Special guest: Debie Thomas
As you know if you’re a Harborista, and as you may have surmised if you’re just checking us out, most weeks at our gathering the topics and flow of our dialogue are planned by one of our three pastors. But on some weeks we have the opportunity to get to know and learn from a guest facilitator. These guests come by their invitations to speak at Harbor in many different ways—a Twitter follow from Dawn, a literary obsession from Jon, or being any one of Dottie’s best friends from grad school. This week Jon is geeking out because one of his new friends from his other job will be leading our Harbor conversation.
Debie Thomas is a writer and an amazing columnist at the Christian Century, the magazine where Jon works. She is also the minister of lifelong formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, California. As someone who was raised in and moved on from a strict version of Christianity, Debie very much understands the journey we’ve been on together here at Harbor. You can learn more about Debie by checking out her website.
There is also a really short YouTube video of Debie chatting with Jon about her theology of heaven, based on an article she wrote for the magazine. (Here is the article if you want to take a read!) We now present that video for your viewing pleasure:
We’re so excited for Debie to join us this week! As we prepare to welcome her to our Thursday gathering, we also wanted to celebrate the amazing guest facilitators we have enjoyed at Harbor in the last year or so. Here’s a rundown of our special guests, in roughly chronological order.
Sherri Brown is a professor of theology at Creighton University. (She’s also from my home state of West Virginia.) After we used Sherri’s work profusely in our study of John’s Gospel, I was connected to her and she joined us to facilitate a discussion about the story of the leaders wanting to stone a woman accused of adultery. She has written a really helpful introductory study of John.
Hunter Farrell is the director of the World Mission Initiative at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He visited to share some of his findings from his book Freeing Congregational Mission. He was attentive to the trauma many of us have surrounding mission work and was vulnerable about his own baggage as he discussed the harms of many short-term mission endeavors and the need for decolonization.
Michelle Eastman is an expert on disability theology who shared with us in a delightful and deeply impactful gathering. She works at an affordable housing organization in San Francisco, California, and is the creator of the Instagram account @disabilitytheology, which helps to change the narrative around disability and the church.
Jessica Hamilton is a public theologian and public policy professional based in Massachusetts. Her academic and professional work has spanned health care, womanist theology, political ethics, cannabis reform... the list actually goes on from there. She took time out of her busy schedule to lead us in some life-giving reflection and discussion on, among other things, Howard Thurman’s writings.
Father Shay (Shannon Kearns) is a priest and the author of In the Margins: A Transgender Man’s Journey with Scripture. This is a book currently being studied in the Harbor book club! He joined us for both a reading of some excerpts from the book, plus a really thorough and vulnerable Q&A session about his journey. Father Shay is also the cohost of the Queer Theology podcast.
Junia Joplin made headlines in Canada (and beyond) when she was fired by her church after she came out as a trans woman in 2020. She has since worked to use her platform to inspire other trans people and to make faith communities more inclusive. When she visited Harbor, she wrapped up our study of Hebrew prophets with an engaging look at Ruth, the “accidental prophet.” She currently serves as associate pastor at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto.
