Bridges Over Walls

Relationships can be tricky between any two people, regardless of their backgrounds. Any time two people come in contact with each other, they bring together very different sets expectations, norms, and experiences. Some walls between people are the walls we create through our actions and choices - but sometimes the walls were built long before either person was even born. They were built by the generations before us - our forefathers and foremothers - and continue to remain an obstacle between people today.One of these walls is the history and politics of race. For centuries in the land that would become the United States, race-based slavery was a legal and accepted practice. And even after slavery ended officially, it wasn’t until about 60 years ago that racial discrimination was made illegal thanks to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The scars created by slavery, racial abuse, and discrimination remain with us today, and as Christians many of us are left to wrestle with the question, “How would Jesus want us to wrestle with this legacy of trauma?”In the Bible, when a person or group of people had sinned, we see that God called them to repentance. One way God did this was to call individuals to repent. In the story of Zaccheus we see a man recognize the harm he had caused others and change his behavior, doing all he could to pay people back for the wrong he had done them. But we also see examples of entire groups of people repenting and changing together. In the book of Jonah, the entire city of Ninevah realizes that they have been wrong, and everyone from the King himself down to the poorest person apologizes for their behavior and they change their ways. What can we learn from these powerful stories, and how might those stories apply to us today in the United States?Early in her adult life, Sarah Sanderson found herself wrestling with these questions. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a white police officer in 2020, she found herself once again exploring her role as a Christian woman and a white American citizen, and she discovered that members of her own family had been part of enforcing racism just outside of the town she still lived in through Oregon’s Black exclusion laws in the 1800s, which stated that no Black person was allowed to enter or live in Oregon. Sarah published her findings and experience in a book called “The Place We Make,” which challenges white Americans to reckon with their history, repent of the ways they still benefit from that history, and to work toward a more just and honest future alongside the people around them.

When you hear the word “Ministry” what do you think of?I know for myself, ministry used to mean telling other people about what I believed. In my early understanding, ministry was informational - it was leading Bible studies and passing out literature and preaching sermons. Ministry meant defending my faith well and having better arguments about topics like creation, lifestyle choices, and salvation than the other people around me. What I didn’t learn until later is that perhaps the most powerful form of ministry isn’t informational - it’s incarnational. We learn a whole lot more from watching how other people live their lives than we do from what they say to us. It’s how we learn whether to trust someone. It’s how we decide whether we want to listen to the things they say in the first place. Incarnational ministry is all about embodying the character of Jesus and introducing the world to Him through our actions.As a former local church pastor who now works as a hospital chaplain, Emily Cortez has been learning incarnational ministry for the past several years. When people are experiencing some of the most vulnerable parts of their lives in the hospital, what does it mean to minister to them?

As time moves forward, our society has changed faster and faster each year. The past century of life on earth has seen some of the most monumental shifts in how humans interact with each other and the world around them. Technology has advanced at lightning speed, and there have been incredible shifts in our traditions, our laws, and even how we communicate with one another. While some of these changes can be scary, humanity has also made incredible advancements in life saving medical practices and wrestled with how to become more humane in how we treat one another. We’ve learned to question the missteps of the people who came before us and, although the process continues to be a messy one, more and more people seem to be struggling toward a future where people look out for each other regardless of our differences.For generations growing up in this rapidly advancing world, church can feel like an artifact from another time. And in a society where questions and curiosity are held up as important values, there is an increasing tension between the rising generations and anywhere that feels unwilling to grow and change. This is one major reason why young people disconnect from organized religion in their early adult years.Conversations around the youth exodus often focus on why young people leave church - but what if there’s more to that story? What if young people today are being pushed out of church when that isn’t really what they wanted? What if, in our desire to reject worldliness and sin, we’ve instead rejected people who simply wanted to understand God and the world around them more deeply? What if church has become a place that no longer fosters growing personal relationships with God and our neighbor, and what if that tension is the beginning of the end for curious people?As a kid, Jessie Correa was heavily involved in his church. He even spent many years dreaming of becoming a pastor. But as he grew older, several personal experiences caused him to question his place in church. What can we learn from stories like Jessie’s?

Growing up in church can be… complicated. For some people, church provides a safe community where they can grow, socialize, and find a personal relationship with God that lasts throughout the rest of their lives. For others, growing up in church can be incredibly traumatic experience that they spend years trying to recover from. There are about as many individual experiences in church as there are people, but over the past decades the church’s struggle to keep young people engaged has grown from a concerning topic of conversation to a full blown crisis.To put it more plainly, young people today are having a far harder time connecting with organized religion than the generations before them.A lot of time and money has been invested in studying this separation. And people who study it have recommended all sorts of solutions - from changing the style of the worship music to pushing more Bible studies and church services. One article published in 2022 suggested that there is a direct link between how often families have worship at home together and how likely their children will be to stay involved in church. I remember reading that article and thinking, “This doesn’t reflect my experience at all.” For most of the people I grew up with, their reasons for disconnecting had a lot more to do with what they found in church, Christian schools, and their home lives than anything else. Their unanswered questions and disappointments in Christian culture remain topics of conversation even when we talk to each other today.Is the answer more family worships, more chapel services, and more prayer meetings? Or is It something else?For this episode, I decided to ask one of my high school classmates about her experience. Krystal Nolasco grew up heavily involved in church. She was the kid you’d see doing special music and staying late with her family on Saturday afternoons for more worship services. She joined Christian clubs and memorized Bible verses in Sabbath school class, and attended the same Seventh-day Adventist high school I did.Although our paths have taken some different directions, Krystal remains a close friend in my life today and someone I greatly respect - and I think a lot of her story can challenge the conversations we have around young people, church, and the walls we’ve built between them.

If anything has become the new normal these past years, it's chaos. Whether it's the global chaos of political upheaval, natural disasters, and economic shifts or the more personal seasons of chaos we face in our own lives, it can be hard to feel a sense of stability in today's world.Whatever the causes may be, in times of chaos humanity shares one thing: we're drawn to structure. And few things offer structure as consistently as religion. Religious traditions and norms can be a stabilizing force, but there's a danger in clinging too tightly to the rules and traditions. When we prioritize structure over principles, we can risk losing sight of the God those rules and traditions are meant to point to.In this episode we’re talking with Jon Holland, who formerly served as a pastor and now lives in the greater Portland area with his family. Jon’s journey over the past several years has led him through a long process of questioning, growth, and a deeper sense of faith in a God that meets us wherever we are.

Bridges Over Walls returns for a long awaited second season! Katelyn Weakley, MDiv, MSW, joins the show to cut straight to the heart of so many interpersonal walls. In this episode, we're talking about trauma.It's no secret that trauma dramatically shapes how we view the world - whether it's interpersonal, cultural, or religious. For many Christians, church spaces can be complicated. They can be both a source of healing and a significant source of struggle. In this episode we explore how trauma affects us physically, socially, and spiritually - and how each of us can grow in how we relate to other suffering people.Whether you're navigating frustrations with the Christians in your life or just hoping to better understand how to connect with others on a deeper level, this episode is for you.Welcome back to Bridges Over Walls!

Season 2 of Bridges Over Walls is coming at the beginning of 2025! In this bonus episode, our production team takes you inside the show - exploring what we learned making our first season, what we hope to achieve in Season 2, and the challenges we've faced along the way.You'll hear from:Kaleb Eisele, producer & hostMitchell Kessler, producer & editorJonathan Russell, general producerWe can't wait to share our next season with you soon!

Dr. Seth Pierce, from Beast & Bible, discusses Christianity's use of fear and its impact on faith and interactions. Topics include historical fears, fear-driven churches, distortion of reality, social media influence, and fostering positive change in church communities.

Mayor Michael Milch of Gladstone, Oregon, joins Bridges Over Walls for an episode exploring the relationship between churches and the local community.Are our evangelistic efforts, our service projects, and our relationships to our neighbors really making the impact we think they are? How does the local community think about your church? We explore all that and more in this episode of Bridges Over Walls!

Exploring the painful legacy of Christianity on indigenous communities in the United States. Cultural sensitivity in ministry and the challenges of bringing together Christianity and indigenous culture. The role of apology and repentance on an individual and societal level. Building resilience and tenacity in cross-cultural relationships.