The Loft LA - Progressive Christianity in Podcast Form

The Loft LA

The Loft is a progressive Christian community that is unapologetically inclusive. If you're curious about what a socially and politically progressive Christianity looks like, this podcast is for you. There are two podcasts in this feed: our Gatherings and Conversations. The Loft Gathering is the edited audio from our weekly Sunday gathering of people who are interested in following Jesus’ spiritual path of radical compassion. The Loft Conversations is a follow-up podcast that grew out of the conversations taking place during worship at The Loft. Each episode uses themes from our Sunday gatherings as a starting point to further explore the intersections of Christian spirituality, politics, and culture. read less

Religion & SpiritualityReligion & Spirituality

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Loft Gathering: Childhood Lessons on Love & Peace

Loft Gathering: Childhood Lessons on Love & Peace

In her book All About Love, bell hooks writes that we ought to “view our homes as our original school of love.” Love is essential for cultivating peace, so how might we intentionally teach it in our homes? How might we reimagine our church community as a school of love? What would it look like to teach young people how to cultivate the will and the courage to love, how to extend themselves to nurture their own or another’s spiritual growth? To help us answer these questions, we will be joined by Rev. Dr. Timothy Murphy, whose most recent book, Jesus Learns to Glow, is a children’s book whose story offers some answers to the aforementioned questions. www.TheLoftLA.org

Episodes

Loft Gathering: Childhood Lessons on Love & Peace

Loft Gathering: Childhood Lessons on Love & Peace

In her book All About Love, bell hooks writes that we ought to “view our homes as our original school of love.” Love is essential for cultivating peace, so how might we intentionally teach it in our homes? How might we reimagine our church community as a school of love? What would it look like to teach young people how to cultivate the will and the courage to love, how to extend themselves to nurture their own or another’s spiritual growth? To help us answer these questions, we will be joined by Rev. Dr. Timothy Murphy, whose most recent book, Jesus Learns to Glow, is a children’s book whose story offers some answers to the aforementioned questions. www.TheLoftLA.org

Loft Gathering: Peace with the Earth

Loft Gathering: Peace with the Earth

Though our culture tends to teach and practice an approach to the natural world that seeks to control, tame, and extract resources, Jesus’ teaching suggests a different way: he asks us to “consider the lilies,” and learn from the birds. The Gospel beckons us toward a mutuality with the earth, honoring the integrity of creation. www.TheLoftLA.org

Loft Gathering: Peace & The Myth of Redemptive Violence

Loft Gathering: Peace & The Myth of Redemptive Violence

There is something inside all of us that longs for security, stability, and peace. However, human history reveals that we tend to try to meet this longing through coercion and force. This tendency has led us to view violence as a tool for peace rather than an obstacle that prevents peace. The spiritual path of Jesus reveals to us a pathway to peace beyond the myth that violence has the power to redeem or save us. Even after his own death, Jesus still whispers peace—and not once, but over and over again, speaking directly to the fears and insecurities that arise when choosing peace over domination. www.TheLoftLA.org

Tell Me The Truth, Not Just What I Want To Hear

Tell Me The Truth, Not Just What I Want To Hear

What role might friendships play in our spiritual growth and formation? In this episode, we explore how mature friendships can help us see the truth of who we are - even, and especially, when the truth hurts.

Loft Gathering: Falling Upward

Loft Gathering: Falling Upward

Among all of Jesus’ disciples, Peter’s spiritual pilgrimage is a good example of what it means to fall upward. Just before Jesus ascension into heaven, he finds Peter at the shoreline, casting his nets yet again. He turns to Peter and asks three times, “Do you love me?” as if each answer washes away Peter’s earlier three denials. To be sure, no matter how far we wander off our path during our spiritual pilgrimage, no matter if our faith is strong or weak, what we can give is our love. Conversation Question – Are you able to name one or two people who have been a true mirror for you? If so, how has their friendship helped you? www.TheLoftLA.org

Loft Gathering: The Practice of Finding Hope

Loft Gathering: The Practice of Finding Hope

We invite you to join our Loft community in the Sanctuary for an Easter Sunday Celebration featuring the Singers of Soul Gospel Choir as we reflect on the hope we find in the resurrection of Jesus. Indeed, Jesus’s question to Mary while standing at his empty tomb is the central question of Easter: Who—or what—are you looking for? What kind of Jesus are you looking for? What kind of Christianity are you looking for? Where do you see hope in the resurrection of Christ? www.TheLoftLA.org

The "Problem" with the Problem of Evil

The "Problem" with the Problem of Evil

Rather than spending our time wondering why bad things happen to good people, how different would our faith be if we focused our energy on what to do when we experience suffering?

Loft Gathering: The Practice of Living With Purpose

Loft Gathering: The Practice of Living With Purpose

During the final week of his earthly life, Jesus enters Jerusalem to much fanfare. Moreover, Jesus began to speak more frequently about the purpose of his life and why living out of his purpose might cost him his life. Living with purpose connects us to our deepest sense of self and the Sacred. Join us this Sunday as we explore how we might practice living with a sense of purpose. www.TheLoftLA.org

Loft Gathering: Learn The Rules Carefully So That You Can Break Them Properly

Loft Gathering: Learn The Rules Carefully So That You Can Break Them Properly

After leaving the wilderness, Jesus began his ministry of theological and social healing in earnest. While many welcomed his message and the community work he was doing, some of the most religious people bristled. Jesus taught and practiced a boundary-breaking love, and breaking boundaries almost always makes us uncomfortable. However, the spiritual path of Jesus invites us to hold a creative tension between law and freedom. Join us this Sunday as we explore how to unburden the parts of ourselves that seemingly love rules more than people. www.TheLoftLA.org

Who Are You, Really? Part 1

Who Are You, Really? Part 1

What does it mean to be a "progressive Christian?" How does attending a progressive Christian church inform your theology? Today's episode is the first of a two-part series of interviews with members and staff from The Loft community where we answer these and other questions. These episodes give you a glimpse of what it is like to worship in a community of people committed to following Jesus' spiritual path of radical compassion.

Loft Gathering: The Practice of Feeling Pain

Loft Gathering: The Practice of Feeling Pain

After his baptism, Jesus continued his spiritual Pilgrimage in the wilderness. Wandering alone, he spent time in prayer and fasting as he sought clarity about the next steps in his ministry. His experience in the wilderness and the temptations he faced gave him insight into the obstacles we create that stifle our own spiritual formation. We are excited to be joined by Lola Davidson, Peer-to-Peer Manager at Covenant House LA, to discuss the Sleep Out event that Westwood UMC is participating in! Question to Consider – How, if at all, do you distinguish between pain and suffering? www.TheLoftLA.org

Spiritual Transformation Is Being Frighteningly Honest With Yourself

Spiritual Transformation Is Being Frighteningly Honest With Yourself

Would you walk over 500 miles to discover the truth of who you are - the raw, naked, truth? In this episode we are joined by Rev. Anne Gardner to discuss her book And So I Walked: Reflections on Chance, Choice, and the Camino de Santiago. Using the famed pilgrimage path as a backdrop, Gardner’s memoir weaves together her personal narrative with the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges presented by the Camino. You can learn more about Anne at her website, https://www.anne-gardner.com

Loft Gathering: The Two Halves of Life

Loft Gathering: The Two Halves of Life

What does it mean to "fall upward?" How might our failings be the foundation for ongoing spiritual growth? In today's gathering we explore how the two halves of life work together to guide us on our pilgrimage towards the Divine. www.TheLoftLA.org

Inside Out: Radical Self-Love & Social Transformation part 4

Inside Out: Radical Self-Love & Social Transformation part 4

How do we as progressive Christians understand what it means to “be humuan” in light of our encounter with the Divine? In today’s episode we discuss the principles of a progressive Christian theological anthroplogy and what our key take-aways were from this series.

Loft Gathering: And So I Walked

Loft Gathering: And So I Walked

Our life’s journey is a combination of joy and suffering, hope and disappointment. And while no one enjoys suffering or disappointment, what we see in the life of Jesus is a practice of responding to such suffering in ways that allow us to grow in spiritual maturity. The pilgrimage that we call life will not always be easy, but as Jesus promises in Matthew, it can be light. This Sunday, we will be joined by Rev. Anne Gardner, a chaplain at Harvard-Westlake, and the author of And So I Walked: Reflections on Chance, Choice, and the Camino de Santiago. We will explore the importance of pilgrimage in spiritual formation and the impact that walking the Camino de Santiago had on her. www.TheLoftLA.org

Loft Gathering: Waking Up to God

Loft Gathering: Waking Up to God

Jesus doesn’t seek out trained rabbis and priests to be his disciples; instead, he calls a few Galilean fishermen to follow him and join his ministry. In this story, Simon Peter encounters Jesus after a long night of work, and despite his exhaustion, their encounter leaves him woken up to God, and gives him a new vision of what his life can become. www.TheLoftLA.org

Loft Gathering: Building A World for Every Body

Loft Gathering: Building A World for Every Body

The systems, structures, and churches in which we live our lives mirror the societies that made them. They are created and upheld by humans who carry biases, beliefs, and feelings of shame, just like we do. And while some of our systems have changed for the better over time, change is often difficult and not inevitable. We cannot talk about becoming an Unapologetically Inclusive community unless we examine and rebuild the systems that govern our bodies in ways that promote our collective flourishing. Opening Conversation Question: Describe your ideal chair or couch, with as much detail as possible. www.TheLoftLA.org

Inside Out: Radical Self-Love & Social Transformation, part 3

Inside Out: Radical Self-Love & Social Transformation, part 3

We know that our Christian faith calls us to love ourselves. And yet self-love is often elusive - something we want to have but perpetually struggle with. Why? And how might progressive Christianity help us finally learn to love ourselves, regardless?

Loft Gathering: Making Peace with Bodily Difference

Loft Gathering: Making Peace with Bodily Difference

Being Unapologetically Inclusive forces us to ask how we are to live with one another in ways that foster self-love. To be sure, “it is not our differences that divide us. We cannot recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” Loving our bodies and the bodies of others is an invitation to make peace with bodily difference, and to live in solidarity with one another. Conversation Question: Please reflect on the following “radical” idea – all of our body rules are made up! www.TheLoftLA.org

Loft Gathering: Learning to Love Ourselves, Regardless

Loft Gathering: Learning to Love Ourselves, Regardless

The foundational spiritual practice within Christianity is our commitment to love God, our neighbor, and ourselves, “all the law and the prophets rest on these commands,” according to Jesus. But truly loving ourselves is often easier said than done. Radical self-love asks us to let go of our doubts about our worthiness for love and embrace the Divine command to see the image of God in ourselves and others. Conversation Question: Recall a time when someone chose not to try to understand your experience of a situation. What psychological and/or social impact did this experience have on you? www.TheLoftLA.org