Forefront Podcast

These Bodies | Body Image: Let the Transformation Begin

Rev. Venida culminates the These Bodies Sermon Series with a message on Body Image. With so many brand and beauty standards attempting to influence how we present ourselves, as well as expectations surrounding how our bodies should behave, Rev. Venida challenges us to renew our minds and to be transformed to the extent that we see ourselves as the beloved of God.

These Bodies | Rethinking Mental Health

Regina Miranda will continue our "These Bodies" series as she delves into Rethinking Mental Health.

These Bodies | Reclaiming Our Bodies

I have been fat as far back as can remember. As a child, I knew I was bigger than many kids my age but it didn't occur to me that that was a bad thing, until I was told it was. Join Preaching Bootcamper Nytasha Obasi this Sunday as she delves into Reclaiming Our Bodies as we continue our These Bodies sermon series.

These Bodies | Honoring Aging

As a proud elder, Rev. Venida shares a sermon on aging. From the time we are born, our bodies begin the aging process. With each birthday, we are continuously aware that growing old can come with its fair share of challenges and a host of struggles. How can we live each day with grace and dignity as we age? How can we focus on what we “can” do and not simply what we “can’t” do? How can we rededicate our aging bodies to God as a form of worship?

These Bodies | Sexual Ethics and Purity Culture

Pastor Angela continues our “These Bodies” series, centered on Sexual Ethics, Purity Culture and letting go of the baggage we carry about physical love. What is holy…how do we honor each other and meet the needs of our bodies?

These Bodies | Every Body is Good!

Our bodies have been dehumanized, criminalized, fetishized, sexualized, and desexualized. Keli's body’s existence in this country came about through the commodification of her ancestors’. That violent intersection of white supremacy and capitalism still informs her relationship with her body. And it is only through the constant unlearning of harmful ideologies (because there are so many!) that she can preach on the topic: Our Bodies are Good! And they are good! She is excited to start our “These Bodies” sermon series with you all. We will be discussing sexual ethics and purity culture, decolonizing the body, aging and ageism, reclaiming our bodies, mental health and trauma, and body images. But before we can dive into any of that, she believes it is critical that we accept, and walk in, the inherent goodness of our bodies! Join us as we begin the journey of dismantling harmful influences and embracing the truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully made!

Forefront Conversations with Amir Marshi & Marah Sarji

For many Americans, the concept of Palestine is nebulous at best and highly misconstrued at worst. Those raised in Evangelical circles were taught that Israel was a long-established nation favored by God and that Zionism was a morally right idea. However, many people are unaware that Israel was not established as a nation until after World War II and that Zionism, which is an anti-Semitic political philosophy more than anything else, has been fueled by colonialism and capitalism for over 100 years leading to suppression, eviction, and genocide of countless Palestinian lives. Sadly, the 32,000+ deaths in Gaza since the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2024 is not a new injustice, but just a new chapter in the oppression of a people whose homeland was partitioned against their will thanks to a UN resolution decades ago.

In this episode, two Palestinian Christians and PhD students, Amir Marshi and Marah Sarji, bring voice to the Palestinian experience that has been drowned out and ignored in a time and country that sees almost unchallenged and unquestioned support for Israel. 

ABOUT AMIR
Amir Marshi is a Palestinian PhD student, organizer, researcher, and writer hailing from the city of Nazareth. His previous engagements encompass work on Palestinian history, settler colonial state violence, and the incarceration of Palestinian children in Jerusalem. He has written on the impact of the Apartheid wall and colonial settlements in and around Jerusalem on the geopolitical and social fabric of Palestinians in Jerusalem, contributing as an author for the Jerusalem Story website. His focus also extends to student movements and public pedagogy in Palestine. Amir co-founded the Edward Said Forum for Palestinian students in the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts Department at Tel Aviv University, as well as the Souq Stories project—a multi-sited photographic exhibition spotlighting historic Palestinian open markets. He earned his MA from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2023 and is currently pursuing his PhD in History and Anthropology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. His current work is centered on the colonial history of Christian Zionism on the one hand, and on the other, the political history of the Arab Church in Palestine-Syria and the North American Arab diaspora.

ABOUT MARAH
Marah Sarji is a PhD student in theology. Born and raised in Nazareth, she became passionate for justice and peace in Palestine. She received her bachelors in sociology, anthropology and business administration, and her masters in sociology and anthropology, both from Tel Aviv University. During her studies, Marah became active among Kufiya and Saleeb, a movement of young Palestinian Christians seeking to reconcile faith and identity following colonization and Western theological influences in Palestinian Christianity.
Marah’s research focuses on the life experiences of struggle and steadfastness of women in Palestine, their faith in God and belief in divine sovereignty. Her research interests also include womanist theology, Palestinian liberation theology, anthropology of theology, coloniality and decolonization.

For more background information on Palestine and what has fueled the conflict, check out the following books:

1. The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel

2. Epic Encounters Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East Since 1945

3. All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948

4. Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness 

5. The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood 

6. Christian Zionism: Road-map to Armageddon? 

7. Facts on the Ground Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society 

8. Decolonizing Palestine: The Land, The People, The Bible  

9. Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History 

Disruption | Lent – Life and Death

Rev. Venida celebrates the Good News of Easter Sunday with a message highlighting the power given to us through the resurrection. Through this gift, we can freely embrace our own mortality, and recognize the freedom we have been granted to pursue abundant life through the life-giving love of Jesus.

Disruption | When It All Comes Undone

Palm Sunday is not a celebration. Palm Sunday is the shattering of hope and watching one's worst fears come to pass. How do we reconcile hope in the midst of our grief, our pain, and the shattering of our own expectations?

Disruption | Radical Unraveling of Vocation

It's Drag Sunday with the sensational Flamy Grant! Flamy leads the music and shares her journey that led to her own Radical Unraveling of Vocation. It's a day of celebration like no other!