Colors of Hope podcast series -- first speaker is Rev. Sandhya Jha (and she talks about sex!)
In its second year, this podcast series features reflections from queer faith leaders that explore a lectionary text alongside colors + themes from Gilbert Baker’s original Pride flag.
First featured speaker: Rev. Sandhya Jha
“So I thought I would start with the elephant in the room that I am doing a liturgical reflection on the lectionary passage and connecting it to sex…” Rev. Sandhya Jha delivers a message about community, proclamation, and courage through the lens of the color PINK and the theme of SEX. You’ve got to listen!
Subscribe to Colors of Hope (COH) wherever you listen to your podcasts. Want each week’s podcast delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for the 9-week series.
Find Colors of Hope on Spotify.
Keep reading for info about the series. Ready to listen? Want to know who is joining us over the next nine weeks? Scroll to Colors of Hope Volume II.
About the series: Hope is an act of resistance
COH Co-Creator Alysha Laperche writes:
“Hope is an act of resistance. If it were not for the hope of our ancestors in the LGBTQIA+ community, then we would not be where we are today. It is now our turn to hope in color, imagining a brighter and more just future where the expansive love of God is embodied in every aspect of life; including, and perhaps especially, in the realm of faith. These podcasts are a source of empowerment for LGBTQIA+ Christians – many of us have been told that we are not fit to teach, preach, or speak in a faith context because of who we are and how we love. The series also offers a source of belonging to LGBTQ+ people of faith within the Disciples and beyond; to hear from other LGBTQ+ people who are Christians about their experiences with scripture that are liberating, meaningful, and hopeful. For our allies, family members, and those who are supportive but wanting to learn more; this is a way to gain insight about LGBTQ+ Christians outside of and beyond one’s personal context. Just as a rainbow stretches across an expanse of the sky, Colors of Hope stretches an expanse of identities, locations, ages, genders, and more.“
Alysha serves as the Council Vice Moderator. Conspiring with Rev. Melissa Guthrie Loy, Executive Director + Minister, Alysha gave life to the podcast series in 2020 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and life’s ongoing challenges.
With a surge of digital content and an increase in screen time, Colors of Hope invited us to experience the divine and all of creation through refreshing practices that require little or no online activity. Find these prompts below and in Volume I of the series.
Prompts to wonder, engage, embody, create and share
In 2020, we invited you to pair these practices with a day of the week. Every Monday: Wonder. Every Tuesday: Engage… and so on. Live into this invitation as it serves you in the space in which you find yourself.
Wonder
What one word or theme would you assign to this color? Why? Where do you see this color within your home and outdoors? With what song or genre of music does this color connect? What memory does this color bring to mind? What action does this color bring to mind?
Engage
Listen to the podcast presented by a queer faith leader. We’re excited to feature the voices of clergy and seminarians who add color to our world. Each podcast explores a text from the Revised Common Lectionary. The stories and perspectives will enrich your week.
Embody
What might you do to embody hope as it relates to this week’s color and theme? Pray in color. Walk. Dance. Journal. Bake or cook. Paint. Garden. Play…
Create
Compose a poem. Make art. Take pictures. Sew. Stitch. Crochet. Bake. There’s an overlap with the invitation to embody this color and theme. Is there something you can create as a result of yesterday’s embodied practice?
Share
Share with us and the AllianceQ community. What made you wonder? In what ways did the scripture and podcast engage you? How did you embody this color and theme? What did you create? We are excited to hear and see it all! Send material to melissa@disciplesallianceq.org. By submitting your material, you give permission for Disciples AllianceQ to publish all or portions of the content with attribution.
Colors of Hope is a bridge to Pride month
The 9-week series concludes with the Rainbow Podcast on May 31. You’re invited to celebrate Pride with AllianceQ throughout the month of June.
Read more about the purpose of and passion for this series, including the history of the Pride flag and life story of Gilbert Baker, a story of resilience and transformation.
Listen: Colors of Hope Volume II
Week of April 5 – Sandhya Jha
Pink – Sex
Acts 4:32-45 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
Find the manuscript here.
Week of April 12 – Nadia Tavera
Red – Life
1 John 3:1-7 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
Find the manuscript here.
Week of April 19 – Kyle Miller-Shawnee
Orange – Healing
1 John 3:16-24 We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
Listen to the podcast. Available April 19.
More soon… including De’Shay Jackson, Chrissy Stonebraker-Martinez and others.