Coffeepot Fellowship Podcast

Irene DeMaris referenced everything from Genesis and Matthew to Donald Trump and abortion. Tying a bow on recent discernment and graduation from Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry Irene is available for hire! She is serious about ministry, discernment and faith without losing her happiness and joy. Personal mission statement: She is a public and highly practical theologian rooted in social justice that is fueled by grace to be an ally, advocate, and agitator who walks with others as they recognize and grasp their God-given agency.  Mic drop.

Come enjoy Baptist Theological Seminary of Richmond professor of ethics and theology Beth Newman's personal stories.  They are interwoven with a theme of 'unity in the Church' because today is the 499th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. As a Baptist professor at St. Mary's Catholic College in Indiana Dr. Newman truly lived a 12 year struggle embodied in a special participation in The Lord's Supper during her last baccalaureate mass. How would this Protestant be received by her Catholic students and the Bishop when she went forward during communion? Is this her biggest blunder story or her happiest ministry moment story? We'll let her tell her own stories on the podcast.

Rev. Katy Cuthill Steinberg is the pastor of a creative church plant in Florida called Missing Peace. She studied at Columbia Theological Seminary, The University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, and The University of Florida. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Katy previously served as the Children's Minister at Port Orange Presbyterian Church. Katy's ministry with Missing Peace will give you ideas about church and ministry as well as challenge your thinking about faith and who God is, perhaps especially where God is.

In her words, Jory Micah is, "a Christian, an evangelist, and a feminist, in that order." You can find her online with @BreakingTheGlassSteeple and tag her with #BreakingTheGlassSteeple. This girly-girl professor, writer, speaker enjoys setting the world on fire with her words for Jesus and social justice, especially for women and girls. She recently secured a book deal and lives near Pittsburgh with her husband, Luke, and their six pound chihuahua, Noella. This episode was sponsored by United Faith Leaders at unitedfaithleaders.com.

A Jew and a Gentile Walk into a Bar ... Mitzvah, that's the name of the podcast hosted by Charles Bretan (The Jew) and Chris Henson (The Gentile). Their friendship has developed because of shared interests in God, cigars, humor and mental health. Read their blog - surf their galleries - swim in their web pages - they are living out rough, messy, unpolished lives engaged with God's Word. "The struggle is real," as people say, and yet, so is the love.

The Coffeepot Fellowship is happy to further introduce the supremely kind and intelligent Marina Ghaly. Marina is a 2nd year student at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond. She's taken classes at Liberty University and says, "I love Jesus, I love music, I love the Middle East and I love sports." Get the Marina experience right here.

My guest today is not Amy Butler, the senior pastor at The Riverside Church in NYC. This episode is unusual because I'd like you to hear from a guest who is not here. The time I'd like you to spend with Amy Butler today will, true to our Coffeepot Fellowship tradition, involve her sharing personal stories and, also true to our tradition, it will be a short podcast episode on the Faith Foward Podcast. The gateway to the Amy Butler episode is on the show notes page at http://coffeepotfellowship.com/withoutamybutler.

Elle Dowd is a founding member of the #decolonizelutheranism movement. She is a wife and mother. Elle also recently transitioned from being the Youth Missioner for the Diocese of Missouri to being a first year student at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Rev. Tom Baynham Jr. brought his kind, gregarious personality back to Richmond. Now catch what's news today, right here on Tom's first full interview on The Coffeepot Fellowship Podcast. He had been on a previous show of mine but it was before he finished his masters in Sacred Music and Hymnody at Boston University's School of Theology. Tom is just as engaged in life and the world but has taken his "game to the next level." 

You may know Frank Schaeffer for his most recent book, New York Times best seller Why I'm an Atheist Who Believes in God: How to Give Love, Create Beauty and Find Peace or as the subject of the 2016 movie Let Me Be Frank. You may also know him as the heir apparent to influential fundamentalist, evangelical parents Francis and Edith Schaeffer. When Frank was on board with the hellfire and brimstone preaching circuit Jerry Falwell lent his plane to Frank. Listen to find out why Frank got off the plane, so to speak? 

Rev. Yolanda Norton is an professor of Old Testament at San Francisco Theological Seminary.  She previously worked as an faculty member in biblical Hebrew at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C.  She is also working towards her PhD in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel at Vanderbilt University.  Her research focuses on Genesis and Ruth, and the ways in which insider-outsider paradigms in Scripture influence constructions of identity. Enjoy.

Jonathan Zur is the President and CEO of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC). Jonathan was a finalist for the Richmond Times Dispatch’s 2015 Person of the Year, and he was named one of Richmond’s “Top 40 Under 40″ in 2009. He has been a facilitator and consultant on issues of inclusion and diversity nationally, internationally and statewide.

Greg Keeler works at WSKG in Binghamton New York, my home town. Greg loves singing and directing choirs. I actually met Greg when I was in high school and he was my choir director at West Presbyterian Church!  Greg blessed me with his love of music and love of directing.  We haven't connected for over 25 years so you will hear some friendly catching up throughout this podcast.

Reverend Chris Davies is studying as a doctoral student at Andover Newton Theological Seminary in Massachusetts.  She works for the United Church of Christ at the national level as an ordained UCC Coordinator of Congregational Assessment Support and Advancement.  She is also spearheading an endeavor called The Queer Clergy Trading Cards.  Self identifying as white, queer, high fem, Chris explains how her self-identity and queer theology work together to shape her ministry.

Winnie Varghese is the Priest for Justice and Reconciliation at Trinity Wall Street.   She has been on staff at St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery and Episcopal Campus Ministry at Columbia University. She's studied at Union Theological Seminary in NYC and Southern Methodist University in Dallas.  She has lived in Dallas, Los Angeles, and now New York! Some of Winnie's shared stories spring from her parent's roots in Kerala, South India. Enjoy.

Rev. Jordan Ware (aka "Mother Ware") is a Yale Divinity School graduate. She now lives in Fort Worth, Texas where she has served for three years at All Saints' Episcopal Church. Jordan is married to an elementary school teacher and has a retired greyhound dog - not a bus - named Thor. As of today(!) you can pre-order her book! Check it out at coffeepotfellowship.com!

Most of you know that in addition to having a full time job and hosting The Coffeepot Fellowship Podcast I am the Executive Director of another ministry called United Faith Leaders. United Faith Leaders often sponsors episodes of The Coffeepot Fellowship Podcast. Some people have assume that the guests on the podcast are the paying members of United Faith Leaders. What they have in common is the aspiration to expand humanity’s understanding of itself, faith and God. This episode of the podcast, if you haven’t figured it out already, is an aboration. So if you are here to meet a new guest, I apologize and you may skip this bonus episode. This is more of an audible blog post, beginning now. United Faith Leaders is clearly about unity. It’s about faith leaders coming together and serving everyone in the world. It’s about bearing God’s love to every soul in every dark corner of the world. It’s about bringing the light of love into every single heart. It’s about solidarity. It’s about making love manifest for ever

I am a thirty-something writer and facilitator who schemes ideas for better belonging. I want to live in Seattle when I grow up, but these days I’m putting down roots in Durham, NC. I call myself a Jesus follower, and a feminist too. I work remotely for the Center for Courage & Renewal to develop programs that deepen the leadership formation of people of faith and support healthy congregational life. Locally, I am a board member of the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South and belong to a United Methodist church.

This is an abbreviated bonus episode with Rev. Tom Baynham.

Dr. Jacqui Lewis is Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village of Manhattan in New York, NY. Middle Church is a dynamic 900-member multiracial, multicultural, inclusive congregation in which everyone is welcome just as they are as they come through the door. Jacqui is also the Executive Director of The Middle Project, an institute that prepares ethical leaders for a more just society. Jacqui is an author, speaker, activist, spouse and more. This episode was recorded live at The Wild Goose Festival with an introduction by Russ Jennings.