The Heavenly Banquet

Jul 25 2024 88 ep. 25 mins
The Heavenly Banquet Podcast artwork

The Heavenly Banquet is a Progressive Christian ministry featuring sermon, educational, and devotional podcasts hosted by Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia. We believe in the all-inclusive, ever-expansive power of God's love, and we seek to serve those without local access to affirming, justice-centered Christian communities. We strive to be Gospel-oriented, historically grounded, and theologically rigorous. God is love, and love is serious business. Still, we avoid dogma in favor of a generous orthodoxy encompassing thousands of years of Christian thought and practice. A rigid faith breaks under stress, and we hope to offer spiritual tools to help you make sense of and navigate the world.

  Religion & Spirituality  Society & Culture  Education
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The Prayers of the Hopeless

Jul 25 2024 14 mins  
Charlotte Elia offers this sermon on Mark 6:30-34, 53-56, a passage about the crowds seeking healing from Jesus. "There’s never no more urgent time for prayer than the now in which you find yourself, but I also- I know what it feels like to exist in this world right now. I often feel overwhelmed, anxious, frightened, helpless, useless, and when I start to feel a bit better, a bit

Requies Divina: A May Session for Spiritual Rest

May 16 2024 37 mins  
This episode is a live recording of a Requies Divina session held at Chester Presbyterian Church in Chester, VA on May 15, 2024. Join Charlotte Elia for a time of guided contemplation and centering prayer for spiritual rest and renewal. Put on some comfy clothes, settle onto a mat or bed, and give your breath, your body, and yourself to God. During our practice you will be invited

The Smoke Show

Apr 23 2024 30 mins  
In this episode Chad and Charlotte discuss Charlotte's experience with COVID-related phantosmia, an olfactory disorder which causes for her the sensation of smelling smoke that is not actually present. Chad then introduces us to various philosophical takes on our perception of reality before inviting us to deeper reflection on how we perceive the Divine and whether we can reliably

Peter's Thousandth Chance

Apr 11 2024 20 mins  
This episode is a live recording of a sermon on John 21:1-19 preached by Charlotte Elia at Chester Presbyterian Church on April 7, 2024. "All of those Peter stories reflected in this text, all of those experiences, all of those lessons to be learned and Peter doesn’t know why Jesus keeps asking if he loves him. It’s Peter’s denials; it’s Jesus’ crucifixion, and it’s Pet

Requies Divina: Developing a Practice for the Present

Mar 12 2024 31 mins  
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia discuss Requies Divina, a practice of divine rest that Charlotte has been developing. They also speak more broadly about the difficulties of beginning and establishing habits of spiritual practices and the crucial need for the Church to share its wealth of spiritual tools. Charlotte: I had been thinking about the pandemic… Congregati

Christian Spiritual Practices II

Mar 07 2024 32 mins  
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia talk some more about spiritual practices in the Christian tradition, but this time they get a bit more practical. They discuss specific practices and their experiences with each, and they make some suggestions for finding space for God in our current context.Chad: One thing I’ve learned in keeping up a practice of contemplative praye

Christian Spiritual Practices

Feb 20 2024 25 mins  
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia chat about the purpose and theology of spiritual practices in the Christian tradition and some of the various approaches folks have taken as they sought to enact our faith in the world.Charlotte: Spirituality in the Christian tradition has a goal of union with God through imitation of God, either imitation of the divine attributes, thi

What is Love in the Christian Tradition?

Feb 13 2024 39 mins  
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia celebrate Valentine's Day by discussing love in the Christian tradition. This episode also serves as something of a preview of the manuscript Chad has written on this topic. Chad: The one thing that always remains the same in our love relationships is constantly we want what is good for the other person. I think that gets closer to wha

What Is Lent & What Are We Going to Do About It?

Feb 08 2024 28 mins  
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia talk about the themes and significance of the liturgical season of Lent, share some reasons why it is important to them, and offer guidance on how you might observe this penitential time.Charlotte: These particular spiritual practices are ways in which we enact the faith in the world or in our personal lives, so they are outward expres

Recollection & Francisco de Osuna

Nov 17 2023 36 mins  
In this episode Chad Rhodes and Charlotte Elia discuss Chad's work with Francisco de Osuna's Third Spiritual Alphabet. Chad has been posting monthly on our Substack on each letter of the Third Spiritual Alphabet as both a way of introducing Francisco de Osuna's thought and of exploring the practice and concept of recollection. Chad's posts on Osuna are collected here. Charlotte: An