Jesus Has Left the Building

12/04/2024

Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi was a guest on JHLTB a few years ago in our Ritualizing Relationship season- you can find the episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/working-within-the-fragments/id1534464212?i=1000583543528

She is publishing this amazing book! Church-changing, Life-Changing. Pre-order now!

📖✨ Recently promoted faculty member, Dr. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi, is releasing her latest book, "Unraveling Religious Leadership: Power, Authority, and Decoloniality" this month! The official publication date is April 23, so pre-order now! You can pre-order here, https://loom.ly/4AVu_Jo, on Amazon, and at other reputable booksellers.

01/03/2024

A lot has happened lately!
But Finally! Season 8 is Live!

In the fall of 2022, Mandy moved to a small town in rural Kansas, and in the spring of 2023, Marta moved to northern Colorado. We’ve been getting to know our new communities over the last year, and now we are ready to share the awesome work that is happening in Kansas and Colorado with the JHLTB communities, so for Season 8, we are coming to you from our Altered States! We’ll be talking to some amazing folks from Kansas, Colorado, and the surrounding states who are following Jesus out of the building and into the world, so be sure to follow us on Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.







https://open.spotify.com/episode/1u1FxKLFNfNkYwCrmx1x4t

17/11/2023

You guys! This is a super exciting day! We had the opportunity to sit down with the brilliant and delightful Dr. Wil Gafney. She tells the story of how her work (publications including A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church and Womanist Midrash) came to be, talks about the feedback she's received, and shares her wisdom. You DO NOT want to miss this!

AND! While we have you here: we'll soon be announcing our upcoming season "Altered States" which will drop in early 2024, so stay tuned for new episodes! You can always catch up with us at www.jhltb.com.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4XV86KoRtT16dwfjNbs6hV

03/09/2023

Beloved and beautiful La Foret Conference & Retreat Center in Northern Colorado Springs is hosting the inspiring author and speaker Valarie Kaur this month. It is a privilege for the Jesus Has Left the Building to sponsor this event! Kaur is especially well known for the book of the year, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love

Learn more here: https://www.laforet.org/nostranger

02/09/2023

I am with on this. It is by far one of the most enjoyable episodes and conversations we have had. I am not a musical fanatic like Mandy, but these guys crossed so many important bridges in the life of worship, liturgy, and church. Check out their podcast . Jesus Has Left the Building
~ Marta ❤️
https://open.spotify.com/episode/76cpKlJ2pX5f08SaKjNRhJ

15/08/2023

Not a fabulous picture, but when you get the chance to be in conversation with womanist Sholar Wil Gafney about her brilliant work, it simply does not matter. Dr. Gafney has transformed our notion of biblical scripture and has unveiled the stories of women that are already at the center of the sacred text. It was a huge privilege to talk with her, hear the story of how her work came to be, and share her scholarship with all of you! We have yet to determine when this episode will be dropped; stay tuned. In the meanwhile, check out: Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne and A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year W.

12/08/2023

Hey y'all! We are excited to share this new episode with you, where we chat with Molly Phinney Baskette, UCC pastor and author of several books, including her most recent, How to Begin When Your World is Ending: A Spiritual Field Guide to Joy Despite Everything. Molly shares some pro-tips for handling some of the most challenging experiences a person can live through. She offers a disaster theology that works for progressive Christians who are searching for meaning-making both in the midst of and following trauma and suffering.

Find all of Molly's books on her website - www.mollybaskette.com!

https://open.spotify.com/show/09UBuW3bWAV4NCg7hA3DaH

08/07/2023

The Wild Goose Festival is next weekend! Today's episode of Jesus Has Left the Building features another festival supporter! Mark E. Biddle and Melissa Jackson, two of the founders and leaders of Sophia Theological Seminary and Sophia Farms, organizations that seek to re-imagine theological education. where seminary students will “pay” for their theological education while working on Sophia Farms. We talk about the ways this ministry truly takes the work of Jesus out of the building and onto the land for a new generation of ministers. Especially in light of the political polarization of student loan forgiveness, this conversation provides a revolutionary alternative to student debt.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Xv5q6br2e5gjNq8Ke0XIe
Jesus Has Left the Building and Sophia Theological Seminary and Farms are all sponsors of the 2023 festival, Ignite, held in Union Grove, North Carolina, July 13-16! Listeners can get $50 off tickets with the discount code JHLTB. Don't miss this transformational event!

01/07/2023

Did you know that Jesus Has Left the Building is a sponsor of the 2023 Wild Goose Festival? You did if you listened to our recent episode with Tim Kerr! In support of the upcoming festival, we're releasing a couple of episodes that feature other WGF sponsors and friends. Check out this fun conversation with Kimberly A. Knight. Her work connects spirituality with nature, and literally takes the work of the church outside the building! Consider attending her upcoming event in October in Little Rock, AK!

Next week, we'll be releasing an episode with the good folks at Sophia Theological Seminary and Sophia Farms, so stay tuned!

And don't forget to check out our website, www.jhltb.com , where you can find more information about all this good work!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1TD8mh2OwZSU4132Sj1hNA

https://www.facebook.com/events/2502966233204367/

17/06/2023

Check out this new episode! Corbin Tobey-Davis and Tierra Brown join Marta & Mandy to share the work they do at The ROCK Center in Aurora, Colorado. The ROCK Center is a community based organization serving children, youth and their families, offering arts based out of school programming for youth and families that focuses on cultivating resilience through teaching connection, coping skills, and competence. We talk about the way art can heal trauma, providing a vehicle for transformation.

The ROCK Center and Jesus Has Left the Building are both proud recipients of the Tributary Fund of the Rocky Mountain Conference UCC!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/05I21Fs8gdbeU1OVZUXDPQ

03/06/2023

JHLTB guest Kristin Kobes DuMez appears in Amazon's Shiny Happy People, a docuseries about the Duggar Family. Kristin writes about her experience doing work like this in this blog post. Are you watching Shiny Happy People? Tell us what you think!

https://kristindumez.substack.com/p/the-duggars-hillsong-and-all-the?sd=pf&fbclid=IwAR3djiRbCpFSTsG3qdXZFV-emNyC-2XkVekQ1_NaTtZpUCncy2ak6BAk3EM

What I do in my spare time

30/05/2023

In this episode, we interview Tim Kerr Kerr, Director of Partner Relations for the Wild Goose Festival, an annual 4-day Spirit, Justice, Music and Arts Festival.
Jesus Has Left the Building is a sponsor of the 2023 festival, held in Union Grove, North Carolina, July 13-16! Listeners can get $50 off tickets with the discount code JHLTB. Don't miss this transformational event!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1q4wLTOAVTbASFvBAR5huS

12/05/2023

And....we're back! Our newest episode, Divesting from Hierarchy, features Jenny Whitcher and Javon Elisea Bracy, two ministers from Juniper Formation, a faith community where prophetically reimagine the Church from the margins. Juniper is women- and nonbinary-led, multiethnic and antiracist, affirming of undocumented neighbors, celebrating of different abilities, and Open & Affirming of LGBTQ+ individuals and families in the life, leadership, and sacraments of the church. We talk about Juniper’s digital and physical ministry, their commitment to anti-racist and non-hierarchical structure, and how they recognize all of life together as holy. Don't miss it!

Juniper Formation and Jesus Has Left the Building are both recipients of the Tributary Fund of the Rocky Mountain Conference UCC, and we are grateful for that financial support that helps us all do our ministry in the world!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2yoB0H4hpT3HwyaLBppjkI

12/05/2023

We have taken a little break because Marta and Mandy have had some big things going on! Mandy was ordained on April 28, and Marta just presented and received approval for her doctoral project today! A new episode will drop tomorrow, but for now, enjoy these pics of the Reverend Doctors!!

16/04/2023

Kristin Kobes DuMez was in Colorado Springs this afternoon! Did you miss the talk? Check out this interview with her!

New Episode!
Marta & Mandy are joined by friend and colleague Jeff Scholes to interview Kristin Kobes DuMez about her book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.

Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a New York Times bestselling author and Professor of History and Gender Studies at Calvin University. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics. Jeff Scholes is Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Philosophy and the Director of the Center for Religious Diversity and Public Life at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, which will bring Kristin to Colorado Springs to talk about her work on February 23, 2023.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Ox3LK0QmcKCDgWdIYYaGM

15/04/2023

Check it out! Our newest episode, Jesus is in the Narthex, features Rev. Lorraine Ceniceros, Conference Minister of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ. Lorraine is the first Latina woman installed into the position of Conference Minister in the United Church of Christ, and only the 5th Mexican-American woman to be ordained in the UCC. Lorraine speaks about her childhood experience of assimilation, and her awakening to her identity as she grew up in southern California and began serving churches in the UCC. This open and thoughtful conversation explores the complicated intersections of race in America.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7yG2uvSGGojAK7BO3GwDrG

Don't forget to check out our website, www.jhltb.com , to get more episodes, and support our work on https://www.patreon.com/jhltb

31/03/2023

NEW EPISODE! We're joined by Rev. Claudia Aguilar Rubalcava, interim pastor at Park Hill Congregational Church in Denver, Colorado. Claudia shares her story as a Mexican woman serving the church in the United States. She talks about her own work towards anti-racism, and she gives us our all-time favorite analogy for the constant work of racism - it's like flushing the toilet! If you ever get weary about not "achieving" anti-racism, this analogy will help you understand, and you're sure to laugh out loud too!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5U5vLgd5ZgZGebWKvg7HS2

17/03/2023

This is a great episode with Christian Watkins, Campus Pastor/Executive Director of Ecumenical Campus Ministries at Kansas State University, and Associate Producer of the independent film The Pulpit. In this episode,We talk about ministry in rural settings, what it means to be a woman in ministry, how honoring differences is better than assimilation, and so much more.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ABYhwGH6rPlMjIbLKGMmj

We also talk in depth about Christian’s involvement with The Pulpit Film, a suspense thriller which tells the story of a progressive, rural pastor who receives death threats for the message of inclusion she preaches. This film is a powerful and important story about advocacy, and they need your help to make it a feature length film. Support The Pulpit on their website, FB or insta pages to make it a full reality!
And go see it at the Kansas City Film Festival next weekend! https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpf9_Zhv3yx/?hl=en

25/02/2023

Jesus Has Left the Building is a GUEST on Good Faith Weekly Podcast about our anti-racist mini series this winter. We are grateful for our friendship with Anthony L. D. Scott and all that he has taught us in the past few months. Here we are trying our best to share our learning and continue to do this really hard work.

‎Show Good Faith Weekly, Ep Good Faith Weekly, 2/24/2023 - Mitch (sort of) Thanks God for Missy - Feb 23, 2023

24/02/2023

We sure had a good time chatting with the good folx at Good Faith Media / Good Faith Weekly Podcast! Their work and ministry through media outlets stretches the country: "Good Faith Media provides reflection and resources at the intersection of faith and culture through an inclusive Christian lens." Check it out: https://goodfaithmedia.org

Thanks for having us!

17/02/2023

New Episode!
Marta & Mandy are joined by friend and colleague Jeff Scholes to interview Kristin Kobes DuMez about her book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.

Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a New York Times bestselling author and Professor of History and Gender Studies at Calvin University. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics. Jeff Scholes is Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Philosophy and the Director of the Center for Religious Diversity and Public Life at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, which will bring Kristin to Colorado Springs to talk about her work on February 23, 2023.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Ox3LK0QmcKCDgWdIYYaGM

14/02/2023

We are dropping a fun episode this Friday just in time for Kristin Kobes DuMez to come to Colorado Springs to speak through UCCS Center for Religious diversity on February 23!

Mandy, Marta, and Jeff Scholes have a conversation with Kristin about her book: Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.

Jeff is an associate professor of religious studies in the Department of Philosophy and the Director of the Center for Religious Diversity and Public Life at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

12/02/2023

After three episodes with Rev. Dr. Anthony Scott, we gathered in time on zoom with a group of listeners to continue the conversation on anti-racism. Grateful to practice this work..

even when it feels too vulnerable.
even when there are too many questions.
even when we are wordless.

It's all worth it and creates space to:

06/02/2023

It's your last chance to sign up for our convo with Anthony tonight! Please join us!!

Join us for a live anti-racism conversation with Rev. Dr. Anthony Scott!

03/02/2023

Hey all! We recently had a convo with Nurturing Justice and wanted to share some of their work and upcoming offerings. Our episode with them has not dropped yet- but we wanted to give a shout out anyway. Check it!

The Mission of Nurturing Justice is to promote the dignity of all humanity, expose the fallacy of white skinned supremacy and promote the notion that there is no hierarchy of human value based on skin color.* We achieve our mission through education, action, community building and engagement. *A ter...