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Building Intersectional Church & Community with Jonelle Brown of Young Prophets Collective

Pray With our Feet

Release Date: 10/05/2024

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Pray With our Feet

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          Church hurt is widespread, and there are still many congregations which remain closed to Christians living on the margins because of sexuality / gender identity, disability, race / ethnicity, class, education level, etc. Young Prophets Collective, a growing online church and community, founded by JJ Warren, is working to shift this through building an affirming and intersectional space which welcomes all, and excludes none. I caught up with Jonelle Brown, an active member of Young Prophets Collective.   Throughout this episode we discuss -  ...

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Church hurt is widespread, and there are still many congregations which remain closed to Christians living on the margins because of sexuality / gender identity, disability, race / ethnicity, class, education level, etc. Young Prophets Collective, a growing online church and community, founded by JJ Warren, is working to shift this through building an affirming and intersectional space which welcomes all, and excludes none. I caught up with Jonelle Brown, an active member of Young Prophets Collective.  

Throughout this episode we discuss - 

  • Jonelle’s faith journey and what it felt like to find an LGBTQIA+ supportive faith space in college, and how this led her to found the first open and affirming campus ministry for fellow LGBTQIA+  Christian students. 

  • Young Prophets Collective, why they center, equip and empower the voices of young people (although older folks are part of the community) —  we cannot forget that Biblical prophets such as Jeremaiah started out young, too! 

  • Why intersectionality is a critical part of Young Prophets Collective ministry, and their focus on growing intentionally vs. quickly. 

  • Key components of building a digital faith community - time, energy and emotional investment, and how Y.P. Collective taps into this to guide their ministry. 

  • How their weekly church service calls folks to the gathering practice (in the Methodist tradition) of sitting with and discussing pastor JJ’s sermon, and also asking one another,” How is your soul?

  • Jonelle’s background as an educator, and how this experience led her to found  NelleRose Educational Services, which “empowers BIPOC scholars + their families to get through high school with confidence & success.”  As a success liaison and mentor, “she aims to address the systematic educational challenges faced by marginalized students of color in the U.S., especially those co-identifying as English learners, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ individuals and neurodivergent students.” 

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Enjoy our @PrayWithOurFeet IG Live series, Move it Forward Monday, uplifting conversations that spark change with activists, community leaders, artists and more.  

Special thank you to my husband Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.