I offer up some reflections moving from Jesus's path to the cross into those twilit hours before he rose. I interweave my own story of deep trauma and hope of healing on the way. After church hurt and religious trauma, how do we rise to new spiritual life?

Content warning: discussions of religious trauma and queerphobia; brief, non-specific suicide mention.

Click here for an episode transcript.

Click here for the article mentioned in the episode (cw anti-trans violence).

Taize music: "Within Our Darkest Night," performed by UUSantaMonica.

Avery and Micah offer a conversational primer in queer theology — from its origins in queer theory, to distinctions between queer and simply affirming theologies, to fabulously queer passages from scripture.

This episode was originally published on The Word in Black and Red, a podcast moving chapter by chapter through the Bible with co-hosts offering perspectives informed by anarcho-communism, queerness, disability, class, and more.

Find the podcast, its discord, and more here: https://linktr.ee/twibar

Check out the Llama Pack's Facebook here (Micah's online faith community for people wary of church.)

___

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn.

First Laura Sommer and then Rowan share their experiences at AutScape, an annual meeting of autistic folk of all ages in England. Both discuss how AutScape has given them glimpses of what it would be like to live in a world where autistic culture is celebrated, diverse communication styles and sensory needs are accommodated, and special interests received with joy.

Be sure to check out ⁠Laura's Autistic Liberation Theology podcast⁠ for a companion episode that centers around this question: how can various marginalized groups resist the world's assumptions that we have no place in any positive future — be it the immediate future, the speculative futures of science fiction, or the Kin(g)dom of heaven?

⁠Click here for an episode transcript⁠!

Talking Points:

• (0:00) Introducing AutScape and the need to imagine futures for ourselves that the world claims we don’t fit into
• (4:38) Laura’s AutScape experiences — a glimpse of what socializing & community could be like an an autistic-centered world
• (11:15) Prophetic promises and “making a way out of no way”
• (13:00) Introducing Rowan; gently ribbing neurotypicals
• (17:50) How AutScape helped Rowan embrace the autistic identity; AutScape as a space to try out new things
• (28:12) Communication badges; universal design; wrapping up

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also made use of "At Home," "Sunrise, St. Chapelle," and "Closing Time" by John Hamilton, with permission.

John Hamilton is a non-theist pastor whose lifelong search for transcendence has taken him from altar boy to rock-and-roll musician, from preaching with certainty into embracing the unknowable nature of God. In this episode, John and I discuss his upcoming memoir, Honest to God, which comes out September 15. Get book info at Wildhouse Publishing here.

Click here for an episode transcript.

Content warning: alcohol & addiction (from 19:00-24:35).

Talking Points:

• (0:00) Introducing John Hamilton’s memoir Honest to God
• (5:00) The inspiration and publication process
• (11:00) Reaching ego death through transcendence; transcendence in Catholic worship
• (16:13) Finding transcendence as a rock-and-roll musician
• (19:00) Years of keeping a panic disorder secret; getting in and out of alcohol dependence
• (24:35) Becoming a pastor, coming to understand that God is unknowable
• (36:10) Looking to humanity's future — more divisions, dying churches; what do we hold onto?
• (44:00) Finding "hard hope" while pastoring dying churches
• (47:30) Hoping for deeper and more honest conversations; wrapping up

Where to find John:

• therealjohnhamilton.com
• John's substack
• John's music on Spotify
• John's playlist for Honest to God

____

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also made use of "At Home," "Sunrise, St. Chapelle," and "Closing Time" by John Hamilton, with permission.

How can we use this last week of Disability Pride Month to celebrate the unique insights into human and divine nature that disability can bring? For starters, we can learn from the wisdom of disabled activists and theologians, which is what you'll find in this episode.

Click here for an episode transcript.

Talking Points:

• (0:00) Intro + Eli Clare on intersectional pride
• (5:35) Pastor Lamar Hardwick: ableism = the fear of being human
• (9:10) Letiah Fraser: our fragile, mortal bodies are where we meet God
• (12:15) Rabbi Julia Watts Belser + Laura Sommer: disabled bodies' unique insights into the divine
• (22:00) John M. Hull: encountering God beyond light and dark
• (25:50) Bekah Anderson's meditation on the Body of God, "with every ability and every disability in the world"; wrapping up

Other episodes that dig into disability:

• Our Pride Is Not a Sin: A disabled and Christian lens
• No End to Transphobia without Uprooting Ableism: Exploring embedded forms of oppression
• Goodness Embodied: An intersex, nonbinary first human and a disabled risen Christ
• Marginalized Bodies as Spectacle & the Good News in Jesus’ Disabling Wounds
• Making Space for Gethsemane: Two trans & disabled theologians discuss what people in pain actually need
• How Shiva Gave Rudra Their Name: The life of a disabled nonbinary Fijian Canadian
• “We just want to be heard”: Dee on Chile, race, disability, and trans rights
• Eli and the Prophet Elijah

____

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also makes use of "Flies on the Prize," "Beaconsfield Villa Stomp," "I Snost, I Lost," and "His Last Share of the Stars" by Doctor Turtle.

In 2017, Kate Davoli (they/them, MDiv) was dismissed from the ordination process for being polyamorous. In spite of this heartache, they have remained steadfastly part of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Listen — or read along in the transcript — as Kate recalls the events leading up to & following their dismissal; ponders what we learn about God through polyamorous people's lives & callings; and balances the heartache of being denied ordination with the queer gift of how their liminal status facilitates ministry to church-hurt people.

Talking Points:

• (0:00) Intro: as Pride month ends and the PC(USA)’s General Assembly begins, we remember the work still to be done to achieve full and equal access for all
• (6:50) Kate’s dismissal from the ordination process over being polyamorous – living with and raising children with two life partners; how being open has allowed them to find support, and be support
• (34:00) Kate’s thoughts about getting polyamory into the Book of Order — unintended consequences; the path to ordination continues to be inequitable for queer folks, disabled folks, etc. — hence things like the Olympia Overture
• (46:21) What Kate’s unordained ministry looks like: working within Presbyterian institutions, and outside them; able to serve people hurt by the church who might not trust an “official” minister
• (54:20) What does it mean for the church, and what does it say about God, that polyamorous people are being called to ministry? — re-shaping relationship to be more communal, less nuclear
• (60:44) A historical role model? — Karl Barth’s own complex polyamorous experience
• (64:36) God is not a jerk; you are not alone; wrapping up

____

Get info about Kate's ministry at www.davoliconsulting.com, or find books they've written at kdavoli.gumroad.com.

Check out LGBTQIA+ Affirming Ministries of Pittsburgh (LAMP) at lampgh.org.

Learn more about the Olympia Overture being voted on this week here.

Learn more about polyamory: www.morethantwo.com/.

____

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also makes use of "The Ants Built a City on His Chest" and "Know No No-Nos" by Doctor Turtle.

Listen or read along in the episode transcript for two reflections kicking off the Lenten season:

Ash Wednesday coincides with Valentine's Day this year — what can Ash Wednesday + the story of Saint Valentine teach us about facing our own mortality and resisting the pressure to put romantic love on a pedestal?

Next, let's connect the glowing coal touched to the prophet's lips in Isaiah 6 to the ashes we wear on our foreheads today. Why are physical signs of spiritual truths important? How does acknowledging our limitations open us to divine blessing?

Announcement: The Blessed Are the Binary Breakers podcast will likely be updating more sporadically this year! To keep up with all that I'm up to, visit linktr.ee/queerlychristian. Interested in hiring me to workshop with your faith community? Learn more here.

Talking Points:

• (0:00) Housekeeping — my plans for 2024
• (2:51) Connecting Ash Wednesday and the legend of Saint Valentine of Rome
• (4:30) Resisting amatonormativity on Valentine's Day and throughout Lent
• (6:50 - end) Connecting Isaiah 6's glowing coal to Ash Wednesday

Resources:

• Sign up for Daily Ripple⁠!
• Resources to learn about Palestine and ways to get active
• Learn more about amatonormativity and how it's harmful
• QSpirit's article reading Saint Valentine's story through a queer lens

___

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also makes use of "His Last Share of the Stars" and "Reality Cartwheeled" by Doctor Turtle.

Find more episodes & resources at blessedarethebinarybreakers.com.

Listen to — or read along in the episode transcript — Jewish, Christian, and Muslim poems by Palestinians and their supporters. Poetry empowers us to imagine liberation that we can then work towards, together.

Some pieces explore the Nativity story through this lens: Christmas joy must break bread with pain, birthing solidarity with all oppressed peoples.

Talking Points:

• (0:00) Ross Gay on mixing pain and joy to birth solidarity; poetry as resistance
• (7:11) Aurora Levins Morales on the history of antisemitism + envisioning solidarity & interdependence in “Red Sea”
• (12:30) Najah Hussein Musa dispelling anti-Palestinian myths in “Bethlehem”
• (14:42) Avery Arden — “Christ is Barred from Bethlehem” 
• (17:48) Basman Derawi — memorializing a fun-loving friend killed in an airstrike in ”His Name Was Essa”
• (19:52) Hiba Abu Nada, killed in an airstrike, longs for safety in “I Grant You Refuge”
• (23:30) Rev. Munther Isaac & Avery Arden — Christ born into rubble
• (28:10) Refaat Alareer & Ibtisam Barakat — poetry helps us imagine the liberation we can then fight for
• (33:36) Avery Arden & Ainsley Herrick — “O Come O Come Emmanuel” rewritten for Palestine’s plight

Visit the episode transcript for all links to the various poems; here are some key resources:

• Rev. Munther Isaac's sermon "God Is under the Rubble in Gaza"
• Aurora Levins Morales' article "Latin@s, Israel and Palestine: Understanding Antisemitism"
• Fady Joudah's article "A Palestinian Meditation in a Time of Annihilation"
• The "We Are Not Numbers" project
• Refaat Alareer's lecture on poetry
• For shareable versions of my poems / song, visit binarybreakingworship.com.

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn.

Find more episodes & resources at blessedarethebinarybreakers.com.

I sit down with public historian Emma Cieslik (she/her) to hear all about her Queer and Catholic Oral History Project, supported by the Pacific School of Religion.

For Emma, the word catholic is truly "universal" — she's interviewed Roman Catholics and folk Catholics, ex-Catholics and "it's complicated" Catholics, queer religious and lay folk. In documenting these diverse perspectives, Emma is preserving the beautiful breadth of queer Catholic stories and gifts so that no one can claim they don't exist.

⁠Click here to view the project's webpage⁠. For links to other articles and projects Emma mentions in her interview, as well as for resources on current events in Palestine, visit the episode transcript.

Find Emma on Twitter or Instagram @eocieslik. Reach out to her at [email protected] or [email protected].

___

Talking Points:

• (0:00) Opening remarks
• (2:27) Emma's background: Raised Catholic with Purity Movement influence; museum studies focused on accessibility and storytelling
• (7:44) The draw to oral history — prioritizes telling marginalized people’s stories in their own words
• (11:04) Support from Bernard Schlager and the Pacific School of Religion; interviewing ex Catholics, a seminarian and a trans priest, members of various ethnic Catholic churches…
• (27:22) Outreach Conference panel: highlighting the unique experiences of queer Catholic women
• (29:30) More on emphasizing the many ways one can be Catholic; Catholic influences in mainstream culture
• (35:15) Appropriation vs. appreciation vs. reclaiming Catholic imagery & traditions
• (42:52) Queer Catholics drawn to Santa Muerte — knowing what it’s like to live with death
• (51:25) Wrapping up

__

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn.

Find more episodes & resources at blessedarethebinarybreakers.com.

Isaiah 56:1-8 shares God's message of not only tolerance but radical welcome for the ultimate Others of the biblical world: eunuchs. How did Isaiah 56's author come to understand Divine affirmation for this denigrated group, when Deuteronomy 23's author had offered only rejection? And why does this scripture resonate deeply with many transgender persons of faith today?

Click here for an episode transcript.

For my Isaiah 56 translations notes, click here.

For other thoughts and resources on Isaiah 56 and biblical eunuchs, scroll down to "Better Than Sons or Daughters" on this webpage.

Talking Points:

• (0:00) Message from a listener — Rowan brings news of London Pride, finds blessing in their daily work
• (4:28) Introducing my sermon on Isaiah 56:3-8; reading the scripture passage
• (7:30) My personal story — realizing my church's promise of unconditional welcome was conditional, after all; finding solace in God's good news for eunuchs and foreigners in Isaiah 56
• (11:53) Eunuchs as the "Ultimate Other"; differences from and resonances with today's transgender community
• (16:28) Historical context — how Judah's traumatic exile moved rejection of eunuchs from the political to the personal
• (19:55 to end) The challenge to faith communities today — to live into Isaiah 56's radical welcome, we must ensure trans folk are not merely tolerated, but fully belong

____

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn.

This episode also makes use of "Green-Fields" and "Arrival" by Scott Holmes via Free Creative Commons (CC-A-NC) License. Find the songs at scottholmesmusic.com.

Jayne X Praxis (she/they) is many things — she’s Buddhist and a tantric witch; she’s an ordained minister and a Satanist; she’s a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence and a licensed therapist — but above all, Jayne is forever becoming more and more their authentic self, and they invite you to do the same through curiosity, humor, and embodied self-exploration.

Content Warning: swearing and sex talk; religious trauma; mentions of childhood sexual trauma.

Click here for the episode transcript.

Talking Points:

• (0:00) Introducing Jayne
• (2:05) Growing up with a conservative minister father, anti-sex views; coming out as bisexual in college and engaging in gender-fuckery
• (6:30) Adding Jayne to their name, rolling it back after getting married, returning to gender fuckery and embracing nonbinary identity after divorce
• (12:49) Exploring spirituality: DnD; Wicca and paganism; ordination in the Universal Life Church; Shambhala Buddhism and embodiment
• (22:43) Tantric practices help Jayne recover her body, discover the connections between sexuality and gender
• (26:06) Resisting imposter syndrome to find political and spiritual meaning as a witch; discovering the magic in simply living as trans
• (34:22) The power in naming, sigils, storytelling; sex as spiritual; unlearning sexual shame
• (43:03) Satanism and Lucifer as queer rebel; shock can wake people up!
• (47:17) Sacred clowning: get people thinking by making them laugh; joining the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to spread joy and challenge guilt
• (1:06:00) Wrapping up: embrace authenticity and ask lots of questions

___

Visit Jayne's blog: https://paregoric.wordpress.com/

Jayne's Resource Recs:

• Becoming Dangerous: Witchy Femmes, Queer Conjurers, and Magical Rebels by Katie West and Jasmine Elliott (find⁠ here⁠)
• Witches, Sl-ts, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive by Kristen J. Sollee (find ⁠here⁠)
• Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa (find ⁠here⁠)

__

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also makes use of "Know No No-Nos" by Doctor Turtle