“I think this would be a perfect time to choose to trust God with your future and with your present and just spend some time with him in nature, with other colleagues in prayer, in the word, etc.“ — Dr. Denise-Margaret Thompson Four esteemed guests join us on the podcast to discuss how we can reflect on this school year and enter into summer from a place of spiritual vitality. What does it look like to enter into summer from the position of this current cultural moment? We’ve invited four guests...
May 27, 2025•53 min•Season 8Ep. 160
“Doing your PhD is ... there's a lot of pressure for sure, but you never get that kind of space and time [again] to focus on a single project. As soon as you leave ... there are so many other demands in your time. The privilege of getting to sit with a topic for years and have so many people invest in the work that you're doing and speak into it and help you to improve it — it's so wonderful. I would do PhDs for the rest of my life.“ — Jennifer Powell McNutt Professor and author Dr. Jennifer Pow...
May 20, 2025•55 min•Season 8Ep. 159
“Show up as your authentic self. Please don’t mold yourself into what you think you ought to be or how you think you ought to be received. Just be who God has called you to be, because when you do that, you give other women permission to be themselves, and I want my daughters to have that.” — Nicole Massie Martin Executive leader and author Rev. Dr. Nicole Massie Martin joins us on the podcast to discuss principles of sacrificial leadership and how Christians can follow Jesus in their own roles....
May 06, 2025•51 min•Season 8Ep. 158
“The pastor’s wife, in many ways, embodies the history of the Protestant church….Refocusing on her and putting her at the center helps us to understand the bigger picture of the role women play in church history and how women are overshadowed by these patriarchal structures.” — Beth Allison Barr Historian and professor Beth Allison Barr joins us on the podcast to discuss women’s leadership in the historical church and the cultural cost of forgetting our roots. What happens when historical eviden...
Apr 22, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 8Ep. 157
“One of the practices I use a lot in clinical supervision with burned out and stressed therapist or academics is asking people to remember why we got into this work in the first place, remembering back about the original hope and intention for my life with this work. What was God’s call on my life?” — Terri S. Watson Psychologist and professor Terri S. Watson joins us on the podcast to discuss therapy, human flourishing, and the practicalities of healing your mental health. When someone decides ...
Apr 08, 2025•44 min•Season 8Ep. 156
“I managed to divide myself in half. We can let our lives run on parallel tracks, and that is one way people deal with things. But it’s not healthy because the trains will collide.” — Ruth Bancewicz Science and faith professional Ruth Bancewicz joins us on the podcast to discuss the integration of faith and science and the way churches can help. How does a scientist find space to express their faith within their research and teaching? Ruth Bancewicz joins us on the podcast in an interview with g...
Mar 25, 2025•54 min•Season 8Ep. 155
“I like to think of bread-baking more in terms of liturgy than in terms of recipe. ” — Kendall Vanderslice Author, baker, and theologian Kendall Vanderslice joins us on the podcast to discuss the way baking bread offers a gateway to prayer, theology, and community. Have you ever tried the spiritual practice of liturgical bread baking? Author, baker, and theologian Kendall Vanderslice joins us on the podcast to discuss her recent book Bake & Pray: Liturgies & Recipes for Baking Bread as a...
Mar 11, 2025•47 min•Season 8Ep. 154
“If we were all created in the image of God, all of us who look so different...there is so much more to learn about God. So, I get one step closer to knowing God from exposing myself to different people... ” — Khristi Lauren Adams Author and youth advocate Khristi Lauren Adams joins us on the podcast to discuss the theological insights we can learn from experiences of Black girlhood and how these truths can shape us all. Many of us are familiar with theological concepts that have been passed dow...
Feb 25, 2025•51 min•Season 8Ep. 153
“What does success mean to you? What does that look like? What is yours to do? What isn't yours to do?” — Tracey Gee Author and consultant Tracey Gee joins us on the podcast to discuss the value of knowing our own desires and the barriers that get in the way of this knowledge. How do you respond when a friend asks, “What do you want?” Whether it is a simple question of choosing a restaurant for dinner or a deeper inquiry into your professional calling, few of us possess the level of clarity we’d...
Feb 11, 2025•41 min•Season 8Ep. 152
“Find your Elizabeth. Find the person who sees the gifts in you and names them. That’s really significant.” — Jerusha Matsen Neal Author and professor Jerusha Matsen Neal joins us on the podcast to discuss the importance of place as we consider the spiritual implications of climate change around the world. In our world today, the effects of climate change have become more and more inescapable. But how can our own sense of place enlarge our understanding of the intricate links between us and thos...
Jan 28, 2025•54 min•Season 8Ep. 151
“Do what you do with love. Whether you’re gonna teach physics coming out of Cambridge and Harvard or whether you’re gonna go teach first-year English at your local community college — do it your best and do what you do with love..” — Julie Lane-Gay Author and horticulturist Julie Lane-Gay joins us on the podcast to discuss the ways the Book of Common Prayer has transformed her spiritual life. As we look into a new calendar year, we’re exploring the hopes and dreams we have for 2025. Many of us m...
Jan 14, 2025•56 min•Season 8Ep. 150
“Do what you and your family need. Let go of the cultural and even the church expectations. Just take time to behold — to behold the wondrous mystery of Christ among us and Christ in us and Christ born for us.” — Leslie Leyland Fields Author and writing teacher Leslie Leyland Fields joins us on the podcast to discuss the beautiful messiness of Advent and the joys of writing one’s own story. As we look toward the start of Advent on December 1, some of us might be frantically crafting our to-do li...
Nov 26, 2024•55 min•Season 8Ep. 149
"We need to be cautious about hyperbole, about dramatizing things before they are reality. One of the major issues we are facing in politics for a decade or more now is the erosion of truth, the erosion of fact based information and that comes in lots of different forms and lots of different directions, but the misrepresentation of one another and the ways that fear is evoked in people is extremely powerful and can be dangerous." — Miranda Zapor Cruz Listen in on our fall book club interview as ...
Nov 19, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 8Ep. 148
“I love the relational dimension of teaching, where you get to meet someone at the point of their curiosity or openness, right at their learning edge, and help them into a place of seeing something more complexly or shifting a perspective in such a way that it changes something, for them and for me. It feels magical to me. It still does, after so many years. I think teaching is a pastoral ministry.” — Marilyn McEntyre Spiritual writer and speaker Marilyn McEntyre joins us on the podcast to talk ...
Nov 12, 2024•55 min•Season 8Ep. 147
“The core message for leaders is that before you do anything, that relationship with the Lord is the central piece.... The Lord loves you independently of anything you do.” — Sheila Wise Rowe & Nicholas Rowe Authors Sheila Wise Rowe and Nicholas Rowe join us on the podcast to talk about the inner work required to lead as a secure and healing-centered person. What does it take to invest in our own healing and growth so that our leadership reflects our most centered and secure selves? Authors ...
Oct 29, 2024•51 min•Season 8Ep. 146
“The biggest thing is to affirm ourselves and not wait for anyone or any room or anyone with any degree or any letters behind their name to affirm our voice and to say that our voice matters. We need to say it to ourselves and for ourselves.” — Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez Author Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez joins us on the podcast to talk about cultivating communities that offer a sense of safety, belonging, and sacredness to each person. What does it mean to pursue truth, compassion, and dignity...
Oct 15, 2024•55 min•Season 8Ep. 145
“If you have two choices, go with the one that’s going to ask you to become a larger person, not the one you think you are capable of doing in that moment. That would be my advice to women…. Do the thing that you don’t think you can do right now and ask God to make you adequate for that.” — Shirley Mullen Author and Houghton University president emerita Shirley Mullen joins us on the podcast to talk about making space for nuanced conversation and political engagement in a polarized society. What...
Oct 01, 2024•52 min•Season 8Ep. 144
“When I practice receiving the love of God, opening myself to receive the love of God, I’m blessed by that encounter, understanding that God is love. He is the very essence of love. The very essence of God is love. ” — Barbara L. Peacock Author and spiritual director Dr. Barbara Peacock joins us on the podcast to talk about the ways attending to the care of our souls impacts our lives. How can we attend to the care of our souls in a way that helps us to flourish in our lives? Author, spiritual d...
Sep 17, 2024•54 min•Season 8Ep. 143
"Your education is not just about the knowledge-acquisition, it’s not just about the degree at the end, but it’s also about your formation. How would God speak to you through whatever class you’re in, whatever program you’re in, through the community of scholars you’re a part of? Be looking for that too." — Rob Dixon Authors Amy and Rob Dixon join us on the podcast to talk about encouraging women and girls to fully receive the good gifts God gives to each of us. What does it look like to empower...
Sep 03, 2024•42 min•Season 8Ep. 142
"In your heart of hearts — your deepest conviction — do you believe that God is sufficient for your need? Because if we don’t, it’s treating perfection like an idol in our life. We can become enslaved to the point where it distorts us." — Joanna Meyer Listen in on our summer book club interview as Women Scholars and Professionals director Karen Guzmán conducts an online discussion with author Joanna Meyer where they talk about perfectionism, mentorship, and the nuances of working well with male ...
Aug 20, 2024•58 min•Season 8Ep. 141
"You're someone who's smart and who's capable and God has plans for those gifts." —Dr. Jennifer Holberg What is the best advice you've heard about starting the school year? Listen in to some of the wisest moments from our podcast in this special back-to-school episode. We’re looking toward a fresh school year and thinking especially about those of you who might be looking for some tips and tricks from women who have experience with university life and rhythms. Perhaps you’re a first-year graduat...
Aug 13, 2024•33 min•Season 8Ep. 140
"Lots of people don’t have eyes to see how good and important their work is." — Jeff Haanen Listen in on our spring book club interview as Women Scholars and Professionals book club host Jasmine Obeyesekere conducts an online discussion with author and leader Jeff Haanen where they talk about the ways inner transformation impacts our work and vocation. Are you tired of living a disintegrated life? Do you want to feel whole, be an integrated self? Jeff Haanen shows how we can seek deep spiritual ...
May 28, 2024•46 min•Season 7Ep. 139
“You discover these people who uniquely speak to you, who are not just wonderful and wise in their own right, but actually become your teacher and your friend in a very real way.” — Grace Hamman Author and scholar Grace Hamman joins us on the podcast to discuss medieval Christian ideas and the ways they can impact our spiritual lives today. What can we learn from medieval Christians about Jesus and how could such ideas connect with our modern day world? Author and scholar Grace Hamman joins us o...
May 14, 2024•51 min•Season 7Ep. 138
“God loves you and there is a community of women who can love you too." — Tara Edelschick Authors Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-MacLean join us on the podcast to discuss parenthood, life in the academy, and the path toward spiritual transformation. How does the work of parenting create space for deep spiritual transformation? Authors Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-MacLean join us on the podcast to discuss their book Moms at the Well: Meeting God through the Mothers of Scripture . Tara and Kathy...
Apr 30, 2024•1 hr•Season 7Ep. 137
"I don’t think people really understand what systemic racism, structural violence, and equity actually are because I think if you do, you realize they’re holy words — because they’re showing us where heaven isn’t quite on earth yet." — Dr. Emily Smith Epidemiologist and professor Dr. Emily Smith joins us on the podcast to discuss compassion, public health, and the challenges of thriving as a woman in science. How do we live as true neighbors in a world that is designed for more for competition a...
Apr 16, 2024•50 min•Season 7Ep. 136
"The Spirit accompanies us wherever we are….Worship opens us up to the realm of the Spirit. And it’s not just to be opened up for the times we are in church, but for our work in the world and our life in the world." — Jeanne Porter King Author and leadership coach Dr. Jeanne Porter King joins us on the podcast to discuss wellness, leadership, and the opportunities for Black women. What does it look like to thrive as a leader while resisting oppressive forces in our culture? Author and leadership...
Apr 02, 2024•53 min•Season 7Ep. 135
“Theological education means paying attention to all of the sources that shape you spiritually, theologically, and seeing that the questions you’re asking as a parent or as a student is theological reflection in practice . ” — Maria Liu Wong Author and educator Maria Liu Wong joins us on the podcast to discuss the ways community and relationships create space for the riches of theological education. How can we open ourselves to the opportunities for theological education all around us — whether ...
Mar 19, 2024•45 min•Season 7Ep. 134
“I think the key is to invite people into a space with you — to be the one who is always inviting people is the way to be in academia….Invitation is a great virtue to cultivate in a younger person.” — Tiffany Eberle Kriner English professor and author Tiffany Eberle Kriner joins us on the podcast to explore the ways caring for the earth, the life of the mind, and our common humanity intersect. What does it look like to combine a calling to write and teach with a lifestyle of nurturing the land? ...
Mar 05, 2024•47 min•Season 7Ep. 133
“The best way for us to work out our thoughts and feelings and experiences about race is in relationship with another human being. ” — Krystal Hays Professors Krystal Hays and Veola Vazquez talk with us about building and deepening cross-race relationships in a way that reflects deep faith and rigorous research. How can we faithfully navigate the complexities of race in our everyday relationships? Professors Krystal Hays and Veola Vazquez join us on the podcast to talk about their book Healing C...
Feb 20, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 7Ep. 132
“The self is the person that was beautifully and wonderfully created in the image of God. And so self-care for me is about taking care of that, is recognizing that I am a gift of God. Every one of us is a gift from God — our creation, our existence is a gift from God. How do I respond to that gift?” — Chanequa Walker-Barnes Psychologist and professor Chanequa Walker-Barnes talks with us about the importance of self-care for our spiritual well-being and why this matters to women academics. What c...
Feb 06, 2024•56 min•Season 7Ep. 131
