Spiritual Misfits Podcast

Will Small, Joel Hollier, and Christine Redwood reflect on their experiences and insights from the inaugural Future Church Conference at the beginning of this year and look towards the next one on January 28, 2025. They discuss the importance of collaboration, the need for change within the church, and the significance of creating inclusive spaces for marginalized voices. They discuss trying to hold both optimism and grief in the current state of faith communities, as well as emphasising the necessity of organising for change and the value of small, local initiatives. Get a ticket for Future Church conference here (use code SPIRITUALMISFITS for $10 off): https://futurechurchcon.com/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

In this conversation, Tim Whitaker discusses the complexities of the recent political landscape in the U.S., particularly focusing on the impact of Trump and the role of Evangelicalism. He reflects on his personal journey and how The New Evangelicals began. The discussion highlights the challenges and contradictions within Evangelicalism and the need for a more progressive and compassionate approach to faith. Tim and Will then explore the complexities of community, identity, and faith in a digital age. They discuss the importance of grappling with one's heritage, the role of digital communities in fostering connections, and the challenges of finding embodied faith communities. The conversation also touches on the need for systemic change within the church, the discovery of new theological perspectives, and the motivation to resist harmful ideologies like Christian nationalism. Connect with The New Evangelicals here: https://www.thenewevangelicals.com/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

I presume many of you, like me, are feeling a deep swirl of emotions coming out of a week where we have witnessed the re-election of Trump. Honestly it feels so baffling to me that someone can so blatantly be a convicted felon, a misogynist, an authoritarian, completely void of compassion and empathy for vulnerable people…and with all this and so much more on full display and public record… still be worshipped and adored and actively chosen by a majority of voters. And one of the most disturbing realities is how many white Evangelical Christians unashamedly throw their support and indeed their votes behind this man. There’s a strong argument to be made that Evangelical support for Trump in 2016 has been one of the major catalysts for people deconstructing faith and leaving the institutional church. The #exvangelical movement can largely be traced back to that election.White Evangelicals aren’t solely responsible for Trump — and why he had such a clear majority of support in this election is beyond my ability or this podcast’s ability to answer. And yet, this disturbing confluence of politics and religion and the questions it raises has obviously been very real and personal for many of us. And so this week I actually wanted to replay an earlier podcast conversation from a couple years back now, with David Gushee (that I think remains very relevant).   David has been one of the voices that has helped me understand the history that led to what American Evangelicalism is today. He has also been a strong advocate for defending democracy — and my second of two interviews with him was discussing his book ‘Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies’. You may want to go back and listen to that though I understand if the wound feels too fresh right now (though of course the need to defend democracy only increases after this election result). But I actually wanted to revisit my first conversation with David, in which we mainly spoke about his book ‘After Evangelicalism’ which asks where do you go when you’ve seen the ugliest manifestations of Evangelical Christianity and want none of that…but you still want a faith that makes sense and approaches the world in ethical, compassionate, just ways? David speaks so well about this.I’m reminded this week — as I often am — that the most important choice is not between theism or atheism. Between religious or non-religious. Christian or not Christian. The choice is what kind of Christian will I be? What kind of human will I be? What kind of neighbour will I be? Evil arrives under the guise of many labels. So too does love. And when we fail to see love through the most powerful leaders in this world — we might want to throw our hands up in despair. Yet, I think it only becomes more essential that we choose the alternate reality — the truer reality — of self-giving love lived out in our lives and neighbourhoods 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

Tim Winton gave the Centre for Public Christianity’s 2024 Richard Johnson lecture. Will and his brother Joel went along. In this conversation they discuss Tim’s powerful words on toxic positivity, climate crisis, and the prophetic voices of young, environmental activists crying out for change. Read an excerpt from Tim’s lecture here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/27/if-fossil-fuel-dependency-is-a-global-addiction-climate-activists-are-prophets-trying-to-save-us-from-our-stupor?CMP=share_btn_url 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