Crazy Faith Talk

In this episode of our series looking at people who lived out their faith in various ways, colleagues in ministry Sarah, Natalie, and Steve explore the faith and legacy of Fred Rogers, beloved creator of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. We'll take a look at how his work in children's public television was a form of his ministry as an ordained Presbyterian pastor, as well a

As we continue a new series for 2025 on people who lived out their faith, colleagues in ministry Natalie, Sarah, and Steve explore the life and legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. From his life experience during and after the apartheid era in South Africa to his deep faith and accessible but profound theology, there is a great deal that the contemporary American church can learn fro

A new series is starting here on Crazy Faith Talk, as we take a look at different life stories who embodied their faith in different ways, different settings, and different times. Rather than being exhaustive biographies of these people, colleagues in ministry Sarah, Natalie, and Steve will touch on the dimensions of these lives that speak to our faith and how they sought to live o

As the second half our mini-series on thelogies of giving and receiving, colleagues in ministry Sarah, Erica, Natalie, and Steve take a look at what it means, from a faith perspective, to be receivers of gifts--both from God and from others. How can we get over our need to "get even" or "pay people back," especially when some gifts are simply given unconditionally? How might we see

In this final episode of our Advent series for 2024, colleagues in ministry Sarah, Erica, Natalie, and Steve explore one more dimension of the biblical notion of exile. This time we'll look at how the New Testament writers see all of our present life right now as a sort of exile-within-the-world, and how each of us are aliens in the world who also care for the good and well-being o

As we continue exploring the theme of hope in the face of exile this Advent, colleagues in ministry Sarah, Erica, Natalie, and Steve zoom out to creation itself, and to God's promise to make all creation new and to dwell with us. Rather than just wishing for freedom from one empire or another--like Babylon in the history of Judah, or Rome in the time of Jesus--Christian hope is ult

This Advent, colleagues in ministry Sarah, Natalie, Erica, and Steve are exploring the biblical theme of hope in times of exile as a way of better understanding what the coming of Christ meant for people in the first century, as well as for us today. In this episode we explore the meaning of the Empire's presence in and around the backdrop of the birth of Jesus, and how traumatic i

Every year, Christians around the world sing the ancient words from “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” which continues, “…and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.” So what did exile mean in the Biblical story, and what does it mean for our hope this season? What did it mean for the birth of Jesus that his homeland was under foreign

In this final episode of our series, "Questions We'd Like to Ask God," colleagues in ministry Erica, Sarah, Natalie, and Steve wrestle with the matter of two millennia Christians have been waiting for the coming of Christ in glory. Why has Jesus not come back yet? And is that a matter of the fixed timing of God's plan, or somehow is it up to human choices or actions? Is there anyth

For as long as human beings have been seeking the divine (which is probably pretty much from the beginning), we have been arguing about the right ways to talk about God, how to understand God, and how to identify God. Sometimes we argue with spoken debates or written theses (maybe posted on a door), and sometimes we have launched wars (we call "holy") in the name of getting God's i