Show Notes
“What does it mean to cultivate leaders who are building power inside prison?” – Willie Dwayne Francois III Welcome to In Search Of, a podcast where we go in search of voices and perspectives that inform and expand a life of faith. In this episode, Amy speaks with Willie Francois about the intersection of theological education and incarceration. Willie tells us about his incarcerated students, their pursuit of education, the theologies that resonate with them, and the work they do with their degrees. Explore a theological imagination of abolition in this episode of In Search Of. Willie Dwayne Francois III is the senior pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church of Pleasantville, New Jersey. He directs the master of professional studies program at New York Theological Seminary, which is the oldest master’s degree program offered by a theological institution in a US prison setting. The program is active in two New York State prisons: Sing Sing men’s prison and, as of last year, Bedford Hills women’s prison.
More from In Search Of
Welcome to In Search Of, a podcast where we go in search of voices and perspectives that inform and expand a life of faith. In this episode, Amy introduces us to St. Maria Skobtsova, who studied theology and practiced hospitality from St. Petersburg in 1917, to Paris in the 1930s, until her death in a Nazi concentration camp in the 1940s. Learn which aspects of her life make her a personal saint for Amy on the season finale of In Search Of.
“Blessed Olga said, ‘God can create great beauty out of complete desolation.” – Meagan Saliashvili Welcome to In Search Of, a podcast where we go in search of voices and perspectives that inform and expand a life of faith. In this episode, journalist Meaghan Saliashvili tells the story of the recently glorified Orthodox saint, Matushka Olga Michael, an indigenous healer in Alaska long venerated in local communities for her ability to heal victims of sexual abuse. What does Matushka Olga have to teach us about humility, gender, and healing? Find out on this episode of In Search Of.
“When confronted with the silenced past, the greatest responsibility of the historian–and the most radical thing any person can do–is to tell the story that was never meant to be told.” – Shannen Dee Williams Welcome to In Search Of, a podcast where we go in search of voices and perspectives that inform and expand a life of faith. In this episode, we learn about the missing history of Black Catholic sisters in the United States with Dr. Shannen Dee Williams–and why that history has been erased. Get to know the Venerable Mother Mary Lange, the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Venerable Henriette Delille, the Sisters of the Holy Family, Sister Mary Antona Ebo and more on this episode of In Search Of.
“Once we accept biblical collaboration as fact and recognize its participants as oppressed human beings who nevertheless had agency, we are forced to confront a truth that can be unsettling to some readers of scripture: that the meaning of the Bible is fluid.” – Candida Moss Welcome to In Search Of, a podcast where we go in search of voices and perspectives that inform and expand a life of faith. In this episode, scholar of early Christianity, Candida Moss, discusses the most recent publication of ancient papyri and what they say about women’s history in Christianity. We also learn about her new book on the role played by enslaved workers in the creation of the New Testament. All this and more on this episode of In Search Of.
“Thecla shows us how women could be important models, not only insofar as they overcame their femininity, but in their femininity, as models for men and women.” – Dawn LaValle Norman Welcome to In Search Of, a podcast where we go in search of voices and perspectives that inform and expand a life of faith. This week, we hear the story of Thecla, an early Christian philosopher. Dawn LaValle Norman tells us about Thecla’s adventures–including carnivorous seals, and an all-female symposium–and the world of women philosophers in the first few centuries. Find out how Thecla flipped philosophy on its head on this episode of In Search Of.