Makers & Mystics

I recently traveled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where I participated in the 2024 Square Halo Conference: Return To Narnia: Creativity, Collaboration and Community. As part of the event, I hosted a live podcast recording on the topic of creativity and community.  Joining me for this conversation is graphic designer, children’s book illustrator, author, and printmaker, Ned Bustard. Ned is the creative director at Square Halo Books and co-author of my book Naming The Animals. Joining us alongside of Ned, is author and community leader, Brian Brown. Brian is the founder and director of the Anselm Society, a Colorado-based organization dedicated to a renaissance of the Christian imagination. In our conversation, we address the questions, why does community matter to the artist and what are its challenges? How can we foster healthier relationships between artists and communities of faith and how can we move beyond the impact of social disruption into new experiences of communal life.  Patrons of the podcast can enjoy my live discussion from Square Halo on The Mischief of God In Art—Exploring Subversive Themes in Scripture and Creative Practice:Visit Patreon.com/makersandmystics to learn more. Send us a textSupport the show

This week's episode is a collaboration with Lisa Smith of the Be. Make. Do. Podcast! We are flipping the mic around for this one and inviting fellow podcaster, Lisa Smith to ask MM host, Stephen Roach a few questions about the importance of community in the life of the artist and why gathering together now is such an important part of our creative work and the process of healing from social isolation. You can learn more about Lisa’s community of artists at soulmakers.org or see the show notes of this episode. In just a few weeks Lisa and several of the artists from her community will be joining us at The Breath and The Clay creative arts gathering to host a workshop on Curating Wholeness: Building A purposeful world through Art. Join the Makers and Mystics Creative CollectiveSend us a textSupport the show

Author, speaker, and songwriter Amanda Held Opelt discusses the art of lament and communal grief for healing. She shares insights from her book 'Holy Unhappiness' and explores the role of ritual and storytelling in processing pain. The conversation touches on embracing differences, communal grieving rituals, and the importance of honoring community through art and embodiment.

As we prepare for The Breath & The Clay creative arts gathering, I’m going to be highlighting several of the speakers and performers who’ll be joining us at the event.  For today’s episode I reached into the archives and pulled a segment of my conversation with BC24 headliners, Elephant Heart. Elephant Heart is the Los Angeles-based electronic duo Jason and Victoria Evigan.  Elephant Heart’s music Is Rooted in their shared passion for international travels, world beats and global cultures Elephant Heart creates genre-bending music that pulls multicultural influences from far and wide.This segment of Season 7’s conversation carries a meaningful contribution to our current season’s theme of community and culture. In this clip, Victoria and Jason share about the healing power of music and its ability to bring people together, the beauty of cultural diversity as well as a candid look into Victoria’s own process of moving past fear into the fullness of her creative expression.  You can listen back to the full episode here. Send us a textSupport the show

Relationships form the heartbeat of community life. The way we interact, the way we understand one another and hold space for the differences between us determines the quality and depth of our societies.Our guest today is relationship expert and author Christa Hardin. Christa is host of the popular Enneagram and Marriage podcast. She has been working with and researching marriage for two decades, providing hope for couples who are struggling to find their light, love, and mission together in any season of relationship.In this conversation, Christa unpacks some of the ways she has helped couples foster a deeper understanding of one another through utilizing the Enneagram and her years of research and practice. She shares about our social instinct and how we can move toward finding common ground with those who may see life a bit differently than ourselves. Christa offers ways to cultivate health in our most intimate relationships and how these same dynamics can translate to a larger, cultural level.Join us at The Breath and The ClayBecome A Patron!More About Christa: Christa Hardin, MA is a relationship expert, author, as well as host of the popular Enneagram & Marriage Podcast. Christa has been working with and researching marriage for two decades, providing hope for couples who are struggling to find their light, love, and mission together in any season of relationship. Her most recent Amazon best-selling title, "The Enneagram in Marriage: Your Guide to Thriving Together in Your Unique Pairing," is now available wherever you buy books. You can catch up with her at @enneagramandmarriage on Instagram, Substack at "Of Light and Joy". You can find her website, blog, and Enneagram & Marriage podcast links at www.enneagramandmarriage.comMusic in this episode by Some Were At SeaSend us a textSupport the show

Kaleb Moten is a singer, songwriter, composer, music producer, and musician, dedicated to revealing beauty and meaning, and liberating other artists to do the same.Kaleb has released four studio albums to date and is currently producing two more. In addition to his solo work, Kaleb also works as a music producer, with credits for artists such as Victory Boyd and Abbie Gamboa.In this episode, Kaleb shares one of the foundational encounters that shaped him as an experimental, musician, as well as his journey of developing a vocabulary to encapsulate some of the deeper experiences of his music and life.In keeping with this season’s theme of community and culture, Kaleb shares about the impact of leaning into particular expressions of art not only as an individual but what happens when an entire movement of people collectively express the same heart.Learn more about The Breath and The Clay Send us a textSupport the show

This cultural moment may be one of history’s most interesting times to find home among a community of likeminded people with whom we identify. On the one hand we are more connected than we ever have been (thank you internet) and yet at the same time, people feel more disconnected than ever before. Isolation and loneliness have become an epidemic. So much so, in May of 2023, the surgeon general put out a statement calling isolation and loneliness a public health crisis. In this introductory episode, podcast host Stephen Roach sets the stage for this season’s conversations and discusses how the artist can respond to the need for community and become an agent of healing for our culture.Build community with us at The Breath and The Clay March 22-24 in Winston Salem, NCGo deeper into these conversations with our online community Music by: Some Were At Sea Send us a textSupport the show

Community is a vital component to our mental, emotional and spiritual health as well as a formative influence on our creative work.Throughout history, artists have gathered together with other artists for mutual support, inspiration and the sharing of ideas. Despite the overarching digital landscape of our present day, the need for gathering together is no less important. In fact, it could be argued that it is all the more important so we do not lose touch with what it means to be human, to look another person in the eyes and share our stories around a common table. Community creates an ecosystem of trusted voices who can appreciate and critique our work, contribute to our artistic growth and create a sense of belonging. And it is within the womb of creative community where seeds of culture begin to germinate. Creative community contributes to and challenges the larger cultural values, upholds traditions or gives a platform to needed voices of change. Establishing creative/spiritual community facilitates shared experiences and creates a safe place to explore new concepts in art and deeper explorations of theology. The artist’s role in shaping culture cannot be overstated. Percy Shelley wrote that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Therefore as artists of faith or those responsible for leading faith communities, if we care about where our culture is headed, we need to take seriously our responsibility to nurture the artist’s voice in our midst. Starting Tuesday January 30th, we’ll begin a short series of conversations on how creativity, community and culture give shape to the life of the artist. We'll be featuring many of the voices who will be performing or presenting with us at The Breath and the Clay gathering.Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to follow along and if you want to take a deeper dive into these topics, you can sign up at Patreon.com/makersandmystics and participate in our regular online community discussions. The Breath & the Clay Join our Patreon. Show some love. Help keep the lights on. Send us a textSupport the show

In this season finale episode, podcast host, Stephen Roach shares how desire informs our sense of self and how the practice of detachment can help us navigate the journey from a false self to embracing our true identity as the beloved of God.Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary is offering a Doctor of Ministry degree in The Arts, Ministry, and Mission as a part of a new initiative in theology, the arts, and gospel witness. Follow this link to learn more and apply.Join the Makers & Mystics Creative collectiveSend us a textSupport the show

One of the core markers of a person’s identity are the beliefs they hold to be true. A person’s faith becomes a fixed point from which they view and understand the world. But what happens when those beliefs are shaken? Or what happens when a person is confronted with a difficult truth that collides with or even contradicts their view of the world?Our guest today is storyteller and best-selling author of Returning to Eden: A Field Guide for the Spiritual Journey, Heather Hamilton. In this episode, Heather shares what it was like to undergo a nervous breakdown and a subsequent mystical experience that re-ordered her understanding of the universe.GET TICKETS TO THE BREATH AND THE CLAYSUPPORT THE PODCASTSend us a textSupport the show