Church as true as the gospel
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“5 stars for the podcast, 2 stars for this episode.
I love most of the episodes of this podcast and usually recommend them all. This most recent one with Terryl Givens was disappointing as I felt he made many assumptions about why someone would “leave” the church and even fell into a cultural language trap by using that phrase. When a member experiences something akin to spiritual trauma or abuse, stepping away from the institution and people that caused that trauma is an absolutely critical part of the path to healing and wholeness and psychological safety. Compared with almost everything else I’ve read by or heard from Terryl, this episode seems to be an outlier. As host, Aubrey tried to soften and challenge Terry’s approach, by suggesting that some members may simply be exhausted or burned out. I don’t feel like Terryl fully heard or addressed this perspective in this episode.
In contrast to this, I listened to the episode with Brian McLaren and felt it captured my experience with the church, but for me I’d replace the word “doubt” with “disillusionment” or “hurt”. McLaren talked about how harmony and peace often come only after one finds answers and healing outside the faith tradition. And then how the harmonizing of faith and doubt usually results in faith that feels beautiful and simple again but looks different in practice than it did before whatever experiences triggered the change. It’s a hopeful view of faith that allows for deeply complex faith journeys, as opposed to labeling people as having a faith crisis, being offended, seeking spiritual fulfillment over religious involvement, going inactive, leaving the church, or any other such ostracizing label or assumption. I feel if we could drop these labels and assumptions that many more members would find the space to heal and grow in their faith within the structure of the institution that they love and believe to be of God.”
drl23 via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
05/16/21
More reviews of Faith Matters
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“When my teenager started asking really hard questions about the church, we began questioning everything we thought we “knew.” This podcast is leading the way in teaching all of us how to question faithfully. It is so refreshing to listen to really smart people talk about complicated issues...”Read full review »
kcmgeorgia via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
09/02/21
“As usual a discussion worth listening to more than once. Thank you for continuing to enrich my understanding and bless my life.”
ddemik via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
09/13/21
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“Relevant. How faith can work in our lives with today’s complexities. I love having something uplifting and real but not too flowery to listen to on my commute.”
jonesey5594 via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
06/30/21
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