Shows
A Life Worth WorkingThe Sh*t Pile Episode with Molly BasketteIn this raw and redemptive conversation, Rev. Molly Baskette, pastor and author, shares her own “shit pile” moment: guiding her church through a painful conflict over affordable housing after a devastating fire—while enduring profound personal loss. This episode is a powerful reminder that transformation often begins in the mess—that healing, humility, and meaning are cultivated not in our triumphs, but in our willingness to be undone.✨ For Molly’s full story of becoming a psychedelic chaplain, listen to her complete interview on A Life Worth Working.
2025-11-1109 min
A Life Worth WorkingWhy This Pastor Turned to Psychedelics to Heal the SoulDana and Michelle sit down with Rev. Molly Baskette, co-senior minister of the First Congregational Church of Berkeley and author of five books. After nearly 30 years in ministry, Molly found herself called into a surprising second act—as a psychedelic chaplain.She shares how she discovered “a new kind of medicine,” and now helps people heal and grow through guided psychedelic sessions. Molly walks us through the process of legal ketamine-assisted therapy—how it works, what it feels like, and why the real magic happens during integration, when people learn to harvest the insights and emotions from the...
2025-11-0419 min
Mess Makes MeaningBless This Mess with Rev. Molly Baskette and Ellen O’DonnnellRev. Molly Baskette and child psychologist Ellen O’Donnnell, the co-authors of Bless This Mess, A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic WorldFor a relatable, at many times humorous, and helpful guide this episode takes pieces of the book, Bless This Mess, and addresses some of the parenting concerns at the forefront of our minds. Enjoy!
2025-04-0146 min
20 Minute BooksBless This Mess - Book Summary"A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World" 👉 For more insights, check out the full book here 📖 Transcript and written book summary available here for free 🗒️ Author: Molly Baskette and Ellen O’Donnell Category: Parenting
2024-04-2429 min
Nobody Told Me!Rev. Molly Baskette and Ellen O'Donnell: ...how to celebrate the holidays with spirituality & gratitudeHow can you raise open-minded and morally grounded kids these days, with an approach that's rooted in science, psychology, and faith? And, how can you help your children experience a holiday season filled with spirituality and gratitude? To help answer those questions, we turn to our guests, Rev. Molly Baskette and child psychologist Ellen O'Donnell, who have co-authored a book called, "Bless this Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World".
2023-12-0230 min
Jesus Has Left the BuildingHow to Begin When Your World is Ending with Molly BasketteMarta & Mandy chat with Molly Baskette, UCC pastor and author of several books, including her most recent, How to Begin When Your World is Ending: A Spiritual Field Guide to Joy Despite Everything. Molly shares some pro-tips for handling some of the most challenging experiences a person can live through. She offers a disaster theology that works for progressive Christians who are searching for meaning-making both in the midst of and following trauma and suffering.
Find all of Molly's books on her website!
2023-08-1237 min
Called to Be MultipleThe Queer, Christian, Spiritualist Elder We Never Had with James Admans (Marge Erin Johnson)This episode's guest is James Admans (they/them) also known as Marge Erin Johnson (she/her), a minister, activist, and drag queen residing on the occupied homelands of the Wappinger and Paugusett Nations. They are a Member In Discernment and ordained pending call in the United Church of Christ. James is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (unceded homelands of the Lenape Nation) where they received their Master of Divinity degree in interdisciplinary Biblical studies, social ethics, and queer theology.
In their last year in seminary, James was the r...
2023-07-031h 14
What If ProjectEpisode 242: Molly Baskette And How To Begin When Your World Is EndingToday we're sitting down with Molly Baskette to talk about her book, "How To Begin When Your World Is Ending". We talk faith faith evolution, the problem of evil, prayer, and the things Christians say in hard times when they don't know what to say. Enjoy!
SHOW NOTES:
MY BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Re-Thinking-Everything-Spiritual-Journey/dp/B09QNV8QX7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=V52CPQJD7N53&keywords=glenn+siepert+book&qid=1643323104&sprefix=glenn+siepert+book%2Caps%2C71&sr=8-1
SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.whatifproject.net/support
HERETIC SHOP: https://www.bonfire.co...
2023-02-0651 min
Pod Be With YouHow to Begin When Your World is Ending (with Rev. Molly Baskette)Today, I (Aaron) am lucky enough to speak with Rev. Molly Baskette, Senior Pastor of the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, CA, and author of several outstanding books. Her most recent is "How to Begin When Your World is Ending: A Spiritual Field Guide to Joy DESPITE Everything." "Field Guide" is a great description: this book is part survival guide for those going through some of life's most difficult moments. Also like a field guide, though, this will take you by the hand and make sure you don't miss anything wonderful. With grace and honesty (an...
2023-01-2542 minNobody Told Me!Rev. Molly Baskette and Ellen O'Donnell: ...celebrate the holidays with spirituality & gratitudeHow can you raise open-minded and morally grounded kids these days, with an approach that's rooted in science, psychology, and faith? And, how can you help your children experience a holiday season filled with spirituality and gratitude? To help parents answer those questions, we're joined by our guests, Rev. Molly Baskette and child psychologist Ellen O'Donnell, co-authors of the book, "Bless this Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World". Their website is: https://www.blessthismessparenting.com/ Thanks to our sponsor, Lomi, the world's first Smart Waste Appliance. If you've struggled with composting and feel it's too much work...
2022-12-1634 min
Be Still and GoIn the Bleak Midwinter (Rev. Molly Baskette)"We already have exactly what we need for this potluck Christmas feast – our hearts. We just have to thaw them out."What are the ways that you can "thaw your heart" this Advent season?//In the bleak midwinterFrosty wind made moanEarth stood hard as ironWater like a stoneSnow had fallenSnow on snow on snowIn the bleak midwinterLong, long agoAngels and Arc AngelsMay have traveled thereCherubim and SeraphimThronged the airBut only hi...
2022-12-0908 minBe Still and GoIn the Bleak Midwinter (Rev. Molly Baskette)"We already have exactly what we need for this potluck Christmas feast – our hearts. We just have to thaw them out."What are the ways that you can "thaw your heart" this Advent season?//In the bleak midwinterFrosty wind made moanEarth stood hard as ironWater like a stoneSnow had fallenSnow on snow on snowIn the bleak midwinterLong, long agoAngels and Arc AngelsMay have traveled thereCherubim and SeraphimThronged the airBut only hi...
2022-12-0908 min
New Full Audiobooks in MemoirsHow to Begin When Your World Is Ending: A Spiritual Field Guide to Joy Despite Everything by Molly Phinney BaskettePlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/629429 to listen full audiobooks. Title: How to Begin When Your World Is Ending: A Spiritual Field Guide to Joy Despite Everything Author: Molly Phinney Baskette Narrator: Molly Phinney Baskette Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 18 minutes Release date: November 29, 2022 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: As a progressive parish minister, Molly Baskette has been a companion during the most vulnerable and unsettled periods of many people's lives. She has also had a front row seat to remarkable human transformation, as many of the ruptures her people lived through turned out...
2022-11-2930 min
Pulpit Fiction Narrative CastTNS 10-2: Molly Phinney BasketteA conversation with Molly Phinney Baskette, progressive pastor, author, mama, cancer survivor, and doomsday Pollyanna, about her latest book, How to Begin When Your World is Ending: A Spiritual Field Guid to Joy Despite Everything. Find more of Molly's books here.
2022-11-1751 min
Pulpit Fiction PodcastTNS 10-2: Molly Phinney BasketteA conversation with Molly Phinney Baskette, progressive pastor, author, mama, cancer survivor, and doomsday Pollyanna, about her latest book, How to Begin When Your World is Ending: A Spiritual Field Guid to Joy Despite Everything. Find more of Molly's books here.
2022-11-1751 min
A Quest for Well-BeingTo Dance Is To Let The Divine Move Through Us— Dance is one way of taking initiative to exform when the tears won't come, or when they won't stop. When we have something that needs shaking loose or sweating out in high kicks, the wild mosh, the crowd surf. And dancing together is even better than dancing alone. One Oxford study of pain revealed that dancing in sync with a group made dancers able to bear more pain. (Of course, they didn't control for people who find any kind of dancing in public painful.) Dance is the body's jazz hands for the soul. Dance is God on the move. Da...
2022-11-0148 min).png)
This is CrucialTIC 23 | The Future of Faith: A Panel Discussion with Molly Basket and David Vásquez-LevyThe season finale of This Is Crucial. For the first time ever, co-hosts Amos Disasa and Charlene Han Powell and their esteemed guests Molly Baskette and David Vásquez-Levy will gather in-person at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley for a live panel discussion on the future of faith.
2022-05-211h 30Nobody Told Me!Rev. Molly Baskette and Ellen O'Donnell: ...how to celebrate the holidays with spirituality & gratitudeHow can you raise open-minded and morally grounded kids these days, with an approach that's rooted in science, psychology, and faith? And, how can you help your children experience a holiday season filled with spirituality and gratitude? To help parents answer those questions, we're joined by our guests on this episode, Rev. Molly Baskette and child psychologist Ellen O'Donnell, who have co-authored a new book called, Bless this Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World. Thanks to our sponsors of this episode!
2021-12-1933 min
Pulpit Fiction Podcast448: Proper 20B (9/19/2021) LIVE from 2021 Wild GooseNotes and Commentary Live from the 2021 Wild Goose Festival with special guests Molly Baskette and Aaron James Mark 9:30-37 Proverbs 31:10-31 James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a Psalm 1 with Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon) Sponsor: Opening Music: "Misirlou" by Dick Dale and the Del Tones used with permission Closing Song by Bryan Odeen
2021-09-111h 07
Your Parenting is ShowingEpisode 8 - Brittany Walker PettigrewIn this episode we talk with social worker Brittany Walker Pettigrew. Brittany is a Black mom raising three Black children, two by birth and one by adoption, in Oakland, CA. Brittany had so much wisdom to share that this is a long one. You’re going to want to listen to the whole thing more than once so take it in snack size bites. In part one, we discuss why the value and weight of education is different for BIPOC kids than for White kids and what this means as we emerge into an almost-post-pandemic new normal. Br...
2021-04-2030 min
Your Parenting is ShowingEpisode 6 - Dr. Sarah GreenOn this episode, we chatted all sorts of things with our dear friend Dr. Sarah Green. Sarah is a poet and professor of literature and creative writing at St. Cloud University in Minnesota. She is a stepmom of two great kids and a poetry mom to many more. The roots of this friendship go back to our days in Somerville, MA and you'll get plenty of Boston references. You'll also get to join us in a discussion of pandemic attention and creativity (or lack thereof), what we might keep and what we plan to toss away from pandemic times...
2021-03-2930 min
Your Parenting is ShowingEpisode 6 - Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith LundThe Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund is an author, pastor and mental health advocate. She is also a good friend of Molly’s and, with a Masters in social work, brings a brilliant blend of both Ellen and Molly’s expertise. Sarah has a new book out Blessed Union: Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness and Marriage where she shares her own and others’ stories of marriages impacted by depression, anxiety, addiction..and now the stress of a global pandemic. All marriages are messy. If you are co-parenting in a marriage it’s even messier. Anyone can learn from Sarah’s...
2021-03-0230 min
Your Parenting is ShowingEpisode 5 - Amelia Richardson DressAmelia Richardson Dress is the author of The Hopeful Family: Raising Resilient Children in Uncertain Times. She writes about education, parenting and contemplative spirituality. Also an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, she currently serves as the Minister for Community Faith Formation at First Congregational, United Church of Christ Longmont. She and her husband raise their daughter in a mixed-belief household in Colorado.Amelia joined us to talk about her new book and the wisdom it holds for parenting in a pandemic. We talk about sticking with what works and about the power...
2021-02-2430 min
Your Parenting is ShowingEpisode 4 - Dr. Anne FishelDr. Anne Fishel is a clinical psychologist, family and couples therapist, educator and author. Anne is co-founder of The Family Dinner Project, a nonprofit initiative started in 2010 that champions family dinner as an opportunity for family members to connect with each other through food, fun and conversation about things that matter. In this episode, Anne shares with us what she has learned through the pandemic about the power of family meals, the need to be flexible, and the beauty in imperfect things and rescheduled picnics with her own grown children. We are sure you will find Anne’s calm an...
2021-02-0230 min
Your Parenting is ShowingEpisode 3 - Dr. Liz PinskyDr. Elizabeth Pinsky is a pediatrician, child psychiatrist, climate activist and mom of two. She is also Ellen’s colleague and friend and has an acerbic wit that almost makes you miss how wicked smaht she is. In August, Liz wrote a piece for the The Atlantic - We Flattened the Curve. Our Kids Belong in School in which she made the compelling case that getting kids back in school is a social justice issue that should transcend political schisms. In this episode, she shares her thoughts (and the science) on the priority of finding safe ways to get ki...
2021-01-2630 min
Your Parenting is ShowingSnacktime:Welcome to Your Parenting is Showing: Snacktime - A special little bonus episode of good stuff we just couldn’t cut. Here our guest Quinn Caldwell talks about having participated in a COVID trial, how it squared with his parenting and what he wanted his kids to learn from his decision. With a special appearance by Asa. And where Quinn expands on the discussion of goat mating in the original episode to talk a bit about cow blood.
2020-12-1930 min
Your Parenting is ShowingEpisode 2 - Quinn CaldwellRev. Quinn Caldwell is currently a stay-at-home papa and theological reflector in upstate NY where he lives on a farm and raises fainting goats with his husband and two children. Prior to turning to full-time husbandry of all kinds, he was pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church in Syracuse NY and before that served at Old South Church in Boston. Quinn is a member (with Molly) of the UCC Still Speaking Writers Group and regular contributor to their Daily Devotionals series. He is also author of All I Really Want: Readings for a Modern Christmas (Abington Press; 2014). And he and...
2020-12-1830 min
Your Parenting is ShowingEpisode 1 - Molly and EllenIn this episode we share with each other our own pandemic parenting blunders and worries and, as we tend to do, offer each other a bit of a grace.
2020-12-1330 min
Your Parenting is ShowingEpisode .5 Introductions and DisclaimersWelcome to Your Parenting Is Showing: A podcast about what happens when your nice smooth professional front is upended by your parenting backstage, in pandemic-time. Here we introduce ourselves and lay a few ground rules for episodes to come.
2020-12-1330 min
Bringing Forth: A podcast on parenting and spiritualityBringing Forth Episode 15: Bless this Mess (when you are the mess that needs blessed) with Molly Baskette and Ellen O'Donnell PhDThis week the Authors of Bless this Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World. They share about good enough parenting, the holy trinity of parenting, and their honest struggles as people of faith and parents! Thankfully these authors aren't "know it alls" or in the business of doleing parenting advice that makes you feel inadequate...they are in the business of reminding us that we have the capacity to figure it out- albeit- in a messy way. FYI- there is some cussing.Support the show
2020-03-0254 minNobody Told Me!...how to celebrate the holidays with spirituality & gratitudeHow can you raise open-minded and morally grounded kids these days, with an approach that's rooted in science, psychology, and faith? And, how can you help your children experience a holiday season filled with spirituality and gratitude? To help parents answer those questions, we're joined by our guests on this episode, Rev. Molly Baskette and child psychologist Ellen O'Donnell, who have co-authored a new book called, Bless this Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2019-12-2231 min
Now We're Talkin' with Doug PagittBless This Mess Interview Molly Baskette Ellen O'DonnellConversation with Bless This Mess authors Molly Baskette and Ellen O'Donnell
2019-11-0943 min
Getting to NimbleFlow and Movement in ServicesWant to avoid dead air and awkward pauses in worship services? Planning for flow can help. Bill and I share how we plan for a smooth flow in worship services, plus the small steps we take that make a big difference.
Our Reads of the Week
Bless This Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World - Rev. Molly Baskette and Ellen O'Donnell, PhDHow to Lead When You don't Know Where You're Going: Leading in a Liminal Season - Susan BeaumontWhen Moses Meets Aaron: Staffing and Supervision in Large Congregations - Gil Rendle and Susan Beaumont
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2019-10-0131 min
Pulpit Fiction PodcastTNS 7-2: Molly Baskette and Ellen O'DonnellA conversation with Molly Basket, UCC pastor, and Ellen O'Donnell, child psychologist about their new book, Bless This Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World. Bless This Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World BlessThisMessParenting.com
2019-08-251h 00
Give and TakeEpisode 171: Bless This Mess, with Molly Baskette and Ellen O'DonnellMy guests are Rev. Molly Baskette and Dr. Ellen O’Donnell. Their new book is Bless This Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World. When the two first met, they were both new mothers seeking parenting wisdom. They read a lot of books on the topic, but none of them contained practical suggestions that would help their families psychologically and spiritually while maintaining their progressive values: How do we teach the art of forgiving and serving others? How do we raise kids who are tolerant, curious, and honorable? And what about the sex talk? Ta...
2019-08-2055 min
This Is the AuthorS4 E43: Julianna Miner, Reverend Molly Baskette & Dr. Ellen O’Donnell, and Natalie WexlerS4 E43: In this episode meet Julianna Miner, author of RAISING A SCREEN-SMART KID; Reverend Molly Baskette & Dr. Ellen O’Donnell, authors of BLESS THIS MESS; and Natalie Wexler, author of THE KNOWLEDGE GAP.
When it comes to parenting and education, there is a lot of content out there, and this can feel overwhelming. These authors hope to share their knowledge and experience with listeners in order to educate and guide them.
Plus find out why one author struggled with pronouncing the word ‘data.’
Raising a Screen-Smart Kid by Julianna Miner: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/558408/raising-a-screen-smart-kid/
Bless This Mess by Rev...
2019-07-3116 min