Mutual Aid with Mike Kinman

This week the Southern Baptist Convention voted  to advance a formal ban on women from serving as pastors … something that has drawn understandable and righteous scorn and outrage from other denominations, including my own Episcopal Church.Those of us who even long ago began ordaining women need to understand that our work for gender equity and justice is far from over.Official studies in mainline denominations that ordain women report between 50 and 75% have experienced instances of gender-based harassment and abuse.  Ordained women will tell you that the percentage is much higher than that … upwards of the high 90s. Much like anyone who is not white and male in the church, lack of discrimination, harassment and abuse is such the outlier that many have told me that it is just an accepted part of life.For much of the past year, I have been honored to be working with the Rev. Chantal McKinney, who is dedicating her life to gathering healing communities of women who have experienced and are experiencing harm in the church, creating safe spaces and platforms for them to share their stories and to call the church to a new life of justice not just in its structure and practice but in its very theology.She has a new book out, Following Jesus Beyond Church Walls, where she talks about her own story of harassment and abuse, her healing journey and then in what is really a love letter to the church, extends an invitation to the church into a new way of being that begins with truth telling and continues with reparation and a changed way of life.A movement is growing around her work called Water + Light. It is becoming a powerful place for truth-telling and healing for women … and others .. who have experienced church harm. Women who are refusing to be silent anymore and who are calling the church to be true to her calling in Christ and give much more than the lip service it has given justice in this arena since its inception.Chantal McKinney joins me today for this episode of the Mutual Aid podcast. She talks about her story, the reaction of church leadership to her book and to this new movement, the depth and breadth of the epidemic of church harm and much, much more. She also talks about how you can find healing community if you have been harmed and how everyone can join in a growing movement of solidarity … which is the heart of what mutual aid is about.Order Chantal's book here - https://www.chantalmckinney.com/about-the-bookJoin the solidarity group here - forms.gle/M2Re2rwYEiaHbeGK9Find out more about Water + Light here - https://www.chantalmckinney.com/water-lightJoin a circle of support here - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScopX-eNkNIrGRdV0lSl0Zpkl4MhZJXpHrkGRtaIPWMDbHRTQ/viewformSign up for a healing circle here - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfj6wieQj20xEginXrKLGH4ou1IXDpYPC-CDFvQyAKjJfNY5g/viewformDonate to Water + Light here - https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/water-and-light-support-women-harmed-in-the-church

In mid-2024 as it became clear my time at my last job was coming to an end, I was talking with a dear friend, the Rev. Traci Blackmon, and Traci gave me an important word of warning and counsel. She said to not be surprised if I went through a crisis of identity over the next several months. It’s natural, she said. Your whole adult life your job has been part of your identity and now you won’t have that.   It’s not unusual … people go through it all the time whether through voluntary retirement or involuntary job loss … and it can be hard.  I had no idea how hard. Over the next seven months, I lost my job, I left my marriage and I spent the next year living in spare bedrooms of wonderful friends in Culver City, Tucson and Marin County.  And I realized how much of my sense not just of self but of worth had been tied up in those identities. I still had some important identities left … I was still a father, a friend, even a priest … though even those relationships and identities were undergoing some significant shifts.   And, thanks to a wonderful community of friends and the gift of time, what could have been – and frankly, sometimes felt like, a tremendous crisis of meaning, purpose and identity – ended up being a wonderful opportunity to learn from the past 30 years of my life and begin the process of being remade … and getting back to the core identity that for three decades I had been telling other people but had struggled with believing myself – that I was a child of God, beautiful, powerful and good – and that was the only worth I would ever need. One of the friends who helped me and is still helping me through this time is my guest today. His name is Jeff Koziatek. Jeff and I have known each other for about a dozen years and have walked through a lot of life events together. He has gone through a lot of challenges and changes in his own life and has found a vocation helping people walk just the journey I have been on. He is the founder of Core Authenticity, a leadership coach, a dynamic speaker and leader but more than that for me he has been a source of deep wisdom and even deeper joy. As I listen to so many of you in this changing world today, I realize these struggles for identity and meaning are not unusual they are everywhere … and so is an epidemic of silence of how deeply we are struggling with it all. So I thought this would be a great time to bring Jeff on and have him share some of the principles and practices that have guided him and that certainly helped me … and that I hope can bring some wisdom and joy for you as well. Jeff's website - https://www.coreauthenticity.com/Mask Trilogy - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jeff+koziatek+maskJuggling Jeff at All Saints Church for Joy Sunday - https://youtu.be/Vucx8SJfC_I?si=cgTv6eaVYn9GjqiG

The Rev. Mark Chase, prophet, pastor, activist, teacher and unrepentant New York Knicks and Yankees fan joins Mutual Aid to talk about the gutting of the Voting Rights Act

The Rev. Gayle Fisher-Stewart, priest, author, and leading voice in the Episcopal Church in conversations about race policing and the church's responsibility in confronting rights white supremacy joins Mutual Aid to talk about the recent gutting of the Voting Rights Act.

Mike welcomes the Rev. Kim Jackson, Episcopal priest and Georgia State Senator, to talk about the personal, professional and societal impact of gutting the Voting Rights Act and the impact of racial reckonings on the fight for franchise.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Context06:17 Personal Stories and Representation13:32 Emotional Resonance of Voting Rights20:30 Importance of Community Engagement