The Nicene Creed is *the* definitive statement of faith for what Christianity is for most Christians, around the world, throughout most of time. Love it or hate it, the Creed binds us together. And since our entire project at And Also With You is reclaiming an ancient Christian faith for modern Christian life, we thought it time to dive deep into this Creed -- to show how this 1700 year old prayer holds up and how we are following it still today. But the fact that we HAVE a creed (other religions don't really do this) and that is came from these series of big ol' committee meetings is actually a really fascinating thing to unpack, for for our first of twelve episodes exploring the Creed, we're delighted to welcome Dr. Hannah Black, Ph.D. to orient us to the Creed as a historical and spiritual document.

Just in time for Halloween, we're talking about the spookiest thing of all: HELL. Or better yet - a belief in hell. Christianity's obsession with hell has us missing out on love, freedom, connection, and justice without punishment. We're joined today by bestselling author Brian Recker to talk about hell, how we unravel its chokehold on our faith, and what life can look like free from this fear.

There is no freedom or feminism if it isn't for everybody -- so we are really excited to welcome two of our favorite dads to the podcast to talk about Christian parenting: our husbands! Join us for a tender and truthful conversation about why fatherhood is a vocation, a joy, and *not* babysitting your own kids.

Today’s episode is part of our Christian parenting mini-series we are offering on “Motherhood Taboos” and we are tackling a big taboo of finding out you're pregnant ... and you weren't planning to be. Our guests are both priests who found themselves unexpectedly pregnant and want to narrate the grief and the joy, the surprise and the wonder, and the challenge and hope of a blessing that can leave you limping from a worldview that supports women's autonomy, choice, and freedom.

Today’s episode is part of our Christian parenting mini-series we are offering on “Motherhood Taboos” and we've invited author, preacher, and friend The Rev. Teresa Kim Pecinovsky to talk with us about maternal images of God in Scripture. She's an expert because she wrote one of our favorite children's books, Mother God! While Scripture is PACKED with feminine and maternal images of God, you don't often hear those images highlighted in the pulpit or in the Christian book aisle. Rev. Teresa is one of our favorite preachers and writers working to change that for littles and grown-ups alike, and she talks about taking the approach of writing a children's book to dismantle oppressive images from infancy onwards.

Today’s episode is part of our Christian parenting mini-series we are offering on “Motherhood Taboos” - the topics that are on many parents' hearts and minds and yet are not discussed in public very often. Motherhood can be physically, emotionally, and mentally very demanding. These three things can snowball which can leave mothers feeling very isolated and alone. We are delighted to have a friend and Licensed Professional Counsellor, Tori Andrews on the podcast to discuss this taboo of maternal mental health with us!

In our Motherhood taboo series we are seeking to “fill the gap” between feminist, thoughtful, deconstructing/inclusive orthodoxy Christian content and the trad wife motherhood content online. Content warning: we will be talking about miscarriage and pregnancy loss in this episode. This week we are joined by two friends and colleagues, The Rev. Allison Caudill and The Rev’d Allie McDougall who have both navigated miscarriage in their ministry. Miscarriage is something many families experience and yet, it is considered a major taboo in our society. Our guests will share with us their experiences of publicly navigating loss and how their faith helped them through it. This was one of the most moving discussions we have had to date on the podcast and we pray it will be a blessing for our listeners.

There just is not enough content online about motherhood that speaks both to Christian faith and progressive, inclusive values. We're trying to change that discourse, one conversation at a time, in a mini-series we're calling "Christian Motherhood Taboos." Today we take an overview of why this matters, why talking about motherhood is ALWAYS talking about power, gender, economics, whose suffering counts, and humanity as a whole, and why this series is not "just" for moms ... but for any community striving to honor the dignity and worth of every human being.

Campy, funny, reverently irreverent -- we've all loved watching the Greedy Peasant's queer medieval fever dream unfold online. And we were thrilled when he said he'd come chat with us on the show! So join us for a fun, insightful, and moving conversation about art, playfulness, deconstructing from high control religion, and finding a path home to yourself.

The Most Rev. Sean Rowe is the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and in a time of fear in the US and abroad, not to mention religious decline, it's got to be a big job to have. So we were delighted that he agreed to come and chat with us about his vision for the church (very hopeful!), his recent op-eds and the Episcopal church emerging as an engine of resistance (very overdue), and what he has to offer for our dedicated And Also With You listeners.

We answer a few of your questions on the season finale of season two and look ahead to what will be coming up in season three! Thank you for all your support!!!

The mark of the beast. Signs and portents. A whole dang book about the "apocalypse" at the end of the Bible. What on EARTH do we do with Revelation? Is it a literal guidebook for surviving hell? Is it a wacky political cartoon we've overblown? Or is it ... something more? (Spoiler alert: it is much more. It is a book about the end of the world - but that's not what you might think it means). Join us with the fantastic Rev. Brian Fox, longtime friend of both of us and friend of the pod, as we do a deep and wide dive into this book and what good news it has for us as we face our own end times fears.

We as Christians practice an ancient religion that is in many ways the same as it ever was, and in other significant ways has been shifting and evolving consistently since its beginning 2000 years ago. Culture shifts, society shifts, our political and economic structures and realities shift and our practices of religion shift with it. We find ourselves at a curious point of inflection in the religious landscape: religious disaffiliation is as viable a thing as it has perhaps ever been in American history, religious belief and affiliation and political ideology and affiliation correlate in curious ways, and the differentiation between religion and spirituality continues in some interesting and counterintuitive ways. The playing field on which we practice our Christian faith and do the work of ministry is changing so we invited Chip Rotolo, a Research Associate on Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life team to help us think and wonder through our shifting religious landscape and what it means for us.

The #1 question Lizzie has been asked on her book tour is some version of "how can I have joy when I feel so scared/sad/mad?" This is such a tender question, and one we - your three hosts today - have all wrestled with very, very deeply. As priests, but also just as people (who, to be clear, don't have this all hacked) we have not always been happy. Or grateful. But we have found ways to cultivate and nourish a spiritual discipline of joy, so we want to share the best practices we have found for nurturing joy in the face of everything that wants to steal our joy from us.

The Gospel of Luke says: "Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles." John claims it was Mary Magdalene. Mark and Matthew also have a list of women ... so whatever Gospel you're reading, the Good News of Christ's resurrection was first witnessed and preached by WOMEN. So who were these ladies?? And why is their story so often neglected?

We talk a lot about FEASTING in the Church, and specifically, that the season of Easter is a feast (as opposed to a fast). But what does that mean, exactly? Are we talking about real food or spiritual food or ... both?? Join us in Eastertide as we spend a little time with this question. Or join us anytime, because as we explore in this episode, it's always a feast of the resurrection in Church!

The crucifixion was a grisly way for Jesus to die, and yet, his death is an enormous part of our faith. How do we talk about this with kids? Is it inherently shoving something down their throats? Will it traumatize them? What about kids who have been seriously traumatized already? How do we talk about death, torture, and grief with littles in such a way that teaches them the reality of the world, and the love of God, without shaming them or making them feel bad?? With the wonderful Rev. Emily Garcia of "Good and Joyful Thing" we explore this question! We decided Holy Week was the perfect time to re-run one of our most popular, and most requested episodes EVER. So if you've been around for a while, this one is worth a revisit, and if you're new here, we can't wait to tackle this enormous question with you.

Wait ... did you know "the rapture" is something that this dude named John Nelson Darby came up with in the 1800s after he fell off of his horse? And then it was popularized in the aftermath of WWI because of the study notes in the Schofield Bible? Yeah. It's not traditional, ancient, or even Biblical theological thinking. Christians shouldn't fear the end times nor dread our loved ones being swept away from us while we await trials and tribulations here with Nicholas Cage. Rev. Lizzie's husband, Rev. Jonathan McManus-Dail, joins the crew as he is a literal rapture-unraveling expert. We'll debunk this theory and explore the texts used to support it to find a more liberated view of the end of days.

We had so much fun gathering together at St. Paul's, Mt. Lebanon on March 21st! Thanks to everyone who made it out for the first AAWYfest. If you weren't able to join us, here is some of the recording from our live event :-). Thanks to Renegade Photos for the picture! (https://renegadephoto.co)

Recently, national news was made by an Episcopalian asking for mercy. Many of us were deeply moved by her words and yet, many people were enraged by them. This dissonance suggests that there are different understandings of mercy out there, especially among Christians. How do we begin to understand mercy in light of our faith? What does it mean to show mercy? What does God have to say about this? We are joined by Dr. Stephanie Mota Thurston to explore this question this week!