We’re wrapping up our fifth season on The Weight, and Eddie, Chris, and producer Cody Hickman talk about some highlights from this season. We have had some wonderful conversations about the power of story telling, working through trauma, food, and leadership. We even got to talk to a local Olympic silver medalist. We hope you’ll go back and give your favorite episodes a re-listen.This year, as a special treat, we’re also highlighting some bloopers, mistakes, and misspoken words. We needed a l...

This episode of The Weight will probably make you laugh, might lighten your spirit, and will definitely give you a new perspective on encouraging leadership in others.Sophie Hudson is a blogger, author, and podcast host. She has written seven books. She draws inspiration for her most recent book, A Fine Sight to See: Leading Because You Were Made for It, from the story of Moses and Exodus, and explores how we are all called to lead, whether we feel qualified or not.Resources:Read more from So...

In case you were wondering, “hymnody” is an actual word and we didn’t make it up. It simply means the singing or composition of hymns, religious songs or poems of praise to God. And today’s guest has a lot to say about hymns. Ted Campbell is the Albert C. Outlet Professor of Wesley Studies at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He has served as a United Methodist pastor and has taught at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, Duke Divinity School, and Wesley ...

What is the humanitarian response for a country in crisis? What is the church’s response? Today’s guest has experienced the love and hope the people provide each other during times of war, strife, and disaster, and he shares one truth: finding community, even in the midst of war, can help sustain your hope and keep you going.Chris Herlinger is an international correspondent for National Catholic Reporters Global Sisters Report. He has worked in many areas of conflict, including South Sudan, D...

Show Notes:Are you an apostle of Jesus?It may seem like an easy “yes,” but the answer is a lot more nuanced than you might think. For Rebekah Simon-Peter, it goes beyond a passive faith in Jesus to a robust, active life with the faith of Jesus.. Rebekah is an author, pastor, coach (and friend of Eddie’s). She spent 12 years as a United Methodist pastor before stepping out to create a ministry that equips churches to build and renew. Her passion for and delight in the work of the Holy Spirit c...

Grief lies to you. Grief will tell you that you are alone in your suffering. This conversation will remind you, over and over, that you aren’t. If you’re grieving right now, you might be tempted to skip this episode, but we encourage you to listen anyway. Send it to someone you know who is hurting, and maybe save it to come back to at a later date.Kimberly Wagner has been on The Weight before to discuss collective trauma, but this conversation is a little more personal. As Christian churches ...

Bishop Ken Carter is a leader. As the current bishop of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, he is guiding over 173,000 members through Hurricane Helene recovery. In addition to that, he serves as bishop-in-residence and a consulting faculty member at Duke Divinity School. He is also the former bishop of the Florida Conference, and served as the president of the Council of Bishops of the UMC from 2018-2020. So, yes, Bishop Carter is a leader. But he leads...

Eddie and Chris are joined by three-time guest Aimee Nezhukumatathil for a conversation about the intersection of food, faith, family, and parenthood, based around her latest collection of essays, Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees. Aimee is the author of multiple volumes of poetry, including Miracle Fruit, Oceanic, and Lucky Fish, as well as several books of essays, World of Wonders (and her most recent, Bite by Bite). Her work has appeared in multiple magazines including Poetry m...

You might say Lola Reed Allin is a trailblazer. She is certainly an adventurer, a traveler, a pioneer, and a role model to women who work in male-dominated fields. As one of the very few female commercial airline pilots in Canada, Lola escaped an abusive marriage to find a life where she not only survived, but thrived.Lola is not just a commercial airline pilot. She is also an author, an award winning photographer, a SCUBA diver, and a speaker. She is open and frank about her experiences, but...

*** Repost***As we move closer to the 2024 election season, we thought this episode was worth hearing again.Show Notes:“Politics is an essential forum in which we can love our neighbors.”Michael Wear reminds us that Christians are called to love, love of God and love of neighbor. And if you are a Christian in politics, when you go into the political sphere, what are you doing? What is the orientation of your heart? This question is for everyone to answer, not just politicians. Are you using t...

This episode might leave you fired up for the Holy Spirit, because guest Jack Levison himself is fired up for the Holy Spirit. Not only does he see the boundless work of the Spirit in our world today, he also offers ways for us to dig deeper into finding the Spirit at work in the Old Testament, where we might overlook it.Dr. Levison holds the W. J. A. Power Chair of Old Testament Interpretation and Biblical Hebrew at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. He is the author ...

Mark DeYmaz is a pastor, author, and champion of the multi-ethnic church movement. He spent eighteen years as a youth pastor in Little Rock, Arkansas, before stepping away to plant the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas in 2001 where he continues to serve as Directional Leader. Mark has a clear vision for what the Church should look like: bringing diverse people together to walk, work, and worship God, while investing in the local community. Church should reflect the diverse world we live in, ...

It’s a podcast mashup this week as Eddie and Chris are joined by the co-hosts of Pod Have Mercy, John Stephens and Matt Russell. John and Matt are pastors at Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas (senior pastor and executive pastor, respectively), and are no strangers to deep conversations about the state of today’s Church--the challenges modern Christians face and their hopes for the future.Resources:Listen to Pod Have Mercy on Spotify or watch it on YoutubeLearn more about Ch...

Shelby McEwen has been jumping and flipping off things since he was a little boy, and now he has an Olympic silver medal to show for it--which joins his many other high jump accolades. Shelby is a native of Oxford, Mississippi (where Eddie and Chris currently live). He was a member of the Northwest Mississippi Community College track and field team as well as the University of Alabama track and field team, where he became an SEC champion for both indoor and outdoor high jump. Shelby was ...

Tod Bolsinger has built his career on developing and empowering great leaders. In this conversation with Eddie and Chris, he talks about how leaders can leverage the trust they’ve built to make risky decisions with empathy and vulnerability, how to deal with pushback, and how important it is to acknowledge the losses that come with change.Tod is the Vice-President for Vocation and Formation and Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he earned his Ph.D....

Is AI going to take over the world?Probably not in the way pop culture would have us imagine (or in the way Chris fears). Today’s guest, Dr. Robert Hunt, offers Eddie and Chris a broad overview of AI--what it is, how we see it, how we see ourselves in relation to it, and how we use it. Dr. Hunt has been the Director of Global Theological Education at the Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University since 2004. He is Professor of Christian Mission and Interreligious Relations...

We’ve heard it on the news and seen it in the research: American Christianity is declining. Younger generations aren’t interested in organized religion. Young families aren’t raising their children with a Biblical foundation. That’s what we’re told, but what is really happening? Today’s guest has an on-the-ground perspective of how hungry the next generation is for meaningful connection and deeper roots to something powerful.Brian McCormack is the Executive Director of Breakaway Ministries, a...

Matt Luke is a former football player and coach, who served as the head coach for the University of Mississippi (and was a member of Oxford University United Methodist Church while Eddie and Chris pastored there.) Matt is probably most well known for helping to lead the University of Georgia football team to a National Championship win in 2021 as associate head coach and offensive line coach. After that win, Matt stepped away from coaching football in February 2022. Walking away from pro...

Show Notes:Kari Kampakis is an author, speaker, podcaster, and newspaper columnist from Birmingham, Alabama. She writes for teen girls and moms, and her books include 10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know, Liked, Love Her Well, and More than a Mom.Kari offers advice to teens and parents, but more importantly she offers compassion and understanding. Parenting is hard at any stage, even if the struggles from family to family are different. As a mom of four girls, Kari has learned that parenting ...

Esau McCaulley returns to The Weight for a discussion about his newest book, "How Far to the Promised Land.” This is a joyful conversation that covers some heavy topics, like reconciling yourself to your history while charting your own path and creating your own story. And sometimes, finding your place in the story means finding your place with God and allowing God’s grace to emerge in unexpected ways.Esau is an author and associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL...

Whether we’re a teenager, college student, established professional, or retired, we’re constantly asking questions about our identity. All of us deeply desire to understand the truth of who we are and where we come from. For those of us in strained relationships with our families of origin, questions of identity, purpose, and belonging can get increasingly complicated. What does it take to tell a truthful story about our lives? Where does God meet us in our fractured, imperfect stories? ...

When we’re struck by unexpected suffering, we ask question after question attempting to find meaning in the midst of our pain. We wonder why this diagnosis, disaster, or death had to happen to us or someone we love. We wonder if God is really good. We wonder if it’s possible to live within our reality and still have hope, joy, and peace. Though these questions are important, our human nature lends itself toward the comfort of ignorance and flimsy optimism. What are the cultural scripts that d...

How do we deal with seasons of doubt? How do we wrestle with the big questions of suffering and pain within the context of God’s never-ending love and come out with a firmer spiritual foundation and a stronger sense of God’s grace and work in our lives? Can we even admit our doubt, and if so, is it productive to our lives as Christians?In this episode, Eddie and Chris are joined by Dominic Done, author, pastor, teacher, and founder of Pursuing Faith. Dominic has gone through his own seasons o...

Are you struggling with church? Do you have doubts and questions, but you aren’t sure where to go to talk them through? Do you have friends or family members who have been hurt by the church, or who have wandered away from the church, or, maybe, who have never been in church?In this episode, Chris and Eddie are joined by Rev. Dr. Sam Wells, priest in the Church of England and vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in central London since 2012. He served as the Dean of Duke Chapel and is the author...