Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast

Managing stress may be one of the most challenging things we have to do professionally. The stress we must manage doing antiracism work can be draining, grueling, or overwhelming. And yet, doing this kind of work can also be deeply fulfilling. For that reason, it is important to prioritize mental wellness. Today, our team of … Continue reading Episode 290: Focusing on Wellness – “Mental Wellness.”

What does health feel like? Probably as soon as I asked this question you thought about what your body feels like – such as noticing if you are tired or have lots of energy right now, if you are hungry or if you feel like you are sick or in pain. Some people are really … Continue reading Episode 289: Focusing on Wellness – “Physical Wellness.”

Many of us dream about taking a break from work, or even going on vacation. But what makes a great vacation may differ from person to person, and that is because everyone’s personality is very different. Maybe you have experienced this before yourself – some people want to have little planned; some people want to … Continue reading Episode 288: Paige Agnew – “The Enneagram and Nine Types of Rest.”

What does it mean to think about white supremacy culture? I mean, to REALLY think about it. What happens when you think about it? Even just hearing the words “white supremacy culture”, or listen to ideas about it, how does it impact your body or your urges? What emotions do you become aware of? So … Continue reading Episode 287: White Supremacy Culture – “What We Learned.”

I know many people in my city who tell me they will intentionally change their commute to work to “avoid sketchy neighborhoods”… often times lengthening their commute in order to do so. Other people who live outside the city in the surrounding bedroom communities will tell me that they may not want to drive into … Continue reading Episode 286: White Supremacy Culture – “Right to Comfort.”

Are you the kind of person who is open to being wrong? Perhaps you didn’t have all your facts straight, or perhaps there was information you didn’t have at the time you made your decision. What do you do when you find out there were other things to consider? A pastor once told me this … Continue reading Episode 285: White Supremacy Culture – “Defensiveness and Denial.”

Who are you like? For many of us as white people, we know we are white, but we don’t like the idea that non-white people see us as a group with some predictable characteristics. We often talk about our individual characteristics as more defining of who we are. For example, we may identify more with … Continue reading Episode 284: White Supremacy Culture – “Individualism.”

What makes you feel good about yourself? I remember how much I used to dread performance evaluations. I remember so often feeling anxious, my palms would sweat, I’d feel restless, and have this sick feeling in my stomach in the hour before I’d have my yearly performance review. I hated it. It like I was … Continue reading Episode 283: An Antioch Podcast Encore: White Supremacy Culture – “Perfectionism.”

What makes you afraid? A common thing that people across cultures run into is having a fear of unfamiliar foods. New flavors, textures, or smells can create strong responses – sometimes embarrassingly strong responses. However, we tend to think that the food “we” like is … “normal.” I remember discovering that some of my non-American … Continue reading Episode 282: An Antioch Podcast Encore: White Supremacy Culture – “Fear of Disconnection.”

Have you ever had the thought that because someone doesn’t express themselves with proper grammar, that what they have to say is somehow less? Perhaps we don’t even think about the point the individual is making because they don’t express it according to the grammatical values we hold. Perhaps we never consider how these grammar … Continue reading Episode 281: White Supremacy Culture – “Worship of the Written Word.”

We have been talking the past few episodes about aspects of White Supremacy Culture, and noticed … well … a lot of these characteristics cause us stress. Its true, the list of white supremacy culture characteristics in many ways is a list of stressors that impact so many of us – trying to be perfect, … Continue reading Episode 280: White Supremacy Culture – “This Stresses Me Out!”

“But if we do that, we will lose people!” Have you heard these words before in a meeting? Someone proposes an idea that is in keeping with the mission or values of an organization, and the idea is not shot down on its merits, but rather because there is a fear that it will turn … Continue reading Episode 279: White Supremacy Culture – “Progress! Bigger! More!”

Have you ever been the victim of a lost story? Viola Davis tells a story in her autobiography “Finding Me” of a time when she was in elementary school wearing clothing that smelled badly. Her teacher could have told herself a story that black people like Viola didn’t care about standards of cleanliness and that … Continue reading Episode 278: White Supremacy Culture – “Either/Or – There Is No Between”

Who is qualified to make a decision? Like it or not, it is in the human nature to continually evaluate our surroundings based on almost imperceptible judgements. Sometimes these judgements keep us alive. Our bodies remember things to keep us safe, to “jump out of the way” of all sorts of perceived dangers. Some of … Continue reading Episode 277: White Supremacy Culture – “Who is Qualified?”

Do you think you know other people’s motives? A lot of us do. I remember working in a psychiatric hospital many years ago where a part of my job was to write down the observations I made about the individuals under my care. It took training to try to describe factually what I noticed in … Continue reading Episode 276: White Supremacy Culture – “Antidotes to Objectivity.”

I know a number of perfectionists who tell me that one of the things they like most about their personality is that they strive to make things better. And it makes sense, there are a lot of things about the world, and about ourselves, that could benefit from improvement. But one of the things which … Continue reading Episode 275: White Supremacy Culture – “Antidotes to Perfectionism.”

Everyone has a perspective or bias, and most of us like to think that our biases are accurate. As a therapist, I often hear couples tell me about the problems in their relationship, and I will ask each partner to tell me the story of the problem. Often these stories are somewhat different, reflecting the … Continue reading Episode 274: White Supremacy Culture – “Objectivity and Paternalism.”

What makes you feel good about yourself? I remember how much I used to dread performance evaluations. I remember so often feeling anxious, my palms would sweat, I’d feel restless, and have this sick feeling in my stomach in the hour before I’d have my yearly performance review. I hated it. It like I was … Continue reading Episode 273: White Supremacy Culture – “Perfectionism.”

What makes you afraid? A common thing that people across cultures run into is having a fear of unfamiliar foods. New flavors, textures, or smells can create strong responses – sometimes embarrassingly strong responses. However, we tend to think that the food “we” like is … “normal.” I remember discovering that some of my non-American … Continue reading Episode 272: White Supremacy Culture – “Fear of Disconnection.”

The Antioch Podcast is a team of Christian antiracism educators and friends who gather every week to have a conversation about faith, race and the things that matter in our lives. We are a diverse group, but recognize that many of us are… well, we aren’t the youngest people doing this work. So today, we … Continue reading Episode 271: Hannah Reed – “Strength, Struggle and the Shepherd.”