This week on 20 Minute Takes, we talk with author Scott Bessenecker. His book, Bad Religion, Good News: An Honest Guide for the Spiritually Disappointed was released this past May. Scott talks with us about why engaging with disappointment is often a challenge for Western Christian spirituality, and shares stories of people who have found good news through their earnest engagement with disappointment.

This is the final episode of season 8 of 20 Minute Takes—check back in the fall for our new season!

Scott Bessenecker has worked in college ministry for the past 40 years, facilitating global justice immersion programs inviting young adults to discern voactional ministry alongside the urban poor. He's also the author of the New Friars.

You can find his Substack here.

20 Minute Takes is a production of Christians for Social Action
Hosted, Produced, and Edited by David de Leon
Music by Andre Henry

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Sandra Maria Van Opstal. She's the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Chasing Justice, an organization that mobilizes a young BIPOC-led communities toward living a lifestyle of faith and justice. In this episode, they talk about about a spirituality rooted in the idea of "We got us." Sandra unpacks how she's seen her local community in Chicago care for one another amidst increased ICE activity, how she sees faith communities continuing to be a crucial space of mobilization and connection, and how a spirituality rooted in movement and action from the margins is not only through the witness of scripture, but is what's most needed in the world today.

You can learn more about Sandra's work here.
Listen to the whole song "We Got Us" + the rest of the Storytellers Collective Storybook Vol. 1 here.
Finally, check out Chasing Justice's podcast, "We Got Us" here.

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20 Minute Takes is a production of Christians for Social Action
Hosted by Nikki Toyama-Szeto
Produced by David de Leon
Editing and Mixing by Wiloza Media
Music by Andre Henry

What does it mean for Christians to be accountable to their tradition's entanglement with racism, white supremacy and anti-Blackness? On this episode of 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with musician and writer, Andre Henry. Andre serves as the program director for CSA's Racial Justice Institute. In this episode, they discuss the current backlash that against racial justice efforts in the United States, and the long history of how Christians have both contributed to the upholding of racial hierarchy, as well as the prophetic actions Christians have undertaken to dismantle it.

Check out this four-part series that Andre recently published on "Understanding Racism."

You can listen to Andre's music here and learn more about his work here.
Additionally, you can follow him on Instagram and Threads.

20 Minute Takes is a production of Christians for Social Action
Hosted by Nikki Toyama-Szeto
Produced by David de Leon
Editing and Mixing by Wiloza Media
Music by Andre Henry