Finding Full Affirmation: Our Journey to LGBTQ+ Inclusion
Release Date: 10/14/2020
Who Is Jesus to Us
Finding Free Podcast
The way we think about Jesus impacts the way we talk about faith and how we treat those around us. Who is Jesus to you? Where did that frame of reference come from and has it ever changed? We don’t do a lot of sermon discussion focused podcasts on Finding Free Podcast but there was so much dialogue around Amy’s sermon at Cedarbridge on March 3rd that we wanted to dive a little deeper into this conversation. Our discussion is lively and in our typical style, we laugh a lot as we each discuss, ‘Who is Jesus to Us’! We give each other a safe...
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Holiday Story Time
Finding Free Podcast
Grab your comfiest blankets and a mug of something great and listen to some stories of holidays past. Laugh as Craig talks about the time his grandpa accidentally got sloshed at a family gathering. Giggle as Amy shares her most memorable Christmas present (double AA batteries required). And Jeff has a family "oops" moment that will have you in stitches. And much more! In this episode we share memorable holiday moments from our growing up years. Some are "remember when" stories that have been talked about at family gatherings time and time again....
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Finding Your Free and Feeding Your Soul
Finding Free Podcast
When Craig and Amy started Finding Free Podcast in 2020, they thought a lot about the podcast name. They settled on Finding Free Podcast because they wanted to focus on the freedom and liberation that can come from pushing yourself to break out of the metaphorical places where you feel stuck and bogged down. This podcast was designed to give space to talk about hard topics with authenticity and vulnerability and for the Finding Free listening community to gain strength in hearing and sharing stories of growth. In this episode, Craig, Amy, and Jeff talk about the...
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Faith Deconstruction: A Hard Journey that Challenges the Church to Show Up
Finding Free Podcast
"The next hard road for the Church will be walking with and beside those that are deconstructing their faith, taking it apart either in small bits and pieces or altogether, putting it back together in part or sometimes not at all. The question is, how will the Church show up for people in this space?" ~ Amy Andrews The topic of faith deconstruction can be a hot button issue…but does it have to be? As we grow in faith we often grapple with questions that are no longer satisfied with easy answers. We need more. Sometimes we begin the process of letting go of what no...
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Purity Culture, Sex and the Church - Part 2
Finding Free Podcast
TW: purity culture, rape culture, sexual abuse Explicit Content: Language, Sexual Content - masturbation, orgasm gap, general make-you-blush adult content. In Part 2 we continue the conversation about purity culture and its impacts. We talk more about how conversations about purity and sex can be done better, focusing on dialogue about consent, body autonomy and integrity rather than shame and silence. If you grew up in an Evangelical church in the 1990’s, chances are you were exposed to the purity culture mindset. Though purity culture began with the intention of encouraging teens to...
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Purity Culture, Sex and the Church - Part 1
Finding Free Podcast
TW: purity culture, rape culture, sexual abuse Explicit Content: Language, Sexual Content - masturbation, orgasm gap, general make-you-blush adult content. If you grew up in an Evangelical church in the 1990’s, chances are you were exposed to the purity culture mindset. Though purity culture began with the intention of encouraging teens to postpone sexual encounters until marriage, the lasting effects have had significantly negative residual consequences. So what was purity culture exactly, what was its impact and where do we go from here? We bring back our friend Jeff...
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Leaving Christian Evangelical _undamentalism - We Got the “F” Out!
Finding Free Podcast
In this episode, our friend Jeff Bell joins us to talk candidly about what it was like to grow up in and be a part of Christian fundamentalist evangelical organizations and churches in the 80's and 90’s. We discuss what it was like to have this as our main faith experience during our formative years and what it was like to come out of that way of thinking. What did we have to unlearn? What evangelical teachings never set well with us? What was our journey to move past evangelical fundamentalist thinking? Christian fundamentalism had big impacts on our lives that...
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Our Response to the SBC Statement on Women in Ministry
Finding Free Podcast
This June, the Southern Baptist Convention approved an amendment to the Baptist Faith and Message to be approved next summer during their Annual Convention. The amendment restricted women in ministry, who were already not supposed to hold lead pastor roles, from having any pastoral position, where the title of “pastor” was deserved. The role of women in ministry has been debated and debocled for years within some Baptist denominations. Yet the Bible provides us with story after story of women: following and learning as disciples, serving in and funding the ministry of Jesus,...
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LGBTQ Conversations in Local Churches - Part 2: A Conversation with Stan Mitchell
Finding Free Podcast
Many organizations operate in shadowed ambiguity, rather than clarity when it comes to who can do what in the organization, and churches are no exception. Unwritten rules are often enforced leaving individuals confused and hurt when they realize the “All are Welcome” slogan really doesn’t apply to them. Can a woman preach? Will the pastor officiate a same-sex wedding? Will the church hire gay clergy? Can I be baptized and take communion? Churches have the opportunity to be upfront and clear about their policies, theology and practices - and having...
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LGBTQ Conversations in Local Churches - Part 1: Questions, Thoughts and Our Experience
Finding Free Podcast
Difficult conversations in churches are…well, difficult. Most of us simply aren’t taught how to disagree or discuss hard things in the context of faith within the church. One of the most difficult conversations a church can journey through is a conversation on LGBTQ inclusivity. Since there are typically a lot of theological perspectives, lived experiences and long held beliefs, this conversation in particular can get heated very quickly. Because many denominations are having conversation like this, being clear and honest in messaging regarding LGBTQ affirmation is...
info_outlineI have heard it said many times before, “The Gospel is either good news for everyone or it is good news for no one.” Yet time and time again, one group or another gets pushed aside, deemed not acceptable, excluded...by the Church. This conversation is a personal journey that Craig and I have been on for years, and we’ve decided that we can’t be authentic to our own faith or integrity without publicly stating that we are fully affirming of our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. We have witnessed first-hand and far too many times the trauma and oppression that exclusion from the church inflicts upon the LGBTQ+ community and believe that same-sex sexual orientation and the diversity of gender identities included is not a sin.
No, we haven’t always believed this, and this podcast is a conversation about that journey. In no way is this intended to be a slam on our traditional faith upbringings or the people that led us and taught us so well...this is simply a story about where we are now. We aren’t trying to “start something” or cause a riff between us and those who may view this differently. We simply want to say publicly: to the LGBTQ+ community, we see you, you are loved by us and by God, and we are sorry we have spent too much time as silent allies. In the words of Maya Angelo, “once we know better, we must do better.” This is one step in that direction.