We FINALLY shared our exciting news (which we have hinted at for months) in this week’s podcast episode! We announced that we are launching a new ministry project called The Flipped Table Collective that will be launching on Monday, June 10, 2024. We encourage you to listen to this full episode to hear all of the details of what this new organizati…

This week, we welcomed a special guest, Christie's youngest child, Lyn joined us to share some insight into the neurodivergent brain! This is part 2 in a conversation we had around Neurodiversity in Faith Spaces! Be sure to listen to that episode too! We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in your deconstructing because "no one d…

The conversation this week centered around foster care and the desperate need for the church's involvement in leading the movement around system reform, championing reunification, and prioritizing relational care and support for families that are working towards reunification. Holly shared the book The Invisible Child, by Andrea Elliott. We also ta…

We shared a conversation this week around neurodiversity in the church. Christie named the book, On the Spectrum, by Daniel Bowman Jr. Holly shard the Pixar short, Loop. And Rue shared some instagram accounts they followed to interact with the teenagers they connected with through Cooperative Youth Group. -Behrad, ADHD Meme Therapy -This is your br…

We honored Earth Month with a conversation around the church's disconnection to the natural, wild world. We were honored to have our dear friend, Sarah Lockenvitz, join us for this podcast. Linked are a few of the books and podcasts talked about in this week's episode! Cole Arthur Riley - has authored two books, This Here Flesh and Black Liturgies …

In one of the most authentic and raw conversations that we have ever released on the podcast, Christie, Holly, and Rue talk about the two months that Rue took off from the podcast and the changes that have happened in each of their lives and leadership roles have changed since that time. We hope that as we share our stories, you find a connection t…

TW: this episode mentions experiences of rape and sexual violence/trauma. Our team deconstructed the harm that has been caused by purity culture, especially to women, but with an awareness to the trauma and harm experienced by the nonbinary/queer community. This conversation was heavy and activating for all of us, but felt incredibly important to h…

This week, we collected questions from our Flipped Table Community Facebook group and enjoyed answering a few of the more lighthearted get-to-know-you questions :) We will back next week with deeper topic. We hope you have as much fun listening to us talk about how we are all friends, as we did recording it! We hope you are able to find a safe, sup…

This week, we talk about the toxic theologies that often revolve around forgiveness. We talk about how this impacts people personally and can impact us corporately. Christie shared some thoughts on forgiveness from her book God of the Gaps. We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in your deconstructing because "no one deserves to …

In this episode, we talk about additional transitions and changes at The Connecting Grounds and how they shape a wider conversation around the questions: "What is the church?" and "What could the church be?" We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in your deconstructing because "no one deserves to deconstruct alone" as we mentione…

In this conversation, we dive into the controversy surrounding the "He Gets Us" ad campaign shown during the Super Bowl and the social media debates and discussions that have been playing out in response. We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in your deconstructing because "no one deserves to deconstruct alone" as we mentioned d…

Christie, Shurita, and Holly had a good conversation about deconstructing the theology around suffering this week. During the conversation, Christie shared a few thoughts from her book God of the Gaps. She also shared a quote from Traci West, "The most vulnerable are the moral center." We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in yo…

This conversation about Christian Nationalism was recorded as a live episode at National Avenue Christian Church in Springfield, MO. The resources that were mentioned at the end of the discussion were: Heather Cox Richardson's Substack Disciples of Christ Resolution on Christian Nationalism Reconstructing the Gospel Book Jesus and John Wayne Americ…

Our team gathered this week for a fun conversation around the books that have been consistent on our bookshelves over the years, and the books that we have added throughout our own deconstruction journeys. we invite you to join our facebook group to share some of your own book recommendations! We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive communi…

*Trigger warning: This podcast talks about death, grief, with some mention of suicide. This week, our podcast team was honored with the wisdom of guest, Tiela Creekmore. Tiela is a chaplain at her local hospital and has personally walked through the loss of a loved one. Holly shared a poem she wrote at the end of this episode: Grief is the winter. …

This week's episode was recorded over Zoom due to COVID but was too important of a conversation for us not to have. This week, Christie Love shared publicly that she is resigning as Lead Pastor from The Connecting Grounds due to some significant health struggles. She shared a very heartfelt post on Facebook here, and TCG released their statement ho…

This week our much-smaller-than-normal team, Christie, Rue, and Holly, began 2024's episodes with a conversation around Toxic Achievement. This conversation was prompted by our cultural goal-driven norm to constantly be doing and achieving, a cultural pressure that often feels heaviest at the start of the New Year. Our team also announced that that…

This week, Shurita, Rue, Christie, and Holly continued the Deconstructing Advent Theme, talking this week about Love. Christie shared a quote at the end of the podcast: The Work of Christmas - By Howard Thurman When the song of the angel is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back w…

This week, Phil, Shurita, Holly and Christie continued a conversation on Deconstructing Advent, focusing this week on Joy. We had more audio challenges than normal this week so we apologize for the fuzziness and the disruptions. Phil shared this article from the Washington post. We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in your deco…

Christie, Holly, Rue and Shurita gathered today to deconstruct the topic of peace. Christie recommended a new movie on Netflix called Rustin. Holly shared a favorite children's book (gifted to her children by Shurita, of course), Peas on Earth by Todd H. Doodler. Our team also recommends this anthem, Find Your People by Drew Holcomb and The Neighbo…

As we enter into the month of December, we are starting a series on "Deconstructing Advent." This month is on Deconstructing Hope. Our full team is finally back together, talking through this holiday-conversation. Several quotes were shared today: Rue shared a quote from President Barrack Obama's inauguration speech: “Hope is not blind optimism. It…

Trigger Warning: This conversation is part 2 of a conversation around the triggers that come with complicated family dynamics and holiday triggers. Rue brought up the Internal Family Systems - or "Parts Therapy". A great book for this is No Bad Parts by Robert C. Schwartz. Christie shared an image by the artist Takisha Brown. A link to this image i…

Trigger Warning: This conversation talks about family relationships in the context of family gatherings. For some, this conversation could be really triggering. Our whole team gathered for this conversation and shared from both personal experience and Holly shared an earthy analogies :) We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in y…

Week 30 of FTT is an incredibly passionate and raw episode that came as a response to an emergency outreach gap our team experienced this week. We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in your deconstructing because "no one deserves to deconstruct alone" as we mentioned during week 17. Our Flipped Table Theology Facebook group may …

This week, Christie, Shurita, Holly, and Rue talked through the topic of innovation and deconstructing as an institution. Holly shared a book that she has felt very connected to (borrowed from Christie, but she probably won't give it back!): Sacred Earth Sacred Soul by John Phillip Newell and Rue shared a quote by Octavia Butler: "Change is the onl…

Backstory: The FTT team was scheduled to be at an event today to film the podcast live as one of the presenters. Our team showed up to the event early (everyone except for Shurita who was at an all day work retreat) in order to watch the first speaker. The entire event was supposed to be centered around the topic of deconstruction, but this first s…

This week, we are missing Christie's voice as she is spending time with one of their college-aged kiddos and visiting Powell's Books :) Phil, Shurita, Rue, and I all took time this week to talk through a conversation deconstructing the common phrases "God is Good" and "God's Plan." This has been a topic on our hearts for awhile, but with the escala…

We are insanely humbled at the amount of people who have reached out and shared how much this podcast has meant to them on their deconstruction journeys. With so many listening who are not local, we used this podcast to share a little about our hearts to "do church differently" and to share some of the history of The Connecting Grounds (TCG). Chris…

Last week we ended up talking some about rest and self-care, so we took a slight shift and spent this week talking about burnout. We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in your deconstructing because "no one deserves to deconstruct alone" as we mentioned during week 17. Our Flipped Table Theology Facebook group may be a starting …

Our whole team gathered again for the second part of the conversation around deconstructing anger. Phil and Christie shared a couple books: How to Read the Bible and Still be a Christian - John Dominic Crossan The Prophets of Religion- Upton Sinclair We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in your deconstructing because "no one de…

The whole team was together again this week for a fairly heavy conversation. This week we talked about anger, and it's place in the church and in theology. This conversation came out of heavy hearts. Phil shared at the end of the podcast a Benediction by Padraig O Tauma BENEDICTION the task is ended go in pieces our confluding faith is being rear-e…

This week, our slightly smaller team (Holly, Christie, Rue and Phil) dove into the excitement, the trauma-triggers, and perspectives regarding all things back to school. Shoutout to Shurita who missed this week's podcast engaging in all the back-to-school activities as both a Professor and a SPS School Board Member. We are immensely grateful for al…

This week our team was once again down to 4 people with Phil out of town. Shurita, Rue, Christie and Holly discussed the who God was to them and now who God is. Rue and Christie recommended "Parts Therapy" or the "Internal Family Systems Model." Christie recommended the book "No Bad Parts" by Richard C. Schwartz Some of the ones talked about: God w…

The FTT team discussed prayer and the deconstruction of prayer. Holly Madden shares a poem by Mary Oliver, “How I Go To The Woods” Christie Love shares a powerful quote this week, “When prayer becomes our proxy for our proximity, we have an issue.” Phil Snider, whose voice was missing from the recording this week, but who included to the discussion…

Welcome to our first FTT podcast live recording! So we apologize for the slight echo with the sound. We are so excited to feature our dear friend and published author Ally Henny! You can connect with her below and check out her book, "I Won't Shut Up : Finding Your Voice When the World Starts to Silence You" Connect with Ally Henny on Facebook and …

This week, our team responded to the Jason Aldean song, "Try that in a Small Town" and ran with the themes that this song has brought up. Phil shares an article from Clay Baker: "Saw a bumper sticker on a Jeep in the Evanston Trader Joe's parking lot that had a silhouette of some kind of assault rifle with a text that read "Heavily Armed and Easily…

This week, our team very candidly shared their own personal journeys through deconstruction. The team shared a long list of resources- many of these podcasts, books, and songs can be found on our website under Favorites! Phil Snider shared a quote by Anna Carter Florence, “A wilderness holds within itself the promise of Canaan, and that promise kee…

The conversation this week is a continuation from last week! We shared a lot of resources in this episode! The quotes, books, and songs are listed below :) (in the order they are shared). 1. Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond 2. "When my religion tries to come between me and my neighbor, I will choose my neighbor... Jesus never commanded me to …

Hello! We've recently had many new voices around here listening and engaging in your own Flipped Table Conversations, so welcome! Our conversation this week features Ashley Quinn, Sabbatical Pastor of National Avenue Christian Church. A consistent conversation this week revolves around the Springfield Public School Board Meeting (June 2023). You ca…

TW: This week's show talks about instances of gaslighting that may be overwhelming to listen to. Specific instances refer to gender/sexual orientation and race. This week's show notes include a lot of children's animation examples and pop culture references :) Including: -Ted Lasso on Apple TV -Trolls Movie on Netflix -RAYA and the Last Dragon on D…

This week’s episode is a follow up to the conversation last week on Reunification Awareness Month. This conversation provides ideas and perspective on how faith spaces can support individuals and families who are all sides of the foster care system. Holly refers the program she and Christie founded together, Family Connection. Learn more about this…

This week, our team could not stay silent over the breaking headlines of the Southern Baptist Church voted to expel two churches for having female pastors. We decided to gather impromptu to share stories, hearts, and to challenge perspectives. The NPR visit that is referenced in the podcast can be found here. Below is a list of our recommended book…

June is not only PRIDE month but also Reunification Month. This month follows Foster Care Awareness month (May) and Child Abuse and Neglect Awareness Month (April). The Family Connection Program that Holly and Christie talk about is an outreach program of TCG that has grown now statewide. This program provides support, advocacy, and supervision dur…

This week, we continued a conversation about PRIDE, focusing this time on what are the ways that the church can be authentically open and affirming! Shurita read The Connecting Grounds Welcome Statement, which can be read below: At The Connecting Grounds, we strive to be a community of imperfect people coming together to love one another, ask quest…

Show Notes: This podcast honors PRIDE month, starting off with acknowledging the religious trauma that has harmed so many in the queer community. This conversations is heavily led by Rue Lohn who shares their own personal experience as growing up in the church as a queer individual. In this podcast... -Holly recommends the 2021 Cinderella Modern Mo…

As our hosts started this conversation by checking in with one another, Holly shared about the Family Connection program and invited people to check it out to learn more about this unique outreach program. Rue shared a powerful thought during their check-in: Just because I am taking space for myself does not mean that I care any less. Phil talked a…

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, our hosts again focus their conversation on this critical issue. They begin by touching base and sharing their personal mental health updates after taking a week off from recording. Visit flippedtabletheology.com to view the cartoons talked about in this podcast :) We hope you are able to find a safe, supp…

This week, we begin a month-long series addressing mental health from a Flipped Table Theology perspective. ** We placed a trigger warning on this week’s episode due to the sensitive nature of the conversation in the areas of mental health, religious trauma, loneliness, and abuse-related issues that are raised.** We start by unpacking some of the h…

We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in your deconstructing because "no one deserves to deconstruct alone" as we mentioned during week 17. Our Flipped Table Theology Facebook group may be a starting place for you and we encourage anyone who is deconstructing or processing religious trauma to join.…

We hope you are able to find a safe, supportive community in your deconstructing because "no one deserves to deconstruct alone" as we mentioned during week 17. Our Flipped Table Theology Facebook group may be a starting place for you and we encourage anyone who is deconstructing or processing religious trauma to join.…