Thereafter

Quick TW/CW up at the top! We do get into some conversation during the TwitBits portion at the beginning of the episode that could be triggering. We discuss sexual assault and rape in regards to the discourse around David and Bathsheba that has been happening on twitter once again. If you are not in a place to hear conversations on this topic this might be one you want to skip. There is no guest on today’s episode. In addition to #TwitBits we spend the episode reminiscing about some of our favorite moments from the pod so far! We also make a call at the end of the episode for listeners to send us a voice recording of their favorite moments from the pod so far! Those submissions can be submitted via email to hosts@ThereafterPod.com If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, join our Discord server, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

We are so very excited that today’s guest is Camille Hernandez! Camille is an abolitionist, community facilitator, and poet. In all her avenues, she uses care-centered leadership models to help survivors know their voice, be nourished in community, and develop self-compassion practices in order to birth new liberated realities into existence. Her debut book The Hero and the Whore: Reclaiming Healing and Liberation through Stories of Sexual Exploitation in the Bible will be released on November 7, 2023. Make sure to keep an eye out for that pre-order link soon! Make sure to follow her at all the places listed below: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellocamilleh/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/hellocamilleh TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@hellocamilleh Substack: https://camillehernandez.substack.com Spoutible: https://spoutible.com/camillehernandez Website: https://camillehernandez.com As usual, if you want to jump straight to the interview you can head to 23:20. If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, join our Discord server, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

Today on the pod we sit down with the one and only Josephine Jael Jimenez or as you may know her from around the web @JosieTakesTheWorld. Josie is the host of the Speaking in Church Podcast along with being the a photographer, writer and numerous other amazing things! She is a dear friend of the show and we are so excited to have her on the pod today! Make sure you follow her over on instagram https://www.instagram.com/josietakestheworld/ and on Twitter https://twitter.com/josietakesthe as well as checking out all her work over on her website http://www.josietakestheworld.com/ As always we ramble for a while in the beginning about all the latest things we've seen and heard on the web in our #TwitBits Segment. If you'd like to skip straight to the episode you can jump to 23:00. If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, join our Discord server, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

Today's guest is the one and only Jennifer C. Martin, and we couldn't be more excited for her to be our Valentine's Day guest! She is a writer and editor living in Richmond, Virginia with her two partners, two children, and two pets. A former Pentecostal and current member of the United Church of Christ, she writes on religion, theology, sexuality, culture, entertainment, parenting, and polyamory. Her work has been featured in Insider, New York Times, Jezebel, Sojourners, Time magazine, and more. You can subscribe to her Substack, Dirtbag Christian, or check out jennifercmartin.com to catch up on all her latest writings and find her on social media. In her free time she loves baking, fermenting things, gaming, binging TV shows, reading, leftist politics, and yoga. Make sure you follow her on all her socials which can all be found on her LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/jennifercmartin As always we ramble on at the beginning of the episode for our #TwitBits segment where we talk about the latest social happenings! If you want to skip straight to the interview you can jump ahead to 28:38.  If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, join our Discord server, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

Today we are honored to have Marla Taviano as our guest on the pod! Marla is into books, love, justice, globes, anti-racism, blue, gray, rainbows, and poems. She reads and writes for a living, wears her heart on her t-shirts, and is on a mission/quest/journey to live wholefarted (not a typo). She's the author of two books of unconventional poetry: unbelieve and jaded. She lives in South Carolina with her four freaking awesome kids. Find out more at marlataviano.com Don't forget to follow Marla on IG at: https://www.instagram.com/marlataviano/ Follow her Book account on IG at: https://www.instagram.com/whitegirllearning/ And on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/marlataviano As always Meg and Cortland get into the latest happenings from twitter and around the web in the #TwithBits segment in our intro! If you want to skip straight to the interview with Marla you can jump to 21:15. If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, join our Discord server, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

Today’s guest is Kristina Hart who is one of our favorite follows from around the web! Kristina is a writer, comedian, podcaster, and all around amazing human! On this episode Kristina brings her unique perspective as a Persian woman who grew up in Christianity, began her online career blogging about Christian singleness and has since seen her faith and perspective evolve. She consistently brings an insightful and comedic perspective on topics of faith, womanhood, dating, and more! We promise if you aren’t already in love with Kristina upon starting this episode you will be by the end! Make sure to follow Kristiana over on her socials on: Twitter @edgykristina https://twitter.com/edgykristina Instagram @edgykristinahart https://www.instagram.com/edgykristinahart/ TikTok @edgykristinahart https://www.tiktok.com/@edgykristinahart Keep an eye out on her socials for her new podcast launching soon! And don’t forget to follow her former podcast “That’s Super Weird” Podcast over on Instagram: @superweirdpod https://www.instagram.com/superweirdpod/ You can get the T-shirt we mention in the episode HERE: https://www.bonfire.com/kristina-hart-is-self-publishing-a-joke-book/?fbclid=PAAaaYS868u5Gj-tdZ44msXsIowLcgwRNWDCDo4DrmH0QXFK0gOa5ReThk5a8 As usual, if you want to jump straight to the interview you can head to 30:30. If you want to check out Meghan's sermon she mentioned from GracePointe Nashville you can find the link here: https://twitter.com/thepursuinglife/status/1619105934210654208 If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, join our Discord server, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

Today’s episode is one we’ve been excited to release for awhile. Cortland and Meghan chat with Shannon TL Kearns. A former fundamentalist who became the first openly transgender man ordained to the Old Catholic priesthood, Shannon TL Kearns believes in the transformative power of story. As an ordained priest, a playwright, a theologian, and a writer all of his work revolves around making meaning through story. He is the co-founder of QueerTheology.com. His first book In the Margins: A Transgender Man’s Journey With Scripture just released from Eerdmaan’s books. He started and led Uprising Theatre Company for 6 years. Shannon is a Humanitas New Voices Fellow for 2022 and was a recipient of the Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellowship in 20/21 and he was a Lambda Literary Fellow for 2019 (in playwriting) and 2022 (in screenwriting) and a Finnovation Fellow for 2019/2020. He is a sought after speaker on transgender issues and religion as well as a skilled facilitator of a variety of workshops. His work with Brian G. Murphy at QueerTheology.com has reached more than a million people all over the world through videos, articles, and online courses and community. You can also follow Shannon on Twitter at @shannontlkearns or Instagram at @shannontlkearns. Please also consider supporting Shannon’s work through Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/shannontlkearns As usual, if you want to jump straight to the interview you can head to 14:57. If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, join our Discord server, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

On this episode we chat with Emily Pfenning. Emily is an "almost" Oregon native originally adopted as a baby from India. She works in real estate as the director of operations for a small local team. Emily serves on her office's DEI committee, and several other committees and groups. Outside of the office, she enjoys reading constantly, teaching English through EngIN, leading book groups and workshops on current events and social issues like equity, disability justice, and global corruption as well as serving in local mutual aid efforts, and spending time with her pets and partner. Emily has a lot of insight into Disability Justice, Intersectionality, and “Curated Authenticity.” We know our listeners will love her perspective, and if you want to jump straight to the interview you can head to 28:30. You can follow Emily on Twitter at @eofallthings and if you’d like to show appreciation for her interview, Emily has suggested making a donation to creators that she learns from - Alicia Crosby Mack (@aliciatcrosby on Twitter) or Imani Barbarin (@imani_barbarin on Twitter). If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, join our Discord server, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

In our first episode of the year we sat down (on New Years Eve) with friend of the show and returning guest, Kevin Nye! We discussed a semi viral tweet he had last week, the epic Greta Thunberg take down of Andrew Tate and more. We jump around quite a bit and have quite a bit of nuanced conversation. As always a reminder that much of what we talk about in these segments is us processing through our evolving thoughts on these topics as they happen in real time. We are constantly getting new information and evolving in the way we think about these conversations happening around the web.  If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to Apple Podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour. Lastly, if you are wanting to connect more with us and other listeners of the show reach out to us for an invite to join our Discord Server!  Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

This week on the pod we sit down with Twitter friend and creator Vy (https://twitter.com/WyldViolet). We discuss a lot of different topics along Vy's journey from growing up in evangelical purity culture to finding herself as a lesbian and reclaiming her sexuality through her work as an Only Fans creator. It was such a treat to get time with her and we could have talked for so many more hours! Make sure you go follow her on all her socials and if it's something you're into subscribe to her OF page (currently running a great holiday promotion which she mentions at the end of the episode)! Find all her links HERE: https://linktr.ee/WyldViolet You can skip straight to the interview if you want at 20:10. Also in the intro, Cortland gets a little wound up about the MAGA response to Brittney Griner coming home! In the midst of that he says a few incorrect statements about the two other people we saw used in the racist attacks against Brittney in the wake of her release. A short summary about the two talking points Cortland was mentioning can be found at these two links: https://twitter.com/yourpal_austin/status/1601304072534966272?s=46&t=1BvtcUNmmkW7iSesn3nRJg https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRVyBTjC/ If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

On today’s episode, hosts Cortland and Meghan interview Paula Stone Williams. Paula is an internationally-known speaker on issues of gender equity, LGBTQ advocacy, and religious tolerance.  She has been featured in TEDWomen, TEDSummit, the New York Times, Red Table Talk, TEDxMileHigh, the Washington Post, NPR, Good Morning America, CNN, ABC News, PBS, and scores of other media outlets. Paula has been a keynote speaker for hundreds of corporations, conferences, and universities around the world.  Her TED talks have had over seven million views. Paula’s memoir, As A Woman – What I Learned About Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy After I Transitioned was published by Simon & Schuster in June of 2021. Paula is also one of the founding pastors at Left Hand Church in Longmont, CO which you can find at https://www.lefthandchurch.org/. We know our listeners will appreciate Paula’s insights into evangelicalism, patriarchy, gender equity, and the impact of the recent political climate on transgender people. Please continue to engage with Paula’s work by checking out her website https://paulastonewilliams.com/, and ordering her book at https://paulastonewilliams.com/buy-paulas-book/. You can find Paula on Twitter @ paulaswilliams or on Instagram @ paulastonewilliams Cortland and Meghan chat briefly in the intro and if you want to jump straight to the interview you can head to 14:35. If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

This week on the show we talk with writer, theologian, and podcaster Robert Monson  (@robertjmonson on Twitter). We are thrilled to share this interview about theology, atheism, spirituality, race, progressivism, and more. If you enjoy the show, please support Robert’s work! You can subscribe to his substack, join the Patreon for the Three Black Men podcast, and subscribe to both Three Black Men and Black Coffee and Theology Podcasts. You can also support Robert by sending him money! Ca$hApp: $RobertMonson Venmo: Robert-Monson-2 A content warning for our listeners that we do briefly mention the Colorado Springs shooting in #TwitBits. If you want to jump straight to the interview, you can find it at 13:06. If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

We are so excited to be having Jess Heathen Queen on the pod this week. If you are not yet familiar with her work on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and more where have you been? She is an absolute delight and one of our favorite follows from around the web. In this conversation we talk a bit about her story and the work she's been doing helping others to unlearn from their toxic pasts and explore the rich expanse of knowledge surrounding theology, religion, and the world that exists outside of her former evangelical bubble.  Don't forget to follow her across all platforms. You can find links to all her work around the web HERE: https://beacons.ai/queenoftheheathens_ If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! As we mentioned in our intro, you can still use the PROMO Code “LEFT” for a discounted ticket to the “Christian Nationalism and the Future of Democracy” event in Denver hosted by our friends at Straight White American Jesus. Get your ticket HERE: https://www.bradonishi.com/nationalism/ Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

Today on the pod we sit down with Tim Whitaker from The New Evangelicals. Growing up, Tim always felt at home in evangelical spaces – until years later, when his studying and questions caused him to no longer be welcomed at in his church community. Brokenhearted, but undeterred, Tim continued to pursue a deeper understanding of faith, history, theology and the evangelical church. The more he uncovers, the more he realizes the importance of advocating for the marginalized in the church, exploring the full depth and breadth of Christian faith traditions, and holding toxic churches and leaders accountable. Find out more about The New Evangelicals through their website at: https://www.thenewevangelicals.com/ Follow on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/thenewevangelicals/ on twitter at: https://twitter.com/newvangelicals Join the group on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thenewevangelicals/ And on TikTok at: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenewevangelicals Also, on today's TwitBits intro segment we had a special guest! Our dear friend Matt TheSnarkyGent (https://twitter.com/thesnarkygent) joins us to discuss the current state of twitter and how Elon has no idea what the fuck he's doing!  If you're wanting to skip over the intro and right to our conversation with Tim you can skip to 28:32 If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Remember, you can still use the PROMO Code “LEFT” for a discounted ticket to the “Christian Nationalism and the Future of Democracy” event in Denver hosted by our friends at Straight White American Jesus. Get your ticket HERE: https://www.bradonishi.com/nationalism/ Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

Today on the pod we have the honor of talking with not one but two amazing guests! Returning to the pod is the one and only Jo Luehmann along with the brilliant mind of Rabbi Mike Harvey! Many of you probably already know Jo Luehmann (she/they), who is a Colombian born and raised writer, documentary producer, and podcaster who moved to the US to get her masters degree in ministry and theology. After 10 years working inside of churches, developing curriculum and teaching classes on theology and doctrine as an ordained pastor; and finding in personal and systemic ways how harmful and abusive the evangelical church is, Jo quit her job and committed to finding spirituality that wasn’t abusive. Alongside her partner she started the Living Room, a non-profit reclaiming faith and spirituality as expressions that can lead us toward wholeness, healing and heaven on earth. In the summer of 2020 alongside a group of victims and survivors of church abuse, Jo started @doBetterChurch an online space where people abused in churches can be seen, heard, believed and connected to others who can offer tools in their journey toward healing, as well as an initiative to invite churches to do better. In less than 6 weeks the space grew to over 5000 people with over a thousand different reports of abuse submitted. In 2021 Jo joined a talented team of organizers, artists and developers to create documentaries telling stories from people in the margins of society so that we all can be inspired to create a better world. Their first feature film is set to be released early 2022. In her podcast, The Living Room with Jo Luehmann, and through her classes, workshops and writing; Jo speaks and teaches about decolonizing faith and theology, as well as the importance of dismantling white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism both individually and collectively. Michael E. Harvey is the Amazon bestselling author of Let’s Talk: A Rabbi Speaks to Christians. An ordained rabbi, he has led congregations and served as a hospital chaplain. Rabbi Mike is passionate about social justice, interfaith cooperation, and bringing deep Jewish learning to the lay public. He has followed these passions in serving his community, including founding and directing the Interfaith Council of the Caribbean as well as directing the Interfaith Leaders of Greater Lafayette. He also serves on the rabbinic advisory council of the American Jewish Archives. When he isn’t writing, Rabbi Mike can be found building community and offering a listening ear in a different kind of congregation: as a bartender in Indiana. Learn more about Mike by visiting his website https://www.rabbimichaelharvey.com/ And don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RabbiHarvey Check out Everything Jo is up to via her link tree here: https://linktr.ee/joluehmann And don’t forget to follow her on Twitter and Instagram: https://twitter.com/JoLuehmann https://www.instagram.com/joluehmann/ If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod!

On today’s episode we sit down with Benjamin Faye (@HeyThereBenji on IG). Ben has been a favorite follow of ours for a while and we are so excited to have him on the pod to talk about faith, race, and his experience in the American Evangelical Church. Ben is a writer, speaker, advocate, #exvangelical, and spiritual abuse survivor who is creating content that uses his experience to comfort, challenge, and connect with others. He is the co-host along side @likeablemenace (on IG) of the podcast Important Things with Ben and Carole. https://www.instagram.com/importantthingsbc/?hl=en You can join their Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/important_things as well as get the merch Ben mentions in the interview at https://www.bonfire.com/store/hello-rebel/. If you enjoy this episode, SEND BEN MONEY! Ca$hApp: https://cash.app/$HeyHeyItsBenFaye Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/HelloRebelOfficial We ramble for quite a bit in our #TwitBits intro today so if you want to skip right to the interview feel free to skip ahead to the 28:25 mark. Another note about our Twitbits intro is that Cortland references “Andrew Peterson” during the conversation and meant Jordan Peterson (oops apologies to anyone named Andrew Peterson). If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Patreon.com/ThereafterPod! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! We forgot to mention it in our outro but you can still use the PROMO Code “LEFT” for a discounted ticket to the “Christian Nationalism and the Future of Democracy” event in Denver hosted by our friends at Straight White American Jesus. Get your ticket HERE: https://www.bradonishi.com/nationalism/ Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

On today's episode we talk about our experiences with coming out later in life and being newly out baby queers in the world.  If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Thereafter Patreon! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Remember, PROMO Code for “Christian Nationalism and the Future of Democracy” event in Denver hosted by our friends at Straight White American Jesus is: "Left" and you can register for the event HERE: https://www.bradonishi.com/nationalism/ Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

This week Cortland and Meghan sit down with Jon Carl Lewis, creator of Sex & the Gay Christian. Jon is a spiritual director that has created space as a gay Christian man for queer Christians that are seeking to live an integrated sexual and spirtiual life. Jon shares a bit of his history and upbringing, and then chats about sex positivity, “Biblical” sexual ethics, and how individuals discover their sexuality and spirituality. Please check out Jon’s website, and give him a follow @sexgaychristian on Twitter. Jon’s website offers information about spiritual direction, his book project, several LGBTQIA+ resources, and more! If you enjoy listening to the show, please consider heading over to apple podcasts to rate and review us. If you really enjoy the show, we would love to see you in our Thereafter Patreon! Also, look for us on social media and shoot us a message to say hello, or chat with us in Twitter spaces on Tuesday mornings in deconstruction coffee hour! Finally,PROMO Code for “Christian Nationalism and the Future of Democracy” event in Denver hosted by our friends at Straight White American Jesus is: Left Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

This week we had the privilege of sitting down for a conversation with Chrissy Stroop. Chrissy is an important voice in the exvangelical and post-Christian conversation and brings so much to that conversation through her work as a scholar, researcher, author, and educator. She is a Senior correspondent for @RDispatches, columnist for @openDemocracy, as well as a speaker and writer for hire. She is the co-editor of Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church (available here: https://www.amazon.com/Empty-Pews-Stories-Leaving-Church/dp/1946093076).  You can follow her on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/C_Stroop And on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/chrissystroop/ Visit her at her website https://cstroop.com/ and if you would like to support the work she is doing please consider joining her patreon HERE: https://www.patreon.com/cstroop If you are interested in joining the discord server Chrissy mentions in the interview you can use this invite link: https://t.co/wySo4wnPwK  Lastly, we'd love for you to join the Thereafter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThereafterPod As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

Today on the pod we sit down for a conversation with Damon Garcia to discuss his story of faith and his new book The God Who Riots: Taking Back the Radical Jesus (Broadleaf Books, 2022) (available now wherever you buy books). Damon Garcia (he/him) is a writer, video essayist, and public theologian. His work is centered around the intersection between liberation and faith. He lives in Santa Maria, California. Follow Damon’s work on Twitter and Instagram @whoisdamon https://twitter.com/whoisdamon https://www.instagram.com/whoisdamon/ Visit his website at DamonGarcia.com Subscribe to his YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/damongarcia On our #TwitBits intro today we discuss some heavy topics (TW/CW we discuss transphobia and threats toward the trans community). If you want to skip straight to the interview feel free to jump ahead to the 32min mark. We mention Matthew Paul Turner in this discussion and wanted to link to his twitter here. If you don’t follow MPT yet, you should go give him a follow and if you have a moment to send some encouragement his way we’d love it if you would go send him some love on Twitter (https://twitter.com/HeyMPT). We also mention the event we will be attending that Brad Onishi from Straight White American Jesus Podcast is hosting in Denver this Nov. If you are interested in attending (in person or virtually) head over to find out more info and snag a ticket here: https://www.bradonishi.com/nationalism/ Lastly, we'd love for you to join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThereafterPod As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

On today's episode we sit down with friend of the show Ashlee' Thomas for a candid conversation about faith change, intersectionality, and being uncomfortable. Ashlee' was one of the folks we had the pleasure of learning from at our Portland meetup earlier this year and we couldn't wait to have her on the show! You can follow her on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/unashamedly_ashlee/ If you enjoyed today's conversation and want to throw a little something Ashlee's way as a thank you (or early wedding gift) you can send her any amount through Venmo here: https://account.venmo.com/u/ashlee-thomas-5 For our TwitBits segment today we talk a little bit about the conversations on twitter that stemmed from Lecrae's twitter thread on the "right way to deconstruct" (https://twitter.com/lecrae/status/1570057592595963904?s=20&t=UpsPXxu_eWJdKe-E_dkY9g). We also talk a bit about what the Bible says about sex and Carl Lentz's return to social media.  If you want to skip straight to the interview you can jump ahead to 28:40 to get right into the conversation with Ashlee'. We'd love for you to join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ThereafterPod As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

No interview on the pod today. Instead Meghan and Cortland sit down to discuss their relationship with certainty and how it has evolved throughout their deconstruction processes so far.  There is a brief intro where we explain that we had originally recorded this as our Season Premier and instead opted to release it as episode two following our live from Wild Goose episode last week. In #TwitBits we talk about #StrikeOutHomophobia which is a walkout and rally being held across the US on Oct. 11th. You can find more info about this through this tweet: https://twitter.com/REAP_LGBTQ/status/1567218092698402817. At one point in the intro Cortland talks about a sex researcher and can't remember their name. *note from Cortland "I'm not sure how I entirely blanked and didn't even get close to saying Dr. Eric Sprankle, but that is who I was trying to reference. You can find Dr. Sprankle on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/DrSprankle We are also launching our Patreon today, which we discuss towards the end of the episode. If you are interested in becoming a Patron please go check out the Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/ThereafterPod As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

We're back! Kicking off season 3 of Thereafter podcast with our LIVE episode recorded this summer at Wild Goose Fest. On this episode Meghan and Cortland have a conversation with return guest Josh Scott from Grace Pointe Church in Nashville, TN.  For our intro and #TwitBits section of the pod we ramble a bit about the recent Matt Chandler "scandal" and some of the discourse that has been happening online about The Billy Graham Rule and what is appropriate when it comes to DM's.  Meghan mentions a tweet/article from @LindsayFickas which can be found here: https://twitter.com/lindsayfickas/status/1566841309826015232?s=21&t=pMkhxMBP-Vti3Q7Fe1TEuw. If you want to find out more about Josh Scott you can follow him around the web in the following places.  https://twitter.com/josh_a_scott https://www.instagram.com/josh_a_scott/ https://www.tiktok.com/@josh_a_scott As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

On our season 2 finale of the pod we bring back one of our favorite guests from the season, Tori Williams Douglas! You may have listened to our conversation with Tori earlier in the season where we talked a bit about her story and the work she's doing through White Homework and Go Home Bible You're Drunk.  On this episode we're talking about solo-sex, pleasure, and orgasms! No intro for this episode, so get ready to jump right into our conversation.  If you didn't catch our conversation with Tori from earlier in the season, Tori is an anti-racist writer, educator, and podcaster in addition to being one of our favorite follows on twitter! You may know her as Tori Glass which is her handle on Twitter and Instagram. Go give her a follow and please support her work which you can find all the info for on her website https://www.toriglass.com/ As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

Today we sit down with George Azar, author of "My Gay Church Days" (https://www.mygaychurchdays.com/). We talk about growing up, finding Jesus and later in the story finding himself. George was an absolute treat to talk with and we're so excited to share this conversation! In addition to the book George has been podcasting over at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-gay-church-days/id1596348244 so don't forget to go give him a follow over there as well!  We talk, in our intro, about our thoughts coming off of our PDX meetup where we got to hang out with some friends from the pod. If you want to skip straight to the interview feel free to skip ahead to 19:30. Make sure to follow George on Twitter and instagram via the links below. https://twitter.com/mygaychurchdays https://www.instagram.com/mygaychurchdays/ As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

This week was extra special for us because we had the opportunity to sit down with one of the hosts of one of our favorite podcasts (Mega the Podcast)! We cover a TON of topics in this interview from Holly’s background growing up in evangelicalism to her work over the past 20+ years in the world of comedy! We enjoyed every moment of this interview and hope you do as well. Holly Laurent is an LA based writer and performer. She is the creator and host of the hit podcast MEGA, and co-host and producer of It's a Wonderful Lie (audiochuck) Formerly, Holly was a featured contributor and writer on the nationally syndicated radio variety show Live From Here (NPR) and the Onion News Network. She is an alumnus of the Second City mainstage in Chicago where she wrote and performed three critically acclaimed revues. She toured with the Second City national touring company and was a featured performer at the TBS Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. Holly holds an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College and is a founding member of the longstanding improv group The Reckoning. Her film and television credits include A.P. Bio (NBC), All Rise (CBS All Access), Tacoma FD (truTV), Drunk History (Comedy Central), Food: The Source of Life (Adult Swim), Key & Peele (Comedy Central), Barely Famous (VH1), Funny or Die: Exclusives and The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS). Holly’s film Brought to You by Satan, which she wrote and directed, premiered in festivals in 2020. Her writing has been featured in Defenestration Magazine and Mayday Magazine. Her essay, Villain, was Nominated for a 2021 Pushcart Prize. In addition to all the links in the above bio, we also wanted to include a direct link to the Mega patreon which you can join to help support the work as well as get access to the mini episodes Holly mentions in the interview. You can join their patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/megathepodcast Our intro to the show this week is pretty short and to be honest continues to be pretty heavy. There is just too many painful things continuing to happen in our world. If you want to skip straight to the interview feel free to skip ahead to 15:50. Follow Holly on Twitter and instagram via the links below. https://twitter.com/laurentholly https://www.instagram.com/hollylaurent/ As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, @ThePursuingLife

Today's episode we sit down with Austin Jenkins who we met through the thriving deconstruction community on Instagram. Austin is a poet, and podcaster who is processing through his faith deconstruction journey through his art and creativity over on instagram @theexistentialwandererpod as well as on his podcast The Existential Wanderer Podcast. We talk a little about his faith origin story and where he finds himself now, processing through his religious trauma and finding the authenticity to embrace now being agnostic. Austin is such a valuable part of this community and we're so grateful that he took some time to be with us for this episode!  Make sure to go subscribe to his podcast wherever you listen to pods!  https://anchor.fm/austin-jenkins5 Our intro for today's episode is a bit heavy and mostly involves Meghan and Cortland looking for words to describe some of the horrific events that have been unfolding in recent weeks. Please take care of yourself as you listen and know you can always skip directly to the interview which is at 29:00.  As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

This week we have another BONUS EPISODE! There is no guest for this one and instead Meghan and Cortland spend the episode discussing navigating relationship through deconstruction. Many of us who have left the limiting scripts handed to us by our evangelical or religious upbringing are left to re-frame our understanding of relationships outside of our previously rigid and binary understanding.  We discuss the Billy Graham Rule which is the practice popularized by the late evangelist which said that married men should never be alone with any woman that wasn't their wife. This "rule" becomes a jumping off point for us to talk about breaking away from heteronormativity and compulsive (and toxic) monogamy. No matter your sexual orientation, relationship structure, or gender identity almost all of us have found that the way we were told to form and practice meaningful relationships in evangelicalism was limited and often unhelpful.  Come along as we wander through this conversation, learn from each other, and answer some listener questions!  As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

This week we sit down with long time friend and fan of the show Jarred Harris! Jared is such a thoughtful person and we're so grateful for him taking the time to share some of his story and journey to finding fulfillment through witchcraft and pagan spirituality. Jarred is a content creator and you can find his content on Twitter (@JarredH), TikTok (jarredharris1), and YouTube.  You can find links to his content on all those platforms through his Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/jarredthewyrdworker Quick TW/CW about our intro this morning. We discuss abortion and some topics that may be heavy for some listeners.  if you want to jump straight to the interview, you can jump to 35:10.  As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: Thereafter @ThereafterPod, Cortland @CortlandCoffey, Meghan @ThePursuingLife Instagram: Thereafter @ThereafterPodcast, Cortland @CortlandCoffey, Megha @ThePursuingLife

On today's episode we sit down with Rohadi Nagassar to discuss his story, his work, and his upcoming book "When We Belong - Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins". Rohadi is a pastor building diverse organizations and communities around decolonizing and deconstructing Christianity. He lives in Canada on Treaty 7 Lands otherwise known as Calgary. Through his experience in the local church, a BA in Economics from the University of Calgary, and a Master in Divinity from Canadian Theological Seminary he brings a unique perspective that we are grateful to share with you on this episode!  You can follow Rohadi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/rohadi and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rohadi.nagassar/. You can find out more about his work through his website https://www.rohadi.com/ In our intro #TwitBits segment we talk about monetizing #Deconstruction work. This is a complex topic that we could talk about much more but wanted to start the conversation here. If you want to jump right into the interview you can skip to 31:00.  As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: @ThereafterPod, @CortlandCoffey, Meghan - @ThePursuingLife Instagram: @ThereafterPodcast, @CortlandCoffey, Meghan - @ThePursuingLife

Today on the pod we sit down with our twitter friend and fellow podcast host Greg Mason! Greg is a music teacher, theology nerd and host of The Decolonized Christian Podcast. You can check out his podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-decolonized-christian-podcast/id1555884063. Also give Greg a follow on Twitter @LetGregLive_ and on Instagram @LetGregLive_ We have a special guest (our friend Jarred @JarredH) for our intro and #TwitBits segment today, but as always if you want to jump straight to the interview, you can jump to 26:50.  If you want to weigh in on the towel debate thread we mentioned check out that thread here https://twitter.com/thepursuinglife/status/1517557174108520448 If you're looking to find the  As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

We’re back for yet another episode! This week Cortland and Meghan interview Matt aka @thesnarkygent on Twitter. Matt is a cybersecurity student who grew up inside of Evangelicalism as a homeschooled kid brought up to “lead with biblical values” who has spent the past half-decade deconstructing a ton of the harmful ideas of his upbringing – including a LOT of purity culture and the pervasive sexual shame in Evangelical culture. Anyone who follows Matt on Twitter knows that he has a gift for identifying and unpacking the toxicity in evangelical messaging that is disguised as something positive. If you enjoy this interview, we know you’ll love keeping up with Matt on Twitter and if you really want to show him some love, feel free to buy Matt a coffee! The intro is a bit shorter today, but as always if you want to jump straight to the interview, you can jump to 8:30. If you want to check out the artist Meghan mentions, head to https://www.joyoladokun.com/ As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

This week, Meghan and Cortland sit down with Ashley Dunston. Ashley is a novelist, playwright, aspiring cybersecurity professional, ex-vangelical, and proud auntie. This authentic conversation sheds light on the effects of harmful gender and body stereotypes, and the beauty of shedding toxicity and embracing your true self. Make sure you’re following Ashley on Twitter at @ashdunston and Instagram at @ashley_dunston_writer because you don’t want to miss her hot takes! You can find links to her Patreon and other projects via her LinkTree at https://linktr.ee/AshleyDunston We start with our usual #twitbits segment and spend some time ranting about politics, but if you want to skip straight to the interview you can jump to 30:05. As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media! Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

On today’s episode, Meghan and Cortland chat with New York Times Bestselling Children’s book author Matthew Paul Turner. In this interview Matthew shares his story of growing up in fundamentalism, discovering Sandi Patty, and starting down the slippery slope of Contemporary Christian Music. Matthew spent years working as a writer in the CCM world as well as writing several Christian books. As his faith expanded he began pushing back against the fundamentalism he grew up in advocating for a more inclusive faith. After finding an audience among the progressive faith community Matthew began writing Children’s books. We know our listeners will appreciate hearing stories behind his children’s book that are LGBTQ+ inclusive and create space for wonder and divinity unlike the messages so many of us received in church as kids. In 2020, after years as an ally and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community Matthew publicly came out as gay. Since coming out, Matthew and his incredibly supportive ex-wife Jessica have been a shining example of how families can support each other and embrace authenticity as they discover and embrace their truths together. Please take a minute to check out his website and pre-order his book, I Am God’s Dream, that comes out this month! Also, be sure to follow him on Twitter @HeyMPT and Instagram @MatthewPaulTurner. We start the episode with our usual #twitbits segment, but If you want to skip straight to the interview, jump to 23:10. As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media. Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

Today on the pod we sit down with Tori Williams Douglass. Tori is an anti-racist writer, educator, and podcaster in addition to being one of our favorite follows on Twitter! You may know her as Tori Glass which is her handle on Twitter @ToriGlass and Instagram @ToriGlass.  She hosts the podcasts Go Home Bible, You’re Drunk and White Homework. Tori has created a ton of free anti-racist resources as well as some incredible paid curriculum which you can find over at Tori’s website ToriGlass.com. Please consider supporting the important work she is doing through her Patreon over at Patreon.com/toriglass.  We wanted to add a couple notes from #twitbits. We mention Andre Henry’s new book, “All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep” which we would love for every single listener to pick up a copy of today! Please feel free to send Meghan a message on Twitter if you’re interested in joining the Deconstruction book club Discord server where we will be reading through Andre's book together this month.  The Hillsong documentary that we mention is called “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed” and can be found on Discovery+. If you want to skip straight to the interview, jump to 32:40. As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media. Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

Meghan and Cortland are excited to share this interview with Daniel Deitrich. It’s been in the queue awhile but we know you’ll find it worth the wait! Daniel Deitrich is a singer/songwriter based in South Bend, Indiana. After the 2020 election, Daniel released his song, Hymn for the 81% which quickly gained traction online as it resonated with many that were questioning why so many white evangelicals voted for Trump. Check out the song on YouTube. You can find all of Daniel’s projects on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever digital music is streamed or sold. You can support the work of Daniel Deitrich by becoming a Patron or through a name-your-price purchase at Bandcamp.com and you can follow him on Twitter. Our intro has an extended #twitbits segment this week as we discuss recent events in Christianity Today, Hillsong, and Babylon Bee but we won’t apologize for our rage. If you want to skip the rage and jump straight to the interview, head to 46:40. As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out to say hello on social media. Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

On today's episode we sit down with Jamie Keaton. Jamie's experience as a Black and non-binary actor, singer, musician, and spoken word poet has been defined by a passion for intersectional feminism, social justice, and advocacy. Jamie asked for us to include these words from Tupac Shakur which are meaningful to Jamie and represent their passion for raising their voice on these topics that are so vitally important.  My momma used to say if you can’t find something to live for you’d best find something to die for. - Tupac Shakur In this interview Cortland and Meghan chat with Jamie about race, sexuality, purity culture, and white supremacy. Jamie addresses these topics both in evangelicalism and in deconstruction spaces, and how it feels to always be relied on to say the thing and speak up against marginalization, discrimination, and oppression. If you want to jump straight to the interview, head to 16:35. You can find Jamie and follow their work on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. As always, we love hearing from our listeners. Please consider leaving a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and reach out and say hello on social media. Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

In today’s episode, Janice Lagata becomes the first guest to return to the Thereafter Podcast to talk with Cortland and Meghan about celebrity culture and the perpetuation of whiteness in deconstruction spaces. This is an important conversation and recognition that addressing power, privilege, and inequity isn’t something limited to one or two people in these spaces, but is something we all need to examine in order to understand our part in either upholding white supremacy or working to tear it down. The introduction to the episode is only a few minutes to provide brief context for the conversation and then we dive right into the interview. We reference a post from Janice from November where she talked specifically about the event that triggered this conversation. You can read that here: https://godhasnotgiven.com/my-kind-of-trauma/ If you appreciated this conversation and want to support Janice in a tangible way right now go buy her a coffee as a small way of saying you appreciate the work she is doing HERE: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/godhasnotgiven If you haven’t already, please check out Janice’s work. All of her information can be found on her website, God Has Not Given, where you can find her podcasts (God Has Not Given, Bad Words, and Between the Lines) and her blog. Follow Janice on Instagram at @godhasnotgiven and on Twitter at @Jani_the_cat. Thoughts, questions, feedback for the co-hosts? Connect with Cortland on Twitter or Instagram at @cortlandcoffey, Meghan @thepursuinglife on Twitter and Instagram, and the podcast on Twitter or Instagram also. As always, it helps if you rate and review us on Apple podcasts and please take an extra moment to rate and review Janice’s podcasts too!

Today’s episode features guest Scott Okamoto, former professor at Azusa Pacific University who is currently writing a memoir and hosting a podcast that unpacks his experience as a faculty member at APU. Scott talks about his experience facilitating affinity groups, anti-racism on campus, the treatment of the LGBTQ community, and more. We hope our listeners will check out Scott’s website, and you can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @rsokamoto. Definitely stop whatever you’re doing now and subscribe to Scott’s podcast, Chapel Probation, wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to skip #twitbits and head straight to the interview, jump to 28:00. As always, please consider rating and reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and find us on social media. You can find hosts Cortland and Meghan every Tuesday morning having a deconstruction coffee hour chat on Twitter Spaces at 6AM PST. Look for us on Twitter and Instagram too! Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

Today Cortland and Meghan sit down with Erin Green. Erin (She/They) is the Campus and Alumni Organizer for REAP. They are an affirming biblical scholar and LGBTQ+ activist. Erin has a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies from Azusa Pacific University and an M.Div. from San Francisco Theological Seminary. Their specialties are in the entire Christian biblical corpus with an emphasis on the Hebrew Bible, the ancient Near East, exegesis, and how to employ various hermeneutical methods. Erin's passion is helping those excluded by the church to heal from spiritual abuse and trauma by navigating the biblical text in restorative ways. Erin is best known for their work in supporting LGBTQ+ students on conservative, Christian university campuses and in religious spaces. If you want to skip #twitbits and jump straight to the interview, head to 33:00. We know you’ll enjoy this opportunity to hear Erin’s story, and we hope you check out their work. You can find Erin on Twitter @ErinGreenbean and Instagram @_runningerins_, and you can also find REAP on Twitter @REAP_LGBTQ and Instagram @reap_lgbtq. As always, please consider rating and reviewing us on Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and find us on social media. Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

On today's episode Meghan and Cortland sit down with Daniel M. Lavery on today’s episode of the podcast. Daniel Lavery is the author of Something That May Shock and Discredit You, The Merry Spinster, and Texts From Jane Eyre. He is the co-founder of The Toast and the proprietor of the Chatner newsletter; formerly the Dear Prudence advice columnist at Slate. Daniel talks about his experience growing up in an evangelical mega church, attending a Christian college, understanding his own sexuality, and his gender transition. We hope you go get a copy of Daniel’s latest book, Something That May Shock and Discredit You. You can also find Daniel on Twitter @daniel_m_lavery and Instagram @daniel_m_lavery. You can subscribe to the Chatner newsletter here https://www.thechatner.com/ As always, if you want to skip the #twitbits and head straight to the guest interview, jump to 25:20. We mention the recently released memoir by Daniel's wife Grace Lavery, go pick up a copy of Please Miss today! If you’re enjoying the show, please consider rating and reviewing us on Apple podcasts. We also love hearing from our listeners. Also, come find us on social media! Twitter: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan Instagram: Thereafter, Cortland, Meghan

On this BONUS episode, Cortland and Meghan talk through recent conversations about the new version of purity culture, sexual ethics, queer affirmation, and sex positivity. This unique episode doesn’t have a guest interview, but gives our listeners a window into the way we navigate dialogue about ethics and values on the other side of faith change. We know that we are always learning, and we want to point to the voices that we have learned so much from in this space. Please check out these creators and support their work. Also know that this is not an exhaustive list, it’s always growing, and we will continue to add to it! Instagram/Twitter/Web: Talk Purity to Me, Erica Smith, Meg Cowan, Dr. Tina Sellers, Jo Luehmann, Brenda Marie Davies (God is Grey), Ms. Charlotte, QueerTheology.com (Brian and Shay), The Snarky Gent, Tyler Krumland, Kevin Garcia, Alicia T. Crosby Please check out this list of book recommendations shared in this tweet by Ms. Charlotte. Books: Pure by Linda Kay Klein Beyond Shame: Creating a Healthy Sex Life on Your Own Terms by Matthias Roberts #churchtoo by Emily Joy Allison Sex, God, and the Conservative Church by Dr. Tina Sellers Shameless by Nadia Bolz Weber You Are Your Own by Jamie Lee Finch Love Him Well by Tyler Krumland On Her Knees: Memoir of a Prayerful Jezebel by Brenda Marie Davies We would love to hear feedback about the show, and specifically about this episode. Feedback from listeners helps us determine the future direction of the show! Send us a note on Twitter or Instagram or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Thanks for being fellow travelers on this messy journey we call life.

In today’s episode, Cortland and Meghan talk to artist David Hayward known across the web as "Naked Pastor". After 30 years in the church, he left the ministry to pursue his passion for art. NakedPastor uses words and images to challenge the status quo, deconstruct dogma, and offer hope for those who struggle and suffer under it. David is no stranger to belief systems - he holds a Masters in Theological Studies, as well as Diplomas in Religious Studies and Ministry, and University Teaching. His art expresses the stories and struggles of spiritual refugees and independent thinkers who question, doubt or oppose the confines of religion. Each piece encourages difficult conversations and acts as a catalyst for critical thinking. If you want to jump straight to the interview, you can skip to 16:35. You can find David’s art, writing, and merchandise on his website, and please follow him on social media at NakedPastor on Twitter @NakedPastor and Instagram @NakedPastor . We would love it if you leave us a review on Apple podcasts and follow the podcast on Twitter and Instagram. You can also find Meghan on both platforms at @thepursuinglife and Cortland at @cortlandcoffey. Thanks for listening! Until next time.

In today’s episode, Cortland and Meghan talk with author Kevin Nye. Kevin works in homeless services and is releasing a book on homelessness and grace in August, 2022.  He sits down with us to tell his story, talk about his work, and give us his perspective on the intersection of faith and justice. You can check out Kevin’s website, sign up for his newsletter, and follow him on Twitter for updates on how to pre-order his book. Also mentioned in the intro to the episode is this Twitter thread on pre-order book suggestions. If you want to skip straight to the interview, jump to 23:00. At the end of the episode, Meghan mentions the post-evangelical CCM karaoke night which you can sign up for here. Make sure you’re following the Thereafter podcast on Twitter and Instagram to stay updated on all the latest episodes and updates. You can follow Meghan on Twitter and Instagram @thepursuinglife and Cortland @cortlandcoffey on both. We love to hear from our listeners, and it’s always a great support when you leave us a review on Apple podcasts!

Isaiah Tobias Crum, M.D. is a PGY-1 Psychiatry Resident and host of The Melanated Mindset Podcast (@_MelanatedMind). Isaiah grew up in the church and was the definition of deeply involved. After spending years as a volunteer youth minister and originally pursuing a career in emergency medicine he switched fields of study to psychiatry.  In this episode we talk with Isaiah about his field of study and how it has affected his faith evolution. We know that you'll enjoy this conversation and want to hear more from Isaiah when it's done! You can find all his podcast episodes at https://www.melanatedmindset.org/.  You can skip to 30:17 if you want to jump right into the interview! And don't forget to give him a follow on twitter https://twitter.com/DocZayMD Remember, we always love hearing from our listeners. Feel free to drop us a note on social media, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, or share one of our episodes and tag us in a post! You can find Thereafter on Twitter and Instagram and Cortland and Meghan in both places too. Twitter: Thereafter Pod, Meghan, Cortland Instagram: Thereafter Podcast, Meghan, Cortland

Today’s episode features an interview with Annie Rice, an immigration lawyer and alderwoman in St. Louis, MO. Annie joins us to talk about her deconstruction journey and how her desire to get involved in justice led her to the work she does now. Annie also gives us her perspective on abortion legislation that is being passed nationwide, how this legislation impacts what happens in states on a local level, and the historical roots behind the abortion debate. You don’t want to miss Annie bringing her wisdom and insight into faith, deconstruction, and politics. If you want to jump straight to the interview, head to 26:48 In the interview, Annie mentions ways to get involved with the pro-choice movement. Some websites to check out are: National Network of Abortion Funds Repro Action And recommended Twitter accounts to follow are: Renee Bracey Sherman Rewire News Group And you can find Annie on Twitter @AnnieRiceStl We always love hearing from our listeners. Feel free to drop us a note on social media, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, or share one of our episodes and tag us in a post! You can find Thereafter on Twitter and Instagram and Cortland and Meghan in both places too. Twitter: Thereafter Pod, Meghan, Cortland Instagram: Thereafter Podcast, Meghan, Cortland

Today Cortland and Meghan interview Bradley Onishi, co-host of the podcast Straight White American Jesus and professor of Religious Studies at Skidmore College. A TEDx speaker, he has written for the New York Times, Huffpost, Religion & Politics, The LA Review of Books, The Conversation US, Rewire.News, among other outlets. He has appeared on NPR-affiliate programs and nationally ranked podcasts. Bradley joins us to talk about his own deconstruction journey, the work he’s doing connected with his podcast, and the topic of his next book, white Christian nationalism. We know our listeners will love hearing Bradley’s perspective on the intersection of religion and politics as much as we enjoyed talking with him about it. If you check out Bradley’s podcast, Straight White American Jesus, you’ll find links to support other projects he’s working on. You can also follow him on social media at @bradleyonishi on Twitter and @bbonishi on Instagram. Today’s episode also includes a special guest for our #twitbits segment, so you may want to stick around to find out who it is!.  However, if you want to jump straight to the interview, jump to 27:20. Thanks for listening, and we love it when you drop us a note to say hello! We love to connect with our listeners. Please check us out on social media at @thereafterpodcast on Instagram and @thereafterpod on Twitter. You can find Cortland at @cortlandcoffey on both platforms and Meghan at @thepursuinglife. Send us a DM and let us know what you think of the episode, who you’d like to hear on the show, and you can always show your support by leaving a review at Apple Podcasts.

Brian G. Murphy joins Cortland and Meghan for today’s episode of the Thereafter Podcast. Brian is co-host of the Queer Theology Bible Podcast and also the co-founder of queertheology.com. As Brian talks about in this episode, the work of queertheology.com goes beyond defending the right to be gay and Christian, and creates a comprehensive resource that celebrates the divine intersectionality of queer Christianity. Brian joins us to share their story, talk about their work, and join the conversation about current events in the Christian queer community. We are releasing this interview out of order to share our conversation with Brian in response to recent posts from The Reformation Project, an organization that claims to be LGBTQ inclusive, yet sets limitations on what they consider is acceptable for identification as a queer Christian. Please consider supporting Brian G. Murphy by engaging with the resources at queertheology.com, or even subscribing to their patreon! As always, if you want to skip straight to the interview, you can jump to 25:00. Follow QueerTheology on Twitter https://twitter.com/QTheology Follow Queer Theology on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/queertheology/ Follow Brian on Twitter https://twitter.com/ThisIsBGM Follow Brian on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thisisbgm/ Visit Brian's website at https://www.briangerald.com/ We are also starting to get some reviews on Apple podcasts from listeners, and that really helps support the work we’re doing. Thanks for listening, and we love it when you drop us a note to say hello! We love to connect with our listeners. Please check us out on social media at @thereafterpodcast on Instagram and @thereafterpod on Twitter. You can find Cortland at @cortlandcoffey on both platforms and Meghan at @thepursuinglife. Send us a DM and let us know what you think of the episode, who you’d like to hear on the show, and you can always show your support by leaving a review at Apple Podcasts.

This week we interview Josh Scott, progressive Christian pastor of Grace Pointe Church in Nashville, TN. Josh talks about how his life as a pastor parallelled his deconstruction, and how ultimately his shifting views brought him to Grace Pointe, a church that is fully LGBTQ affirming and holds space for all travelers no matter where their journey leads them. Josh talks about what church looks like on the other side of evangelicalism, and what being a pastor means to him. We hope you appreciate hearing what Josh has to say, and also that you’ll check him out on Twitter and Instagram at @josh_a_scott. Josh also has a great newsletter that you can subscribe to at https://www.joshscott.online/ to have his thoughts on reimagining, reframing, and reclaiming faith sent directly to your inbox. If you want to skip the intro and the #twitbits, jump to 26:30. We love to connect with our listeners. Please check us out on social media at @thereafterpodcast on Instagram and @thereafterpod on Twitter. You can find Cortland at @cortlandcoffey on both platforms and Meghan at @thepursuinglife. Send us a DM and let us know what you think of the episode, who you’d like to hear on the show, and you can always show your support by leaving a review at Apple Podcasts.

Today we interview Carina from @deconstructingblack and @deconstructingcolors. Carina shares her journey, what led her into faith deconstruction, and the ways in which evangelicalism is intertwined with white supremacy and colonization. Not only does Carina bring her rich wisdom and perspective into this conversation, but she also shares her vision for bringing people together and building community through @deconstructingcolors which is becoming a non-profit! Please follow Carina’s accounts on Instagram and consider supporting her work through CashApp. If you want to skip straight to the interview you can jump to 22:18. We love to hear from our listeners! Connect with us on social media on Twitter @thereafterpod or Instagram @thereafterpodcast or find Cortland (@cortlandcoffey) or Meghan (@thepursuinglife) on either platform. If you could take a moment to rate us and leave a review on Apple podcasts, we’d really appreciate the support.

Today we sit down with Tyler Krumland for his podcast debut! We are excited to have Tyler share his story with you. Tyler talks about his experience growing up in the evangelical church, living in a conservative Christian world, and attending North Park Theological Seminary while being gay and closeted. The story of Tyler’s struggle to follow the evangelical “rules” prescribed for him while trying to stay true to himself gives listeners an authentic window into what it looks like to try all means possible to eradicate your own true self in an effort to continue belonging with your faith tradition. We know that Tyler’s journey of pain, grief, hope, and healing will resonate with many of our listeners and we are excited to share it with you! As always, if you want to skip straight to the interview you can jump to 27:30. Check out Tyler’s book, Love Him Well: My Journey Toward God, Truth, and Self-Acceptance and be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram at TylerKrumland. You should also check out his art on Instagram also at TylerKrumlandArt. We’d love to hear your thoughts from the episode. Drop us a note on social media (@thepursuinglife and @cortlandcoffey) and please take a minute to rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts!

Today we get the privilege of sitting down and having a conversation with the one and only Jo Luehmann! Of course we have our normal TwitBits conversation at the beginning of the episode where we talk about the latest buzz on Twitter.  If you'd like to skip straight to the interview feel free to skip ahead to 32:00.  Jo Luehmann (she/her) is a Colombian born and raised pastor, speaker, educator and writer who moved to the US to get her masters degree in ministry and theology. After 10 years working inside of churches, developing curriculum and teaching classes on theology and doctrine so that people’s spirituality was their own; she found in personal and systemic ways how harmful and abusive the American evangelical church is, Jo quit her job and committed to finding an spiritual framework that wasn’t abusive, and a faith that moved individuals and communities to liberation. Alongside her partner she started the Living Room (LivingRoomSD.com) a non-profit reclaiming faith and spirituality as expressions that can lead us toward wholeness, healing and heaven on earth. In the summer of 2020 alongside a group of victims and survivors of church abuse, Jo started @doBetterChurch an online space where people abused in churches can be seen, heard, believed and connected to others who can offer tools in their journey toward healing, as well as an initiative to invite churches to do better. In less than 6 months the space grew to over 15000 people with thousands of reports of abuse submitted. Jo writes, speaks and teaches about decolonizing faith and theology, and facilitates conversations about liberation for all, as well as the importance of dismantling white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism both individually and collectively. Jo, alongside her partner, is raising 4 children in unconventional ways so they can have as many tools to be liberated adults as possible, and they are doing it in the lands of the Kumeyay/Tipai Ipai.  You can find links to all Jo's work at her LinkTree here: https://linktr.ee/joluehmann Don't forget to follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/joluehmann/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/JoLuehmann

In this episode we sit down with Jon Steingard. Jon was previously the lead singer of a Christian band called Hawk Nelson, and talks about his experience having his faith identity tied to his career. A little over a year ago, Jon made an Instagram post stating that he no longer believed in God, and saw the reaction on social media from all sides. We talk with Jon about his faith deconstruction, what he believes now, and how his journey is going. Skip to 30:16 if you want to get straight into our interview with Jon! Check out Jon’s podcast, The Wonder and the Mystery of Being, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also watch episodes of the podcast on YouTube. Jon also has a Facebook group called Wondrous Beings and you can find him on Twitter @jonsteingard and Instagram @jonsteingard. We’d love to hear your thoughts from the episode. Drop us a note on social media (@thepursuinglife and @cortlandcoffey) and please take a minute to rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts!

Welcome back to the Thereafter Podcast! We are so excited to launch Season 2 and also to introduce Meghan Crozier ( @thepursuinglife on Twitter and Instagram) as the new co-host with Cortland Coffey. We take some time at the front of the show to hang out a bit and intro a new segment TwitBits (a working title) that we'll be doing each week here on the show! If you'd rather skip straight to our interview, feel free to skip ahead to the 28 minute mark.  On this Season 2 debut, we had the honor of sitting down with Pastor Judy Howard Peterson. Pastor Judy was ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church and she most recently served as the campus pastor at North Park University in Chicago, IL until she was stripped of her ordination for officiating a same-sex wedding in 2017. Her decision helped bring to the surface a broader ongoing conversation about the historically hard-line non-affirming stance within the ECC denomination. Judy’s warm and caring nature leaves a lasting impression on anyone who crosses paths with her and we have no doubt you will feel seen and loved as you listen to her stories. You can find Judy these days on Instagram at @walkingpastor where she continues to share her journey on a daily basis. We’d love to hear your thoughts from the episode. Drop us a note on social media and please take a minute to rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts!

In our WAY LATE finale episode for season 1 of Thereafter Podcast Cortland and Josh sit down to talk about some of our favorite takeaways from season 1. We also make an announcement about how we are changing up the host lineup for season 2. More announcements about what season 2 will be like coming soon! At one point we mention a "Rich Giles" and second guess if we were getting his name right. Spoiler alert: we weren't! We were actually talking about Keith Giles (one of the hosts of Heretic Happy Hour podcast. You can check out Heretic Happy Hour here: https://heretichappyhour.com/ We also mentioned the Dirty Rotten Church Kids episode with Mike McHargue if you are interested in checking that out it can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3El5teCQlLW84qpo5BMcDO?si=6074636aea3b4f0b We haven't decided how long of a break we are going to take yet but we already have some great ideas for season 2 so keep an eye on our social media for more updates about season 2 of Thereafter Podcast coming soon!

Today on the pod we sit down with Keylee and Micah Sudduth from Bob Billiams Productions. They are the creative minds behind the Tribeca Film Festival Official Selection digital Series Backsliders as well as the hosts of the Backsliders podcast.  Check out all their projects HERE: BobBilliamsProductions.com

If you haven't yet had the pleasure of finding the work of Skylar Camp you have been missing out! Skylar has been one of the best parts of my IG feed for a little over a year. Her honest perspective on her post faith journey has been beyond refreshing and healing for me to witness. On today's episode she walks us through her story of finding herself in her most authentic form. From a child of purity culture married before college, to embracing her polyamorist and bisexual identity. Come along for this beautiful story as we all get reminded to love and embrace our full and honest selves!  You can follow Skylar on Instagram: @SkylarCampWrites

Today we get to share an incredible conversation we had with Luke Wilson.  Luke is one of the leading voices talking about the discrimination of LGBTQ+ students and private religious universities. He is a part of a class action known as The REAP (https://www.thereap.org/) which is looking to end the mistreatment of LGBTQ+ students at schools who receive federal tax payer funding.  Luke holds a BA in English, summa cum laude, from Liberty University, an MA in English from McMaster University, and an MTS from Vanderbilt University. He is a PhD Candidate in Comparative Studies at Florida Atlantic University, a Dissertation Fellow through the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, and a Sessional Lecturer at University of Toronto. You can read Luke's piece in The Advocate (mentioned in the episode) HERE: https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2021/5/13/gay-man-says-he-was-tormented-liberty-university-now-hes-suing The interview Luke did on Kevin Garcia's A Tiny Revolution Podcast (mentioned in the episode) can be found HERE: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Qtmzf3G0LGxwslKzRFUkt?si=sZVBiGrhSna10ghH2s05jg&dl_branch=1 Follow Luke on Instagram @LukeSlamDunkWilson Follow Luke on Twitter @Wilson_fw We mentioned our audio producer Cody Coffey in this episode and dedicated this episode to his recently departed feline partner in crime. If you feel like throwing Cody some cash for all he does for the show you can Venmo him @codywcoffey. 

This week we sit down with Elad Nehorai. Elad has spent most of his adult life creating and nurturing communities. From the time he started a small online arts magazine (before such a thing was common) in college, to his efforts as an online marketer for startups, to his viral campaign "I Have A Therapist," to his work with Hevria, a community for creative Jews, and Torah Trumps Hate, a community for progressive orthodox Jews, he cares about nothing more than connecting people who are desperately looking for a community that doesn't exist in the physical world.  After spending over a decade in Hasidic Judaism Elad is reimagining his faith. We invite you to listen in, as we explore his journey as a creative finding a new path in his life thereafter.  Visit Elad's Website: http://eladnehorai.com/ Read his writing on Hevria: https://hevria.com/elad/ Read his latest work on Substack: https://eladnehorai.substack.com/ If you would like to connect with Elad please feel free to email us at Hosts@ThereafterPod.com and we would love to connect you with him via email! In the interview Elad mentioned a book called Leaving the Fold by Marlene Winell which I accidentally confuse with Empty the Pews by Chrissy Stroop. Here are links to both of those books for those that are interested.  Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion - https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Fold-Former-Fundamentalists-Religion/dp/1933993235 Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church - https://www.amazon.com/Empty-Pews-Stories-Leaving-Church/dp/1946093076

We are so excited to be sharing this episode with Peter Fenton! Peter Fenton’s work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Dadley Productions, Heuer Publishing, OurBible App, and Q Christian Fellowship among others. Peter is an adventurous multi-genre author and screenwriter drawn to creating clever and self-aware works stimulating critical thought and laughter. He wrote and produced the profitable world premiere of his holiday satire SEE AMID THE WINTER SNOW (2019), as well as his dark spiritual comedy, ABANDON ALL HOPE (2020), a co-production with BraveMaker Media. Peter served as the President and Director of Jukebox Theatre at Wheaton College and is an alumnus of the postgraduate apprenticeship program at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. As an up-and-coming screenwriter and playwright, Peter is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. Follow Peter on Twitter @PeterFent Follow Peter on Instagram @PeterFent Visit Peter's Website www.byPeterFenton.com Go buy his book! https://www.amazon.com/Abandon-All-Hope-Peter-Fenton/dp/1954403828

Today we are SO excited to share our conversation with Abby Norman. We sat down with Abby to talk about her journey of faith and her new book You Can Talk To God Like That. We enjoyed every minute of this interview. Prepare to fall in love with Abby and her incredibly authentic approach to faith and life! Abby is a writer, blogger, speaker, and licensed local pastor in the United Methodist Church. Her writing has been featured in Huffington Post, SheLoves Magazine, and The Mudroom. Abby lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her college sweetheart, two daughters, and a very bad dog. You can Order Abby's Book HERE: http://tinyurl.com/rrx49h6p Visit Her Website: abbynorman.net Follow Her on Twitter: @abbynormansays Follow Her on Instagram: @abbynormansays Like her on Facebook: @abbynormansays

Born and raised in rural south Georgia, Winston Bolen grew up expecting to be a Southern Baptist preacher or conservative politician but over time things changed. Leaving the church in the late 90s, his former views were blown away by the myriad variety of fellow geeks and weirdos that brought different life perspectives to his online fandoms. The internet allowed him access to a world outside his humble upbringings, helping shape this bi, poly, atheist into a crusader for all things progressive. With the same fire and brimstone drawl of a southern preacher, he has found himself back where he started: fighting the good fight to win hearts and minds, just on a very different team. Winston makes his living as a project manager but in his heart, he is an entertainer. On any given day, he is a comic artist, photographer, writer, singer, or Burlesque emcee. Within his community he’s a political activist, husband, boyfriend, and father. You can reach out to Winston for commissions for art OR  to talk about, well, anything! You can find Winston online at the links below: Winston's main art gallery https://www.deviantart.com/vegetaprime Facebook: (where he's easiest to get ahold of) https://www.facebook.com/winstonbolen/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/WinstonBolen Instagram: Mainly for art, photography, toys, and his fur-babies https://www.instagram.com/winstonbolen/ Winstons Burlesque Troop we talked about can be found on FB here https://www.facebook.com/Bible.Belt.Burlesque

Today we sit down with Meghan Crozier to talk a little bit about her deconstruction journey. Meghan is a writer and teacher who began writing on her website ThePursuingLife.com before even finding the deconstruction community. As a progressive Christian writer, she started her page as a way to seek spiritual growth, but realized that she often had more questions about faith than answers. Meghan's pages (across the web) have now become places to wrestle with those questions, try to understand what spiritual growth looks like, and welcome others in every stage of their journey. Through her work and the online communities she's creating she's exploring topics like faith deconstruction, spirituality, equality, justice, culture, mental health, and religion. Follow Meghan on Twitter @ThePursuingLife Find Meghan on FB @ThePursuingLife Follow on Instagram @ThePursuingLife Join her group on FB HERE Follow Meghan on Clubhouse (For real, Meghan's Clubhouse rooms are the best! If you need a Clubhouse invite send us a DM on instagram and we'll hook you up!)

Today we have an AMAZING episode for you! We sat down with the one and only Dr. Katie Blake, and WOW what an incredible conversation. Katie has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology and is also a 500-hour Masters-level yoga instructor. With 13 years of experience in teaching psychology and yoga she brings a depth of experience to the online community she's supporting and educating. Visit her website at DrKatieBlake.com to find out more about her work.  Don't forget to follow her on Instagram @DrKatieBlake And on Twitter @DrKatieBlake Things mentioned on the episode: Carol Dweck: Check out Carol Dweck's TED Talk on growth mindset here. How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Nonmonogamy The White Denim Jacket: a fable about having the courage to leave - by Kevin Garcia

Today is a super special episode for me (Cortland) personally! If you've listened to most of our episodes you know we've talked about the Dirty Rotten Church Kids podcast on many occasions. Beyond producing an amazing podcast DRCK has created a pretty incredible online community for those who are going through all kinds of faith change.  Today we're sharing a few conversations with people I've met through that community. In our first episode Josh and I talked about how scary it can be to feel like you are going through these changes alone. The good news is you don't have to! There are so many amazing networks and communities popping up online and the one DRCK has started has become like a second home.  This is a long episode and I honestly wanted to make it even longer.  There is at least one more interview that I recorded that we couldn't get on this episode because of technical difficulties. (But be on the look out for that interview as a bonus episode soon!) If you're interested in being a part of the Dirty Rotten Church Kids Discord Community you can subscribe to their Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/dirtyrottenchurchkids?fan_landing=true If you're not following their instagram you're missing out on some of the best memes on the web follow them here https://www.instagram.com/dirtyrottenchurchkids/?hl=en Listen to DRCK on spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3levDx8vCqUO0blSvAoIG5 Listen on Apple Podcasts (and if you love it leave a review!) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dirty-rotten-church-kids/id1487820978 A HUGE thank you to Madison, Ri, Rob, Rebecca, and Buffy who were interviewed on this episode!  A big thank you to Jaymz who's interview we couldn't get on this episode but you'll be hearing soon! Lastly, this episode was not easy to edit together. It's only here (only slightly late) because of the incredible work of our Executive producer Cody Coffey! Buy him a beer to say thanks by sending him a couple bucks on Venmo @CodyWCoffey

This week on the pod we got to sit down with Levi Rogers, who is an old and dear friend of ours! Levi has an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles and a Bachelors of English from the University of Utah. In July of 2018 Rogers attended The Tin House Summer Workshop and is currently working with the new broadside literary journal Meow Meow Pow Pow as a blog editor. He’s published essays, poetry, and reviews in Entropy, Sojourners, Lunch Ticket, Drunk Monkeys, Akashic Books, Hoot, Daily Coffee News, and Devour Magazine, amongst others. He owns and runs a coffee roasting company, La Barba Coffee, in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he lived for the last eight years before moving to Portland, Oregon. He lives with his wife Cat, his daughter Evangeline, his dog Amelie, and two cats–Chicken and Waffles. Utah! A Novel is his first book and is available in 2021 from Atmosphere Press. He is also working on a book about faith, depression, and belonging called All We Can Hope For in This Dark and Beautiful World: Memoirs on Belonging Connect with Levi at his website https://levirogersisafraud.com/ Pre-order Levi's novel Utah : https://levirogersisafraud.com/books/

Today, on the show, we sit down with Will Thorpe. Will runs the instagram account @Heretical_Theology. After finding God at an early age, Will spent much of his adult life striving to serve that God with his whole heart. Through his pursuit of a deeper understanding of his faith, he found himself coming to conclusions that simply didn't line up with the story the church had handed him. Now, a self identified Humanist, Heretic, Apostate, and Atheist... Will shares what he is learning with his community of over 13K followers on Instagram. Will's ability to engage in conversations with people (from all sides of the faith conversation) makes him a unique voice in the post Christian community. We hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as we did having it; and don't forget to go give him a follow and check out the amazing work he's doing at instagram.com/heretical_theology/

Today we sit down with Blair who runs the @TalkPurityToMe Instagram account! Blair is a former evangelical and Purity Culture survivor living in the south. She uses her experiences to help people of all faiths and beliefs find healing from the trauma of Purity Culture by debunking the culture’s bullshit. She finds joy in helping others see the good in themselves and others and to live a life free from religious shame. We are so grateful for the amazing work that Blair has been doing on instagram. Go give her a follow @TalkPurityToMe and hit the link in her bio to hear her on some other amazing podcasts!

Today on Thereafter we sit down with Rebekah Sorkin. Rebekah is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and psychotherapist with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from Winthrop University and a MA in Social Work with certificates in At-Risk Youth and Trauma Studies from University of Denver. Over the past ten years her work with children, teens, adults, and families has given her unique insights on the effects of trauma on our minds and bodies.  So many of us who have gone through a journey of faith change weren't taught to identify trauma that may have occurred in our religious experience and its effects on our minds and bodies. Rebekah and so many others in her field are giving us the language to identify this trauma so that we can begin to heal. We're so honored to have had the opportunity to talk with Rebekah and hope that you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as we enjoyed having it.  You can connect with Rebekah through her website BranchCounselingCo.com 

Jonathan Merritt is one of America’s most trusted and popular writers on religion, culture, and politics. He is an award-winning contributor for The Atlantic, a contributing editor for The Week, and is author of several critically-acclaimed books including Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words are Vanishing - and How We Can Revive Them. Jonathan has published more than 3500 articles in respected outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. As a respected voice, he regularly contributes commentary to television, print, and radio news outlets and has been interviewed by ABC World News, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, PBS, and CBS’ “60 Minutes.” Jonathan is a sought after speaker at colleges, conferences, and churches on topics relating to spirituality, politics, and current events. Whether he is delivering an academic lecture or inspirational sermon, Jonathan’s captivating communication style and powerful presence are well-suited for intimate gatherings of hundreds or arenas filled with thousands. As a collaborator or ghostwriter, Jonathan has worked on more than 50 books, with several titles landing on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists. Additionally, he trains hundreds of young writers through his Write Brilliant seminars and online course. He is often available for exclusive one-on-one coaching for a select number of aspiring and accomplished writers. Jonathan holds a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Master of Theology from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, and has done additional graduate work on ascetical theology at The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church. He is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades including the Wilbur Award for excellence in journalism, the Religion News Association’s columnist of the year award, and the Englewood Review of Books “Book of the Year” award. Jonathan currently resides in New York City where he is an aspiring dog dad and college football fan. Follow Jonathan on Twitter @JonathanMerritt Follow Jonathan on Instagram @Jonathan_Merritt

Today on Thereafter we sit down with Mason Mennenga. Mason (he/him/his) is an aspiring theologian, podcaster, YouTuber, and the Internet’s youth pastor. He enjoys conversation over a drink, being a music snob, stand-up comedy, and long walks on the valley of the shadow of death. He is the podcast host of A People’s Theology. With inspiration from process theology, radical theology, liberation theology, and many more, Mason hopes to explore and share in A People’s Theology the inspiring and liberating theologies that transforms you and the world. He is also the podcast host of The BlackSheep Podcast: Presented by HM Magazine. In this podcast, he and his co-host and best friend, Cullen, interview musicians, artists, and other creatives about their art, life, faith, and much more. You can follow Mason on Twitter @MasonMennenga You can also keep up with Mason on Instagram @MasonMennenga

This week we have a fun one! This episode is a bit of a shift from the more serious conversations we've had so far on the podcast. We sat down with 2 of the hosts from the podcast Pod Goes Punk and had a blast chatting about music, church kid shit, and everything in between! Jesse and Jordan Chesley have been friends of mine since we were kids. We met going to hard core, emo, and punk shows together and more often than not these shows took place in church basements, cafe's, or fellowship halls! They now have a HUGE following for their podcast where they talk about the music that was the soundtrack to their adolescence. This week we also have a guest co-host! My dear friend Jen joins the show as we reminisce about the music we fell in love with as kids and how so much of it is inexplicably tied to church kid culture.  If you love music and fall in love with Jesse and Jordan you'll definitely want to go subscribe to their podcast and YouTube channel. Find all the info about Pod Goes Punk at PodGoesPunk.com Don't forget to give them a follow on Instagram @PodGoesPunk

Michael Robison is a former Senior Pastor and Faith Leader. He is also a veteran strategic consultant and brand development innovator with a diverse background in finance, sales, development, marketing, communications and staffing. He was recently named one the Top Leaders of 2020 by Yahoo! Finance. Michael has a unique journey of faith and life. He spent nearly 20 years married to his wife Allison, and created a big, beautiful family. They built their family through adoption and adventures. But, internally, Michael was wrestling with his truth. What Truth? That he is Gay. He built a life trying his best to confirm to his faith, belief system and traditional, southern values in which he was raised. But, as anyone who has had to reconcile their world with their truth understand, the truth will always demand its place in this world. Michael has made the transition from a traditional family to a beautiful modern family. He has an amazing husband, actor Cameron Williams. Together they are part of incredible modern family. They face the reality of the conversations of race, sexuality, faith, family and more….. and have chosen to share that journey with others. You can connect with Michael through his website MichaelRobison.cc Subscribe and listen to his podcast Behind the Veil anywhere you get your podcasts! Follow on instagram @MichaelRobison and on Twitter @MichaelRobison

Today on the pod, we get into a beautiful conversation with the one and only Kevin Miguel Garcia! Kevin is a digital pastor, creative healer, public theologian, & intuitive soul coach. Kevin has been a transformative force in my spiritual reconstruction and may be one of the most genuine and sincere people I've ever met. Our time with them was inspirational and transformative. The work they are doing is so truly important and timely. If you want to know more about Kevin you can get connected with them at TheKevinGarcia.com Follow Kevin on Instagram @TheKevinGarcia Listen to their podcast A Tiny Revolution  Sign up for The Big Queer Bible Study!

This week we're honored to have Janice Lagata on the podcast! We were lucky enough to stumble upon her blog a few weeks ago and quickly fell in love with her work. Janice is a musician, poet, writer, and podcaster. Her latest project is the podcast "God Has Not Given" An Exvangelical podcast featuring Janice and her failing faith in conversations with her friends and family. After binging every episode of her podcast we knew we wanted to have Janice on the show. We thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and are so excited to share it with you. You can find out more about Janice and connect with her through her website JaniceLagata.com

This week on the podcast we sit down with the one and only Calvin Arsenia! Calvin is an incredible artist and performer from Kansas City. Voted best musician in 2018 and 2019 by PitchKC, Calvin’s work has been featured on websites like the NewNowNext, Pride.com, Grammy.com, NPR.org to name a few. In addition to being one of the most successful artists to come out of Kansas City in recent years he also happens to be an old church friend of mine! We sat down to talk about his experience navigating the church, faith, and life thereafter. Check out Calvin’s website: CalvinArsenia.com Follow him on Instagram: @CalvinArsenia Stream his music on Spotify HERE Watch his cover of “Toxic” which we play a clip from in this episode.

This week we’re beyond thrilled to be sitting down with Micah J Murray! His instagram bio reads: post-theist theology and blasphemous hallelujahs. Deconstruction coach for pilgrims and heretics. Scroll down and you’ll find meticulously marked up excerpts from books and hand written prose sprinkled among his numerous photos of his gorgeous physique. (These being one of the main reasons I follow @MicahJMurray on instagram.) In addition to spreading beautiful words and #ThristTrap photos on instagram, Micah also creates a wonderful podcast called Existential Happy Hour. So without further delay let's get into this wonderful conversation with one of the most authentic and beautiful souls I’ve had the pleasure of becoming internet friends with.

In this weeks episode, we have the privilege of sitting down with writer, speaker, and best-selling author Jeff Goins. Jeff is a brilliant creative and one of the most curious people I know. We talk about spiritual awakening, pondering the mysteries of the universe, and the challenge of finding yourself in the process. You can connect with Jeff on Instagram @JeffGoins or through his website GoinsWriter.com As always, if you enjoyed this episode help us reach more people by subscribing to the podcast and rating and reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts.

In our inaugural episode we (Cortland and Josh) discuss why we're starting the Thereafter Podcast. We talk about the fear that often comes along with changing your beliefs. Evolving beliefs about the world can be scary and difficult, especially if you are feeling alone in the change. Throughout the coming episodes we'll introduce you to some amazing guests who are navigating the world of evolving faith. We're excited to share some amazing people with you and look forward to getting to know you along the way. If you'd like to join us for this adventure, don't forget to subscribe or follow on whatever platform you listen to podcasts on.