Humanize Me

It's here! For all of you who have been waiting patiently to see the documentary film Leaving My Father's Faith – capturing Bart's conversation with his dad Tony Campolo on the subject of his leaving Christianity – the film is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video and Vimeo On Demand. This episode is a chat between Bart, Tony via phone and John Wright, the director of the new film. They reflect on the release of the film, what it captures, reactions to it, and how they feel it portrays them and their interactions on this touchy but important subject.

Daniel Bogard is a Jewish rabbi who’s passionate about building bridges across faith and cultural borders. He’s also a deep thinking, warm feeling, easy talking person with whom Bart has a terrific conversation about, well… a whole bunch of stuff.

Jennifer Wright-Berryman is a suicidologist in the School of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati and is currently the lead researcher for a peer-to-peer, school-based program called Hope Squad. Jennifer is an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati and has a PHD in Social Work from the University of Indiana.

Ryan Bell is a former pastor who became an atheist after spending a year without God as an experiment. He started and hosts the popular blog and podcast Life After God and is now both the National Organizing Manager for the Secular Student Alliance, as well as the new Humanist Chaplain at the University of Southern California, a position that Bart held before moving back to Cincinnati.

What does a real apology look like? What is the difference between remorse and regret? Between saying sorry and asking for forgiveness? Bart talks about how to make an authentic apology and shares some stories from his own life that have shaped his own apologies.

Ryan Meeks is the founding pastor of EastLake Community Church outside of Seattle, Washington. A couple of years ago, EastLake became one of the first evangelical megachurches in America to support full inclusion and affirmation of LGBTQ+ people. In the process, Ryan also transitioned out of evangelicalism. The fallout was huge but still hundreds stayed.

Sammy Rangel is a transformed man: a former far-right extremist who had a powerful change in his life and is now the Executive Director of Life After Hate, a nonprofit that works with ‘radicalized' individuals in extremist movements and assists them in leaving the movements and reforming their lives (among other things).

How do men take the natural thoughts and urges they have and channel them appropriately? How do men grapple with their nature, while remaining safe and steadfast for the women in their lives?

Bart tells a story from his days as a Christian evangelist after having been to a storytelling workshop. In this episode he talks about storytelling as one of the most powerful tools that we have, and which binds us together as a tribe.

Bart checks in from Cincinnati, his old neighborhood made new again. Catch up on current happenings, future plans and more.