Forefront Podcast

It is easy to become absorbed in our own lives - asking how we will earn a living, where we will make our home, and how we will reach our goals. Yet faith calls us to look beyond individuality. Rev. Venida continues our Liberated Faith series, inviting us to honor our interdependence and connectedness, remembering that true liberation is found not in isolation but in community.

This fall season finds us contemplating a liberated faith. A faith that courageously calls us to look within ourselves and our communities and journey deliberately across territory which is far too often unchartered. It is a bold faith that continuously takes a U-turn from the road of white supremacy culture. It is a fearless faith that steers clear of perfectionism, one right way, power hoarding, a sense of urgency, and quantity over quality. Rev. Venida continues our exploration of Liberated Faith and helps us navigate a characteristic of white supremacy culture some may fear—Open Conflict.

What do Jesus, Ella Baker, and Zohran Mamdani have in common? Hint: it's related to building power. Preaching Bootcamper Denia preaches on the limitations and violence of power hoarding, how Jesus gives as a blueprint for power rooted in collective leadership, and how this blueprint has been used to make historic political gains during troubled times.

Pastor Angela explores our cultural habit of only honoring what is written. In doing so, we erase the wide range of ways we communicate with each other and all living things.

In contemporary society, success is often defined through quantifiable, outward-facing metrics like numbers, growth, expansion, and visibility. This framework, which measures worth through financial gain and social validation, is heavily influenced by capitalist culture, and the rise of digital technology has made this even more expansive.

Preaching Bootcamp Deacon, Keli continues our “Liberated Faith” sermon series with a timely invitation to throw off the shackles of false urgency. Despite the chaos that surrounds us, our faith demands that we slow down and put our trust in God, no matter how uncomfortable or unsatisfactory that may seem.

We continue our Liberated Faith sermon series with a look at how we can unlearn and break free from our alignment with white supremacy culture. Rev. Venida explores the role of perfectionism this week, and as we prepare to courageously weave our way through other critical topics in the following weeks.

Happy 13th Birthday to Forefront Church! We celebrate and give praise to God for each and every person, service, offering, prayer, hug, kind word, smile, tear, decision, sermon and song that have helped sustain this beautiful community for over a decade. Rev. Venida shares the Good News that the best is yet to come as we continue to liberate our faith and prepare the way for our next chapter.

Rev. Venida closes out the Book of Amos sermon series encouraging us to embrace A Defiant Hope.

Inspired by Amos, Kai Ngu gives a sermon on the age-old question, “Why do bad things happen?” Between the options of “chaos” (bad things just happen without a reason) or “purpose” (bad things happen for a reason), Kai proposes an additional way: mercy, or grace, as a good thing that happens without reason.

Rev. Venida continues the Book of Amos sermon series looking at how shifts and changes in our life can ultimately lead us where we are supposed to be as we use our God-given power to create change.

Jonathan Williams challenges our notion of Christianity. Is the way we worship really what God intends? Or are we complicit in a system of power that moves away from God and embraces an oppressive religious system?

Nytasha shares about how not only are our bodies created differently, but also our brains and personalities too -- and how seeing that our diversity in brains and personalities -- is a gift from God.

A panel of congregants — Zion, Nineesha, Viv, Kai — share their experiences and interests in exploring multiple traditions (e.g. faiths, cultures), alongside their progressive Christianity, including Hinduism, Haitian Vodou, Judaism, Buddhism, Chinese ancestral rites, as well as indigenous, animistic practices. Can we hold multiplicity? Why do we want to do so? What tensions, strengths, and questions emerge?

Guest Preacher Rev. Dr. Marsha E. Williams continues our Lift Every Voice series taking a look at Scripture and sharing a theology we can use.

Sometimes we feel like we are strangers in our own home. Like we don’t belong. Sometimes we feel depleted and lack the strength to advocate for ourselves and others because of the dominant powers and systemic barriers all around us. Rev. Venida reminds us that we all belong and helps us consider how we can give Power to the People as we begin our Lift Every Voice sermon series.

The human experience is filled with moments that ask us to rise to the occasion and be exactly who we are divinely created to be… but it’s hard! In these moments, how do you muster the strength and courage to move on? How do you remember that you are uniquely made by the omnipotent source of creation? ENTER, THE HYPE SONG! Join me this Sunday as we explore how the Bible reminds us, exactly who we are, time and time again!

Rev. Venida celebrates Children's Day with a reading of When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner. This book reminds children that they are deeply loved, and that they each have been created with unique gifts that fit into God's divine plan.

Jonathan Williams asks us where we look to determine how well we're doing. Chances are, it's everywhere but inwardly. Someone is richer, happier, prettier, healthier, and ultimately, superior to you. And when you live in the land of “er” you absolutely believe that you should also be living in that land of “er.” You’re just not there yet. But Jesus offers another story. One that tells us we're fully and wholly loved regardless of our lot in this world. I know. That sounds trite. boring. Too easy. Well, maybe it is, but it could also change your life. Find out how.

Priscilla Alabi examines songs that've gotten her through moments of grief and despair.

Preaching Bootcamper Damaris Giha shares her experience of struggling to care for herself as a single person, learning to ask for help, and leaning into community for more care. She explores different biblical models for community care and how we as the church are living out this model. Finally, she asks how we can continue to lean into this and devote ourselves to caring for our people so we don't have to do it all on our own.

Mary Obasi talks about confronting the climate crisis by starting from a place of love.

Rev. Venida culminates the These Bodies Sermon Series with a message on Body Image. With so many brand and beauty standards attempting to influence how we present ourselves, as well as expectations surrounding how our bodies should behave, Rev. Venida challenges us to renew our minds and to be transformed to the extent that we see ourselves as the beloved of God.

Regina Miranda will continue our "These Bodies" series as she delves into Rethinking Mental Health.

I have been fat as far back as can remember. As a child, I knew I was bigger than many kids my age but it didn't occur to me that that was a bad thing, until I was told it was. Join Preaching Bootcamper Nytasha Obasi this Sunday as she delves into Reclaiming Our Bodies as we continue our These Bodies sermon series.

As a proud elder, Rev. Venida shares a sermon on aging. From the time we are born, our bodies begin the aging process. With each birthday, we are continuously aware that growing old can come with its fair share of challenges and a host of struggles. How can we live each day with grace and dignity as we age? How can we focus on what we “can” do and not simply what we “can’t” do? How can we rededicate our aging bodies to God as a form of worship?

Pastor Angela continues our “These Bodies” series, centered on Sexual Ethics, Purity Culture and letting go of the baggage we carry about physical love. What is holy…how do we honor each other and meet the needs of our bodies?

Our bodies have been dehumanized, criminalized, fetishized, sexualized, and desexualized. Keli's body’s existence in this country came about through the commodification of her ancestors’. That violent intersection of white supremacy and capitalism still informs her relationship with her body. And it is only through the constant unlearning of harmful ideologies (because there are so many!) that she can preach on the topic: Our Bodies are Good! And they are good! She is excited to start our “These Bodies” sermon series with you all. We will be discussing sexual ethics and purity culture, decolonizing the body, aging and ageism, reclaiming our bodies, mental health and trauma, and body images. But before we can dive into any of that, she believes it is critical that we accept, and walk in, the inherent goodness of our bodies! Join us as we begin the journey of dismantling harmful influences and embracing the truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully made!

Rev. Venida celebrates the Good News of Easter Sunday with a message highlighting the power given to us through the resurrection. Through this gift, we can freely embrace our own mortality, and recognize the freedom we have been granted to pursue abundant life through the life-giving love of Jesus.

Palm Sunday is not a celebration. Palm Sunday is the shattering of hope and watching one's worst fears come to pass. How do we reconcile hope in the midst of our grief, our pain, and the shattering of our own expectations?

It's Drag Sunday with the sensational Flamy Grant! Flamy leads the music and shares her journey that led to her own Radical Unraveling of Vocation. It's a day of celebration like no other!

Rev. Venida shares a message on the story of Job as we continue the Disruption sermon series. Everything Job holds dear — his property, his family, his wealth, his physical health — has been taken from him. Reduced to suffering and misery, Job laments his circumstances and tries to make sense of what has happened to him. How do we also seek to make meaning of our pain?

Kai (they/them) speaks about Israel-Palestine, an issue that feels overwhelming to lots of folks: What is the Christian stake in all of this? They will walk us through a historical and theological context that outlines Christian responsibility in the current oppression of and genocide against Palestinians.

These days when people think about their relationships with land, it's often under the context of landownership: buying it, selling it, farming it, exploiting it. According to Dr. Mari Joerstad, the Israelites of the Old Testament would be horrified by our attitudes towards and interactions with the Earth. For Old Testament societies, owning and selling private land was just not a concept or practice like it is today. Dr. Joerstad talks to us about what the language in the Hebrew Bible says to us about the relationship that Israel had to the land and, in turn, to God and how that extended to the concept of being accountable to the land. We also get into a discussion about how contemporary concepts of landownership are so tied into identity of societies that it leads to armed conflict.  Joining this conversation is Amanda Clevinger, the leader of Forefront's Faith & Climate Change small group. ABOUT MARI Dr. Joerstad is a biblical scholar, whose research focuses on ecology, land, migration and belonging in the Hebrew Bible. She received her BA from the University of Toronto, a Master of Religion from the Toronto School of Theology (Wycliffe College), and a PhD from Duke University, where she studied with Ellen Davis. A revised version of her dissertation, entitled The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics: Humans, Nonhumans, and the Living Landscape, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019. She has also published articles in journals like The Journal of Biblical Literature, Horizons in Biblical Theology, and The Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture. More recently, she has been a Research Associate at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, where she has provided support for the grant Facing the Anthropocene, lead by Norman Wirzba and Jedediah Purdy, and funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.

What happens when the unimaginable has happened? Where is God? What happens when our plans, our world falls apart? Join us as we learn from the experience of the Disciples when their lives were disrupted.

In Pastor Mak's final sermon as a member of the Forefront staff, she shares her testimony of her 5 years at Forefront and how this church has impacted her life in tremendous ways. She contemplates the meaning of having a "calling", interrogates the concept of having to "do it all", and shares her hopes for the future.

What happens when humans disrupt God’s plan for justice? What should be our collective response when we do? Rev. Venida continues our Disruption Sermon Series sharing the good news that God can give us the strength to recreate God’s plans in our own lives with new vision and intention that propel us forward to bring change and liberation to those suffering.

Rev. Josh tries to make sense of our disappointments in how our expectations of our parents or our hopes for our children sometimes get disrupted. He shared vulnerably about the parallels between his own story and that of Moses and his Mother Jochebed. And concludes the message with some practical advice on how to navigate the challenges within family dynamics.

The COVID lockdown of 2020 changed the paradigm for all of us. The pandemic set many of us on a journey of discovery new routines, anxieties, and fears that we had never experienced before. For Forefront co-pastor, Makenzie Gomez, it was also the start of a journey living with disabilities and chronic illness. Makenzie's journey didn't just see her realizing that there were new physical limitations in her daily routine, but also realizing there was internalized ableism in the world, the Church, and even within herself that had to be interrogated. In this first "Forefront Conversations" of 2024, Pastor Makenzie Gomez expands upon the sermon she gave in November 2023 to dive deeper into internalized ableism, how her experiences have shaped her relationship with faith and prayer, and why it's not cool to tell people living with disabilities that they're "an inspiration." Listen to Makenzie's sermon, "We Will Not Be Silent: Ableism." ABOUT MAKENZIE GOMEZ Pastor Makenzie (Mak) Gomez is one of the Co-Pastors at Forefront whose focus is Operations. Her spiritual upbringing includes a mix of Presbytarian (PCUSA), Non-Denominational Evangelical, and Inter-Denominational Christianity. She received her BFA in Musical Theatre from Boston Conservatory and is a proud member of Actors Equity Association. Outside of Forefront, she is a professional performing artist and teacher. Mak is Mexican-American and identifies as queer/lesbian. Forefront helped her discover that embracing the intersection of sexuality and spirituality can truly be a holy and healing experience, and she hopes to continue to foster a similar environment of wonder for others. At Forefront, Mak produces Sunday services, oversees our Sunday Volunteer Teams, and manages the Church Calendar. She preaches semi-regularly, provides pastoral care and opportunities for growth (particularly when it comes to volunteer and leadership development), and aims to bring as much creativity as possible to all she does. Mak works closely with our deacons of Events & Data.

Please forgive the low quality of our stream. Unfortunately, we had streaming issues and had to stream from a phone instead.   What is your relationship to anger in this season? In what ways are you or aren’t you prone to suppression? Where have you seen rage practiced well? Does Scripture or Jesus provide healthy demonstrations of anger? Rev. Josh explores all of this and more as a disrupts our mind's relationship to anger!

Rev. Venida continues the Disruption Sermon Series highlighting the story of Peter and the disciples as they navigate the stormy seas. She looks at how God can keep us afloat, and work for us and through us in the midst of life’s uncertainties.

Pastor Angela kicks off our new series, “Disruption”, where we will be exploring how we can move forward after our world falls apart. How do we go on when our hopes and dreams appear to be unraveling? Who are we when life upends our identity, when our path disappears? Is this the end, or is it a new beginning? Is there anything too hard for God…is it ever too late…can things turn around? And how do we find joy after the things we feared most have occurred?

Rev. Josh concluded our series “Those Who Dream” with Epiphany Sunday. Epiphany simply means a mystery being revealed. This church holiday marks the day the Maggi in Matthew 2 is led by astrology, finds a 2-year-old Christ-Child, and is forever changed by his light, life, and love. In this message, you are encouraged to ask, where or what has the light of Christ shined on a dark part of your life, theology, or the world and left you changed? And when we arrive on the other side of 2024, how do you want to live and love differently?

Rev. Josh reminds us that we are all dreamers. Like those gathered around the manger, we come to Christmas each year with awe, wonder, and holy imagination for what is possible. Like Mary, we treasure God’s dream in our hearts and commit to keeping it alive. Like the holy family, we believe and trust in a God who comes to us in the vulnerability of a child. How might we like Mary use our imagination to dream of a world and a church that is more just and peaceful?

Rev. Venida continues the second Sunday of Advent with a focus on sowing joy. When we sow a seed in the soil, something so small becomes something so big, so beautiful, so nourishing. Expectant mothers Mary and Elizabeth experienced joy that was so big, so beautiful and so nourishing with the seed of a visit. This sermon explores how the small seeds we sow can yield joyful returns.

Rev. Venida opens the Advent season with our new Sermon Series - Those Who Dream - from the Sanctified Art curriculum. She reminds us that those who dream do not fall asleep to the realities of the world. God prompts us to pay attention to where God’s dreams for change and new life are emerging. In Advent, we remember that God’s ultimate dream is to be intimately connected to us — to come down and dwell among us.

Our leadership team member, Priscilla Alabi, talks about her travels through Israel/Palestine and the ongoing fight over land. How did you first learn about the conflict between Israel and Palestine?

Rev. Josh makes a connection between the man beaten, robbed, and ignored by the religious elite in Luke 10 and the senseless violence, silencing, and marginalization of the LGBTQ+ community. However, the Samaritan had compassion. How might we use our empathy to advocate and care for those harmed or overlooked or how might we go about reclaiming our voices after being silenced in our closets?

Keli discusses how the influence of white supremacy on interpreting the Bible has caused BIPOC communities to forsake their cultural practices. We explore three key practices: ancestor veneration, meditation, and cleansing rituals, which have been marginalized despite being used by and for Jesus. Decolonizing our faith involves embracing inclusivity, listening to BIPOC voices, reclaiming and celebrating cultural practices, and championing justice to dismantle oppressive systems. Our faith should reflect the diversity of God's creation. As we decolonize our faith, we move closer to reconciliation and unity, honoring the cultural practices of our BIPOC siblings and embracing God's all-encompassing love.

In this sermon on Ableism, Pastor Mak Gomez (she/they) explores what Jesus shows us on how we are to interact with disabled people. She shares her personal experience with coming to terms with being disabled, what internalized ableism they’ve had to interrogate, and how Christians can be better advocates for the disabled community. Spoiler alert: saying “I’ll pray for you” is not enough.