Unchurchable

Tia Levings - Self-Empowerment after Religious Trauma and Domestic Abuse

She married "the one God sent." Like so many of us, she did so without knowing fully what she was getting into. When the relationship became abusive, she sought help inside the church but what she found was advice tantamount to entrapping her in what she calls "church sanctioned domestic abuse. Sadly, Tia Levings story is unlikely to be the only one of its kind, but unlike so many others, Tia found the courage to get herself and her five kids out of that situation. Years on, she is thriving - in love, in life, and in parenthood beyond religious trauma and domestic abuse. Its a story of hope and Tia's gentle wisdom covers could indeed be life-saving. There is life after, and it is so worth pursuing.

Angry Church Kid - Everything is a Dick Joke

Now, I'm sure that's not a title you expected to read on a podcast for people who are navigating life post-church and deconstructing their faith. But can I point something out? Deconstruction is hard work. And it's not even like you get to choose whether or not to deconstruct. It seems to choose you! So finding the humour in the journey is vital to maintaining your place on the happy wagon while you also deal with grief, existential questions and all the overthinking that comes with deconstructing faith or making your way towards something like a new lens through which to view life, the universe and other things. 

A friend of mine once told me that "the humour is part of the healing." And I'm 100% there with her on that. When I found Angry Church Kid on the gram, I loved her humour. Now that I've interviewed her, I love her fearlessness, her irreverence and her understanding of what it is to deconstruct out of church but not land quite at atheism. Enjoy this sweary, dick-jokey session!

 

Marc-Henri Sandoz Paradella - Dethroning Toxic Jesus and Finding Spiritual Healing

In Sunday school, kids learn about the golden calf - the moment the Hebrews banded behind Moses' brother Aaron and made a god of their own to worship while their leader was up on the mountain. It was the perhaps the first time in recorded history, but certainly not the last time that we would make a god in our own image. Today, in Evangelical churches across the world, we cherry pick and reinterpret scripture to make Jesus fit our needs. These incarnations, according to Marc-Henri Sandoz Paradella, are the Toxic Jesus's we need to remove from our lives if we are going to move from "holy shit" to spiritual healing. I loved this interview and the humble wisdom of the man who wrote the book. Enjoy! 

ALPHAMAMA - The Journey to Authentic Spirituality and Personal Agency

What do you do when you move away from a form of spirituality that came with a prepackaged set of rules, regulations and existential dread? For many if not most, you feel a little lost at sea. Anchorless. So how do you find purpose and the freedom to explore spirituality within healthy boundaries that don't trample on who you are as a person? I caught up with the musical, the magical, the free-spirited musician / boss lady that is Alphamama to talk about her journey into being, well, Alphamama. 

Jess Hugenberg - Welcome to the Process

In this session, Jess Hugenberg and I talk about two topics that could not be more important as we walk through recovery from all the things that 2020 brought us: spiritual bypassing, spiritual integrity, and the importance of churches being trauma informed. It's important for a number of reasons. 2020 saw many things revealed; political upheaval, church abuse scandals, continued scandals in Hollywood as a result of the Me Too movement, the pandemic which saw many of us face escalations in our personal lives or our mental health. In line with this, it is not only unhelpful but it should be unacceptable for churches to sweep such things under the rug with thought-terminating cliches like "just forgive" or "have faith in God and don't be bitter." We need to be trauma informed. And we need people like Jess who can walk us through how to do better. Enjoy this session! 

Nia and Katie Chairamonte - Love in the face of all the things

I've always been of the belief that the best relationships were the ones where partners are able to see and celebrate the evolution that occurs over the lifetime of their spouse. It takes grace, commitment, self-awareness, consideration, selflessness and no one embodies this better than Nia and Katie. Their's is a relationship that started as high school sweethearts, and travelled through churchianity, deconstruction, and one partner coming out as transgender. This is a story that will inspire you to realise that while life isn't always simple, love causes us to go to great heights and great depths for the ones we love. And that is brilliant and beautiful. 

Brit Herbert - Globe Trotting, Spiritual Colonialism, and the Do Better Church Movement

Brit Herbert's journey with Christianity started in a rather unique manner, and as a youngster she was quickly plunged into a world of missions work in countries as far flung from Louisiana USA as Russia. It's a powerful story of recognising the good in the bad and the bad in the good, of grappling with our role in spiritual colonialism, deconstructing, finding your feet, and being part of birthing the "Do Better Church" movement. It's a fascinating ride through the thrills and damage of Evangelical egocentricity in an episode that could otherwise be called "The adventures of Brit and Kit." 

Dr Anica - Race Positive Approaches to Hard Conversations, and PTSD in the real world (Double Episode)

Sometimes a guest comes along with such an impressive CV that you really have to get her to cover off on two different topics. Dr Anica is that lady. A proud woman of colour, daughter of immigrants, clinical psychologist and general badass, she is the pioneer behind the "Race Positive" program which aims to bring a strengths-based approach to a topic often loaded with deficit language. In life post BLM, its important to keep talking about systemic racism until we can dismantle it! But the reason I found her was another topic altogether, when a listener asked me how I handle my PTSD. It wasn't something I've talked about much, but perhaps I should. Because normalising trauma responses and their treatment matters. And so do you! Thanks for tuning in.

Jonathan Merritt - The ongoing evolution of faith and church

I've long watched on as Jonathan Merritt has penned noteworthy books, and written a swath of articles that have helped me understand and grapple with the big issues in Christianity as I deconstructed from conservative faith to something markedly more progressive and affirming. Yet as I lost faith in the institution we call "church", his work has challenged me that it may yet have something to offer society. It is this idea, along with commentary on the incredibly vast array of historical moments 2020 has served up, that we explore on this episode of unchurchable. Enjoy!

Sanny - Churching, Dechurching, and handing the power back to the marginalised

I met Sanny on the great connector called Instagram. I instantly knew we had a lot in common, but also that hers was a perspective on the phenomenon of deconstruction that would be quite different to mine as well. And thus, I knew I wanted to interview her. You see, deconstruction can lead us to question our faith and interaction with church, but it is as individual as we are. The moment we think there is one way to deconstruct, we miss the nuanced and complex ways in which it affects each of us. Sanny brings wit, wisdom, strength and intelligence to this conversation and I just loved hearing what she had to say. Enjoy!