Spiritual Misfits Podcast

Hi friends, This week I was grateful to spend some time with Christine Redwood — now Dr Christine Redwood I should say, as she just completed a PhD which we explore in this conversation. Christine’s the lead pastor at Seaforth Baptist Church, and her research examined feminist readings of stories of women in the Old Testament book of Judges and how this might relate to women leading and preaching in the Church today. Fair warning, these are some graphic, R-rated Bible stories. And to hear some of the ways feminist scholars read them was super interesting. As our conversation progressed we got into some fascinating questions around God and gender pronouns, the Bible and its patriarchal context, and the dynamics of being part of a diverse movement (in this case Baptists) while outworking your convictions in a particular, local context. I got so much out of chatting with Christine, and I hope you will too. I think there’s a lot of gold here whether you are leading in an established church context or you’ve left mainstream church settings. I also think there’s so much here for you regardless of your gender. I’m a firm believer that when we talk about the place of women in the Bible, the Church, the pulpit etc — men, we need to show up to these conversations and actively listen. Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com

Hi friends, Hannah joins me (Will) again for this week's podcast! And we cover a lot of ground in this chat.In this episode we speak a fair bit about recent events within the evangelical church that you may or may not be familiar with. We do our best to give context, but if we accidentally assumed some ‘insider knowledge’ anywhere I apologise for that. There are links below to a number of the individuals and situations we make reference to if you want to get more familiarised. Whilst we were reflecting on some specific recent events, we were also just grappling with what these are symptomatic of. This isn’t really intended to be a ‘hot take’, it’s really just our own attempt to process and make sense of some of the patterns and trends we see, that ought to give us all pause for thought. As we are discussing allegations of clergy abuse and imbalanced power dynamics in religious settings, you may want to proceed with caution if these have been lived realities of yours. As always, take care while listening, and reach out to someone for support if you need it. In this episode we make reference to the following people, situations and resources: Bruxy Cavey's sexual misconduct and The Meeting HouseDanielle Strickland and Jarrod McKenna's response (cited in the article above)Beth Moore and this series of tweetsBrian Houston's resignation from HillsongDan Koch, You Have Permission PodcastJesus and John Wayne, Kristin Kobe Du MezWant to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com

On this weeks episode we have a delightful and important conversation with the wonderful Joel Hollier. Joel is one clever fella with degrees in social work and theology, and a PhD in Behavioural Science. He’s also a co-paster of New City Church. Joel has a story to tell that many of us need to hear — about his journey of being a gay Christian, originally preaching that this required celibacy though through grappling with scripture and the holy spirit coming to be very ok with being married to another man and continuing to follow Jesus and minister as a pastor. In this episode we do talk about trauma and the psychological harm and abuse sexually and gender diverse people can experience in spiritual settings. If these are part of your story, this episode may bring things up. So be gentle with yourself, decide if listening is going to be helpful and reach out for support if you need it. If you are a church leader, and/or if you hold a traditionalist view in these matters, this may be a confronting listen for you, but listening is the very least we can do for our LGBTQI+ siblings - so please, can I encourage you, take the time and listen well — trying to place aside your judgments at the outset.Joel is a deeply gracious, kind and inspiring human. I think we can all learn from him. Here is our conversation. Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com

One of the most distressing experiences we can have is to be rejected or judged by our own tribe.Our need for belonging and connection is so strong, that it makes it incredibly difficult to ask a question or express a view that might cross a boundary and threaten our place in a community. This is the pain point of many spiritual misfits. We have a deep God-given need for community. We also have a deep God-given need to be authentic and honest. When these two things come into conflict we can find ourselves in a really dark place. There’s this moment in the gospel of Luke where Jesus is talking about how John the Baptist didn’t eat or drink and was accused of being demon possessed. And then Jesus himself, is accused of being a drunkard and a glutton because he’s constantly partying with the wrong people. Sometimes whether you take path A or B you’re still going to be misunderstood.I take great hope in this: if John the Baptist and Jesus had scathing critics from within their own tribe, and yet kept faithfully walking the path they felt called to — maybe we could do the same? My deep hope for you is that you would find genuine community and permission to be honest and authentic. I believe that’s what God invites us to participate in and to offer to others. But at certain points along the way you may need to seperate yourself from the judgments of others. You may need to remind yourself that their rejection does not equate to God’s rejection of you. I remember as a kid being taught that I was never alone because God was always with me, even if I was the only one in the room. That was a reassuring belief as a 5 year old. Now, in my 30s it still is. Here are a set of affirmations for when you find yourself misunderstood or rejected by your own tribe. You are not alone, and you have not been abandoned by God. Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com

Robyn van der Zee is a psychologist and counsellor who spends a significant amount of time helping people process experiences of spiritual abuse and trauma. As this is the case, we want to give you a heads up that if you have personally experienced these things you may want to take a moment to work out whether it’s helpful for you to continue listening. Robyn does offer some great words for survivors and we don’t go into any detailed situations — but we acknowledge this is sensitive territory. So if you need to listen with a safe person, or if you need to reach out to someone after listening please do. Or if you decide you’re not ready to listen to this conversation right now, that is totally fine. If you lead or help shape any church or organisation we strongly encourage you to sit with this conversation and consider how it might inform the way you approach these issues in your context. It is our hope that this episode could be a resource that is shared around to create greater awareness and prevent more harm. The Spiritual Misfits podcast is brought to you by Meeting Ground church. To find out more and sign-up to receive our weekly ‘Sunday Message’ email head to spiritualmisfits.com.auWant to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com

Will and Hannah have a fireside chat (of sorts) about why Hannah identifies as a spiritual misfit, and how her journey of following Jesus in (and out) of different contexts has unfolded over time. Sign-up for The Sunday Message mailing list at spiritualmisfits.com.au.Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com

You may have heard the phrase ‘dark night of the soul’, originally attributed to St. John of the Cross. A mystic and poet. This idea of darkness refers to the invisibility and unknowabilty of God and is often used to describe the moments that feel like a crisis of faith. When you don’t know what to make of things anymore. Maybe what was once easy to believe has become very difficult. Maybe what once held together feels like it’s falling apart.And if it’s a dark night of the soul, we can maintain hope that morning light will come. Things won’t always feel like this. But, how do we make it through the existential angst of those dark nights? I was speaking with my friend Rach about this a while ago, and she had started to write a list of affirmations to hold onto when the light felt dim. I immediately thought — these could really help other people. So you’re about to hear Rach share some of her affirmations. And I encourage you as you listen, to make a note of any that particularly resonate with you. You might want to choose one or two of these that you can memorise or write down somewhere, and hold onto it when you need to.  We’re going to release a few of these in coming weeks, themed around slightly different areas we might be struggling with. This first one, is about things we can affirm regarding how a loving God would see us - even when our faith feels frayed. Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com

It’s a natural and healthy part of development to ‘differentiate’ from your parents/carers. Even if you grew up in a safe, secure and loving environment there comes a point at which you begin to take ownership for your life, your values and your beliefs. As I reflect on the household I grew up in, I feel like my parents gave me two great gifts (among many others):1. They passed on their beliefs and practices for understanding the world.2. They cultivated a sense of permission to explore beyond the boundaries of these. Undoubtedly, my experience is partly reflective of being the 5th (out of 6) kids. By the time my folks got to me they’d had a decent amount of practice/levelling out. Either way, I have this strong sense that the capacity I feel that I have to honestly explore the doubts, questions and frustrations of faith, while maintaining a core belief that the centre of this Jesus tradition is goodness and love and liberation - I owe much of this to the generosity and flexibility of my folks’ faith. So, on a recent visit to their home I pulled out the mics, and convinced them to have a cup of tea and a chinwag with me about how their view of God has changed, expanded and been challenged over their lifetimes. If my generation is going to make it to our 60s with some form of robust, healthy Christian spirituality, we need role models like these. I hope you have them. If not, I hope this episode gives you a window into the ‘gentle renovations’ that can take place in healthy, life-long faith (befriended by doubt). Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com

This week, my friend showed me the rejection letters. Not from a publishing house rejecting a manuscript. Not from a university rejecting an enrolment. The letters are from the church she grew up  in. And their rejection is of her...This episode is a reading of a piece of writing from our Spiritual Misfits website. You can find it in its original written form at spiritualmisfits.com.au, or listen via this episode. Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com

We want to use this podcast feed to create conversations that spark your grey matter. But we also want to help you develop practices that connect your mind, body and heart with the sacred. With love. With Christ. So this episode is an invitation. Into some space. A moment — to breathe, to be still, to become centred. We’ll be making a few of these over time, that you can use whenever you want to. Try and listen somewhere free from as many distractions as possible.You may want to walk while you listen. Or perhaps you want to sit in a comfortable chair, and close your eyes.Are you ready? Note: there are two versions of this guided reflection. One with backing music and one without it. So you can trial both and use whichever one you find more helpful. Connect with more resources for spiritual misfits and sign up for our Sunday Message emails at spiritualmisfits.com.au Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com