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Building community happens one relationship at a time
October 27, 2022
America’s religious landscape is changing. This week's three conversations underscore why building relationships are essential to fostering community.
Rev. Dr .Alvin Edwards, Ph.D. Photo courtesy Mt. Zion Firat Afriacn Church
“We Knew Each Other From a Distance...” October 27, 2022
Rev. Dr. Alvin Edwards has been part of the Charlottesville, Virginia faith community since 1981 but in 2015 after the horrific attack at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina he began to assess his relationships with the local clergy.   The question he could not shake – do we trust each other enough to come together if racially motivated hate and violence come to our community.  Edwards talks about what happened next – long before the Unite the Right rally.

Rev. Dr. Alvin Edwards Ph.D. Pastor of Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, since 1981. A Graduate of Wheaton College, he earned an M.Div. from Virginia Union University and a doctorate from George Mason University.

Edwards is the founder of the Charlottesville Clergy Collective. He has served on the Charlottesville City School Board and as the city’s mayor.
Bob Smietana. Photo courtesy Pulitzer Center
“The Hamlet Problem – Congregational and Faith Leaders Think They are the Stars” October 27, 2022
Bob Smietana is an award-winning religion reporter and editor whose new book Reorganized Religion takes a closer look at the state of the American church and the way congregations and their leaders are adapting, shifting, or resisting. In this conversation, he describes the struggles facing congregational leaders from those unable to persuade and engage new members, to the challenges of revisiting a church mission when the congregation dwindles or buildings sit empty.

Bob Smietana. National reporter for Religion News Service, covering evangelicals, and the changing religious landscape. He is the author of Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why it Matters.

Victoria Loorz
“Putting Church With The Wild Reframes It…” October 27, 2022
After experiencing burnout, a seminarian decides to recharge by centering nature in her sacred practices and rituals in Ojai, California.  Within six years Victoria Loorz's exploration and experimentation sparked a new movement – The Church of the Wild. Today over 100 local groups meet outdoors for church or what many simply call gatherings.  In this conversation, Loorz describes what holds the network together and how eco-spirituality offers enough commonality for people with different identities and beliefs.

Victoria Loorz, M.Div. "Wild church pastor," "eco-spiritual director," and co-founder of several transformation-focused organizations focused on integrating nature and spirituality.  She founded the Church of the Wild, in Ojai California, and the ecumenical Wild Church Network. Victoria is co-founder and director of Seminary of the Wild.

Church of the Wild-How Nature Invitws Us Into the Scred by Victoria Loorz. Braodleaf Press
Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred
Broadleaf





Our theme music is by MC Yogi

This week's closing music, New Hope, by Audiobinger,
 used under a Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 license.

All additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Remixes and sound design by Dissimilation Heavy Industries
.