Forefront Podcast

Forefront Conversations with Chelsea Horvath-Black

It's easy to be cynical about how to approach an increasing population of homeless and unhoused citizens when many political figures express concern and care, but approach the problem by ignoring the problem at worst or forcing people into unsafe and overtaxed shelters at best. Chelsea Horvath-Black and the workers at City Relief recognize that this demographic -- the "least of these" as Christ said -- have been perpetually overlooked and ignored by political administrations and seek to meet the homeless and unhoused as humans in recovery who are in need of food, healthcare, jobs, and places to live. In this conversation, Chelsea shares what led her to dedicating her life to caring for the homeless and unhoused, the challenges organizations like hers face when priorities for a revolving door of mayors is constantly shifting, and seeks to reframe the perception of homelessness not as perpetual, but as a stage that many can and have recovered from when needs are being properly addressed and cared for. For more information on City Relief and how to get involved, visit https://cityrelief.org/ ABOUT CHELSEA Chelsea is an LMSW and the current Senior Director of Program Services at City Relief. In addition, she is on staff at the All Angels' Church on the Upper West Side as the Director of Community Ministries. Before working for City Relief and All Angels' she lived and worked in Shanghai, China with a faith-based organization dedicated to the city’s arts and culture sector, its impact on local communities, and the discipleship of artists.

A GenderFULL God | God as He

In this opening week of the series we are invited to see God beyond cultural or biblical views of masculinity that change and differ over time; but instead to see God with a broader lens that draws from Scripture, tradition, reason and experiences. God is not and was not limited to Christ’s body. God manifests Gods self in both Christ's body while also doing so through the spirit, through creation, and through us humans who reflect the diversity and expansiveness of the imago dei... image of God!

Easter | The Birthplace of Joy

Watch Rev. Josh Lee preach on Easter Sunday 2022. Easter is a weird day because it’s filled with both grief and joy. Grief as a consequence of unnecessary government-sanctioned violence and joy, that death and violence won't have the last word. It’s because Mary stayed at the tomb with her grief… and wasn’t quick to rush home with the others that Mary is the first to see the risen Christ and experiences her sadness turned to joy.

Through The Wilderness | Peace Not Warfare

Jesus Christ has come and provided access to the Kingdom of God to all! Palm Sunday sermon with Rev. Venida Rodman Jenkins.

Through The Wilderness | In and Through Grief

Mental health has been at the center of conversation for the past two years. So many people have experienced loss and host of unexpected feelings and emotions over the past two years. It is important that we express ourselves, and not suppress our feelings which will help release the pain. Preacher: Rev. Vendida Rodman Jenkins

Through The Wilderness | Jesus, did you just spit on me?

Jesus encounters one man who’s born blind and gives him sight by spitting in the dirt and rubbing mud in his eyes. Jesus was operating at a time when being disabled meant being poor, unemployed, and excluded from mainstream society. What if Jesus didn’t pity this mans differently abled status, but he pitied the way society excluded and looked down upon him? Unfortunately, even after this man is given sight his neighbors, the religious leaders and even his parents don’t see what miracle God has done. Perhaps the moral of this story isn’t as much on the miracle that this man was given sight but on the rebuke that all those who had sight never really saw him or how God was loving those they had discarded.

Forefront Conversations with Alex Vitale

Since the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, there's been a lot of talk around the phrase "Defund the Police" and all that it entails. Shedding light on the conversation is Alex Vitale's book "The End of Policing," an in-depth look at the history of policing, its shortcomings in crime prevention, and an honest evaluation of how any and all contemporary attempts at "reform" will always fall short if police are continuously looked to as the first, last, and best method of dealing with homelessness, drug treatment, and at risk youth. Instead, Vitale, citing his own international experiences and studies of various foreign and local approaches to policing, proposes shifting government funding to build up local communities, housing for the homeless, and mental health services to actually treat systemic biases that find themselves repeatedly played out in law enforcement. "The End of Policing" is not a call for the abolition of police, but for the abolition of a symptom of much larger systemic ills. ABOUT ALEX Alex S. Vitale is professor of sociology and coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project. He has spent the last 30 years writing about policing and consults both police departments and human rights organizations internationally. He is the author of "City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics" and is also a frequent essayist, whose writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, NY Daily News, and USA Today. To purchase a copy of "The End of Policing," you can do so here: https://www.versobooks.com/books/3906-the-end-of-policing

Through The Wilderness | Never Alone

The notion of "you’re never alone when you have Jesus in your heart" can feel dismissive of the real life pain and loneliness that comes with being in the wilderness. We have to endure Lent before Easter comes. What complex discoveries can we find when we acknowledge the nuance along the way? Watch Makenzie Gomez, Executive Producer speak about never being alone.

Through The Wilderness | Born Again 2.0

It's time to reframe Scripture that has been used to serve as the foundation for a belief system that would cause us to be accepted or rejected by God. We're advocating for a more inclusive Gospel and this is truly Good News. Watch Rev. Venida Rodman Jenkins speak about Scriptural Interpretation, in "Born Again 2.0".

The Wander Years | Restructuring Our Faith

We aren’t the first generation to deconstruct or recover from church trauma… this has been apart of our human life cycle forever! In this sermon, Rev. Josh Lee focuses specifically on the wilderness season that Peter and the disciples found themselves in after Jesus death… full of questions, doubt, regret, uncertainty, perhaps certain of what they didn’t believe but unsure of what they do believe. Sunday we will glean from our ancestors on how they navigated reconstructing their faith after it all came crashing down.