Thursdays at the Table

Fabian Debora, an artist who was a former troubled youth who discovered hope and redemption at Homeboy Industries, joins Father Greg Boyle, the founder of this life-transforming gang intervention, rehabilitation and reentry program, in a conversation with Bishop LaTrelle Easterling about justice, restoration and the power of being seen. Guest Bios Father Gregory Boyle, S.J., is a Catholic priest of the Jesuit order. He is the founder of Homeboy Industries (https://homeboyindustries.org), the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world, and the former pastor of Delores Mission in Los Angeles. He is the author of the 2010 New York Times bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion; Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship, and his most recent publication, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness. Fabian Debora is the executive director of the Homeboy Art Academy in Los Angeles. He became acquainted with Homeboy Industries when he was 10 and now serves as one its leaders. He is a noted Latino artist whose work has been showcased in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and abroad. See some of his artwork and story (https://www.fabiandebora.com/).

In this episode, Bishop LaTrelle Easterling explores the “yin and yang” partnership and world-changing ministry with Rudy and Juanita Rasmus, the founding pastors of St. John’s Downtown United Methodist Church in Houston, TX. Together, they explore what it means for the church to have a heart for service, how to find balance and wholeness amid woundedness, what it means to build the church God intends, and how to become a manifestation of Jesus – wherever we find ourselves.Guest Bios:In 1992, Pastors Rudy and Juanita Rasmus, two United Methodist lay people, started St. John’s UMC in Houston, Texas, with nine people. The church grew to more than 9,000 members and has changed the region’s cultural landscape.  Celebrated as “urban prophets,” the couple recently entered “rewirement,” and serve as directors at Bread for Life and continue their ministries as authors, speakers, and spiritual entrepreneurs, helping to define spirituality for our times.

Bishops Marianne Budde of the Episcopal Chuch, and Leila Ortiz of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, join Bishop LaTrelle Easterling as the first women to serve as episcopal leaders in their judicatories. In this lively conversation, the three share the joys, challenges and lessons of leadership they’ve been experiencing and how each of their distinct identities shape the way they’re living out their call.  Guest Bios Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde serves as spiritual leader for 86 Episcopal congregations and ten Episcopal schools in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties. She also serves as the chair of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, which oversees the ministries of the Washington National Cathedral and Cathedral schools. Prior to her election as a bishop, she served for 18 years as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis. She is an advocate and organizer in support of justice concerns, including racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and the care of creation. Bishop Leila Michelle Ortiz is a pastor and theologian in The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and serves as the Bishop of The Metropolitan Washington D.C. Synod since September of 2019. She works alongside pastors, councils, and church members as they discern their call in the church for the sake of the world. She joined the synod staff in 2016 as Assistant to the Bishop. Ortiz is an alumna of the 2015 Lewis Fellowship, at Wesley Theological Seminary and describes herself as as a Luthercostal. Among her many interests is the impact of Latina hermeneutics on Lutheran ecclesiology. 

If you are longing to enter more fully into the uniquely bold and joyful power of transformation, don’t miss this interview with Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries. During this conversation with Bishop Easterling, he shares his wisdom from 30 years working – heart and soul –  in a community in Los Angeles that was the poorest neighborhood in the diocese which had two different pain points. At first it was primarily a community of people who were immigrants and migrants and ten years later experienced the highest concentration of gang activity . In their conversation, he shares his spiritual strategies, the importance of rolling up our sleeves to work alongside the afflicted in society’s margins, and how churches can better invite people into lives in fullness and abundance. Guest BioFather Gregory Boyle, S.J., is a Catholic priest of the Jesuit order. He is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world, and the former pastor of Delores Mission in Los Angeles. He is the author of the 2010 New York Times bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion; Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship, and his most recent publication, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness.

During the Next Level Speaker Series in October 2022, Bishop Easterling had a conversation on fierce love with the Rev. Jacqui Lewis, who shared stories filled with mother-wit, growth, setting boundaries, making bold choices, and opting to live and love outloud. Together, the pair illuminated what it means to love – God, the world and ourselves – with ferocity and grace. Guest Bio The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, the author of Fierce Love, A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World, is the Senior Minister for Public Theology and Transformation at Middle Church in New York City. A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and Fordham University, Lewis  created two national television programs: Just Faith, an on-demand television program on MSNBC.com, and Chapter and Verse at PBS. She uses her gifts and her national platform as a speaker, Presbyterian pastor and author to create a world based on a public ethic of love.

In this lively conversation be prepared to be challenged as some fundamentals and foundational aspects of church may be different than what we are practicing. That our church to be the church of Jesus Christ that we must shift from programs to partnership from charity to ch and from if we believe this stuff, we have to change. How a Bio Janet Wolf has worked as a poverty rights organizer, United Methodist pastor with urban and rural congregations, college and seminary professor, community mediator, and learner, teacher, animator with think tanks and circles inside prisons. She continues to focus 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 a member of the Coordinating Committee of the National Council of Elders and on the Board of the James Lawson Institute for the Research and Study of Nonviolent Movements. She is the author of Practicing Resurrection: The Gospel of Mark and Radical Discipleship. Janet and her husband, Bill Haley, have 5 sons and 7 grandchildren.

With Rev. Dr. Willie Jennings When Bishop Easterling started talking with the Rev. Willie Jennings about some of the deepest things they know, the conversation was so rich that it couldn’t be contained in one episode. Part 1 explored how the church thinks about God, the reasons why people read hierarchies of worth into God’s creation, the potential of us working together and the powerful gifts of understanding what we receive from indigenous cultures when we re-examine our conceptualization of ownership. In this second part of the conversation explore ideas about  whiteness, home and belonging, and where the Holy Spirit may be calling the church.  Guest Bio The Rev. Dr. Willie James Jennings, an ordained Baptist minister,  is an associate professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University. He is the author of  The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race and After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging. He is now working on a major monograph provisionally entitled Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation as well as finishing a book of poetry entitled The Time of Possession.

When Bishop Easterlings started talking with the Rev. Willie Jennings about some of the deepest things they know, the conversation was so rich that it couldn’t be contained in one episode. In order for you to hear it all, it’s been divided into two parts. The first segment explores how the church thinks about God, the reasons why people read hierarchies of worth into God’s creation, the potential of us working together and the powerful gifts of understanding what we receive from indigenous cultures when we re-examine our conceptualization of ownership. Savor the richness of thought and passion inherent in this conversation at the table. And don’t forget to tune in for Part 2 when we launch Season Two of Thursdays at the Table on September 7, 2023. Guest Bio The Rev. Willie James Jennings, an ordained Baptist minister, is an associate professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University. He is the author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race and After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging. He is now working on a major monograph provisionally entitled Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation as well as finishing a book of poetry entitled The Time of Possession.

Drawing on the works of philosophers who shaped this nation, Joel Goza, the author of America’s Unholy Ghosts,  provides insights into how the United States was built on intentional and destructive systems designed to promote white supremacy. He and Bishop Easterling engage in conversation on how these devastating foundations can be reversed and the role that church and people of faith might play in creating equity and justice.

Young adult voices too often go unheard in The United Methodist Church. In this episode of At the Table, Bishop LaTrelle Easterling talks with two young thought-leaders, the Rev. Dorlimar Lebrón Malavé and JJ Warren,  about  the future of the church, the true meaning of love, ideas about queerness, and the possibilities of grace.

Discipleship, it has been said, is learned on the inside of the church and lived on the outside. Deacons are a special order of ministry in The United Methodist Church that lives out this life of service and compassion beyond the pews and pulpits in ways that make the church relevant and meaningful. Join Bishop LaTrelle Easterling as she talks to two well-storied Deacons, the Revs. Leo Yates and Stephanie Moore Hand, as they explore how each of us is called to bring our best gifts to the table. Guest Bios Rev. Dr. Stephanie Moore Hand is a Deacon who works as a vitality strategist in the Western North Carolina Conference. Before being called into ministry, she was an executive for a Fortune 500 company. During her time in the corporate arena, Hand was one of the youngest African-American executives in America running airports. She earned a doctorate from Wesley Theological Seminary, with a concentration in transformational leadership. Rev. Leo Yates is a Deacon serving as a chaplain at the Western Region Hospital Center and the BWC’s coordinator of Accessibility and Inclusion. He is a nationally known activist and advocate for Deaf and hard of hearing ministries. Yates’ secondary appointment is at Emmanuel UMC in Laurel. In addition, he holds a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor license in the state of Maryland and is a board-approved clinical supervisor. Yates chairs the BWC’s Order of Deacons.

This special episode of Thursdays at the Table was recorded on October 20, 2022 during Next Level with Tod Bolsinger.  After his plenary address, Bishop Easterling and he sat down for some real talk around his book, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change.  Learn more about the day. On March 8 at Severna Park UMC in Severna Park, Md., Bishop Easterling will host another conversation with Jacqui Lewis, author of “Fierce Love: a Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness that Can Heal the World.”  In person Registration closes Feb. 22. In her conversation At the Table with Tod Bolsinger, Bishop Easterling explores how leadership is about “energizing a community of people toward their own transformation in order to accomplish a shared mission.” Together, they acknowledge the many real and difficult challenges and resistance facing pastors in this season and, using the metaphor of a blacksmith’s workshop, explore how to lead adaptive change. Outstanding leaders, they conclude, find their identity in Christ and “are formed in the leading.” The Rev. Tod Bolsinger is one of today’s premiere guides for clergy and laity who are seeking to lead in unchartered territories. He is author of the bestselling books Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change and Canoeing the Mountains. Bolsinger currently serves as the Executive Director of the De Pree Center Church Leadership Institute and as Associate Professor of Leadership Formation at Fuller Theological Seminary. A Presbyterian pastor for 27 years, he describes his interests as “my wife and kids, The Church, lattes, fly-fishing, skiing, hiking, running, triathlons, National Parks, marveling at nature, red wine, dark chocolate, traveling and planning trips, rooting for the Angels, reading many books at one time, barbecuing meat.

In this episode of Thursdays At the Table, Bishop LaTrelle Easterling explores the importance of a variety of theological perspectives with guests the Rev. Drs. Shively Smith, an Assistant Professor at Boston University School of Theology, and Theresa Thames, Associate Dean of Religious Life and the Chapel at Princeton University. Theology or “God-talk” is not situated in one culture, people or time. Rather, all of creation extols the glory and represents aspects of the Divine and therefore needs to speak into this conversation. To privilege one group over another de-centers those whose voices are often excluded and attempts to wrongly make one experience, culture or worldview normative and limits our understanding of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Bishop Easterling and her guests delve into “the radical boldness of saying yes,” and the importance of “possibility models,” and interrogating the text. Together, they explore overcoming biblical illiteracy and moving beyond a fairy-tale faith to capture the truth and implications of the Gospel message through the lived life of Jesus. The Rev. Dr. Shively Smith is a lifelong student of sacred texts and dedicated to the life of the mind and the journey of the spirit. She is a renowned scholar, teacher, author, and preacher, currently serving as Assistant Professor of New Testament at Boston University School of Theology and Affiliate faculty for the PhD Concentration in Homiletics. She is also Resident Scholar and an itinerant elder at the historic Metropolitan AME Church of Washington D.C.  She is currently researching the work of theologian Howard Thurman and her ministry often focuses on providing life-transforming answers to the question “What bridges am I building and crossing for future generations today?” Learn more. The Rev. Dr. Theresa S. Thames has a passion for things at the intersections of theology, gender, organizational development, and social justice. An Elder in The United Methodist Church, she is the Associate Dean of Religious Life and the Chapel at Princeton University in New Jersey. A sought after teacher and preacher, she is also the founder of Soul Joy Coaching & Yoga, LLC, an in-person and online gathering that invites women of color to honor their whole divine selves and tap into radical joy. Before moving to Princeton, she served as a pastor in Washington, D.C. for nine years. Thames “prioritizes self-care and believes that freedom is not optional, rest is her strength, and radical joy is her resistance.” Learn more.

In this episode of At the Table, three white men, all leaders in The United Methodist Church, talk about racism and the realities of white supremacy. They share stories with Bishop LaTrelle Easterling of bearing witness to lynchings, confronting how racism was woven into their own histories, and how their privilege affects the ways they are learning use their voices to advocate for justice. In a candid and courageous conversation, Bishop Easterling talks with David Abbott, Director of Stewardship for the United Methodist Foundation of New England; Dr. David Scott, Director of Mission Theology for the denomination’s Board of Global Ministries; and Bill Waddell, an attorney from Arkansas who provides legal counsel to The United Methodist Church. Together, they explore the personal and cultural intersections of whiteness, privilege, racism, Scripture, and justice. Learn more here

Draw up a seat at the table with me and my guests where we tell the whole truth, offer grace, and stay curious. At the table there’s always room for more. Episode 1 premieres January 5, 2023. Let's listen together