We talk with Dr. Janyne McConnaughey about her book Trauma in the Pews: The Impact on Faith and Spiritual Practices, which is a practical and compassionate roadmap for spiritual leaders to effectively minister to those struggling with the effects of trauma.

Janyne McConnaughey, PhD is a trauma survivor who draws from her life-long involvement in church ministries to train teachers and ministry workers at colleges and universities and serves on the Board for the Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tabor College.

You can connect with Janyne and learn more about her work on her website janyne.org.

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Religious trauma is something that happens far more often than most people realize. In When Religion Hurts You, Dr. Laura Anderson takes an honest look at a side of religion that few like to talk about. Drawing from her own life and therapy practice, she helps readers understand what religious trauma is and isn't, and how high-control churches can be harmful and abusive, often resulting in trauma. She shows how elements of fundamentalist church life--such as fear of hell, purity culture, corporal punishment, and authoritarian leaders--can cause psychological, relational, physical, and spiritual damage.

Dr. Laura Anderson is a psychotherapist, trauma resolution coach and consultant, writer and educator specializing in complex and developmental trauma, dynamics of power and control and religious trauma based out of Nashville, TN.

You can connect with her work on her website drlauraeanderson.com.

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What does it look like to live a flourishing, messy, wonderful life together with our kids? As parents, we’re tasked with nurturing and guiding our children, even as we navigate our own wonderings about faith. In the overwhelm and constant demands of life, is it possible to tend to our own souls and to our family’s flourishing?

Kayla Craig's book Every Season Sacred is a weekly invitation to grow spiritually alongside our children. Blending thoughtful musings and practical resources, author Kayla Craig meets parents right where they are.

Kayla Craig is a former journalist who brings deep curiosity and care to her writing. She's the author of Every Season Sacred and To Light Their Way. With a poetic, prophetic voice, she created the popular Liturgies for Parents Instagram account, which Christianity Today named an "essential parenting resource." She also hosts the Liturgies for Parents podcast. Kayla's nuanced and accessible reflections, essays, and prayers are featured in various books, devotionals, and Bible studies. Kayla lives in a 115-year-old former convent in her Iowa hometown, where she hopes to create spaces of welcome alongside her four children, two dogs, and pastor-husband, Jonny.

Connect with Kayla:

• Visit Kayla Craig's website
• Kayla on Substack
• Kayla on Amazon
• Liturgies for Parents Podcast
• Find Kayla Craig on Facebook
• Follow Kayla Craig on Twitter
• Follow Kayla Craig on Instagram
• Follow Kayla Craig and Liturgies for Parents on Instagram
• Follow Kayla Craig and the Upside Down Podcast on Instagram

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• Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.
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• 
  

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Pastor and discipler E. K. Strawser shows that when discipleship becomes central to your leadership and community, then discipleship becomes central to congregational mission and cultural renewal. Her new book Centering Discipleship is a practice-based guidebook for leaders who are doing the hard work of re-imagining and re-structuring their churches and communities to turn spectators into missional, mature followers of Jesus.

Eun K. Strawser (she/her) is the co-vocational lead pastor of Ma Ke Alo o (which means "Presence" in Hawaiian), non-denominational missional communities multiplying in Honolulu, HI, a community physician at Ke Ola Pono, and an executive leader at the V3 Movement, the church planting arm of the BGAV. Prior to transitioning to Hawaii, she served as adjunct professor of medicine at the Philadelphia College of Medicine and of African Studies at her alma mater the University of Pennsylvania (where she and her husband served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship) after finishing her Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Dar es Salaam. She and Steve have three, seriously, amazing children.

You can connect with her work on her website centeringdiscipleship.com.

Also, you can help Strawser and her church community (Ma Ke Alo o) in their commitment to respond long-term to the devastation of the Hawaii wildfires by donating using the link below:

​https://impactmissionsmovement.org/hawaii-wildfires/​

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We talked with Rev. Fran Tilton Shelton about the complex nature of grief, and what it looks like to walk through grief with God. Fran expounds on these themes in her book The Spirituality of Grief: Ten Practices for Those Who Remain.

Fran is a founder of Faith & Grief Ministries, and leads bereavement workshops and spiritual retreats. She is a preacher and a keynote speaker at conferences.​

For twenty years, Fran served PC(USA) congregations in Texas, primarily in pastoral care and was affectionately called “Funeral Fran” by the love of her life and last husband, Bob. She has the courage to take deep finesses in duplicate bridge, stamina to be a member of four book clubs and a spirit for life that sparks contagious laughter.

You can reach out to Fran and find out more about her work on her website frantiltonshelton.com.

Show notes:

Here's Ryan Flanigan's poem that he read in the introduction to this episode:

Taking Sides or “On the Side of Good”

Too long have I had to live;

among the enemies of peace.

I am on the side of peace,

  but when I speak of it, they are for war.

- Psalm 120:6-7

Moderacy says don’t take a side—

Neither side is good in everything—

But the thing I’ve noticed in these times

Is, more times than not, one side is vile.

Now, the vile are clear to those who know

Peace, which no one sees with violent heart,

But the heart that seeks to bless instead

Is the steady one who stands with God.

One with God can love an enemy;

As for me, my gut goes after war,

‘Til my warring spirit finds that I

Am the iron-fisted one again.

Then, to gain the favor of the world—

Yea, the world that God the Good so loved—

My belov’d, self-seeking, vengeful hand

Must unhand the weapon that I bear.

For to bear the burden of a friend

Puts a friendly spin on what they see,

But to see a foe through God’s own eyes

Realizes them as one of us.

Furious as I am at your sin,

On my sin I heap much more contempt.

When I’m tempted to abandon love,

Still God’s love demands that I forgive.

So, I give my life to follow Christ

In the Christian act of making peace.

If two pieces cannot reconcile,

May I silo on the side of Good.

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This is a follow-up to our interview with Andrew Whitehead to chat about what the "kingdom antidotes" are for the fear, self-interested power, and violence that animate Christian Nationalism.

Connect with Gravity Leadership

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Power. Fear. Violence. These three idols of Christian nationalism are corrupting American Christianity.

Andrew Whitehead is a leading scholar on Christian nationalism in America and speaks widely on its effects within Christian communities. In this book, he shares his journey and reveals how Christian nationalism threatens the spiritual lives of American Christians and the church.

Whitehead shows how Christians harm their neighbors when they embrace the idols of power, fear, and violence. He uses two key examples--racism and xenophobia--to demonstrate that these idols violate core Christian beliefs. Through stories, he illuminates expressions of Christianity that confront Christian nationalism and offer a faithful path forward.

American Idolatry encourages further conversation about what Christian nationalism threatens, how to face it, and why it is vitally important to do so. It will help identify Christian nationalism and build a framework that makes sense of the relationship between faith and the current political and cultural context.

Andrew L. Whitehead (PhD, Baylor University) is associate professor of sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where he codirects the Association of Religion Data Archives at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture. He is the coauthor of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, which won the 2021 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Whitehead has written for the Washington Post, NBC News, Time, and Religion News Service and speaks frequently about Christian nationalism.

Connect with Andrew on Twitter or Instagram.

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Immersed in his physics studies at Cornell, Tom Rudelius never thought much about God until his brother, a new convert to Christianity, challenged him to explore faith. To placate his twin, he reluctantly began exploring the Bible and the life of Jesus. Seeking proof of God's existence, he found himself in a world of uncertainty, faced with plenty of reasons for both faith and doubt.

In Chasing Proof, Finding Faith, Tom, now a rising young theoretical physicist, traces his journey to unexpected faith, through subsequent doubt and anxiety, and ultimately to a firmer, life-transforming allegiance to Jesus.

Tom Rudelius completed his undergraduate work at Cornell, earned a doctorate in physics at Harvard, and has conducted postdoctoral research at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Currently a postdoctoral researcher in theoretical physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Tom will begin a faculty position at Durham University (UK) in the fall of 2023. His research focuses on string theory, quantum field theory, and early universe cosmology. A man of faith and an avid sports fan, he is frequently requested to speak on topics related to science and faith. He is also on the board of the Mamelodi Initiative, a tutoring organization based in Mamelodi, South Africa.

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We are re-posting our 4-part series with Dr. Nathan Cartagena on Critical Race Theory (CRT) from a couple years ago. This is Part 4, where we talk we talk about why this all matters for the church.

Dr. Cartagena is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College (IL), where he teach courses on race, justice, and political philosophy. He also serves as the faculty advisor for Unidad Cristiana, a student group working to enhance Christian unity and celebrate Latina/o cultures. Connect with Dr. Cartagena at his website or on Twitter.

More info on critical race theory:

• Sojo article: Why Nathan Cartagena Teaches Critical Race Theory to Evangelicals
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 1
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 2
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 3
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 4

Connect with Gravity Leadership

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We are re-posting our 4-part series with Dr. Nathan Cartagena on Critical Race Theory (CRT) from a couple years ago. This is Part 3, where Dr. Cartagena continues to outline a brief history of white supremacy in the United States (using lots of original sources). It's REALLY eye-opening.

Dr. Cartagena is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College (IL), where he teach courses on race, justice, and political philosophy. He also serves as the faculty advisor for Unidad Cristiana, a student group working to enhance Christian unity and celebrate Latina/o cultures. Connect with Dr. Cartagena at his website or on Twitter.

More info on critical race theory:

• Sojo article: Why Nathan Cartagena Teaches Critical Race Theory to Evangelicals
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 1
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 2
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 3
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 4

Connect with Gravity Leadership

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• Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.
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We are re-posting our 4-part series with Dr. Nathan Cartagena on Critical Race Theory (CRT) from a couple years ago. This is Part 2, where Dr. Cartagena outlines a brief history of white supremacy in the United States (using lots of original sources). It's REALLY eye-opening (and will be continued in the next part).

Dr. Cartagena is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College (IL), where he teach courses on race, justice, and political philosophy. He also serves as the faculty advisor for Unidad Cristiana, a student group working to enhance Christian unity and celebrate Latina/o cultures. Connect with Dr. Cartagena at his website or on Twitter.

More info on critical race theory:

• Sojo article: Why Nathan Cartagena Teaches Critical Race Theory to Evangelicals
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 1
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 2
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 3
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 4

Connect with Gravity Leadership

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• Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.
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Over the next few weeks, we are re-posting our 4-part series with Dr. Nathan Cartagena on Critical Race Theory (CRT) from a couple years ago. Back in 2021, people were claiming that critical race theory was a grave threat to the gospel. But what in the world IS critical race theory, anyway?

In this first episode, Dr. Cartagena helps us understand what we're actually talking about. In Parts 2 and 3, Dr. Cartagena will give us a brief history of white supremacy in the United States (using lots of original sources), and part 4 will be an episode on why this all matters for the church. Buckle up, because this is a master class on critical race theory.

Dr. Cartagena is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College (IL), where he teach courses on race, justice, and political philosophy. He also serves as the faculty advisor for Unidad Cristiana, a student group working to enhance Christian unity and celebrate Latina/o cultures. Connect with Dr. Cartagena at his website or on Twitter.

More info on critical race theory:

• Sojo article: Why Nathan Cartagena Teaches Critical Race Theory to Evangelicals
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 1
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 2
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 3
• What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 4

Connect with Gravity Leadership

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• Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Leadership Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravityleadership.com.

Our Sponsors:
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Light as Air: Practicing Authenticity, Depth, and Purpose in a World of Empty Promises. offers readers freedom from unmet desires, a way to disrupt broken systems, and an invitation into a life of depth and creative action. How? By exploring the story of Jesus and the way his kingdom engages our dissatisfaction and invites us into the life we were made for. Jesus' kingdom is a political reality that overthrows broken systems, cultivates meaningful connection, and empowers us for creative action. Light as Air shows us how to live into and out of Jesus' kingdom in a way that gives hope to a dissatisfied world.

Jonny Morrison is a church planter, pastor, and writer known for his integration of creativity, spirituality, and culture. Jonny and his wife, Tory, live in Salt Lake City, where he co-pastors Missio Dei SLC church. Jonny graduated from Western Seminary with an MA in biblical and theological studies and received his doctorate of contextual theology from Northern Seminary. You can find more of Jonny's work at jonnyis.com.

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Seems like everyone's talking about Amazon's new docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, so we wanted to host a discussion about it, and the issues it brings up. We invited Rebekah Mui and Dr. Laura Robinson to join us for this very wide-ranging, longer-than-usual discussion. Have fun!

Rebekah Mui is a PhD Student in political, social, ethical and cultural thought (ASPECT) at Virginia Tech and researches postcolonial political theology, Christian anarcho-pacifism and Anabaptism. She is the editor of the Kingdom Outpost (http://kingdomoutpost.org) and publishes personal essays on http://medium.com/@rebekahmui and can be found on Twitter at @rebekahmui.

Dr. Laura Robinson (PhD, Duke) is the co-host the New Testament Review Podcast. You can follow her writings on her excellent Substack newsletter.

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Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer's book A Church Called Tov, readers wrote in with stories of abuse and practical questions, such as:

1. How can I transform the culture in my church or organization to make it tov?
2. I believe my workplace has unhealthy values. How do I initiate change?
3. How do I unleash a culture of goodness in my ministry?
4. I’m not in a position of church leadership. What are some red flags that indicate a toxic culture, and what can I do if I see them?

These questions are answered in their new book Pivot: The Priorities, Practices, and Powers That Can Transform Your Church into a Tov Culture.

We talked with Scot and Laura about how churches can implement practices, establish priorities, and cultivate the Kingdom Gospel-centered qualities that resist abuse and cultivate goodness cultures.

Connect with Gravity Leadership

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Learning to hear God's voice can be a difficult and confusing experience for many. But if we can start with getting real about what's happening in our hearts, we can begin to untangle the mess of our thoughts and feelings and create a stillness that makes it easier to hear what God is saying to us and sense what God is doing in us.

Megan Nilsen wrote Untangled Faith: How Honest Conversations with God Lead to Deeper Connections, Clarity, and Peace and created the "Beautiful Exchange Journaling" method to give people a safe, intentional space to sort out our thoughts through honest conversations with God. Megan is a speaker, author, life coach, and founder of the Beautiful Exchange Community. She offers Christ-centered coaching for those seeking kingdom alignment and strategy during a transitional season in faith, relationships, or vocational calling. She loves discovering what God put in the hearts of women that will help them walk in greater confidence, fulfillment, and purpose.

Show notes / links:

• Megan's website and podcast
• Discerning God's voice bookmark (free download)
• Megan's social media: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn
• Megan's books

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A few days ago Gravity Podcast co-host Matt Tebbe wrote an article about 2 kinds of anger: the legitimate anger of the oppressed that tells the truth about injustice, and the illegitimate anger of the powerful who seek to maintain their own privilege at the expense of others.

If we can’t discern the difference, we lump all expressions of anger together, and anger itself seems to be our main problem (we often call it “polarization”). We develop an allergy to anger that serves to hide injustice.

We wanted to talk in more depth about this issue, so we invited Jonny Rashid to join us to talk about anger, power, and the unavoidable political facets of the gospel.

Jonny Rashid is pastor of West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship, an Mennonite Church USA congregation in Philadelphia. He blogs at jonnyrashid.com. His book, Jesus Takes a Side, was published by Herald Press in 2022.

Show notes:

• Jonny's Substack
• Matt's Substack
• Ben's Substack

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For over fifteen years, writer Jeff Crosby has been searching for a language of the soul--a way to articulate our deepest longings. Through his book The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of Our Hearts, he gifts us with those so-often-untranslatable desires of our hearts, guiding us to finally find the words and luminous insights for our own longings for home, for friendship, for forgiveness, and for transformation--and how God meets us in the midst of these longings.

Jeff Crosby is an organizational leader in the world of words, ideas, and book publishing. Currently president and CEO of a trade association of publishers, he has served in various executive roles, including as vice president at Ingram Book Company, and at IVP, a publisher in the Chicago area. He combines a background in journalism, leadership studies, and business with a love of language and insight from several fields in exploring faith and spirituality in light of applied practice. He and his wife of more than forty years, Cindy, have two grown children and six grandchildren.

Show notes

• Sign up for Ben's new Substack newsletter.
• Sign up for Matt's Substack newsletter, too.
• A Bright Sadness: Making Space for Grief and Joy (Aug 31 - Sep 2)

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A few weeks ago we talked about 7 common parenting pitfalls and we wanted to follow it up with a list of parenting "pro-tips" (even though none of us are "professional" parents lol), and make a list of 8 (one more than our list of pitfalls):

1. Reparent yourself first.
2. Cultivate natural consequences.
3. Normalize being wrong and apologizing.
4. Delight in the diversity of your kids.
5. Define your family values.
6. Focus on heart transformation, not behavior modification.
7. Spend more time with your kids.
8. Get other adults involved in your kids' lives.

Show notes:

• Parenting For Heart Transformation Diagram

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Christian spiritual formation resources and teachings have primarily come from Western spiritual traditions, which implicitly communicates that the white experience of God is the norm.

In Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation, Cindy Lee proposes that, in our increasingly diverse contexts, we need new, non-Western cultural ways of being formed--turning from linear to cyclical, from cerebral to experiential, and from individual to collective.

Cindy S. Lee is a spiritual director and aspiring mystic and proudly Taiwanese-American. She leads retreats in the areas of Christian mysticism and BIPOC centered spirituality. She completed a PhD in Practical Theology in the area of Spiritual Formation from Claremont School of Theology. She teaches as an adjunct professor in the areas of Christian Spirituality and Spiritual Direction. In her free time, she enjoys street art, coffee, and exploring the city.

You can connect with Cindy on Instagram.

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• Join our online community for free to get a curated list of interesting and edifying links each week, plus all kinds of other goodies.
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• Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Leadership Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravityleadership.com.

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