This is Crucial

No guest this time around, just your questions!

Dr. William Yoo joins us for a second time to talk about the prophetic zeal in the church, the difference between the Asian-American and African-American experience, and how to answer the question: "Where are you from?"

A conversation with Dr. William Yoo that touches on slavery in the Presbyterian Church, when it's okay to be ambivalent, and whether or not we should talk about politics from the pulpit.

We enter the new year with a new crucial conversation with writer and educator Bronwyn Harris.

Jason Max Ferdinand on The Power of Music, How to be a Good Choir Member, and Funeral Songs

Scott Black Johnston, author and Senior Pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, joins Charlene and Amos to talk about his new book- Elusive Grace: Loving Your Enemies While Striving for God's Justice.

A whole new season. A whole New series of episodes. A whole new set of guests. Season 2 kicks off with an interview with writer, reporter, pretend farmer, preacher, and teacher Jeff Chu. This is Crucial is a monthly podcast hosted by Charlene Han Powell and Amos Disasa featuring guests with something to say about healing justice, equity and transformation.

The season finale of This Is Crucial. For the first time ever, co-hosts Amos Disasa and Charlene Han Powell and their esteemed guests Molly Baskette and David Vásquez-Levy will gather in-person at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley for a live panel discussion on the future of faith.

Our hosts are joined by Rev. Dr. Willie James Jennings, currently Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University Divinity School. Find out more about This is Crucial at ThisisCrucial.com

Our hosts are joined by Rabbi Zach Fredman, spiritual leader and Creative Director of the Temenos Center for the Arts, a Brooklyn community that creates projects, media and events that live at the intersection of spirituality and the arts. Find out more about This is Crucial at ThisisCrucial.com

Why we need them and what they tell us. Our hosts are joined by Dr. Sandhya Jha, an anti-oppression consultant who particularly loves helping organizations get Diversity/Equity/Inclusion teams off the ground. This is Crucial is a podcast with live and interactive recording sessions focused on healing justice and racial equity.

Amos and Charlene are joined by guests from their respective congregations to talk about what's been crucial in their personal journeys of faith over the last two years. Has church supported (or slowed) their pursuit of healing justice and racial equity? Where have they seen glimpses of transformation? This month we are telling personal stories from people in the pews.

Amos and Charlene are joined by Dr. Christine Hong, who is a writer, educator, pastor, and practical theologian. She is the author of Decolonial Futures: Intercultural and Interreligious Intelligence for Theological Education, published this year by Lexington Press. Dr. Hong is Associate Professor of Educational Ministry at Columbia Theological Seminary.

Amos and Charlene are joined by Dr. Mark Labberton. Labberton is currently serving as the President of Fuller Seminary and has previously served as Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, California. He is committed to strengthening the intersection of the academy, church, and culture. No registration is necessary, and you can participate by watching live at FPC Dallas YouTube, FPC Dallas Facebook, FPC Berkeley YouTube, or FPC Berkeley Facebook. Visit ThisisCrucial.com to learn more.

Charlene Han Powell and Amos Disasa invite you to join them and their guests for monthly conversations that matter enough to make us uncomfortable. No registration is necessary, and you can participate by watching live at FPC Dallas YouTube, FPC Dallas Facebook, FPC Berkeley YouTube, or FPC Berkeley Facebook. Visit ThisisCrucial.com to learn more.

In this episode of This is Crucial, Rev. Amos Disasa and Rev. Charlene Han Powell talk with Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy, President of the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, about immigration. He regularly contributes a faith perspective to the national conversation on immigration, including speaking at a congressional briefing, participating in two immigration consultations with the Obama White House, and recently engaging in a series of public conversation with various State Attorneys across the country in an effort to reframe our national conversation about immigration. Learn more about This is Crucial on our website at thisiscrucial.com

Citizens of Minneapolis gathered at the courthouse this week to hear the announcement of Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict. Emotions have run high throughout our country as we watched something significant, maybe even historic, take place. Tonight on This is Crucial, we’ll be talking about what just happened in Minneapolis. This is Crucial is a podcast with live and interactive recording sessions focused on healing justice and racial equity, hosted by our own Pastor Amos Disasa, and FPC Berkeley’s Rev. Dr. Charlene Han Powell. You’ll be able to ask questions in the chat and have them answered by our hosts and guest. This week’s guest is Rev. Sarah Brouwer, the lead minister at St. Paul's United Church of Christ in St. Paul, Minnesota. Minneapolis is a city that has been on edge for more than a year, and tonight she will share share her on-the-ground perspective, and we will explore what she has discovered is crucial while leading, loving, and learning through our shared struggle for healing justice. Learn more at thisiscrucial.com

This is Crucial is a live conversation and podcast focused on healing justice and racial equity. It’s about the conversations we are afraid to have, the issues we are scared to address, and the stories we have too long overlooked. Hosted by Amos J. Disasa and Charlene Han Powell, This Is Crucial invites guests and listeners to come with their questions and observations, hopes and heartache. In this episode we will discuss the recent increase of attacks against people of Asian descent. Amos and Charlene will reflect on the mass shooting of 8 people, including 6 women of Asian descent, on Tuesday in Atlanta. Their conversation will be focused especially on why violence against people of Asian descent is often dismissed, how the struggle for justice among minorities can be shared, and what it looks like for followers of Jesus to offer refuge to vulnerable communities. Visit thisiscrucial.com to learn more, and to register for an After the Conversation small discussion group.

Rev. Marcus Ingram joins Amos and Charlene this week

Rev. Dr. Charlene Han Powell joins Amos to have a crucial conversation