With help from BLC’s Maria Santillan, we consider how, in the same way microaggressions reinforce systemic racism in America, spiritual microaggressions in church settings reinforce systemic marginalizing of people whose family or culture don’t pre-dispose them to understand or be able to navigate American churches. Our church considers this a fight for equity — for the important perspective of church outsiders, like Maria, to be valued in spiritual conversations.
Read MoreTouching on a theology of liberation, joy, and suffering that connects Jesus' cross to the lynching of Black Americans, BLC's Leicester Mitchell helps us see Jesus and the Gospel through the lived experience of a Black man in America today.
Read MoreVince and Kyle talk about why liberation theologies are what our country needs right now, why liberation theologies shine a clearer light on what is happening in Jesus on the Cross, and yet end with a surprisingly charitable view toward sin theologies.
Read MoreAs we try to centralize the perspectives of oppressed voices on God and faith, part of what we must do is de-centralize the voices that have been dominant. Kyle, one of our pastors, shares some turning points in his life learning about God and faith, which each saw him leave behind a "God of the Powerful" and move closer to a "God of the Oppressed".
Read MoreHow does our church’s ongoing equity work relate to another of our core values: emotionally healthy spirituality? Vince and Kyle discuss how defensiveness is more toxic than discomfort, how emotional health for those on the bottom of society is only made possible through equity, how an equitable society is better for the privileged too, how living in accordance with our values is awesome, and how Jesus changes the answer to the question, “what is the good life?”
Read MoreContinuing our “God of the Oppressed” discussions, we learn from BLC's Linda Kim about seeing God from the perspective of a second-generation immigrant, formed by the overlap of family and environment.
Read MoreTaking inspiration from last Sunday’s discussion learning about Latin-American views on Jesus as the God of the Oppressed, Kyle & Vince consider how white guys like them might more closely follow that God, and all the good that offers them in spite of the sacrifice that requires of them.
Read MoreIf you want to be able to fight injustice and experience hope, resilience, and joy in spite of it, you need a faith and a God that are acquainted with suffering and oppression. Continuing our series “God of the Oppressed”, we learned this week from BLC’s Barbara Cunningham about oppression and the God who responds to it from a Chilean perspective -- a story of dictatorship, political suppression, and being told what and how to think.
Read MoreCivil rights hero Fannie Lou Hamer said "Nobody's free until everybody's free." July 4th is meant to be a celebration of freedom, but freedom is not experienced by all equally in America, so we set aside this service to pray for change in our country, and for our church as we seek to do our part in that change.
Read MoreBLC’s old friend Joey Rodil joins Vince & Kyle to discuss more queer insights on God & faith, like the ability to love more readily, and seeing the parallel between Jesus speaking up for the marginalized and drag queens speaking up for the queer community.
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