Preacher Creature Podcast--Episode 5--Kevin Garcia

Episode 5 reunites hosts Jake and Ashley with a dear friend from Columbia Seminary, Kevin Miguel Garcia. Their conversation centers on Kevin's second book, What Makes You Bloom: Cultivating a Practice for Connecting with Your Divine Self. For those Preacher Creatures who have left more conservative theologies and traditions behind or who are pastoring people recovering from religious trauma, the book is a beacon of hope. It radiates with helpful, inspiring, and practical guidance on how to engage spiritual practices that enrich the whole person – even when the sources of the spiritual wisdom come from *GASP* outside Christianity! Kevin helps listeners find the courage and compassion needed to care for their own souls (and bodies) first. Knowing how to prioritize healing, recovery, rejuvenation, and inner knowing is no longer a mystery. It's within all our reach! Light a candle, take some deep breaths, and settle in for a slightly sentimental yet deeply rich, theologically energizing conversation that will help you start taking your own blooming more seriously than ever.

Each month, the Preacher Creature Podcast will introduce you to a new book relevant to today’s preachers. Your hosts, Ashley Lewis and Dr. Jake Myers, will bring you insightful, compelling conversations with authors whose work can help energize and revitalize your preaching.

Follow us on social media @preachersstudioforrenewal and be sure to subscribe for more podcasts @columbiapreachercreature.

Chapters

00:00 Podcast Intro & Opening Discussion
05:44 Book Introduction - Why Read What Makes You Bloom and Jake takes a nap!
11:15 Interview Begins, Kevin Garcia
11:50 Question 1 - Fruit of the Spirit, Rebranded
18:45 Question 2 - Being Open to Wisdom from Outside Christianity and Within the Self
30:50 Question 3 - "Being 'Good' vs. Knowing 'I AM GOOD'"
39:48 Question 4 - Cultivating a Living Practice
50:08 Closing Conversation - Celebration of the Book and Kevin's Journey to Writing What Makes You Bloom

Find the book: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/...

About the author
Kevin Miguel Garcia (they/them) is a spiritual director, a mystical theologian + practitioner, an LGBTQ+ author and speaker, and a wild lover of life, based in Atlanta, GA. After coming out in the fall of 2015 as a queer Christian, Kevin has reached thousands of individuals across the globe with messages of God’s unending love for all people -- regardless of who they are, what they profess, or what they actually believe. Kevin is the author of Bad Theology Kills: Undoing Toxic Beliefs and Reclaiming Your Spiritual Authority, published in January 2020. Kevin's new book is, What Makes You Bloom: Cultivating a Spiritual Practice for Connecting with Your Divine Self. Kevin’s work also appears in several anthologies by queer people of faith.

Through their work as a digital creative and public theologian, Kevin has used their writing, podcast, and YouTube Channel to help foster communities of authentic spiritual seeking, pulling apart bad theologies, and beginning to reconstruct sustainable spiritual practices. Kevin believes that by telling our stories, we set others free to tell their own.

Kevin holds a Master of Arts in Practical Theology from Columbia Theological Seminary (2020) and a Bachelor of Music in Choral Music Education from Christopher Newport University (2013).

In addition to LGBTQ advocacy and spiritual awakening, Kevin’s passions include good music, tacos, and really horrible dad jokes. They are based in Atlanta, GA, with their dogchild, Tippy.

See more about and by Kevin at https://www.thekevingarcia.com/ and @thekevingarcia

Your hosts

Rev. Dr. Jacob D. Myers:
Jake serves as the Wade P. Huie, Jr. Associate Professor of Homiletics at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. He is a graduate of Emory University (PhD) and Princeton Seminary (MDiv), as well as an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament in the PC(USA). Jake has written numerous books and essays, including *Stand-Up Preaching: Homiletical Insights from Contemporary Comedians*.

Jake provides online homiletical resources and sermon coaching at [www.preachingdr.com](http://www.preachingdr.com/).

Ashley M. Lewis, MDiv:
Ashley is a ministry professional living in Durham, NC, specializing in preaching and teaching beyond the human experience for the good of all Creation. She graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary and has worked in both non-profit and congregational ministry settings since 2018. She is an itinerant preacher, aspiring homiletician, and eco-justice educator. Ashley is the Homiletics Innovation & Logistics Director for the Columbia Preachers Studio for Renewal. She is also currently serving as a homiletics teaching assistant at Duke Divinity School, pursuing eco-ordination with the Seminary of the Wild, and is active in leadership at Farm Church http://farmchurch.org/.