Makers & Mystics

Bette Dickinson is a visual artist, writer, and speaker who invites audiences to connect with God through visual parables of the spiritual journey. Through creative communication, she helps her audience awaken to the beauty of God and His Kingdom and see more clearly the eternal realm in the heart and in the world. Through her work, Dickinson helps her audience connect the inner life of spiritual formation with the outer life of mission.Bette earned her Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in Pastoral Studies, is ordained in the Reformed Church in America, and serves with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Spiritual Formation.In this special bonus episode, Bette shares about her new book, Making Rood in Advent: 25 Devotions for a Season of Wonder (IVP, 2022). Bette will be hosting an online “Visio Divina” with the Makers & Mystics collective on Sunday, November 27th at 8 pm EST. Register to attend here. Music in this episode is provided by: Caroline Cobb.If you'd like a deeper experience with this Advent meditation, Bette is offering an audio guided Visio Divina practice of one of the paintings from her book. Text "WONDER" to 55444 and follow the prompts. You can get the image of the painting and audio guide in your inbox.Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

YOUNG OCEANS is a neo-alternative worship project that evolved from a gathering of musicians, re-imagining hymns in a New York City apartment. Untethered from the expectations of a traditional congregational format, these artful re-renderings gave birth to a sound that is at once familiar and refreshingly innovative. The musical ethos of Young Oceans emerged as more a companion to reflective prayer and meditation than to a typical church experience. In this episode, Stephen Roach talks with Young Oceans founder and songwriter, Eric Marshall about his latest project, Subjects In Motion. This full-length album features an all-star line up of artists such as Amanda Cook, Josh Garrels, Molly Pardon, Liz Vice, John Mark Pantana and many others, each singing new versions of previously released Young Ocean Songs.Patrons of the podcast can enjoy further discussions with Young Oceans on motivations in art making, radical individualism and collaboration. SUBMIT YOUR POEMS to The Bright Wings Poetry Contest (Deadline November 25th 2022) Support The Podcast! Join our Creative Collective on Patreon. Sponsor: Brightbell Creative: Meaningful Marketing For The Creative Artist.Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

The Welcome Wagon is a musical duo comprised of married couple, Vito and Monique Aiuto. heir musical style is steeped in sacred song traditions presented with minimalist Alt-Folk sensibilities. Their musical journey began with Asthmatic Kitty Records in 2008 with the debut album, Welcome To The Welcome Wagon produced by Sufjan Stevens. In this bonus, album drop episode, Vito and Monique share with me about the creative process behind the making of their latest release, Esther. *Patrons of the podcast can enjoy an additional interview segment with The Welcome Wagon on balancing art and family. See Monique’s Art. Music Video For Matthew 7:7Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Blaine hogan is a writer, film and creative director and actor. He is the former creative director for Willow Creek Community Church and is currently a full-time filmmaker living in Atlanta, Georgia. His recent memoir titled Exit The Cave: Embracing A Life of Courage, Creativity and Radical Imagination is a brutally honest recounting of his struggle with addiction and the unexpected gift of hitting rock bottom. In this episode, Blaine and I talk about his background as an actor, the relationship between creativity and his journey of recovery and the ongoing process of finding wholeness. Patrons of the podcast can enjoy additional interview segments. Submit your poems to the BRIGHT WINGS poetry contest for a chance to appear on the Makers & Mystics podcast and publication in Ekstasis Magazine. Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Michael Hayes is the founder and director of Umoja Health, Wellness, and Justice Collective. He is a visionary agent of change who has found powerful ways to infuse the art of storytelling and the science of resilience into opportunities for healing and recovery. He is the author of the HOPE module (Healing Our Past/Personal Experiences,) a Certified Peer Support Specialist, a Wellness Recovery Action Plan facilitator and a Reconnect for Resilience Skills Educator. Michael is also the founder of the Urban Arts Institute and continues to provide opportunities for healing and growth in the arts. In this episode Michael and I discuss resiliency and the role of the arts in healing from past traumas as well as our collaborative work with the Institution of Regenerative Design and Innovation’s Seed Project.Submissions to the Bright Wings Poetry Contest are now open until November 25th. Winner receives a cash prize plus publication in Ekstasis magazine and opportunity to read the winning poem on an episode of Makers and Mystics. To learn more about and follow the progress of the NC Solutions Tour's SEED projects please visit IRDI’s Patreon here: Please consider supporting the campaign here: Join our Creative CollectiveSend us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Malcolm Guite is an English poet, academic and priest in the Church of England. He is a fellow of Girton College in the University of Cambridge and has published widely in the field of theology and literature. His research interests include the intersection of religion and the arts and the examination of the works of J.R.R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In this episode Malcolm and I discuss what I’ve termed as the poetics of restoration and how poetry and literature hold keys to understanding and even bridging the gaps between tradition and originality. Patrons of the podcast can enjoy three additional interview segments with Malcolm, one on the moral imagination (which members of our creative collective will recall from discussions in our last book club.) also Malcolm’s thoughts on imagination as empathy, and practices to can we establish to achieve longevity for the artist and writer.  Bright Wings Poetry Contest! Support The Podcast. Get The Exclusive Content. Brightbell Creative: Meaningful Marketing For The Creative ArtistSend us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Rachel Marie Kang is a New York native, born and raised just outside New York City. She is an author, poet and founder of The Fallow House online creative community.  Her writing has been featured in Christianity Today, Proverbs 31 Ministries, and (in)courage. A mixed woman of African American, Native American (Ramapough Lenape Nation), Irish, and Dutch descent, she is a graduate of Alliance College with a Bachelor of Arts in English with Creative Writing and a minor in Bible. In this episode, Rachel and I discuss her book, Let There Be Art: The Pleasure and Purpose of Unleashing the Creativity Within You. In keeping our season ten theme of Restoration for the heart of the artist, Rachel and I discuss what it is like to create in the space between life and death, joy and grief and how creativity can serve as a bridge between the two poles. Support The Podcast! Thank you!Connect with Rachel Brightbell Creative: Meaningful Marketing For the Creative Artist. Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Strahan is a writer, award-winning folk musician and spiritual director from Aotearoa, New Zealand. He founded Commoners Communion in 2017 to explore what it means to become a deeply prayerful people in our times. Since then, he has written three prayer books offering poetic prayers, contemplations and reflections to help readers deepen their communion with God.Today, Strahan runs spiritual retreats, Online Prayer Schools and is currently working on his first non-fiction book titled, 'Beholding: Deepening Our Experience in God' which invites the reader to give up consumer Christianity for a more beautiful life of seeing and being seen by God. (‘Beholding’ releases early 2023 with David C Cook publishing.)In this episode, Stephen talks with Strahan about contemplative practice, abiding in the space between polarities and finding opportunities for beauty throughout prolonged seasons of suffering. *Patrons of the podcast can enjoy an additional conversation with Strahan on the relationship between the contemplative and the charismatic. Sponsor: Brightbell Creative - Creating Meaningful Marketing for The Creative Artist. Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Jess Ray is a singer-songwriter-and music producer from Raleigh, North Carolina. Her particular musical brand, has been  affectionately dubbed “friendly folk,” and is an enchanting blend of indie pop vibes and lyric-driven sensibility. Jess’ decade-long musical journey has weaved in and out of Christian spaces, mainstream circles, from house concerts to historic venues like the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN and from solo shows to sharing the stage with her heroes. Her music, much like herself, occupies two worlds effortlessly. Intensely spiritual yet deeply real, her songs soar with joy and hope without ignoring the reality of our human struggle.In this episode I talk with Jess about her new album born again and the creative process behind the songs.In keeping with season ten’s theme of restoration for the heart of the artist, Jess and I discuss also how her experience with deconstruction and the prospect of reconstruction impacted her songwriting and how she found “a place to land” even amidst the tensions of unresolve. Patrons of the podcast can enjoy and unedited version of this conversation at patreon.com/makersandmystics Wonder film co. Support The Podcast! Receive exclusive content and access to our online community events. Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Lore Ferguson Wilbert is a writer, thinker, learner, and author of the book, A Curious Faith. She writes for She Reads Truth, Christianity Today, and more, as well as her own site, Sayable.net. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @lorewilbert. She lives in New York and has a husband named Nate, a puppy named Harper Nelle, and too many books to read in one lifetime.In this episode, I talk with Lore about the importance of asking the hard questions and the necessity of cultivating a curious heart in both the creative space and in the spiritual. Support The Podcast (We can’t do this without you!) Join our creative collective and gain access to tons of extra content and other inspiring curiosities. Listen to our Artist Profile on Rilke (We mention this episode in our discussion.)Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.