Our guest this week on The Well QA is Daniel Wolpert.  We discuss his newest book "Looking Inward, Living Outward".   Daniel Wolpert, a healer and student of the spiritual life, worked as a research scientist, psychologist, farmer, and teacher, before earning his Masters of Divinity degree at San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS).  Co-founder and Executive Director of the Minnesota Institute of Contemplation and Healing (MICAH, micahprays.org), he has taught in the fields of psychology and spiritual formation in numerous settings around the world.  A writer and a spiritual director, he has also played key rolls in developing environments for contemplation and spiritual leadership, helping to build or restore monasteries, theological schools, and retreat centers across North America.  When not on the road, he divides his time between Seattle and Minnesota. You can order "Looking Inward, Living Outward" here. Thank you to Daniel for being on the show!  

Our guests on The Well QA Podcast are author/pastor Jenny Smith and pastor Justin White to discuss grief.   Rev. White is the pastor at Stanwood UMC.  He is a spiritual director and retreat leader as well as the former chair of The Well’s board.  Pastor Justin’s dad passed away unexpectedly last fall.  He understands grief from the side of walking with others through it and as someone amidst it.  When faced with unexpected loss, pain and grief set up camp in our bodies and we don’t always know how to talk about what we’re experiencing, especially in the first year of loss.  Jenny Smith's Still Here is a collection of poems for those trying to make sense of the fragility and terror of losing a loved one. We name the shock, wade into the everyday nuances of grief, and eventually take tentative steps into the land of the living again, only to discover love never dies. Somehow their love is still here, dancing with our every breath. Still Here is an honest reckoning with the pain and frustration of grief while journeying toward surprising healing. Written by a poet and pastor Jenny Smith who unexpectedly lost her youngest brother, she captures the ache of loss and the complexity of healing as her family travels the first year together. As she braves the unbearable with curiosity and trust, we’re invited to unravel the grief that awaits each of us, in the hope that love never dies. Thank you to Jenny Smith and Justin White for being on the show!

We welcome a wonderful guest this week on The Well QA Podcast! Norman Wirzba is Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Christian Theology and Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute of Ethics at Duke University.  He has authored such books as "Agrarian Spirit", "This Sacred Life", and "Food and Faith".   His research and teaching interests are at the intersections of theology, philosophy, ecology, and agrarian and environmental studies. Raised on a farm in Southern Alberta, Norman went on to study history at the University of Lethbridge, theology at Yale University Divinity School, and philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. Since then he has taught at Saint Thomas More College/University of Saskatchewan, Georgetown College (KY), and Duke University Divinity School. Welcome to the show Norman Wirzba!

Dr. Cornel West joins the Seattle Regional Poor People's Campaign, The Well, and the WA State PPC for a talk on King's Philosophy of Non-Violence. This talk is in preparation of the Poor People's and Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls on June 16. Presenters: Dr. Cornel West is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary. Dr. West teaches on the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as well as courses in Philosophy of Religion, African American Critical Thought, and a wide range of subjects. He has a passion to communicate to a vast variety of publics in order to keep alive the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. – a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice. Dr. West is one of our few precious public intellectuals, always calling us to our better selves. He is also a prophetic writer. Among the 33 books he has written or edited are Race Matters, Black Prophetic Fire, Democracy Matters, and The Radical King. Welcome, Brother West. Rev. Katie M Ladd - Pastor and Director of The Well and Pastor, Queen Anne United Methodist Church Rev. Bianca Davis-Lovelace is the Executive Director of REACH Renton and ordained United Church of Christ minister. Also, she currently serves as the Washington State Tri-Chair for the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Bianca Davis-Lovelace earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech from Jackson State University and a Master of Arts Management degree with a focus in Nonprofit Management from Columbia College Chicago in 2010. Later, she received her Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary in May of 2013. Since 2004, Rev. Dr. Carey Anderson has served as the Senior Minister at First AME, an historic congregation deeply in vested in Civil Rights, an investment that continues to this day. Prior to Seattle, Pastor Anderson served congregations in Kansas and Nevada. Among other certifications, he holds a substance abuse certification through the National Association for Addiction Professionals. He is currently running to represent the 30th District in the WA State Legislature, trying to take his work for justice into the halls where laws are made. Rabbi Daniel Weiner is the Sr. Rabbi at Temple De Hirsch Sinai. Rabbi Weiner worked with other clergy to establish the WA Alliance for Gun Responsibility, is part of the first color of Rukin Fellows for 18 Doors, and has served on multiple boards of Jewish organizations. He has taught at various colleges and universities.

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a leader in the Red Letter Christian movement and the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.  With the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, he co-authored “The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and he Rise of a New Justice Movement.” Jonathan is a pastor, author, speaker, and a leader in the movement seeking to create small intentional communities where “surprising friendships” are possible.  Thanks to Jonathan for being our guest!

Our guest today is Brian McLaren who is a pastor, public theologian, popular speaker, and prolific author. He is a faculty member of The Living School and podcaster with Learning How to See, which are part of the Center for Action and Contemplation (with Richard Rohr). His newest book comes out May 24; it is titled "Do I Stay Christian? A Guide for the Doubters, The Disappointed, and the Disillusioned." It is a natural follow to "Faith After Doubt", which was released a year ago.  Let's dive right into the conversation with Brian McLaren!

Wes Howard-Brook is a retiring instructor of New Testament at Seattle University. He is an author of several books, including Come Out My People, John’s Gospel & The Renewal of the Church, and his most recent book Empire Baptized: How the Church Embraced What Jesus Rejected (2nd - 5th centuries). He co-leads Abide with Me with his life partner Sue Ferguson Johnson. They have led a weekly Bible study for 11 years.  We invited Wes on the podcast as a follow up to our previous talk with Amy-Jill Levine, who encourages Christians to stop using the Passion of John as part of the Good Friday liturgy and who discourages Christians from using “Judeans” instead of “the Jews” in trying to correct anti-semitisim in the text. Wes is a proponent of using “Judeans.” Since Katie brought his name up in her talk with AJ, it seemed like giving him space to speak for himself would be the right thing to do. This is a difficult topic - Christians addressing anti-semitism in tradition, teaching, and text. Scholars will not agree on how to accomplish this, but pastors and Christians in the pews all need to take the necessary time to think about the language we use and consider how it has been utilized to harm people through history and how antisemitism continues to worm its way into language, thinking, and practice. To be good Christians we cannot rest on denigrating other people and their identities. 

Amy-Jill is our guest this week.  We talk about Easter, Holy Week, and anti-semitism within Christianity - specifically the Gospel of John. Amy Jill Levine is the Rabbi Stanley M Kessler distinguished professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace. AJ is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita.  Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies Emerita.  Professor of New Testament Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University. These are not easy conversations but it's essential that we have them.  Thanks to AJ Levine for being our guest once again!

Janet Wolf is our guest this week on The Well QA Podcast.  Janet has worked as a poverty rights organizer, United Methodist pastor with urban and rural congregations; college and seminary professor; learner, teacher, and animator with think tanks inside prisons.  She recently retired from the Children’s Defense Fund where she was focused on public theology, transformative justice, and nonviolent direct action organizing to disrupt and dismantle the cradle to prison pipeline through leadership by and partnership with those who are now or have been caged.  She is the Dean of CDF’s Proctor Institute’s Dale P. Andrews Freedom Seminary. Her recent book is Practicing Resurrection: The Gospel of Mark and Radical Discipleship. Thanks to Janet Wolf for all of her great work and the wisdom she shares with us in this conversation.  Here are some key links from our conversation. Breaking the Silence:  kingandbreakingsilence.org/ National Council of Elders:  nationalcouncilofelders.org/ The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program:  insideoutcenter.org/

Our guest this week on The Well QA Podcast is womanist biblical scholar, the Dr. Rev. Wil Gafney, Ph.D. is the Right Rev. Sam B. Hulsey Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the author of Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to Women of the Torah and of the Throne, a commentary on Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah in the Wisdom series; Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel; and co-editor of The Peoples’ Bible and The Peoples’ Companion to the Bible. She is also the author of a Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church. Enjoy the talk!