And Also With You

Campy, funny, reverently irreverent -- we've all loved watching the Greedy Peasant's queer medieval fever dream unfold online. And we were thrilled when he said he'd come chat with us on the show! So join us for a fun, insightful, and moving conversation about art, playfulness, deconstructing from high control religion, and finding a path home to yourself.

For part 9 of 12 on “What is the Nicene Creed?” we unpack these lines: "We believe in the Holy Spirit, The Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, With the Father and the Son S/He is worshipped and glorified; S/He has spoken through the Prophets." The Holy Spirit is probably God's most misunderstood person of the Trinity ... and yet, the one who is our Advocate, guide, Wisdom, and companion. So we spend a little time understanding where She fits in the big picture of Christianity, how we might discern between what is anxiety and the voice of God within us, and what exactly is the "Filioque" and the Great Schism debate about.

Merry Christmas friends, from us and ... a surprise guest!!

The Virgin Mary is a powerful force in Christian imagination – meaning, whether you venerate her or are suspicious of folks “praying to” her, whether you grew up celebrating the many apparitions of Mary or vaguely only heard her referred to around Christmas, her role in Jesus’ life and our lives communicates what we believe about motherhood, virginity, women, and Jesus’ incarnation. So why is she included in the Creed? What about her presence, consent to bear the Christ child, and reproductive status made her significant enough to be the only human being referenced besides Pontius Pilate? Join Mary devotee (Rev. Lizzie), Mary skeptic (Rev. Laura), and our guest, Mariology expert (Rev. Dr. Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones) as we unpack these questions and more.

In our Nicene Creed series we're tackling these next lines: We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, / the only Son of God, / eternally begotten of the Father, /God from God, Light from Light, / true God from true God, / begotten, not made, / of one Being with the Father.

Ok look: we agree. Jesus IS the reason for the season. We're on the precipice of tHe HoLiDaYs and all the madness therein. It's so easy to get sucked into the capitalist machine of Christmas and miss ... Christ. But so much of the energy around "Jesus is the Reason" also feels treacherously coded. How do we navigate this ourselves? And how do we teach our kids that Jesus is the reason, while keeping a sense of wonder and magic alive? How do we do so in a way that engenders respect for people of other faiths and none? We pose these questions with the wonderful Pastor Meredith Miller, expert in raising kids with a faith they don't need to heal from.

The Nicene Creed is *the* definitive statement of faith for what Christianity is for most Christians, around the world, throughout most of time. Love it or hate it, the Creed binds us together. And since our entire project at And Also With You is reclaiming an ancient Christian faith for modern Christian life, we thought it time to dive deep into this Creed -- to show how this 1700 year old prayer holds up and how we are following it still today. But the fact that we HAVE a creed (other religions don't really do this) and that is came from these series of big ol' committee meetings is actually a really fascinating thing to unpack, for for our first of twelve episodes exploring the Creed, we're delighted to welcome Dr. Hannah Black, Ph.D. to orient us to the Creed as a historical and spiritual document.

There is no freedom or feminism if it isn't for everybody -- so we are really excited to welcome two of our favorite dads to the podcast to talk about Christian parenting: our husbands! Join us for a tender and truthful conversation about why fatherhood is a vocation, a joy, and *not* babysitting your own kids.