Episodes

Content Warning: You may feel your own trauma activated by some of the content of this episode. It discusses prejudice, gentrification, exclusion, and immigration so please listen with awareness. Listener discretion is advised. Many communities create a dualistic environment where one is focused on either action or belief. Put another way: Some folks get overly focused on right belief (orthodoxy) and other folks get overly focused on right action (orthopraxis). This week’s Space Makers, Dr. Roby...

Content Warning: You may feel your own trauma activated by some of the content of this episode. It discusses non-affirming schools and churches, gentrification and exclusion, so please listen with awareness. Listener discretion is advised. More and more than ever before, our “first impressions” are happening online. This is true for dating, but also for how we first perceive any organization. When looking at a website or online posting we intuitively know if this is “a space” for us. This week’s...

This week, we are joined by fellow Irreverent podcaster, Dr. Brad Onishi. Brad is the co-host of the widely beloved (and sometimes hated) podcast Straight White American Jesus. They tackle all things Evangelicalism and it's ties to right-wing Christian nationalism. In this episode, we talk about Orange County, where the three of us have lived at some point, and how it has become a breeding ground for the biggest movements within right-wing Evangelicalism. But even these people need some space in...

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Content Warning: You may feel your own trauma activated by some of the content of this episode. It discusses trauma, chronic pain, disability and deaths related to Covid 19, so please listen with awareness. Listener discretion is advised. Making spaces, like a flower garden, that serve no “purpose” other than beauty teaches us that worth is not predicated by “usefulness.” This week’s Space Maker, Stephanie Tait, joined us for a conversation from her garden to discuss the lessons of resistance sh...

Content Warning: You may feel your own trauma activated by some of the content of this episode. It discusses trauma, suicide, and gender roles so please listen with awareness. Listener discretion is advised. In some capacity, we are all leaders and, whether we recognize it or not, we have impact on the spaces in which we exist. This week’s Space Maker is Rebecca Ching, LMFT. Rebecca is a psychotherapist, a trauma informed leadership coach, and the host of the podcast “The Unburdened Leader.” Thi...

Content Warning: You may feel your own trauma activated by some of the content of this episode. It discusses childhood trauma, faith transitions, and difficult family relationships so please listen with awareness. Listener discretion is advised. Throughout history, people have used humor to make space to discuss the things that culture has deemed taboo. This week’s Space Makers, Josh Link and Adrian Gibbs, use humor to have difficult conversations around American Evangelical Christian culture. J...

Content Warning: You may feel your own trauma activated by some of the content of this episode. It discusses childhood trauma, faith transitions, and racial discrimination so please listen with awareness. Listener discretion is advised. Write up This week, we had another incredible conversation with Space Maker, Chris Rodgriguez. As you may remember from Episode 31, Chris is a mindset and movement coach who helps people connect their work, their souls, and their bodies. Chris returns to the sho...

Making Space for our own spiritual journey often takes us down a path of leaving our familiar religious community and that can leave one feeling disoriented and alone. This week’s Space Maker is Blake Chastain, someone who has spent the last five years connecting people who have the shared story of experiencing a faith shift. Blake is the host of the Exvangelical and Powers & Principalities podcasts and is the writer of The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter. Blake coined the #exvangelical hashtag...

Content Warning: You may feel your own trauma activated by some of the content of this episode. It discusses suicide, and head trauma, so please listen with awareness. Listener discretion is advised. One of the unique features of the human species is the desire to live a ”meaningful, purpose driven life.” From master classes to bumper stickers, everyone seems to have a suggestion on how we can find our unique purpose in the world. It takes boldness and fearlessness to actually make the space in ...

Content Warning: You may feel your own trauma activated by some of the content of this episode. It discusses suicide and addiction, so please listen with awareness. Listener discretion is advised. It’s hard to imagine that you could feel alone when Beyoncé is amongst your friends, when you’ve created programs and systems that have housed and cared for thousands, and you are the lead pastor of a large progressive church. But as this week’s Space Maker will teach us, until we separate our work fro...

Happy Mother's Day! Listen to our conversations with our mothers, where we ask them all about making space, both literally and figuratively. First up is Christine Heath and then it's Josie's bilingual conversation with her mom, Susana Jimenez. Head to our website for all things Making Spaces: www.makingspacespodcast.com For Making Spaces Merch www.society6.com/makingspacespodcast To Support the Show, Become an Official Space Maker: https://www.patreon.com/makingspacespodcast Stay in touch and se...

When we enter into any space, the question we all ask is, “Do I belong here?” This week’s Space Maker, Mason Mennenga, spent years participating in a church community that invited everyone to belong through participation. From infant to scholar, everyone has something to offer and their worship service provided the space for all forms of participation. Spending his formative years in such an intentional community helped Mason become someone who makes space in all of his work for everyone. As an ...

Content Warning: You may feel your own trauma activated by some of the content of this episode. It discusses eating disorders, so please listen with awareness. Listener discretion is advised. On this week's episode, we dive in deep to all things body positivity and food with Registered Dietitian, Natalie Reed! In a culture where only certain bodies have been celebrated, the three of us talk about where we hope to see change through body positivity and the way we view the food we eat. As a RDN, N...

This week, we are joined by Space Maker, Spencer Rose Taylor! Spencer is a podcaster over at the Speaking in Church podcast, co-hosted by our very own Josie. Her passion for making space for others comes from her call to ministry and the barriers she’s faced in that call because of her gender. The Speaking in Church podcast is all about Christianity then, now and the future. On the pod, they talk about everything from current events and how your theology informs your responses to them to other h...

This week’s space maker is Savannah Rae Carreno. Savannah is the creator and primary writer for “The Juice Edit” website, and hosts the incredible conversation based “Please Elaborate” ministry. She makes space both online and in person by inviting people to ask hard questions and explore educated perspectives on every topic leaving nothing out as taboo. Online her Juice Edit website is a place she describes as, “where culture and theology collide awkwardly.” In both spaces Savannah creates spac...

This week’s space maker is Halleemah Nash. Halleemah is a proud product of Compton, California – a city that has greatly shaped her ambition, values, and interest in reaching back as she climbs. She is a first-generation college graduate who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Howard University, and a Master of Divinity from Duke University and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from North Carolina Central University. Her resume is impressive working with everyone from the ...

This week’s space maker, Peter Lublink, is the executive director of the non profit organization, BethanyKids. The organization helps train surgeons, and makes it fiscally possible for them to serve their own communities in 7 different African countries. The program also helps fund pediatric care for children in those areas. This conversation went everywhere from the need for us to acknowledge systemic racism to the power of movies like Black Panther and the need to not be paralyzed into inactio...

Often Making Space requires us to step out of the communities and the mindsets we previously held closely. After taking that step out it can be surprising when we discover that wholeness and integration require us to make peace with the places we once had to reject and to share new perspectives and experiences with both our old and new communities. This week’s Space Maker Brenda Davies never set out to become an expert in Christian sexual ethics/ theology, nor when she packed her bags for Hollyw...

Season Three of Making Spaces had to begin with one of our favorite space makers... Kevin Garcia. Kevin is a Spiritual Director and Intuitive Life Coach. Through his work as a digital pastor and public theologian, Kevin has used their writing , podcast , and YouTube Channel to help foster communities of authentic spiritual seeking, helping people pull apart bad theology and beginning to reconstruct sustainable spiritual practices. Kevin is a fantastic conversation partner and a recurring guest o...