Sandbox Cooperative Podcast

In the middle of navigating the coronavirus pandemic, people everywhere are trying to find creative ways to continue to create their work and develop community. We wanted to profile people who are finding creative solutions to keep moving forward in our new normal. Today’s episode is the second in this series.In Part Two, we talk with Matt Penz about the way his dental practice has adapted to the realities of Covid-19 while keeping the office a safe, warm, and welcoming place for patients, as well as the realities of being a parent during this difficult time. Learn more about Matt at PenzDentalCare.com.We also chatted with our friend, and frequent Sandbox guest, Heatherlyn. She shared about the ways she has taken her music online during the pandemic and continued to develop a virtual community through those musical experiences. Learn more about Heatherlyn and her music at HeatherlynMusic.com.

In the middle of navigating the coronavirus pandemic, people everywhere are trying to find creative ways to continue to create their work and develop community. We wanted to profile people who are finding creative solutions to keep moving forward in our new normal. Today’s episode is the first in this series.In Part One, we talk with Ben Grace and Karyn Thurston about Heathen Happy Hour and some of their other creative projects. Learn more about Ben’s music at BenGraceMusic.com and find the Heathen Podcast at HeathenPodcast.com or subscribe wherever you find podcasts.We also hear from our friend Derek Jensen, who shared with us a little bit about his experience as a chef and managing a restaurant through this difficult time. If you’re near us in Rochester, MN, go snag some delicious food (details at ChestersKB.com)Join us next time for part two!

2020 has looked a bit different than we imagined, hasn’t it? As the coronavirus pandemic officially hit the United States, we were convinced we just needed to sit on the couch, wait it out, and watch Netflix - but our expectations of newly found free time turned into the hard reality of quarantine. In this episode we discuss our experience so far of the pandemic and the ways that life has changed over the last several months. Through it all, what are we seeing? What have we learned? How might we stay healthy - mentally, spiritually, and physically, during this time?

For today’s episode, we’re revisiting our live event with Drew Hart. To dig deeper, visit SandboxCooperative.com and click on the discussion tab.On May 7, 2017 we welcomed Drew Hart for one of our Sandbox Live Events. Drew is a Theology Professor, Church Anti-Racism Trainer, and Justice Activist and author of the book, Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism, as well as the upcoming Who Will Be a Witness: Igniting Activism for God's Justice, Love, and Deliverance. We talked with Drew about the themes of his book, and had an excellent conversation with our audience.More about Drew at DrewGIHart.com, @DruHart, Drew Hart on Facebook

A few weeks ago a groundhog told us how much longer winter would last, and that a new season is right around the corner. It got us thinking about seasons in our own lives, paying attention to where we are and what’s next. What season are you in? Are you in between seasons? What could be next in your story?

In today’s episode we talk about gratitude. What would it look like for us to practice gratitude more consistently? How might that shape our view of our lives and the world around us?Web comic, I’m Honestly Fed Up With All The Bad News, So I Illustrated 50 Of The Best Ones From 2019: https://www.boredpanda.com/positive-news-2019-illustrations-mauro-gatti/

Dale Fredrickson is a teacher and a poet. He is the author of multiple books and albums, most recently Blessed is the Man. Blessed is the man is the story of how men can grow their capacity for mutual love and become openhearted, emotionally expressive, and relationally connected. Through poetry and the sounds of banjos, mandolins, saxophones, violins, and guitars Dale seeks to inspire men and women alike to let love shape their lives and write their stories.For more about Dale and his work, be sure to check out dalefredrickson.com, or listen to our previous conversation with Dale in Episode 25.

We hope you are all enjoying the holidays and have the chance to be rested and encouraged this season. We’ll be taking a short break from the podcast, but will be back in mid-late January. In the meantime, here’s a quick word from us and a gift of a poem, On This Night I Wonder, from our friend Dale Fredrickson.

In today’s episode we talk with Emmy Kegler about her book, One Coin Found: How God's Love Stretches to the Margins. In addition to talking about the book, Emmy shared her experience of tension with the Bible and the Christian story, specifically in the ways scripture has been used to marginalize people based on sexuality, race, or beliefs. She hopes that through her book, and we hope through this episode, people who have had a broken relationship with the Christian story might have the chance to find something that is liberating, holistic, and healing.Emmy also challenges us to better care for those who have been cast aside through rethinking our understanding of scripture, reminding us that “coins only disappear if the person who is responsible for recognizing their worth fails in their duty.”

In today’s episode each of us share a story of an experience we had that was somehow important - one of those experiences that seemed to be full of life, where we truly noticed something special about what was happening. They’re all tied together, but maybe in surprising ways. Here are a few things to listen for in today’s episode. Why were these awesome? What made these experiences memorable or important? What experiences have you had that you would put in this category?

For today’s episode, we share our conversation with Rick and Rose Admiral of New Life Prison Ministry in Pella, Iowa. We met Rick and Rose on our trip to Houston last summer and talked with them about their work starting a church inside a prison. They shared stories of hopefulness, encouraged us to consider restorative justice, and remind us of the value of all people, even those we might otherwise cast aside. Find out more about their work at newlife-prison.org.

Today we’re excited to share a conversation we had with some folks from Decolonize Lutheranism. What started as an internet meme in response to jokes about Sven and Ole and Lutherans eating Jell-O has shifted into a movement advocating an expansive Lutheran tradition that includes and values the contributions of Lutherans from all cultural backgrounds and identities.If our faith communities are to be places of healing and of growth together, then we need to do better to provide space for other voices and hear from those who have been left out and cast aside. It’s important to step out of the way and let others share, speak, and lead whose voices have been silenced and marginalized - to hear the ways God has been working in their lives and their communities. We have a lot to learn, and a lot of work to do.Learn more at DecolonizeLutheranism.org

Today marks something a little something different here in the Sandbox as we interviewed Dave about his time away this summer. We had the opportunity to learn a little bit more about his travels and what he learned during his time of sabbatical. We talked about his study of celtic spirituality, the need for rest and taking time to step back, and heard a couple of the essays he wrote while he was away.

In this episode we share our conversation with Stephen Bouman, Director for Domestic Mission in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Stephen shares stories about a variety of experiences in his years as a pastor, church leader, and now with the ELCA, and encourages us to trust in the value of relationship and community to bring change to our neighborhoods.

In this episode we talked with Ruthie Kolb, owner of Kindling Communication, about how to have healthy conversations around human sexuality and our sexual identities.Using researched-based best practices in sexual health education, Ruthie facilitates strengths-based, interactive, age-appropriate, and inclusive conversations about sexuality that are adaptable to diverse settings: from schools to church groups and community organizations.Learn more about Ruthie and Kindling Communication at www.kindlingcommunication.com.

In today’s episode, we’ll hear from two women who represented the Women and Justice social statement at the National Youth Gathering in Houston, Texas last summer. We had the chance to sit down with them and learn a lot about the process of creating a social statement and why this one is especially important. As you’ll hear in the episode, in the ELCA, the Lutheran church organization that hosted this gathering, a social statement is a document that explains how Lutherans live out their understandings of God in relationships to one another. And while these particulars are very Lutheran and ELCA-centric, the process and the topic are much more broad - how are we addressing patriarchy and the role of women in all of our social concerns, no matter our religious background, and how can we discuss this with the people around us who may agree or disagree?

Many of our conversations over the last several months came from our trip down to Houston last summer.One of those conversations was with an organization called Water to Thrive, a faith-based American nonprofit that funds the building of wells in eastern Africa and spreads awareness about the African water crisis. We had the opportunity to meet with Jazzy Schwolert and Lindsay Pease, who work for Water to Thrive, and learn about their work to bring clean water to all.Learn more at WaterToThrive.org.

In our world we see a lot of perfection, end result, and final product, but not a lot of the process of the people and things that inspire us. That might lead us to think our own work isn’t good enough if it doesn’t match someone else’s standard of success. But maybe something is worth doing just because of the joy it brings - even at our own level and pace.

Have you ever thought: “You know what somebody should do…? Somebody should…” Could it be that the “somebody” you are talking about is you?Last summer we had the opportunity to meet with Brad Otto, the founder and president of Acts of Wisdom, a non profit organization dedicated to assisting people in rural Africa in their quest to obtain quality, relevant education. We had a great conversation with Brad, and we’re excited to introduce him and his work. Visit ActsOfWisdom.com for more information.

In the final episode of our immigration series, we connected again with our friends from St. Michael’s in Albuquerque, New Mexico to see what they have learned over the last 9 months or so since we had our initial conversation. With new developments on the southern border, St. Michael’s has expanded their work in immigration to meet the need, and once again they inspired us with their compassionate work, and the new things they are doing.

As we continue our series on immigration, we’ll share our conversation with Marian Bock. We had the opportunity to connect with Marian through David and Joe, who shared about their community, St. Michael’s, in our last episode. Marian is a member of the Albuquerque Friends Meeting House, a quaker community in Albuquerque providing sanctuary for a woman named Emma. We had a great conversation, and learned so much about our immigration system, the joys and struggles of sanctuary, and the place that each of us can have in alleviating this crisis that so many face.

The conversation on immigration is incredibly heated in our culture. But we believe the conversation can change when we begin with the dignity and value of all people - and our guests today showed us just that. As we continue our series on immigration, we’ll introduce you to the community at St. Michael Episcopal Church in Albuquerque. We felt an instant connection with them, and they had so much to share and teach us - not only about immigration - but about openness.

We are about to enter into yet another election cycle, and once again immigration issues are at the forefront of it all. We are no experts on the matter, but we wondered - what does the conversation look like if we start with the worth, value, and dignity of all people?In future weeks these episodes will include conversations we had in New Mexico last summer, but we want to begin this topic by replaying a conversation we had in Episode 12. A few years ago the Syrian refugee crisis was all over the news. Pictures were showing up everywhere of people fleeing the violence in their home country. And of course, fear and a heated conversation on immigration were at the center of our political discourse. In the middle of all that, we had a conversation with Scott Hicks, a lawyer in Ohio whose practice centers in immigration law, to dispel some of the fears and misconceptions around this process. (You can read the Scott’s post that prompted this conversation here).

About a month ago we asked the question, “What do you wonder about?” We invited listeners to message us and let us know. In today’s episode we heard from a listener named Kelly. She was wondering what it means to live as a person of belief in a pluralistic society. What does it mean to maintain and strengthen relationships while still remembering that you are good just as you are?We’d love to know what you wonder about too, so let us know! It’s easy - send us a message via social media, email us at [email protected] OR call us and leave a voice message at (507) 722-1086.

While we were on a road trip we met leaders from Generation Justice in Albuquerque, New Mexico who taught us that love, listening and honoring people’s stories can change the world.Generation Justice is a multi-racial project that centers race equity to train youth to harness the power of community through leadership, media, narrative, and critical consciousness. Their mission is to inspire youth to become multidimensional leaders who are committed to social transformation. In New Mexico, Generation Justice has been recognized as the premier youth media and leadership group, and locally and nationally, has been the recipient of numerous awards. Learn more at GenerationJustice.org.

In this episode we talk with writer and organizer Carla Godwin and musician Ben Grace about a new song they co-wrote called “Preacher’s Daughter.” The song sparked conversation on a wide range of topics from creativity, to faith, and to discovering, claiming, and using your voice.About Ben GraceAustralian singer-songwriter Ben Grace’s impeccably crafted songs hover in the space between lightness and the depths, wrestling their way through humor and melody to peel back the layers and reveal the naked truth of us. Through the specificity of his own deconstruction, Ben writes into our universal search for belonging, spiritual homecoming, and desire to live seen and unashamed. Find Ben’s music on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, or on Bandcamp. Follow Ben on all social media @BenGraceMusic.About Carla GodwinCarla is a Minneapolis-based writer and speaker and co-creator of the national conversation for women in leadership, She Is Called. In addition to hosting Holy Writ Podcast, she is a regular panelist on the Christian Feminist Podcast. On a summer day in the Twin Cities, she’s cycling on the city trails or playing at Lake Harriet with her daughters. The long northern winters give her plenty of time for her other diversions—coffee and books. Find more about Carla and She Is Called at SheIsCalled.com.

Have you ever experienced a change in your life, your relationships, your work… and just plowed ahead like everything is fine and nothing is different? How do we acknowledge when a season has changed and lean into a new reality? In this episode we will explore these ideas and consider some ways to get unstuck, to look up, and live into the “new thing.”Check out the video from May 2, 2013 : Mowing SnowSpecial thanks to Julie Stevens and Charles Ortloff for their thoughts in this episode.

With Christmas and New Year’s coming, we are taking time to pull some new stories and podcasts together for 2019… and there is a whole lot of exciting stuff to look forward to: St. Michael's Church in Albuquerque, Generation Justice, and more conversations from our time in Houston last summer. But between now and then, we want to hear from you…What do you wonder about? What inspires your curiosity? What do you want to know more about or wish you had an answer to?Would you share your answer with us? Here’s how:Send us a message via social media, email us [email protected] call us and leave a voice message at (507) 722-1086.

A lot of our holiday traditions revolve around food… but maybe none more than Thanksgiving with its iconic turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes and gravy. As we enter this season current estimates are that more than 800 million people - or 11% of the world’s population - are hungry.Thankfully, there are organizations working to change this every day. In this episode we share our conversation with Mikka McCracken. Mikka works with ELCA World Hunger, an organization that offers health clinics, microloans, water wells, animal husbandry, community meals, advocacy, and more to develop sustainable solutions that get at the root causes of hunger and poverty. Learn more at ELCA.org/hunger.

We live in a society that values speed, productivity and efficiency; and our technology drives this in a way that can often be unhealthy. These are good things to a point, but maybe we’ve gone a bit too far. In this episode, we talk about some practices that might help us get back on track and allow us to own our devices, rather than letting our devices own us.

What is it about our ancestors? Why do we care? When it comes to celebrations honoring those who have died, we often think of things like The Day of the Dead from Mexico, or maybe All Saint’s Day. These global observances and celebrations come from all different faith backgrounds: Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, as well as tribal traditions and religions. No matter where you are from, there is just something about celebrating and remembering those who came before us, and make us who we are today.Special thanks to Nancy Goede for sharing her experience about researching her family history. Be sure to check out her book, Uncovering Lives: Discovering One Immigrant Generation’s Secrets and Lives of Forgiveness, Grace, and Healing.

This past summer, we caught up with some friends from Mosaic. Mosaic is a faith-based organization serving people with intellectual disabilities. We learned about their unique approach to building community and connection through their life changing work.Learn more about Mosaic and how you can get involved at MosaicInfo.org.

On September 23, 2018 Sandbox Cooperative welcomed Dr. Jacqueline Bussie to the Sandbox stage to talk about her new book, Love Without Limits. We discussed how we can learn to love as God does—without limits or exceptions. This podcast contains the Q&A portion of the evening event.In Love Without Limits, Bussie imparts practical solutions for people who yearn to love across difference. Through poignant memoir, engaging theological reflection, inspiring stories of friendship, creative readings of scripture, and shout-outs to some of love’s unsung heroes, Bussie challenges readers to answer God’s call to practice a love so vast that it excludes no one.More about Jacqueline at JacquelineBussie.com, @JacquelinBussie, and on Facebook.

On September 23, 2018 Sandbox Cooperative welcomed Dr. Jacqueline Bussie to the Sandbox stage to talk about her new book, Love Without Limits. We discussed how we can learn to love as God does—without limits or exceptions.In Love Without Limits, Bussie imparts practical solutions for people who yearn to love across difference. Through poignant memoir, engaging theological reflection, inspiring stories of friendship, creative readings of scripture, and shout-outs to some of love’s unsung heroes, Bussie challenges readers to answer God’s call to practice a love so vast that it excludes no one.More about Jacqueline at JacquelineBussie.com, @JacquelinBussie, and on Facebook.

In Episode 72 we share our conversation with author, speaker and social entrepreneur, Linda Kay Klein. Linda just released her book, Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free. Linda is also the founder of Break Free Together - an organization that helps people to release shame and claim their whole selves.She has spent over a decade working at the intersection of faith, gender, sexuality and social change. She earned an interdisciplinary master’s degree from New York University focusing on American evangelical Christian gender and sexuality messaging for girls. Linda Kay Klein has been featured in the New York Post, the Huffington Post, National Public Radio, and now, Sandbox Cooperative!

Growing up means something different to just about everyone. But if you could go back in time, what would you tell the 15-year-old version of yourself? In this episode, we talk about growing up, what to do with the advice we receive, and how we mark the ways that we grow and change over time. We also hear from a variety of people sharing what they would tell their 15-year-old selves.

In our contentious society, it seems like we really have no idea how to share our thoughts, ideas, fears, hopes and dreams. How can we do this better? We’ve had several fascinating conversations with professional communicators and in part three of this series we share our conversation with Duane Sauke, a former educator and realtor who is currently serving as a representative in the Minnesota State Legislature.

In our contentious society, it seems like we really have no idea how to share our thoughts, ideas, fears, hopes and dreams. How can we do this better? We’ve had several fascinating conversations with professional communicators and over the next few months we’ll be sharing these conversations. In part two of this series we share our conversation with Emily Carson, author of Holy Everything and the director of communications for the Southeastern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA.

In this episode, we continue our conversation Chris Tripolino of the Reimagined Songs Project. Chris and others are writing a whole new library of songs that can support communities growing together as they sing and seek and discover what is coming into existence as "church." Interested in joining the project? Consider joining the Facebook group, or visit ReimaginedSongs.com.

In this episode, we talk with Chris Tripolino of the Reimagined Songs Project (Part 1 of 2). Chris and others are writing a whole new library of songs that can support communities growing together as they sing and seek and discover what is coming into existence as "church." Interested in joining the project? Consider joining the Facebook group, or visit ReimaginedSongs.com.

We're live on location in Houston for the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) Youth Gathering. Each day of this gathering there are themes, and today's theme is Hope. Here are a few of our thoughts and some insights from a variety of youth and adults at the gathering.

We're live on location in Houston for the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) Youth Gathering. Each day of this gathering there are themes, and today's theme is Grace. Here are a few of our thoughts and some insights from a variety of youth and adults at the gathering.

We're live on location in Houston for the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) Youth Gathering. Each day of this gathering there are themes, and today's theme is Love. Here are a few of our thoughts and some insights from a variety of youth and adults at the gathering.

In our contentious society, it seems like we really have no idea how to share our thoughts, ideas, fears, hopes and dreams. How can we do this better? We’ve had several fascinating conversations with professional communicators recently, and over the next few months, we’ll be sharing these conversations. Part one of this series contains our conversation with Karen Ortloff, a psychologist at Bluestem with powerful insight into good communication.

We featured a conversation with Samir Selmanović a few weeks ago in Episode 62. We had so much fun with him, that we figured it was time for another round!Samir is a “secular pastor for business leaders” and focuses on the humanization of business. He loves his home country of Croatia, the streets and humans of New York City, and the changing seasons in Central Park, which sits next to his apartment where we caught up with him last year.Learn more about Samir at Wisdom Workroom.

Have you ever been asked the question, “Where are you from?” One way of thinking about that question could also be “When you come back to yourself, to your core, Where are your roots?” Things like our family, our religious traditions, or even the town where we grew up can have a significant impact on the way that we think or the things we do. But those things don’t have to define us.

A lot of religious traditions teach that you are lacking, that you are not enough. But others teach that you already have “it.” You have what you need. Perhaps the job of a leader in a community is to help bring that to the surface – to help bring your gift and strength forward so you can share it. And maybe when that happens we can live more abundantly – right now.

In Episode 62, we talk with Samir Selmanović about how meals and other rituals sit at the center of relationships that help us continue to learn and grow. (Note: this episode does contain explicit language)Existence is sacred; nothing is ordinary; work is intimacy. As a “secular pastor for business leaders” Samir is focusing on the humanization of business. Samir loves his home country of Croatia, the streets and humans of New York City, and the changing seasons in Central Park, next to which he lives with his wife Vesna and daughters Ena and Leta. When the going gets tough, Samir goes into his kitchen and cooks up kindness for family, friends, and strangers. Learn more about Samir at Wisdom Workroom.

“Wait until you get to the real world.” Many of us hear that phrase as a young person, but what do we miss if we discredit youth and don’t hear their voices? Youth aren’t waiting for the real world (because where else would we live?). They’re in it and have valuable insight to share in our conversations.

For today’s episode, we’re revisiting our live event with Science Mike McHargue. To dig deeper, visit SandboxCooperative.com and click on the discussion tab.Mike McHargue (better known as Science Mike) is an author, podcaster, and speaker who travels the world helping people understand the science of life’s most profound experiences. His bestselling debut book, Finding God in the Waves, has helped thousands understand faith in the 21st century.Mike hosts Ask Science Mike, a weekly question and answer podcast helping hundreds of thousands explore the questions they’ve always been afraid to ask. He cohosts The Liturgists Podcast with his friend Michael Gungor. With over a million downloads per month, The Liturgists Podcast is reshaping how the spiritually homeless and frustrated relate to God.Mike lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife Jenny and two daughters.More about Science Mike at mikemchargue.com, theliturgists.com, @mikemchargue.