Vox Veniae Podcast

What has been your experience of (non)hierarchy in faith communities? At the beginning of our Fall vision series, Gena St. David interrogates our relationship to power and experience of hierarchy in light of a nonviolent messiah who embodied humility.  [Philippians 2:5-8]   Reflection What are the strengths and shadows of hierarchy? How might I practice embracing myself, and others? Do I tend to overutilize or underutilize my power?  Resources Podcast: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill by Christianity Today Book: When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community from Emotional and Spiritual Abuse by Chuck DeGroat Book: A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture by Scot McKnight & Laura Barringer

How do you work through your expired dreams? On the eve of our Fall vision series, Christopher Mack ponders how setbacks, dead ends, failure, and loss shape our spirituality. How might we see ourselves and one another with new eyes of hope, imagination, and solidarity for the journey ahead?  [Exodus 3:1-15]   Reflection How have you been shaped by expired dreams? How might you cultivate humble awareness to see the unexpected in the ordinary? Where are you trying on your own, where you might need to invite others in? Resources Book: Does God Have a Big Toe? Written by Marc Gellman and illustrated by Oscar de Miejo Song: Defying Gravity by Stephen Schwartz from Wicked: A New Musical Article: The Ghosts of Archer City by Michael J Mooney  

How do we show mercy to our bodies as God does? Gena St. David juxtaposes a living sacrifice with the death dealing ways we often do violence to our bodies. She explores how showing mercy, as God does, to our bodies through gentleness, rest, and healing is an act of worship. [Romans 12:1-2]   Reflection Where is God inviting me to try softer this week? What prevents me from resting when I need to? Whose help could I ask for in my healing process? Resources Book: Try Softer: A Fresh Approach to Move Us out of Anxiety, Stress, and Survival Mode--and into a Life of Connection and Joy by Aundi Kolber Book: Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey Book: My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies  by Resmaa Menakem

What would it look like for us to create more space at the table? Weylin Lee looks at an encounter between Jesus and the marginalized to consider how we move beyond our biases, prioritize mercy over convenience, and disrupt negative peace.  [Matthew 15:21-28]   Reflection How are you invited to decolonize your view of Christ and your faith? How might you offer a unique voice and story in our collective work of advocacy? What does a nonviolent response look like for you in response to someone else's violence? Resources Book: Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji & Anthony G. Greenwald Book: Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm by Kazu Haga

What hope might you create space for in order to stay close to God’s promises? Virginia Cumberbatch opens up about audaciously holding on to hope through seasons of challenges, disappointments, and injustice.  [Psalm 105:1-5]   Reflection What would it look like to create space to reflect on the promises God has kept? How can the uncertainty or mystery of our human condition embolden us in our faith and purpose? What promises have you dismissed or declared obsolete that God might be calling you to resurrect and reclaim? Resources Book: Joy Hunter by Alexis Jones Book: Shoutin’ In the Fire: An American Epistle by Danté Stewart

How might we respond when we feel powerless, unsupported, and at a loss for words? Christopher Mack points to the Apostle Paul’s understanding of Spirit crying out with us for compassion and renewal.   [Romans 8:26-32]   Reflection How do you handle moments when you find yourself speechless? How can we continue to bear witness as God’s subversive global family? Resources Book: Romans Disarmed by Sylvia Keesmaat & Brian Walsh Art: Wintered Field by Jason Yarmosky Book: Roman for Normal People by J.R. Daniel Kirk

What might it mean to have a nonviolent relationship with the rest of God’s creation? Gena St. David explores how the nonviolence of Jesus and the Apostle Paul’s hope that ‘creation itself might be set free’ could impact our relationship to all of creation. [Romans 8:20-25]   Note: Speaker Gena St David invites curiosity about how the nonviolent practice of Jesus applies to our food and environment, while acknowledging a diverse community like Vox is going to include multiple perspectives. Conversations about plant-based eating must include sensitivity to those recovering from disordered eating and those living with food insecurity or in food deserts. Our hope as a community is to continue to collaboratively explore multiple ways of practicing nonviolence with all of creation.   Reflection What can we do today to help creation be free? How is our pain like creation’s pain? What does a trusting relationship with creation look like? Resources Book: The Nonviolent Atonement by J Denny Weaver Book: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

How does reflecting on God’s abundance impact your willingness to consent to God’s movement in your life? Weylin Lee considers a parable of Jesus on growth. How might we reimagine our relationship to God’s abundance and how we expand our lives beyond ourselves?  [Matthew 13:1-9]   Reflection How might consenting to God’s abundance facilitate your growth? Where have you experienced growth even in rocky and thorny seasons? What are some ways we can be active beyond ourselves? Resource Poem: The Facts of Life by Pádraig Ó Tuama

What expectations, titles, and ideas have you been handed about Jesus? Nick Zadrozny approaches the gospel text with curiosity, playfulness, and insight. We find ourselves challenged as Jesus befriends people on the moral margins of society who make us feel uncomfortable.  [Matthew 11:16-19]   Reflection What have you been told about who Jesus is? What have you studied about who Jesus is? What expectations do you have about who Jesus is?

Have you ever had to push through discomfort to stand in your beliefs? On the last weekend of Pride, Amy Wolfgang recounts their own journey of integrating their faith with their queer identity. They challenge us to imagine and live into a hopeful and creative stance toward our collective future.   [Matthew 10:27-39]   Reflection Is there a hurtful or violent theology you are being invited to set aside for your healing journey? Where do you sense tension from being at the point of opposition or oppression for countering a violent system? How might we imagine justice-bringing as ‘one of the most pleasurable experiences’?   Resources Book: Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing World by Adrienne Maree Brown Vox Homily Practice and Resources