Podcasts

Welcome to the Unlikely Conversations Podcast

We often inhabit spaces in person and online where we only interact with folks who primarily look and think and act and practice faith like we do. Unlikely Conversations is a podcast hosted by Collegeville Institute board member Ellie Roscher that features unique and dynamic interviews with writers, thinkers, scholars, and artists affiliated with Collegeville Institute programs.

Season Three:

In season three of Unlikely Conversations, we are asking big questions about meaning, purpose, and the theology of Christian vocation. Beginning on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 tune in twice a month to hear conversations with theologians, church leaders, and clergy in the Collegeville Institute’s Communities of Calling Initiative.

• The Spiritual Practice of Discernment

  December 21, 2021Collegeville Institute
  Have you ever asked yourself: how does spiritual discernment work, practically? What are the signposts? How can I feel God’s subtle nudge?
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• Creative Callings in the Pandemic at Plymouth Church

  December 7, 2021Collegeville Institute
  Learn how the pandemic pushed Plymouth Church to explore creative callings in new, innovative ways.
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• Writing as Prayer, Discernment, and Vocation

  November 23, 2021Collegeville Institute
  Can writing be a tool of discernment and a form a prayer? In this podcast episode, Carol Davis Younger shares her vocation to be a writer in and for the Church.
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• The Call to Rise After Crisis

  November 9, 2021Collegeville Institute
  How can a church build community and belonging with neighborhood partners in the context of multiple, simultaneous pandemics?
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• The Call to Sing at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church

  October 26, 2021Collegeville Institute
  Ann Schrooten speaks about her calling to serve through music, and how that vocation transformed during the pandemic and following George Floyd’s murder near her church in Minneapolis, MN.
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• Addressing the Purpose Gap with Dr. Patrick B. Reyes

  October 12, 2021Collegeville Institute
  How do we understand God’s calling when not everyone has access to the same networks, resources, or opportunities?
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• Invited to Mission at Edgewood Church

  September 28, 2021Collegeville Institute
  Think of a significant calling in your life. Who invited you to explore that calling? And what role did church play (if any) in that invitation?
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• Called Through Community at Edgewood Church

  September 14, 2021Collegeville Institute
  What role does community play in understanding our individual vocation? And what happens when a pastor called to ministry starts to burn out?
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• Embracing Communal Callings: Service at St. Matthew’s Church

  August 31, 2021Collegeville Institute
  How can congregations invite members of all ages to embrace God's communal call to serve?
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• A Multiplicity of Callings: Skills Sharing at St. Matthew’s Church

  August 17, 2021Collegeville Institute
  In this podcast episode, two church leaders discuss how a skills sharing class transformed their understanding of God's calling.
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Season Two:

In its second season, each episode of the podcast centered on the subject of writing, faith, and justice with alumni guests from our writing workshops.

• Undoing Oppressions

  February 25, 2021Collegeville Institute
  In this episode, Nekeisha Alayna Alexis describes how her conviction to nonviolence evolved into her interest in co-liberation with animals.
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• Welcome is Not Enough

  February 12, 2021Collegeville Institute
  On the surface, welcoming an immigrant seems kind. Karen González asks Christians to look again and push deeper.
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• Following a Mystical Jesus

  January 27, 2021Collegeville Institute
  What compels a decorated combat veteran and former missions pastor to study mysticism at a center founded by Fr. Richard Rohr?
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• Consider the Birds

  January 13, 2021Collegeville Institute
  Community organizing is often hard and contentious work. How can people stay committed when the world becomes overwhelming?
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• Writing in Luminous Darkness

  December 16, 2020Collegeville Institute
  For Wesley Morris, being a good writer and pastor means embracing a "luminous darkness" as a place of transformation.
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• Midwifing Stories in the American South

  December 2, 2020Collegeville Institute
  Josina Guess discusses her work as an editor, as well as her own writing on themes of race, violence, and family.
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• Being Heard into Speech

  November 18, 2020Collegeville Institute
  What role can fellow writers play in the creative process? And how can a desire to "change the world" backfire?
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• Start with Your Own Soul

  November 4, 2020Collegeville Institute
  How can writers begin to claim their own voice? And how should local communities inform both writing and organizing work?
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• Mothering Wisdom for Activists

  October 21, 2020Collegeville Institute
  What role do writers have in expanding our imagination for what is possible? And who is tending to the spiritual needs of activists? 
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• Writing for Mystic Activists

  October 7, 2020Collegeville Institute
  In Season 2 of our podcast, listen to activists and writers of faith including Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.
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Season One:

In its first season, each episode of the podcast featured two participants in the Multi-Religious Fellows program at the Collegeville Institute.

• Complicated Women in Scripture

  July 15, 2020Collegeville Institute
  Our last podcast episode from this season asks: how are sacred stories about complicated women taught differently in Christianity and Judaism?
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• Getting Curious About Difference

  July 1, 2020Collegeville Institute
  How do we teach toward curiosity in our religious institutions? How do we build interfaith relationships so when crisis happens we can support each other?
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• Worship During A Pandemic

  June 17, 2020Collegeville Institute
  In our latest podcast episode, hear a Hindu-Jewish conversation about how religious communities are gathering, celebrating, and grieving during COVID-19.
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• Race and Justice in Interfaith Spaces

  June 5, 2020Collegeville Institute
  In this podcast episode, hear a frank conversation about race between two young faith leaders in the Muslim and Buddist religious communtities.
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• From Interfaith Dialogue to Multi-Religious Action

  May 20, 2020Collegeville Institute
  Our third podcast episode explores the history of multi-religious work with Rabbi Barry D. Cytron and Dr. Marty Stortz.
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• Love is a Verb

  May 6, 2020Collegeville Institute
  In the second episode of our podcast, hear a Muslim-Catholic dialogue about faith and action for the common good.
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• Religion and the Next Generation

  April 22, 2020Collegeville Institute
  Listen now to the first episode of our new podcast Unlikely Conversations.
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• Season One Trailer

  April 3, 2020Collegeville Institute
  Listen now to the trailer for Unlikely Conversations, a new podcast from the Collegeville Institute that explores civil discourse as spiritual practice.
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