving the evangelical church and how that has made her a more gentle parent to the child within herself, and to her own children. We often get questions about parenting and it is a real pleasure to get some expert advice and wisdom from Cindy. This is for parents, the children of parents, and those who are thinking of the possibility of being a parent- everyone!   Resources: Website: https://cindywangbrandt.com/ Book: Parenting Forward, by Cindy Wang Brandt Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/parenting-forward/id1403686245 Parenting Forward online community: https://cindywangbrandt.com/  Substack: https://substack.com/@cindywangbrandt  Facebook Group: Raising Children Unfundamentalist   Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.    If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post Recovering from Religious Trauma with Cindy Wang Brandt appeared first on Queer Theology.

Candice Marie Benbow is on the podcast this week talking about growing up in the Black Baptist Church, Red Lip Theology, and the beauty of faith in marginalized folks.   Candice is a multi-genre theologian who situates her work at the intersections of beauty, faith, feminism and culture, giving voice to Black women’s shared experiences of healing and journeying toward wholeness. Reimagining how faith can be a tool of liberation and transformation for women and girls, she challenges Black women to think critically about how they see God, themselves and the world. She is the author of “Red Lip Theology: For Church Girls Who’ve Considered Tithing to the Beauty Supply Store When Sunday Morning Isn’t Enough”. Candice is all about seeing God as so much bigger than the small God we were taught. How some churches need better doctrine, need better theology, and to stop preaching a faith that continues divisions. Her messages about inclusivity and critical questions are inspiring and beautiful! Resources: “Red Lip Theology” by Candice Marie Benbow Social: Twitter: @CandiceBenbow, IG: instagram.com/candicebenbow Website: https://candicebenbow.com/ Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.   If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post Red Lip Theology with Candice Benbow appeared first on Queer Theology.

We are talking with Candace Simpson on this episode of our Guest Series about a God who gives a damn with no room for cheap, easy theology!  Candace (she/they) is a sister, educator and preacher. She went to Trinity College and Union Theological Seminary and served as site coordinator for the Concord Freedom School for several years. It is their joy to design immersive participatory experiences where people can “be responsible for their own learning.” She is one of the associate ministers at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, New York. Most recently, Minister Simpson served on a team of Faith and Justice Educators at a faith-based non-profit. She’s most interested in the possibilities (and limits) of Christian Education infrastructure as a form of political education. We are loving this conversation about finding queerness in the Bible and using that to connect with faith in really beautiful ways. Candace talks about what keeps them Christian, sleep as spiritual practice, and the existential anxiety that comes with facing a world that can’t seem to recognize how close the possibility is of heaven on Earth. In her words, “Heaven is a revolution that must begin here on Earth.” I mean.. SO MUCH YES!! Resources: Fish Sandwich Heaven website: https://www.fishsandwichheaven.com/  Website: https://faithandleadership.com/authors/candace-simpson Social: Instagram: @candycornball, Twitter: @CandyCornball Rev. Dr. Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes: https://www.gabbycudjoewilkes.com/about  Rev. Dr. Prathia Hall: https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Eden-Collected-Sermons-Prathia-ebook/dp/B09VJSJTJ7  Rev. Dr. Courtney Pace: https://bwim.info/this-is-what-a-minister-looks-like-courtney-pace/  Dr. James Hal Cone: https://liberationtheology.org/people-organizations/james-hal-cone-2/  Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.  If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post A God Who Gives A Damn with Candace Simpson appeared first on Queer Theology.

Bishop Karen Oliveto, the first openly lesbian bishop in the United Methodist Church, discusses her calling to ministry and the importance of staying vigilant in the face of injustice. She reflects on queer identity and progress, shares insights on love and personal growth, and emphasizes the need for churches to create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals. Additionally, she talks about cultivating joy and nurturing happiness through daily activities.

It. Is. HERE! Y’all, we are at our 500th podcast episode and it just so happens to also coincide with our 10 year anniversary of Queertheology.com! (a whole decade!! ) Over the last couple months we’ve been anticipating this as a pretty incredible milestone and we’re so excited to celebrate 500 episodes of queer joy, queer spirituality, and community! For this episode, we reflect on what life was like a decade ago, what it is like now, and our hopes for the next 10 years. We’ve got some of our friends joining us to share their experiences too, you might recognize some of their voices as past guests on the podcast. We hope you’ll join us in looking back at the progress we’ve made, celebrating where we are at, and joining us in the work that’ll shape the next decade! Join the online community Sanctuary Collective. If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post 10 Years and 500 Episodes appeared first on Queer Theology.

We’re so excited to invite y’all to join us for our Queerness Everyday Challenge! It’s a big ol’ celebration of queerness and the sacred, of community and finding more queer joy, of recognizing queerness in yourself whether you are just starting your journey or have been out and proud for a long time. We’re inviting EVERYONE to join in this fun challenge of finding more queerness between your faith life and spirituality. What are you waiting for? Join us!!   Join the Queerness Everyday Challenge: https://www.queertheology.com/challenge/    Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.    If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post Bonus Episode: Queerness Everyday Challenge appeared first on Queer Theology.

We have Kate Boyd as our guest this week for a conversation that will really resonate with folks who have seen contradictions between what was in the real world versus what was taught in church.  Kate is the author of “An Untidy Faith” and host of the Happy & Holy podcast. She helps weary and wounded Christians rebuild their relationship with Scripture and community and love God and their neighbors with their whole selves. She is currently pursuing a masters in theological studies with an emphasis in biblical studies at Perkins School of Theology.  We talk about making sense of your faith in light of questions and how important it is to ask questions and make space for questions. Kate, like many of us, were taught that the body doesn’t matter- only the soul matters. But what she has found is that the gospel is good news for our bodies and taking care of them is just as important as taking care of our souls.    Resources: Book: anuntidyfaith.com   Website: kateboyd.co Instagram: @kateboyd.co Twitter: @thekateboyd Untidy Faith Newsletter: kateboyd.co/newsletter Podcast: kateboyd.co/podcast   Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.  If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post An Untidy Faith with Kate Boyd appeared first on Queer Theology.

One prominent voice in the polyamory community is that of Kevin A. Patterson. Kevin is an active member of the Philadelphia polyamory community. He’s been practicing ethical nonmonogamy since 2002 after opening up a relationship that eventually became his marriage. He was inspired to start Poly Role Models, an interview series for people describing their experiences with polyamory and was part of a drive and a desire to change the way poly lives and communities are viewed. He has written both a non-fiction book, Love’s Not Color Blind, and fiction books that are a sci-fi novel series. Kevin shares how he came to be part of a polyamorous relationship and how that has enriched his life in more ways than he could have imagined. Storytelling is a big part of Kevin’s work and we discuss how it can open up a whole world for people who may feel isolated or marginalized in their experiences. Brian was thrilled to get the chance to sit down with one of HIS poly role models to talk more about the conversations around the polyamory community and the power of sharing those stories. Resources: Books by Kevin A Patterson: Love’s Not Colorblind, For Hire: Operator, For Hire: Audition. Website: https://www.kevinapatterson.com/ Social Media: IG: Poly Role Models, Twitter: @PolyRoleModels, Tumblr: polyrolemodels Dirty Lola: https://www.dirtylola.co/ Multiamory: https://www.multiamory.com/ Alicia Bunyan Sampson: https://www.aliciabunyansampson.com/ Cunning Minx podcast Polyamory Weekly   Join the online community Sanctuary Collective. If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post The Power of Polyamorous Stories with Kevin Patterson appeared first on Queer Theology.