Shows
The Expansionist PodcastName The Hold: A Conversation With Laurie Beth JonesSend a textWhat if your spiritual life had a map you could actually see and use? We sit down with bestselling author Lori Beth Jones to explore the “21 holds of spiritual ascent,” a vivid framework that turns vague struggle into clear, actionable steps. Instead of abstract advice, Lori gives us memorable visuals: the social hold as a carousel that looks like motion but goes nowhere, the cargo hold as overstuffed schedules and judgments, the withhold as a famine of your own voice, and the chokehold that steals breath and agency.From there we cross the...
2026-02-2343 minThe Expansionist PodcastFree Lemons And Holy AttentionSend a textWhat if wonder isn’t a luxury but a way of seeing that heals how we live? Shelly and Heather open the door to a practice of holy attention, starting with a simple moment on a city sidewalk: a box labeled “Free Lemons.” From that humble gift flows a conversation about abundance, beauty, and the courage to notice what is already with us. We explore how awe differs from endless questioning, and how sensory prayer—touching, smelling, tasting—can reawaken the heart to God’s nearness and the dignity in our neighbors.We move from...
2026-01-2938 minThe Expansionist PodcastWhat If Communion Is How We Change The WorldSend a textWhat if communion is less about rules and more about a living practice that heals our hunger for belonging? We sit down to reframe the table as a place of remembrance, courage, and everyday resistance—where bread meets body wisdom and wine meets shared responsibility. Starting with a growing pantry of rituals—anointing oil, candlelight, silence, movement, Celtic prayers, tea in warm hands, thresholds, altars, and blessings—we explore how simple practices become portals to presence without caging the mystery.Our conversation traces a journey from fear to curiosity. We name the ways m...
2026-01-2033 minThe Expansionist PodcastGoing Home A Different WaySend a textA single change of light can restory a whole room—and a whole life. We open the new year inside Epiphany’s gentle glow, trading the harsh glare of judgment for the candlelit mercy that helps us see what’s been true all along: we are held, invited, and free to go home by another route. Shelly and Heather explore how sacred rhythms, awe, and unhurried attention can shift our perspective from scarcity to abundance, from self-critique to compassionate awareness.We draw on the Magi’s journey as a living pattern: follow the star...
2026-01-1532 minThe Expansionist PodcastIlluminating The Sacred With Laurie BrockSend a textWhat if the holiest things in your life aren’t on an altar but on your kitchen shelf, folded in a quilt, or humming across your lawn? We sit down with Reverend Lori Brock—priest, author, and competitive equestrian—and uncover how ordinary objects become gateways to grace.Lori shares how a simple question from a priest cracked open a vocation she had never seen modeled for women. That thread runs through our whole conversation: why representation matters for girls in the pews, how to unlearn the secular–sacred split, and what it means...
2026-01-0841 minThe Expansionist PodcastAll Shall Be Well: Opening To MysterySend a textWhat if “All shall be well” isn’t escapism but a summons to live braver, kinder, and more open to mystery? We sit with Julian of Norwich’s beloved quote and ask what makes hope durable when the world feels unwell—plague, patriarchy, and the daily grind of uncertainty included. Instead of chasing certainty, we explore the freedom of unknowing, the grounding force of ritual, and the quiet courage that comes from trusting love over fear.We take a hard look at how easy answers become avoidance, and we chart a different path: hope...
2025-11-2232 minThe Expansionist PodcastIf Jesus Is The Lens, What Do We See: with Dr. Jennifer Garcia BashawSend a textWhat if reading the Bible felt less like swallowing a prepackaged meal and more like cooking something nourishing with friends? We sit down with Dr. Jennifer Garcia Bashaw to reframe biblical interpretation through a simple, memorable kitchen metaphor that helps anyone move from fear and formulas to curiosity and depth. Instead of treating Scripture as a static rule book, we explore it as a living, multivocal library—divine and human—where honest questions don’t break faith, they build it.We start with you the reader: how your social location, church background, and as...
2025-11-1539 minThe Expansionist PodcastYour Mansion Can Wait; Your Neighbor CannotSend a textA single billboard question haunted our childhoods and still shapes modern faith: Where will you spend eternity? We decided to take it apart—gently, honestly, and without losing the heart of the gospel. Together we trace how fear-based scripts formed our earliest images of God and how those scripts often create otherness, separation, and shame. Then we pivot to presence, asking what happens when we trade anxiety about the afterlife for the daring work of love, justice, and neighborliness here and now.We revisit a familiar passage—“I go to prepare a place...
2025-10-2429 minThe Expansionist PodcastRadical Hospitality: Love, Equity, and the Longer TableSend a textA grandmother takes a door off its hinges to make the table longer. That simple act becomes our compass for a bold claim: hospitality isn’t a niche talent—it’s a spiritual practice that can transform how we love, listen, and live together. We trace radical hospitality from the kitchen table to the inner life, challenging the idea that it belongs only to those with perfect homes or to women trained to “host.” Instead, we make room for a fuller story where the feminine and masculine both offer welcome, and where presence—not performance—...
2025-10-0438 minThe Expansionist PodcastRadical Hospitality:The Path to AcceptanceSend a textWhat does it truly mean to practice radical acceptance in a deeply divided world? This question sits at the heart of our conversation as we explore the challenging yet transformative path toward seeing the sacred in everyone.The journey begins with an uncomfortable truth—many of us struggle to extend true acceptance beyond those who think, believe, and live like we do. Yet the revolutionary power of radical love demands we go further. Through personal stories and theological reflection, we unpack what it means to "take doors off hinges" to create longer ta...
2025-09-2939 minThe Expansionist PodcastHow Changing Our Minds Creates a More Beautiful WorldSend a textChanging your mind might be the most revolutionary spiritual practice available to you right now. Heather and Shelly dive deep into the transformative power of mental flexibility and how it connects to the core teachings of Jesus.What happens when we allow ourselves to consider that our perspective might be incomplete? The hosts explore how Jesus repeatedly invited his followers to "repent" – literally to change their minds – and how this practice creates pathways for authentic spiritual growth. "Is it possible that I am not seeing the whole picture?" becomes a doorway to prof...
2025-09-0731 minThe Expansionist PodcastPray Like You Mean Freedom: with Liz Theoharis and Charon HribarSend a textPrayer isn't just words whispered in sacred spaces—it's marching in the streets, demanding justice from those in power, and standing in solidarity with the marginalized. This revolutionary understanding of spirituality sits at the heart of "We Pray Freedom," a groundbreaking liturgical collection from theologians Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar.The book reimagines prayer as "the work of the people" in its most authentic sense, featuring contributions from over 80 grassroots leaders—unhoused organizers, low-wage workers, and faith activists—who share liturgies born from their communities' struggles. These prayers, songs, and rituals emerge not fr...
2025-08-1451 min