Today’s guest is Dr. Michael Battle, an Episcopal moral theologian whose work centers around the spirituality, life, and work of Archbishop Desomd Tutu of South Africa. Dr. Battle discusses his most recent work, Desmond Tutu: A Spiritual Biography of South Africa’s Confessor, and touches on how Archbishop Tutu saw forgiveness, reconciliation, and the work of the Holy Spirit in the world.

Today we are joined by Dr. Derwin Gray, Lead Pastor and Co-Founder of Transformation Church in Indian Land, South Carolina. Dr. Gray played professional football in the NFL following his graduation from Brigham Young University in 1993. After his NFL career, Dr. Gray graduated magna cum laude from Southern Evangelical Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree. He received an honorary doctorate from Southern Evangelical Seminary in 2015, and in 2018 he earned his Doctor of ministry in the New Testament in Context at Northern Seminary. He is also the author of several books, including his most recent, How to Heal Our Racial Divide.

In this Holy Week episode, Chris and Eddie are joined by Kavin Rowe, author of Christianity’s Surprise: A Sure and Certain Hope. Rowe discusses the missing sense of imagination in American Christianity, how God’s promises for the future reach into the present, the interconnectedness of humanity, and how Christian institutions have evolved over time.

What does it take to imagine a world without war? How do we begin to believe that as a possibility? Eddie and Chris begin a series on war with guest Stanley Hauerwas, noted theologian and ethicist. Dr. Hauerwas asks us to contemplate the hard questions of war and nonviolence, but he knows the answers don’t come easily.

In the final episode of our series on consequences, Eddie and Chris welcome Susan Bradley and Bob Norman, two members of Oxford University United Methodist Church who have extensive experience in the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi--the opposite side from our previous guest, Merrill Nordstrom.

Merrill’s faith informs how she approaches her job. By getting to know her clients and digging into their histories, their families, and their motivations, she sees each client as a whole person--not just a statistic. Merrill helps them see that their worst day isn’t their last day. Her faith gives her hope, and she extends that hope to her clients in a moment when they need an advocate the most.

Jenny’s deep friendship with Kelly Gissendaner, Georgia’s only female death-row inmate who was executed in September 2015, grew out of her experience as a professor in the certificate program. Jenny got to experience Kelly’s deep and growing faith and walked with Kelly through the final moments of her life, reminding her that “Jesus is going to be with you.” Jenny’s latest book, You Shall Not Condemn, tells Kelly’s story through her own friendship with Jenny and other religious leaders and advocates.

Eddie and Chris revisit the conversation on social innovation with Greg Jones. Greg is the President of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and is an author, speaker, minister, and the former Dean of Duke Divinity School. The theme of his appointment at Belmont is “Let Hope Abound,” and he is using that theme to create an ecumenical, Christ-centered culture for the flourishing of all people, not only the students, staff, and faculty.

Eddie and Chris continue the conversation around deconstruction with Sarah Heath. If the name sounds familiar, she was one of our very first guests, way back in Season 1. Sarah is a United Methodist clergywoman who is going through her own season of deconstruction and trying to figure out how, exactly, to do that as a pastor--how to navigate the difficulty of being a person and a pastor who is going through a season of doubt, how to find networks of support, how to provide that support when it’s not readily available, and how to continue to see God’s grace in the small moments of life… in an airstream trailer.

In this episode of our series on deconstruction, guest Dave Stovall explains what deconstruction means to him: examining your faith, studying scripture, and pulling out all the parts that aren’t Biblically sound--the parts of faith that come to us from popular culture, from our families, from our friends--and then building your faith back up on a much stronger foundation. It’s less about starting from a blank slate and more about reforming and reframing what’s already there.

In this episode, Eddie and Chris are joined by Dominic Done, author, pastor, teacher, and founder of Pursuing Faith. Dominic has gone through his own seasons of doubt, and openly shares his journey in his most recent book, When Faith Fails: Finding God in the Shadow of Doubt. He believes that we can not only push through doubt and step into a deeper faith, but we can and should come along side others in their seasons of doubt and struggle. If we are honest with our pain and willing to open ourselves to the grace of Jesus Christ through community, we grow as followers of Jesus.

Kenda Creasy Dean, the Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary and an ordained United Methodist pastor in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, has a few ideas on what we can learn and what we should remember about our Christian roots: that the Church itself started as a social innovation movement.

Becca is an advocate for women--standing alongside women and helping them pull themselves, and by extension their communities, out of a history of trauma and poverty and into a life thriving with healing, hope, and often tea.

That's a wrap!

Season 2 of The Weight is now finished. With this last episode, Chris and Eddie take some time to reflect back on this second season. All the wonderful guests. All the inspiring, heavy, important topics: mental health, racism, art and culture, creation care, faith and politics, human sexuality.

Don't skip out on this episode though. We think you might be inspired to go back check out some previous episodes. And, surprisingly, Chris and Eddie actually have a few nuggets of wisdom to share themselves. 😂

To our guests, thank you!

To our listeners, thank you!

We're already busy making plans and recording episodes for Season 3 of The Weight. See you soon!

Editorial cartoonist Marshall Ramsey has been involved in the journalistic life of Mississippi for quarter of a century. Ramsey’s cartoons have served as cultural artifacts for both local and national events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. In his personal life, Ramsey’s spirit of empathy and resilience has given him a unique sense of sensitivity to the world around him. He joins Eddie and Chris to talk about the cultural impact of Ted Lasso, the power of reframing our stories, and how our relationships keep us grounded.

Chris and Eddie are joined by Ashley Abercrombie, author of Love is the Resistance. In this book, Abercrombie describes love as a habit and practice, not just a feeling. Bent toward compassion and deep hope, she teaches us what healthy, normal conflict looks like in a Christian community. They talk about the danger of echo chambers, the definition of what love is and what love is not, and the power of expanding our imagination as an inspiration to hope.

In this episode, Chris and Eddie are joined by David Magee, author of Dear William: A Father's Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, Love, and Loss. Dedicated to his late son, William Magee, Dear William details David’s pain of losing a child, destructive family patterns, and the grace of God in the midst of intense tragedy. He talks to Eddie and Chris about the freedom found in forgiving ourselves, the issue of codependency within a family system, and the power of testimony.

Chris and Eddie are joined by Dr. Matthew Levering, author of Dying and the Virtues. In this book, Levering articulates the nine virtues that we need to die (and live) well: love, hope, faith, penitence, gratitude, solidarity, humility, surrender, and courage. Drawing upon his unique experience of faith, Levering explores how the reality of death draws us nearer to God in dependence and trust. He talks to Eddie and Chris about the significance of rituals within the Christian tradition, living a life of praise to God, and what the book of Job teaches us about our humanity.

Chris and Eddie are joined by Reverend Dr. Will Willimon, Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity School and former Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. Willimon’s experience as a professor has informed his perspective on the ongoing vocational questions we ask at many different stages of life. They talk about cultural idols, what the Gospel looks like in a college or university setting, and the problems and pressures that American Christianity faces.

Chris and Eddie are joined by Adam Weber, pastor of Embrace Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Adam’s most recent book, Love Has A Name, details the kind of healing love that draws people closer to Jesus and the true heart of the Gospel. His experience as a pastor has been greatly enriched by the work of ministry that happens right on his front porch. He talks to Chris and Eddie about his passion for mental health awareness, the problems and questions from people outside of the church, and how to use language to build empathy and trust.