Reclaiming the Garden Round-Up #2
Celebrating the episodes from October-December, and what's in store for 2023
Hi friends! Did not post on Sunday cause it’s Christmas and I’m back in Virginia with my family. But lol right after I post this I’ll be drafting Sunday’s post, celebrating the moment that happened six years ago on January 1st—my mom became affirming of LGBTQ+ people *before* I did.
I realized that for these podcast round-ups I’ll probably just post the episode descriptions of all six episodes, because dammit I work hard on writing the descriptions (which understandably get shortened for the social media posts) so it’s nice to post them. As always, these episodes can be found wherever you listen to podcasts or on our Anchor site: https://anchor.fm/reclaimingthegarden. Also, we have a new MERCH STORE! Check it out so you too can show off your progressive Christian flair and Bible Dyke Energy.
Welcome to Reclaiming the Garden!
Now that we’ve been doing this podcast for a year and a half (!), we figured it was time for a re-introduction. Anna and April talk about what we do on this podcast–we break down the bad theology we learned in our evangelical adolescences, and share our journeys of learning new ways to look at biblical texts, sexual ethics, systems of power, and more. We also interview all kinds of wonderful people–mostly LGBTQ+ folks and/or people who have left toxic religious environments, but we’re always excited about featuring any voice who has something to say about religious or spiritual identity. We also give some recommendations of where you should start listening–if you want to hear personal stories, check out “Let’s Talk About Purity Culture.” If you want to dig deep into theology, try out one of our Bible Dyke Deep Dives. And honestly, all our guests are phenomenal, but our first two interviews (Amy Kósa and Alicia Crosby, respectively) will always be close to our hearts.
Here are some updated bios as well:
April Little (she/her) is a queer Christian and ex-evangelical who is studying for her Master’s degree in Theology and Culture: Community Development at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. She is passionate about LGBTQ+ inclusion and liberation in the church and any other religious/spiritual spaces. She is in the process of writing a memoir about healing from the religious trauma of growing up in an evangelical church that led her to repress her sexuality.
She believes that vulnerable storytelling is the foundation for creating change in the world, and she loves facilitating spaces for people to share their stories. She wants to help create a world where all LGBTQ+ folks, particularly youth, know that they are beloved by God, and can experience love among thriving communities (whether they are communities of faith or not). April is also a big nerd when it comes to musicals, the French language, and the Bible.
Anna Dawahare (she/they) is a student, creative, and nerd living in beautiful Southern California. She is currently attending Fordham University (online, because that’d be a long commute) and is part-way through getting her Masters in Social Work. Upon graduating, Anna wants to practice with LGBTQ+ youth and those harmed by religious trauma, as well as obtain her license to private practice.
They love being able to share the stories of their friends on Reclaiming the Garden as well as researching the variety of topics brought up (Anna is a sucker for a good research product because, as mentioned above, she is a nerd). Their life purpose is to be the snarky, genderqueer older sibling they needed when they were younger. When she isn’t studying, working at her internship, or podcasting, Anna sings with Angel City Chorale, volunteers with Q Christian Fellowship, and drinks copious amounts of tea. The way to her heart is a nice jasmine green tea. Anna aspires to be Uncle Iroh- as we all should.
We’re the Nightmare Your Youth Pastor Told You About:
In honor of this spooky month, this episode is all about what scares evangelical Christians to death (but we forgot to even really talk much about Halloween–oops!). From cuss words to the “devil’s lettuce” to feminist theory to children’s media not being superheteronormative (Baby Bear from Sesame Street can’t have a doll, he’s a boy!!!), we discuss why these “scandalous” things are actually not that scary, and often can be good things!
Delicious Spirituality and Wonder with Kevin Garcia (yes this happened and I’m so grateful)
In this episode, we have a conversation with mystical theologian and author of Bad Theology Kills, Kevin Garcia! Kevin shares their spiritual journey from being in ex-gay ministry to finding wholeness in queer identity and finding God in their body, in other people, and in practices such as yoga. We get into some pretty deep theological discussions (April tries to articulate her Christology) and talk about what makes us feel alive with wonder, whether that be in a church community or somewhere completely different. We hope this conversation inspires you to sit in the mystery and find spiritual practices that are good for your well-being.
Christian Music with Assemblies of Pop Podcast
In this episode, we, along with our friends Celia and Colleen from Assemblies of Pop Podcast, share our memories of Christian music and the culture created around it (music festivals, etc): we talk about TobyMac, Family Force 5, DC Talk, Dara Maclean, the big worship bands like Hillsong and Bethel, and other artists of various genres that have been lumped into the Christian label. We discuss how our relationship to Christian and/or worship music changed as we went through faith deconstruction, and the kinds of music we enjoy listening to now (we can listen to “secular” pop music and other things our parents or our own evangelical selves would not allow us to listen to!). We also chat a little bit about hymns at the end, because discovering the richness of worship music that existed before the 1960/70s to the present has been helpful to the spiritual growth of several of us.
Here is a playlist that has the Christian music we still like (whether for the nostalgia or genuine appreciation) and other tunes we’ve been enjoying these days:
Not Same Faith, but Deep Faith with Dana Trent and Fred Eaker1
In this episode, we have a conversation with Baptist pastor Dana and ordained Hindu Fred, who are happily married. They share their beautiful story of finding each other through a dating app and connecting over a shared love of spirituality despite their differing beliefs. They discuss their life together and how they take part in each others’ spiritual traditions/practices and how that cross-fertilization has been helpful for them. We also unpack Paul’s often misused words in 2 Corinthians about “being unequally yoked with non-believers”; like Dana says, it’s not about having the same faith but having deep faith.
Care for Our Souls in Sacred Activism: A Discussion of “Take This Bread” by Sara Miles
In this episode, Anna and April draw from our respective academic disciplines (social work and theology) and Sara Miles’ memoir Take This Bread to discuss strategies for how to sustain ourselves in the work of healing and justice, including neurodivergent-friendly alternatives to meditation. Sara Miles’ connection to bodily spiritual experience, her conviction that her “body was connected literally and mysteriously to other bodies and loved without reason” and the grace she experienced through communion led her to start a food pantry through her church that empowered the people who came there to engage in it themselves, to feed others as they had been fed–it’s a story of creating beauty and justice in the midst of the messiness of community. April and Anna also reflect on what we’ve learned in grad school so far.
Tomorrow, we are recording our (now annual I guess?) collaboration with the Couch Communion podcast a bit later than expected so that episode will probably go up on Monday. On our podcast feed will be a year-in-review in the faith/deconstruction world, and on their podcast feed will be…something (they’re still not sure if they want to play Bible Jeopardy again).
The Q Christian Fellowship Conference is NEXT WEEK and it is not too late to register virtually if you want to see the Reclaiming the Garden live show along with other podcast shows and amazing keynote speakers (including Presiding Bishop Michael Curry!). (Not sponsored by QCF, just promoting an org I really love).
In 2023, here are a few guest highlights already lined up, even if we haven’t recorded yet:
At Conference: Jess Grace Garcia, worship leader, founder of Q Worship Collective, and host of the Lavender Mafia Podcast
January: Brad Onishi, host of the Straight White American Jesus Podcast
Matthias Roberts, author of Beyond Shame and host of the Queerology podcast
Jennifer Knapp, musician and iconic gay Christian
I’m excited to see what else next year will bring!!
What podcasts have you been listening to? Also, feel free to share any New Year’s reflections (fave moments, new intentions, etc).
Rachel Held Evans’ blog post interview with Dana and Fred, where I first heard of them: https://rachelheldevans.com/blog/ask-an-interfaith-couple-response