This podcast is the second (listen to Pt 1) of a special 2-part episode of RTN Theology features co-authors Soong-Chan Rah & Mark Charles talking about lament, imagination, history, politics, and a call to conciliation. Deeply theological thinkers, Charles and Rah, their partnership came about from repeatedly crossing paths speaking about the topics of the Doctrine of Discovery and lament. Currently Mark Charles is running for Presidency of the United States of America as an independent.

Each part of this conversation features wonderful new music from the Porter’s Gate Worship Project. Featured on RTN episode 16, the Wardells organized the writing, recording, and release of two short albums during the Covid-19 pandemic: Justice Songs (Sept 4) & Lament Songs (Sept 11).

Soong-Chan Rah (ThD, Duke Divinity School) is Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of Prophetic Lament, The Next Evangelicalism, and Many Colors, as well as coauthor of Unsettling Truths, Forgive Us, and Return to Justice, and coeditor of Honoring the Generations.

Mark Charles is a dynamic and thought-provoking public speaker, writer, and consultant. The son of an American woman (of Dutch heritage) and a Navajo man, he teaches with insight into the complexities of American history regarding race, culture, and faith in order to help forge a path of healing and conciliation for the nation. He is one of the leading authorities on the 15th-century’s Doctrine of Discovery and its influence on US history and its intersection with modern-day society.

Mark is an independent candidate for the US Presidency in the 2020 election. He is the author of the blog Reflections from the Hoganand was the Washington, DC, correspondent and columnist for Native News Online. He has served on the boards of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) and the Christian Reformed Church of North America. He and his family live in Washington, DC.

Featured music: Justice Songs by the Porter’s Gate Worship Project

For the past four years, The Porter’s Gate Worship project has been creating new worship resources for the church.  It has been our joy and privilege to collaborate with individuals from a wide background of church traditions and musical styles to write new music addressing the moment that we live in.

This year our churches are facing several profound challenges. Our people are grieving all kinds of losses and are looking in worship for ways to reflect their experiences. Our cities and communities are seeing in new ways the forms of sin and injustice that continue to harm our neighbors.

In this season we have been writing new songs on the themes of Lament and Justice. Over the course of this summer, we have actually produced two new records of music for churches that specifically speak to the year 2020.

The music is all recorded and we intend to release both songs and sheet music in September and October. But we still need funds to complete video production and to be able to hire artists and liturgists to create additional worship resources to accompany these songs.

Website | Spotify | Other Platforms

Episode theme music:

The Old Ark’s A-Movin’ by A.A. Gray & the Seven Foot Dilly

Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Chris Breslin.

Episode produced by Bob Crawford, Chris Breslin, & Liz Vice.

Episode hosted by Chris Breslin..

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #16 w/Porter’s Gate Music

RTN Theology #21 w/Esau McCaulley

RTN Theology #30 w/D.L. Mayfield

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

This podcast is the first of a special 2-part episode of RTN Theology features co-authors Soong-Chan Rah & Mark Charles talking about lament, imagination, history, politics, and a call to conciliation. Deeply theological thinkers, Charles and Rah, their partnership came about from repeatedly crossing paths speaking about the topics of the Doctrine of Discovery and lament. Currently Mark Charles is running for Presidency of the United States of America as an independent.

Each part of this conversation features wonderful new music from the Porter’s Gate Worship Project. Featured on RTN episode 16, the Wardells organized the writing, recording, and release of two short albums during the Covid-19 pandemic: Justice Songs (Sept 4) & Lament Songs (Sept 11).

Soong-Chan Rah (ThD, Duke Divinity School) is Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of Prophetic Lament, The Next Evangelicalism, and Many Colors, as well as coauthor of Unsettling Truths, Forgive Us, and Return to Justice, and coeditor of Honoring the Generations.

Mark Charles is a dynamic and thought-provoking public speaker, writer, and consultant. The son of an American woman (of Dutch heritage) and a Navajo man, he teaches with insight into the complexities of American history regarding race, culture, and faith in order to help forge a path of healing and conciliation for the nation. He is one of the leading authorities on the 15th-century’s Doctrine of Discovery and its influence on US history and its intersection with modern-day society.

Mark is an independent candidate for the US Presidency in the 2020 election. He is the author of the blog Reflections from the Hoganand was the Washington, DC, correspondent and columnist for Native News Online. He has served on the boards of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) and the Christian Reformed Church of North America. He and his family live in Washington, DC.

Featured music: Justice Songs by the Porter’s Gate Worship Project

For the past four years, The Porter’s Gate Worship project has been creating new worship resources for the church.  It has been our joy and privilege to collaborate with individuals from a wide background of church traditions and musical styles to write new music addressing the moment that we live in.

This year our churches are facing several profound challenges. Our people are grieving all kinds of losses and are looking in worship for ways to reflect their experiences. Our cities and communities are seeing in new ways the forms of sin and injustice that continue to harm our neighbors.

In this season we have been writing new songs on the themes of Lament and Justice. Over the course of this summer, we have actually produced two new records of music for churches that specifically speak to the year 2020.

The music is all recorded and we intend to release both songs and sheet music in September and October. But we still need funds to complete video production and to be able to hire artists and liturgists to create additional worship resources to accompany these songs.

Website | Spotify | Other Platforms

Episode theme music:

The Old Ark’s A-Movin’ by A.A. Gray & the Seven Foot Dilly

Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Chris Breslin.

Episode produced by Bob Crawford, Chris Breslin, & Liz Vice.

Episode hosted by Chris Breslin..

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #16 w/Porter’s Gate Music

RTN Theology #21 w/Esau McCaulley

RTN Theology #30 w/D.L. Mayfield

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

Bob joins Bishop Gene Robinson, the chaplain of the Chautauqua Institution for a special talk about his life of faith as a professional musician, father, and friend. Their remarkable CHQ Assembly conversation comes during such a difficult time for so many, and remembers how his faith in Jesus grew amidst the crisis of his daughter, Hallie’s, brain tumor and treatment. Bishop Robinson brings pastoral sensibility and keen spiritual insight. Featured music comes from Winston-Salem’s The Pharaoh Sisters and their album Civil Dawn.

About Chautauqua Institution: Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue. CHQ Assembly is the online expression of Chautauqua Institution's mission.

Featured music comes from the Pharaoh Sisters. The American folk tradition is flush with heritage, oral history, and collaboration. Seated in the foothills of Appalachia, The Pharaoh Sisters– Austin Pfeiffer, Jared Meyer, Kevin Beck, John Ray. are related to no one, are beneficiaries of no tradition, and no one asked us to carry on anything. Aloof and uninvited, we press on. Guitar driven with poignant lyrics, our music takes cues from the mountain, old-time, and Gospel traditions, but with contemporary twists. Their debut album, Civil Dawn, began recording in August of 2018. This album is the result of much sweat and tears.

Spotify | Bandcamp

Episode theme music: The Old Ark’s A-Movin’ by A.A. Gray & the Seven Foot Dilly

Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Chris Breslin.

Episode produced by Bob Crawford & Chris Breslin, with audio courtesy of CHQ Assembly.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #5 w/Kate Bowler

RTN Theology #7 on the Life of Walter B. Jones

RTN Theology #15 w/Richella Parham

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

RTN Theology #30 features two longtime Portlanders— D.L. Mayfield and Liz Vice (little known fact: before she was a gospel and R&B star she worked on Portlandia!). D.L. Mayfield is the author of "The Myth of the American Dream"(IVP, 2020). Liz and Danielle reflect on their own experiences of Portland's virtues and vices, and how protest might just be the mode of worship we all need right now.  The sacred music collective, Common Hymnal, provides our soundtrack for the episode.

Also by D.L. Mayfield:

Assimilate or Go Home: Notes from a Failed Missionary on Rediscovering Faith (2016)

Featured music comes from the collective, Common Hymnal. This world is full of believers whose voices are not being heard because they do not fit into mainstream Christian culture. Therefore, the emergence of the spiritual underground, which is buzzing with new life and innovation as a random network of misfits find each other, and a much needed place of safety.

These past few years, Common Hymnal has anticipated the future of this as-yet-uncoalesced movement by building an online library for the exchange of songs, stories and ideas. In the process, we have become a connecting point for creatives in this space. Not only are we on the hunt for hidden treasure, but, from time to time, we host content creation camps. Ultimately, we share the ‘gems’ we are finding via our website, our socials, the various streaming platforms and a monthly newsletter. A recurring theme: worship with a social conscience.

Website | Spotify | Youtube | Apple Podcasts

Episode theme music: The Old Ark’s A-Movin’ by A.A. Gray & the Seven Foot Dilly

Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Chris Breslin.

Episode produced & hosted by Liz Vice & Chris Breslin.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #20 w/Amy Peterson

RTN Theology #28 w/Micah Bournes & Liz Vice

RTN Theology #29 w/Natalie Carnes & James K.A. Smith

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

RTN Theology #29 features two theologians who’ve both recently written brilliant books about 4th Century North African Bishop and theologian St. Augustine: Natalie Carnes (Baylor) & previous guest, James K.A. Smith (Calvin). This wide-ranging and luminous conversation spotlights Dr. Carnes’ new book, Motherhood: A Confession (Stanford UP) and branches out to talk about her previous writing on iconoclasm and monuments, justice, memory, and parenting during COVID-19. Paul Zach (featuring Liz Vice) provides our soundtrack with songs from his EP, God is the Friend of Silence.

Related books by Natalie Carnes:

Motherhood: A Confession (SUP, 2020)

Image and Presence: A Christological Reflection on Iconoclasm and Iconophilia (SUP, 2017)

Beauty: A Theological Engagement with Gregory of Nyssa (Cascade, 2014)

Related books by James K.A. Smith:

On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts (Brazos, 2019)

You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit (Brazos, 2016)

Desiring the Kingdom (Cultural Liturgies I) (Baker Academic, 2009)

Featured music: Paul Zach is a songwriter/composer with Paul Zach Music, The Porters Gate Music Project, The Silver Pages, & Redeemer Anglican.

Website | Spotify | Bandcamp

Episode theme music: The Old Ark’s A-Movin’ by A.A. Gray & the Seven Foot Dilly

Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Chris Breslin.

Episode produced & hosted by Bob Crawford & Chris Breslin.

Many thanks to Rachel Breslin & Melanie Crawford who help make quiet time and space for these conversations possible.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #11 w/Stanley Hauerwas

RTN Theology #13 w/Jennifer Craft

RTN Theology #19 w/James K.A. Smith

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

This podcast is the second of a special 2-part episode of RTN Theology features guest host Liz Vice and spoken word artist Micah Bournes talking faith, art, and activism (hear Part 1 here). Liz and Micah have collaborated on each’s albums, including Micah’s most recent record, A Time Like This. This wide-ranging conversation between two brilliant artist of faith was too good to cut short, so we kept the tape running and turned it into a two-part episode.

Micah Bournes (pronounced born-ay) is a creative man of faith in Long Beach, CA. In addition to performing poetry and music, he speaks and teaches on creative writing, pursuing justice, and the way of Jesus. In partnership with World Relief and The Justice Conference, Micah has been able to share his passions and gifts worldwide.

Liz Vice has always had a love for storytelling. The Portland native who currently resides in Brooklyn, started her career working behind the scenes in the world of film and video, only to accidentally find herself behind the mic. Liz Vice’s sound is a fusion of Gospel and R&B, with dynamic and soulful vocals, and lyrics, deeply rooted in spirituality, that give her work a timeless feel.

For the past several years, Vice’s music and live performances have put her on the map as an artist to watch. She has been praised and featured by Oregon Public Broadcasts’ One Song, NPR’s World Cafe, Mountain Stage, eTown, NPR’s Weekend Edition, Relevant Magazine, and more. Vice has also been a featured artist in Portland for such events as Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, Moon River, Forecastle, Portland Soundcheck, Soul’d Out Music Festival, Siren Nation Music Festival, Music on Main Street and more. 

Featured music & spoken word: Micah Bournes

Released in 2018, A Time Like This still feels like it was written for exactly a time like we’re currently experiencing. Micah wrote an 80 page companion commentary on his blog. In his words:

“I hope this tool will start conversations, spark personal growth, and inspire communal action. Please read this commentary with an open mind and heart. I challenge us all to re-examine some of our oldest and firmest beliefs. I pray our blind spots are revealed and our commitment to living just lives before God and neighbor becomes even greater.”

A longtime spoken word poet, Micah Bournes is set to release his first collection of his own written poems, Here Comes This Dreamer (available for pre-order).

Spotify | Bandcamp | Youtube

Episode theme music:

The Old Ark’s A-Movin’ by A.A. Gray & the Seven Foot Dilly

Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Gary Fletcher.

Episode produced by Bob Crawford & Chris Breslin.

Episode hosted by Liz Vice.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #12 w/C. Christopher Smith, Will Acuff, & the Kingdom Sessions

RTN Theology #20 w/Amy Peterson

RTN Theology #24 w/Kelley Nikondeha

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

This podcast is the first of a special 2-part episode of RTN Theology features guest host Liz Vice and spoken word artist Micah Bournes talking faith, art, and activism. Liz and Micah have collaborated on each’s albums, including Micah’s most recent record, A Time Like This. This wide-ranging conversation between two brilliant artist of faith was too good to cut short, so we kept the tape running and turned it into a two-part episode.

Micah Bournes (pronounced born-ay) is a creative man of faith in Long Beach, CA. In addition to performing poetry and music, he speaks and teaches on creative writing, pursuing justice, and the way of Jesus. In partnership with World Relief and The Justice Conference, Micah has been able to share his passions and gifts worldwide.

Liz Vice has always had a love for storytelling. The Portland native who currently resides in Brooklyn, started her career working behind the scenes in the world of film and video, only to accidentally find herself behind the mic. Liz Vice’s sound is a fusion of Gospel and R&B, with dynamic and soulful vocals, and lyrics, deeply rooted in spirituality, that give her work a   timeless feel.

For the past several years, Vice’s music and live performances have put her on the map as an artist to watch. She has been praised and featured by Oregon Public Broadcasts’ One Song, NPR’s World Cafe, Mountain Stage, eTown, NPR’s Weekend Edition, Relevant Magazine, and more. Vice has also been a featured artist in Portland for such events as Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, Moon River, Forecastle, Portland Soundcheck, Soul’d Out Music Festival, Siren Nation Music Festival, Music on Main Street and more. 

Featured music & spoken word: Micah Bournes

Released in 2018, A Time Like This still feels like it was written for exactly a time like we’re currently experiencing. Micah wrote an 80 page companion commentary on his blog. In his words:

“I hope this tool will start conversations, spark personal growth, and inspire communal action. Please read this commentary with an open mind and heart. I challenge us all to re-examine some of our oldest and firmest beliefs. I pray our blind spots are revealed and our commitment to living just lives before God and neighbor becomes even greater.”

A longtime spoken word poet, Micah Bournes is set to release his first collection of his own written poems, Here Comes This Dreamer (available for pre-order).

Spotify | Bandcamp | Youtube

Episode theme music:

The Old Ark’s A-Movin’ by A.A. Gray & the Seven Foot Dilly

Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Gary Fletcher.

Episode produced by Bob Crawford & Chris Breslin.

Episode hosted by Liz Vice.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #9 w/Miguel de la Torre

RTN Theology #21 w/Esau McCaulley

RTN Theology #22 w/Jonathan Wilson-Hargrove on Ann Atwater

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

This special RTN Theology conversation features two renowned artists, Scott Avett and Makoto Fujimura, at the table to talk creativity, hope, artistic process, and faith in a time of pandemic. Scott Avett is a member of the Avett Brothers and a visual artist recently exhibited at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Makoto Fujimura is internationally known for his Nihonga works. He founded the International Arts Movement (IAM), leads the Fujimura Institute, and recently co-founded the Kintsugi Academy. His book, Art + Faith: A Theology of Making releases in January 2021 via Yale UP. Josh Garrels provides our soundtrack with songs from his newest release, Peace to All Who Enter Here.

Featured music: Josh Garrels

"peace to all who enter here" reads the brass plaque with rainbow 70s font at the entrance to our family garage-turned-maker-space. though initially intended to be a homeschool room, it has mostly been a prayer chapel, sewing studio, potting shed, conference room, mess hall, home office, craft room, candelit restaurant away from the kids, and most recently, recording studio.

in the month of march the world entered a time of quarantine. our life of work- and school-from home continued basically as usual. but beyond the boundaries of our yard, the world was rapidly shifting. instinctively for us, it was a time to pray & praise. when we enter into praise in times of uncertainty, we feel God's goodness, the everything in His hands. His peace is a real, sustaining thing. josh began these days by firelight in the garage, mornings of prayer while winter melted away into hopeful spring. in the afternoons he'd turn on the recording gear & sing out praises. you'll hear the click of the wood stove, the chirping of birds, our five children playing in the front yard. there was a spontaneity to this recording, & the result is sweet.

this project began as josh & a guitar, but then a virtual community joined in. so now there's a full band, all recorded independently, separately, while everyone sheltered in place in their own homes. what wild and beautiful times these are, the capabilities of modern time to make music together, apart. here's a collection of hymns, praise songs, & covers of friends' worship songs. we hope you encounter the peace of Christ as you enter here, finding hope & faith restored in these turbulent times. --michelle garrels

Spotify | Bandcamp

Episode theme music:

The Old Ark’s A-Movin’ by A.A. Gray & the Seven Foot Dilly

Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Gary Fletcher.

Episode produced & hosted by Bob Crawford & Chris Breslin.

Many thanks to Rachel Breslin & Melanie Crawford who help make quiet time and space for these conversations possible.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #5 w/Jeremy Begbie

RTN Theology #13 w/Jennifer Craft

RTN Theology #16 w/Porter’s Gate Project

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

RTN Theology #26 partners with the NC Study Center for a brilliant end-of-semester concert and conversation between Duke Divinity bible scholar Ellen Davis and Nashville songwriter Sandra McCracken. Director of Spiritual Formation, Bill Boyd guides a conversation around the hopeful resources of the Psalter in times of disorientation and displacement. (Apologies for some broken audio and the limitations of Zoom recording, some performances were augmented with studio recordings, all featured music is available for purchase and stream.)

Ellen F. Davis is Amos Ragan Kearns Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School.

The author of eleven books and many articles, her research interests focus on how biblical interpretation bears on the life of faith communities and their response to urgent public issues, particularly the ecological crisis and interfaith relations. Many of these themes were explored in her 2009 masterpiece Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible. Her most recent release, Opening Israel’s Scriptures, compiles lectures and essays from a career of teaching the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Her book Getting Involved With God is an accessible and devotional work hitting on many of the themes of the featured conversation.

 The NC Study Center is a home for students and faculty on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill and as a catalyst for Christian growth and personal flourishing. Explore their programing and contribute to their mission.

Featured music: Sandra McCracken’s prolific contributions as a songwriter, modern-day hymn writer, and record producer has brought grace and clarity to her soulful, folk-gospel sound. Whether in a theater or in a chapel, she is a dynamic performer who blurs the lines of what church music sounds like, captivating and inviting audiences to sing along. While many of her songs like “We Will Feast In The House Of Zion” and “Thy Mercy My God” have settled into regular rotation in Christian worship services internationally, she has also had songs recorded by All Sons And Daughters, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, Audrey Assad, A Rocha Compilation, Bifrost Arts, Caedmon’s Call and others. She is further a founding member of Indelible Grace Music and Rain For Roots (children’s music) and has been a guest writer for Art House America, She Reads Truth, The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, RELEVANT Magazine and more.

Spotify | Soundcloud

Episode theme music: Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Gary Fletcher.

Episode produced by Bob Crawford & Chris Breslin. Live event occurred April 28, 2020 via Zoom and was hosted by Bill Boyer & Lydia Silver.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #16 w/the Porter’s Gate Worship Project

RTN Theology #17 w/Kendall Vanderslice

RTN Theology #18 w/David Taylor

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

Everyone is working and worshipping at home these days and all of our social lives outside of our homes are mediated by technology. RTNT 25 enlists guest co-host John Jay Alvaro to join in on a conversation with author Jay Kim (Analog Church: Why We Need Real People, Places, and Things in the Digital Age, IVP 2020). about the ways we use technology to connect to each other and to God in this time of our widespread reliance. The Welcome Wagon provides our quarantime soundtrack.

Jay Y. Kim is pastor of teaching and leadership at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California. He also serves on the core leadership team of the ReGeneration Project and cohosts the ReGeneration Podcast. He lives in Silicon Valley with his wife and two children.

John Jay Alvaro is lead pastor of First Baptist Church, Pasadena, CA. He completed his graduate studies at Duke Divinity School and continues to study the intersection of religion and technology. He and his wife, Corrie, have two children and a dog. 

Featured music: The Welcome Wagon is a married couple, the Reverend Thomas Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique, who execute a genre of gospel music that is refreshingly plain. Their hymns are modest and melodic takes on a vast history of sacred song traditions, delivered with the simple desire to know their Maker—and to know each other—more intimately. The Welcome Wagon are frequent collaborators with Sufjan Stevens and artists included in the Porter’s Gate Worship Project (RTNT #16).

Spotify | Bandcamp

Episode theme music: Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Gary Fletcher.

Episode produced & hosted by Bob Crawford & Chris Breslin.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #5 w/Jeremy Begbie

RTN Theology #13 w/Jennifer Craft

RTN Theology #15 w/Richella Parham

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

Our Holy Week episode features author and liberation theologian Kelley Nikondeha. Not only do we get into her new book, Defiant: What the Women of Exodus Teach Us about Freedom (Eerdmans 2020), but also her previous book Adoption: The Sacrament of Belonging in a Fractured World. Kelley brings a ferocity and loving imagination to help us see and recover the stories of these “hidden figures” of liberation in the Exodus story. Her experience as both an adopted person and an adoptive mother, along with her marriage and work in Burundi, give her a keen vision for Christian scripture’s call towards justice, and God’s heart for those on the margins. Episode features Lenten and (new) Easter music by Austin church musician Mac Meador.

Kelley Nikondeha is a practical theologian shaped by education and experience, by rhetoric and theology, by the luminous beaches of the California coast and the vibrant rhythms of Burundian drummers. Evangelical, charismatic and liturgical expressions of church all give contour to her thinking, though her deepest influence might be that of the Catholic Church, her point of theological origin. It is under the wing of her Mother Church that she first learned of the Spirit and tasted the Eucharist, word and sacrament embedded into the folds of her being early.

Kelley earned a degree in Communication Studies at Westmont College and a Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. As co-founder of Amahoro Africa, she was curator for the theological conversations among our African and Western friends. At present she’s the co-director of Communities of Hope, a community development enterprise in Burundi and serves as the theologian-in-residence for SheLoves Magazine, a global community of women committed to God’s imperatives of love and justice in the world. 

Our interview mentions a recent post by Walter Brueggemann on God’s New Thing (Church Anew).

Featured music: Mac Meador is a church worship director and songwriter based in Austin, Texas. He grew up a few hours north in Fort Worth. Though he wrote music throughout his childhood, it wasn't until the later years of college that he began recording and compiling music to release. He largely draws from direct passages of scripture, or themes from church calendar seasons. His desire is to write honest music, engaging with the full spectrum of realities and emotions involved in the human relationship with God.

Bandcamp (release date for “The Age to Come” : 4/12/20)  |  Youtube

Episode theme music: Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Gary Fletcher.

Episode produced & hosted by Bob Crawford & Chris Breslin.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #17 w/Kendall Vanderslice

RTN Theology #20 w/Amy Peterson

RTN Theology #22 w/Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.

Community is on all of our minds during this time of social-distancing in order to help flatten the curve of the spread of coronavirus. Fittingly, Bob and Chris connect with the founders of Reality Ministries, a highly relational, Christ-centered community of persons with and without disabilities in Durham, NC. Jeff and Susan McSwain share the theological convictions which led to and have been gathered from the creation of a community of mutuality and presence. Episode features new communal worship music from the Meek Squad.

Jeff and Susan McSwain are the founders of Reality Ministries, in Durham, NC (founded 2007). Reality Ministries fosters friendships amongst people of all abilities marked by mutuality, authenticity and the reality of Christ’s love for all. 

Susan currently serves as the Executive Director. Jeff is the Theologian in Residence. He has published various articles and two books, Movements of Grace: The Dynamic Christo-Realism of Barth, Bonhoeffer and the Torrances (2010), and most recently ‘Simul’ Sanctification: Barth’s Hidden Vision for Human Transformation (2018).

Keen to stay at the interface between systematic theology and practical ministry, in the last ten years Jeff and Susan have helped plant a new church and launch the North Street Neighborhood, an intentional community (17 houses) near downtown Durham where people of various abilities share life together.

Our interview mentions an article Chris wrote years ago about the beginnings of the North Street Community. Please consider supporting Reality Ministries financially during this tough time.

Featured music: The Meek Squad consists of Sloan Meek, Suvya Carroll, and Lee Anderson (of Look Homeward, featured on RTNT 15). This highly collaborative musical product grows out of the creative soil of worship, prayer, and community of Reality Ministries and the North Street Community. The album is produced by Daniel Levi Goans (of Lowland Hum, featured on RTNT 13), and engineered by Jeff Crawford (of Arbor Ridge Studios, featured in RTNT 5 and RTNT 14).

Bandcamp (release date: 3/27/20)

Episode theme music: Jesus Said by David Childers

Episode edited by Gary Fletcher.

Episode produced & hosted by Bob Crawford & Chris Breslin.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy these similar RTN Theology episodes:

RTN Theology #11 w/Stanley Hauerwas

RTN Theology #14 w/Music from the Gathering Church

RTNT Theology #16 w/ the Porter’s Gate Worship Project

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend and consider giving us a favorable rating and review on iTunes.

Discover other new music that has been featured on RTN Theology by exploring our regularly updated Spotify playlist. Consider supporting these indie artists.