In this episode of The Biggest Table, I delve into the subject of church camp with guest Cara Meredith, a speaker, writer, and public theologian. The discussion revolves around Cara's book 'Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night, and How White Evangelicalism Betrayed a Generation,' examining the complex nature of church camps. Cara emphasizes the importance of holding both the positive and negative aspects of camp life, discussing the formative experiences alongside the theological and social harms encountered. The conversation provides insights into maintaining nuanced views, fostering dialogue with children about their experiences, and imagining better ways to cultivate genuine spiritual growth and inclusivity in camp environments.

A sought-after speaker, writer, and public theologian, Cara Meredith is the author of Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night, and How White Evangelicalism Betrayed a Generation and The Color of Life: A Journey Toward Love and Racial Justice. She has been featured in national media outlets such as The Oregonian, The New York Times, The Living Church, The Christian Century, and Baptist News Global, among others.

Passionate about justice, spirituality, and storytelling alike, Cara holds a master of theology from Fuller Seminary and is a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. With a background in education and nonprofit work, Cara also works part-time as the Director of Development for Made for PAX Co, an organization dedicated to providing mentorship and vocational resources to emerging creatives, contemplatives, church leaders, and community builders of color.

When she’s not working, you’ll likely find her reading a book, tinkering around in the garden, or hanging out with her family. She is proud to call Oakland, California home.

Follow Cara Meredith @carameredithwrites:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Substack

This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com.

In this episode of The Biggest Table, I converse with Michael Beck, a pastor, professor, and author, about experiencing God's love through community, especially in unconventional settings like tattoo parlors, dog parks, and burrito shops. Michael shares his personal story of childhood trauma, addiction, and solitary confinement, and how he found community and redemption. They discuss the benefits of 12-step recovery programs in fostering deep, supportive relationships and explore how these principles can be applied to build inclusive, loving, and spiritually nourishing communities. The conversation touches on the themes from Michael's recent book, 'Never Alone,' the epidemic of loneliness, and practical steps to create meaningful connections in today's digital and often isolating world.

Michael Beck is a pastor, professor, author, and one of the rare leaders bridging frontline ministry with academic scholarship. Alongside his wife Jill, he has led multiple revitalizations and planted unconventional faith communities among those often overlooked. They currently serve as co-pastors of Compassion and St. Mark’s UMCs, where they lead Open Arms Village, a holistic recovery housing program, and oversee a network of fresh expressions—worshiping communities that gather in places like tattoo parlors, dog parks, burrito shops, EV charging stations, digital spaces, and recovery centers.

Beck also serves as Director of Fresh Expressions Florida, Director of the Fresh Expressions House of Studies at Perkins School of Theology at SMU, and Director of Fresh Expressions.

His most recent book, Never Alone, explores how churches can address the epidemic of loneliness with the Gospel’s radical promise of community.

This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com.

In this episode of The Biggest Table, I welcome Isaac Villegas, an ordained Mennonite minister and community organizer for Immigrant Justice. They discuss Villegas’s book 'Migrant God,' which explores biblical reflections on immigrant justice and Christian duty. The conversation covers Isaac’s personal experiences with his immigrant family, work with sanctuary churches, and the impact of language in addressing immigration issues. They delve into concepts like solidarity, the humanizing power of meals, and the role of Christians in advocating for immigrants. The episode is rich with storytelling, including anecdotes about shared meals, the spiritual significance of communion, and projects like placing crosses in the Sonoran Desert to remember migrants who died crossing the border.

Isaac Villegas is an ordained minister in the Mennonite Church USA who is involved in the work of community organizing and activism for immigrant justice. He is also a columnist for The Christian Century and the author of Migrant God: A Christian Vision for Immigrant Justice. He has served as the president of the NC Council of Churches and on the executive board of his denomination. He lives with his wife in North Carolina.

Follow Isaac on Substack

This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com.

In this episode of The Biggest Table podcast, I welcome Andrew Arndt, the lead pastor of New Life East in Colorado Springs, to discuss his experiences in ministry, his love for the church, and his new book, A Strange and Gracious Light. Arndt shares his deep-rooted passion for the church, influenced by his upbringing during the charismatic renewal of the 1960s and 1970s. He reflects on seeing the church with clear eyes, acknowledging both its flaws and its beauty. The conversation delves into the importance of the church calendar, embodying the story of Jesus, and practicing hospitality. We also explore the challenge of avoiding a consumerist mentality in the church and the importance of embodying kingdom values in daily life.

Andrew Arndt is the lead pastor of New Life East, one of seven congregations of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where he also hosts the Essential Church podcast, a weekly conversation designed to strengthen the thinking of church and ministry leaders. He previously served as lead pastor of Bloom Church, a neo-monastic, charismatic, liturgical, justice-driven network of house churches in Denver. He received his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and DMin from Western Theological Seminary, and has written for Missio Alliance, Patheos, The Other Journal, and Mere Orthodoxy. He is the author of Streams in the Wasteland and All Flame, and A Strange and Gracious Light, which was just released on April 15. He lives in Colorado Springs with his wife Mandi and their four kids.

This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com.

In this episode of 'The Biggest Table' podcast, my guest Laurie Johnson, a political science professor at Kansas State University, delves into the socioeconomic impacts of capitalism, particularly in rural America. Drawing from her books, she examines how historical and economic shifts have led to political and cultural divisions, emphasized by urban-rural divides and the rise of Christian nationalism. Laurie also highlights the detrimental effects of agribusiness on rural communities and the loss of traditional lifestyles. She proposes Christian direct action as a solution, inspired by Dorothy Day’s Catholic Worker Movement, promoting community cooperation and support. The conversation underscores the need for rethinking economic systems, community belonging, and direct involvement to address current societal challenges.

Laurie M Johnson is a Professor of Political Science at Kansas State University. Most of her eight books have aimed at developing a thorough understanding and critique of classical liberal theory. Building on that background to understand current ideological divisions, her book Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right, was published in 2019. Her latest book, The Gap in God’s Country: A Longer View on Our Culture Wars, was published in 2024 by Wipf & Stock. She provides weekly content on her Political Philosophy YouTube channel, currently with over 24,000 subscribers, and its associated podcast. She is a co-founder and president of The Maurin Academy, which provides free and low-cost online classes and reading groups. She also is associated with the John Paul II Catholic Worker Farm in Kansas City, MO.

This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com.

Hello and welcome to another episode, well actually a re-release of my conversation with Chris Smith which was originally released on March 12, 2024. Chris and I are re-releasing this episode as Chris just published a new book entitled The Virtue of Dialogue as part of the Cultivating Communities series. This series is part of a project by Englewood Church in Indiana in partnership with Missio Alliance and the Ekklesia Project.

The hope of this series is to offer congregations, churches, or any community for that matter field guides to aid in their transformation away from the societal forces of polarization and division and into the way and personhood of Jesus.

One of the central practices for communities is being conversation with one another. This book outlines how Englewood Church has sought to practice conversation for decades. At its core, this conversational practice is a practice of hospitality—of welcoming one another, being seen and heard. Conversation at its core is a creation of a free space to allow the other to become the person they were meant to be. Week after week, month after month, year after year.

Chris and my conversation touch on these themes and so we both thought it was a good time to revisit this conversation.

If this piques your interest, please buy The Virtue of Dialogue, available now on Amazon and through Englewood’s website which is in the show notes.

Buy The Virtue of Dialogue: Englewood website or Amazon

In this episode I have a rich conversation with Chris Smith. We cover a range of topics, starting with his own personal journey of food over the past ten years. But we spend the majority of our time using a couple of Chris’s books, namely Slow Church and How the Body of Christ Talks, to dialogue about the importance of conversation for the health of ourselves and our community. Through recovering of conversation, we begin to see how God wants to collaborate with us in his work of redemption.

C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He and his wife Jeni have three adult children and are members of Englewood Christian Church on the urban Near Eastside of Indianapolis. Chris is the co-author of the award-winning book Slow Church, and author of several other books including most recently, How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church. Most of his latest writings end up on The Englewood Review's Substack, TheConversationalLife.substack.com

This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com.

In this episode of The Biggest Table, I welcome Malcolm Foley, a pastor, historian, and special advisor to the president for equity and campus engagement at Baylor University. We discuss Foley’s new book, 'The Anti Greed Gospel,' which addresses the connections between greed, racism, and the economic exploitation inherent in global systems. Foley advocates for a form of Christian socialism focused on sharing resources and combating exploitation and violence. Key topics include the role of the church in challenging societal injustices, the importance of deep economic solidarity, creative anti-violence, and prophetic truth-telling. The conversation also delves into how Christians can navigate their witness in a world dominated by greed and economic disparity, with practical steps for community engagement.

Malcolm Foley (PhD, Baylor University) is a pastor, historian, and speaker who serves as special adviser to the president for equity and campus engagement at Baylor University. He has written for Christianity Today, The Anxious Bench, and Mere Orthodoxy. He just released his first book from Brazos Press, entitled, The Anti-Greed Gospel: Why the Love of Money Is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward. Foley copastors Mosaic Waco, a multicultural church in Waco, Texas, where he lives with his wife, Desiree.

Follow Malcolm:

• Bluesky: @malcolmbfoley.bsky.social
• Instagram: @revdocmalc

This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com.

In this episode of 'The Biggest Table,' Brian McLaren, a noted author, speaker, activist, and theologian, joins me to discuss his latest book, 'Life After Doom.' McLaren delves into the concept of 'doom,' describing it not as an apocalyptic end but as a psychological feeling of overwhelming crises such as climate change, economic inequality, and the rise of surveillance capitalism. He shares insights from his journey of theological shifts, his understanding of historical and ecological cycles, and the importance of fostering resilience through community, character, and simple joys in nature. The conversation also highlights the significance of diverse perspectives in interpreting the Bible and nurturing a sense of collective and individual hope amidst prevalent global challenges.

Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is Dean of Faculty for the Center for Action and Contemplation. and a podcaster with Learning How to See. He is a co-host of Southern Lights. His newest books are Faith After Doubt (January 2021), Do I Stay Christian? (May 2022), and Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart (2024). His co-authored children’s book Cory and the Seventh Story was released in 2023. The first book of a new science fiction trilogy, The Last Voyage, will be published in summer, 2025.

This episode of the Biggest Table is brought to you in part by Wild Goose Coffee. Since 2008, Wild Goose has sought to build better communities through coffee. For our listeners, Wild Goose is offering a special promotion of 20% off a one time order using the code TABLE at checkout. To learn more and to order coffee, please visit wildgoosecoffee.com.