Weekly Witness is a weekly opportunity for Texans of faith to learn about important public policy issues through a faith lens, and find out timely opportunities to participate in the public policy process. Host Scott Atnip is Texas Impact's Director of Public Witness. His guests come from a wide assortment of policy disciplines and faith traditions.
This week, Scott is joined by Rabbi Eleanor Steinman, senior rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Austin. They discuss the new Texas public education curriculum, as well as LGBTQ+ advocacy through the lens of confronting Christian Nationalism, which is a particularly hot topic in Jewish congregations. Rabbi Steinman emphasizes the importance of making the world more fair for all and the work we all have to do in our current context. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.
This week, Scott is joined by former colleague Ilka Vega, who has traveled the world serving in various mission, justice, and advocacy roles and is currently serving as the Executive for Economic and Environmental Justice at United Women in Faith. The Texas Impact team first met Ilka when she was a high school student at the Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, a United Methodist affiliated school in El Paso primarily serving students who walk across the border from Mexico, when Ilka attended her first United Women in Faith Legislative Event. Scott and Ilka talk about her journey from Lydia Patterson, her work in climate and immigration advocacy and her current work with United Women in Faith. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.
This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Matt Gaventa, senior pastor at University Presbyterian Church in Austin. Matt is a Texas Impact Board Member, and our executive director's pastor, and Bee has been very excited about his sermon series leading up to the nation's 250th anniversary. After listening to Scott's conversation with Matt, we hope it gives you something to think about during this historic year. Rev. Gaventa is completing a sermon series highlighting some foundational historical texts which challenge us to think in new ways about the 250th anniversary celebrations and the work we still have to do to create a more perfect union. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.
This week, Scott was joined by Judge Manpreet Singh, the first Sikh judge elected in the state of Texas and first Sikh woman judge in the United States. Judge Singh talked with Scott about how the Sikh faith has called for equality for centuries and discussed how Sikh values connect with work in the public sphere and influence her own work. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe
This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Marcus Jones, author and University Chaplain at Huston Tillotson University in Austin after having previously served as the Executive Director of the Wesley Foundation at Midwestern State University, leader of the MOSAIC Cross-Cultural Center, and as Executive Director of UTA Wesley at the University of Texas at Arlington. Rev. Jones has extensive experience working on college campuses and has written books on the topic, so Scott talked with him about serving in an HBCU in this political climate, what students are thinking about what is happening in our civic life and what the broader faith community can learn from their advocacy and experiences. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.
This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Dr. Jim Rigby, who has served as the pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin for 40 years. Rev. Rigby has garnered attention over the decades for his commitment to justice and a progressive brand of Christianity, and he has been in the news recently as Senate candidate James Talarico's pastor. Rigby is getting more attention than a typical candidate's pastor, probably because Rep. Talarico is a seminarian who is putting his faith at the forefront of his candidacy. To be clear, Texas Impact does not endorse candidates for public office. This episode of Weekly Witness is not about a candidate for office. Instead, like every episode of Weekly Witness, it's about a particular Texas faith leader and how they are doing ministry in their particular context. Currently, Jim Rigby's context includes having a parishioner with more than the usual amount of name recognition. So, this episode brings you a conversation about what it is like to do ministry from that perspective. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org . Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org . Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe
This week, Scott was joined by Dylan Corbett, founder and executive director of Hope Border Institute in El Paso. Dylan is a leader in the immigration space, working with and advocating for immigrants in communities across the globe before he landed in Texas. Dylan is especially influential in the Catholic Church when it comes to immigration concerns. He met with Pope Leo at the Vatican to share stories of migrants and was recently named by the Pope to serve on the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Scott and Dylan discussed his journey in faith, the importance of people of faith advocating for migration and the role of faith and Catholic social teachings in the public square. Scott also pressed him to invite the Pope to join us for a Weekly Witness episode, so watch this space for that. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org . Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe
This week, Scott was joined by Rev Tamika Nelson, executive director of United Campus Ministries of Greater Houston. Rev. Nelson was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); has served a United Methodist Church; and now works in a campus ministry affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the United Church of Christ. United Campus Ministry serves the UT School of Medicine, HCC locations, Texas Southern University, UHD, and Rice University. Tamika has also participated in Houston Faith Votes, so Scott and Tamika discussed her ministry with young adults and how they are talking about our current policy climate, their leadership in the civic engagement space, and their barriers to participation. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org . Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe
This week, Scott was joined by The Rev Becky Fox, pastor and head of staff at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lubbock. Covenant has a long history of engaging in justice ministries and advocacy in Lubbock and beyond. Scott and Becky discussed the important role churches like Covenant play in rural Texas and the role faith communities and faith leaders play in responding to the current political moment. With faith being in focus this election season, Becky discussed what it is like to have her denomination and mainline faith communities being discussed in mainstream culture. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org . Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.
This week, Scott was joined by Sister Denise LaRock, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who has been working in the San Antonio area in ministries related to immigration for the last decade. Sr. Denise discussed her religious order and their focus on justice and compassion ministries. She also talked about her work in the immigration space and the role the faith community plays in advocating for our immigrant neighbors. Also, spoiler: Sister Denise has not met Pope Leo, but she and Scott talked about the impact the "American Pope" is having on our current culture and climate. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org . Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe
This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Brooke Dooley, associate pastor of youth and young adults at Friends Congregational Church in College Station. Brooke also serves as the youth director for the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ. Brooke discussed her call to ministry, from a closeted youth trying to find a space in College Station to a liberal activist; then, her journey to seminary and serving as a pastor back in the town she grew up in, where she is now able to provide hope and guidance for the next generation of kids needing a safe space. Scott and Brooke talked about the current political landscape, the questions young people are asking, and how faith communities can support younger generations. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.
This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Jody Harrison, a Baptist minister, member of the Baptist Women in Ministry Board, and a former chaplain and Capitol staffer. Jody is a member of several Texas Impact teams as well as a veteran of numerous political campaigns. Jody joined the pod for a fascinating conversation about her path from policy and campaign staffer to Baptist minister, reflecting on both her faith and policy journey. As a leader in the fight against Christian Nationalism, she discussed her advocacy work in the public education and reproductive health spaces and talked about how listeners could be effective advocates in our current political climate. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.
This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Mel Caraway, a retired United Methodist pastor and long-time Texas Impact Board Member. Mel is a leader in the faith-based climate advocacy space at the denominational level and international level as a long-time COP attendee. Rev. Caraway joined the conversation to talk about his faith journey and how climate advocacy became his area of focus. He also talked about the work listeners could take to engage their community and congregation in effective climate work—a perfect conversation for this Earth Day. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org . Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe
This week, Scott was joined by Almas Muscatwalla, co-founder of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanksgiving Square. Almas provides leadership in a number of North Texas faith spaces and is a leader in encouraging pluralism and interfaith dialogue. Almas talked about her Ismaili Muslim faith tradition and how it encourages a commitment to community. She also discussed challenges facing our communities in our current political climate. She challenged listeners to work to connect with those with whom we disagree, even discussing a recent encounter with a January 6 leader at the Dallas No Kings Rally. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org . Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org . Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe
This week, Scott was joined by Imaad Khan, a former policy analyst with Texas Impact who made numerous appearances back in the early days of the podcast. Imaad talked about his faith and advocacy journey pre-Texas Impact, including how his faith and family shaped his desire to study and work in the public policy space. He also offered reflections on his work post-Texas Impact and how he views our current challenges here in Texas and throughout the world through his faith lens. This conversation was well-timed, because the three major Abrahamic faith traditions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) recently celebrated significant holy days/seasons—and Imaad offers reflections from his Ramadan journey. But, coming out of the holy days/seasons, we are once again seeing an increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric, so Scott and Imaad reflected on that and the role people of faith play in creating a more supportive and inclusive community. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org . Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org . Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe
This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Trent Ormsbee-Hale, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Weatherford, TX. For long-time listeners, that congregation might be familiar, because he served with and then followed Texas Impact's past Board President, Rev. Franz Schemmel as the pastor upon Franz's retirement. Scott and Trent reminisced on their shared history. Scott knew Trent and his husband Anthony while they were undergraduate students. At that time, Trent was discerning his journey in ministry, coming out of a Fransiscan background in a journey that led him to now serving as an Evangelical Lutheran pastor. The conversation centered on what faithful advocacy and justice work looks like when faith leaders serve communities that might not always share all of our values. There are countless faith leaders serving in contexts where many in their congregations feel isolated or worried and find comfort in their congregation being a safe place to worship, gather and/or engage in justice work. Trent gave voice to concerns, challenges and opportunities experienced by many faith leaders living and working in rural Texas. To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.
This season on Weekly Witness, we are highlighting faith leaders who advocate for justice and equity. Our conversation this week is a great reminder that "faith leader" does not always mean "clergy." As a lay-person, Robert Rivera has been a leading faith voice in the communities he has served, including in high levels of leadership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and as the Director of the St. James Family Life Center in Houston. Robert is a leader in connecting our faith institutions with immigrant communities, where he has spent decades organizing. He is also a leader in the Houston Faith Votes movement. We are excited to bring you this conversation with Robert to challenge all of us to think about our work in immigration advocacy and civic engagement. If you want to get involved in Texas, check out Texas Impact's Action Center and consider signing up. We want to give a special shout out this week to the Texas Faith Votes team and the Immigration Action Team and hope you will consider joining. We hope you enjoy this episode. and hope you share it in your social media feed. Make sure to tag us, and invite a friend to listen along. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org .
This week, Scott welcomes Rabbi Josh Fixler, associate rabbi at Congregation Emanu El in Houston to the conversation. Josh is a friend of the program—so much so, in fact that we had trouble narrowing down the conversation because Rabbi Fixler has a wide-ranging justice portfolio. We landed on Christian Nationalism and civic engagement, because Rabbi Fixler has extensive expertise in those areas, and both have been at the forefront of the policy conversation in Texas over the last few weeks. Christian Nationalism has been a leading factor in harmful public policies in the reproductive health and public education policy areas, and it will require intentional civic engagement work from people of faith and good conscience to turn the tide. Rabbi Fixler talks about these policy areas and gives listeners tips and best practices for civic engagement. If you want to get involved in Texas, check out Texas Impact's Action Center and consider signing up. We want to give a special shout out this week to the Texas Faith Votes team and resources, as election season continues. We hope you like the new format. If so, make sure to subscribe, like and share the content with your networks. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.
This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Mara Bim for a conversation about her faith journey and work in the immigration space. She is familiar to many in the Texas Impact audience as a longtime friend and advocate, and she was recently a featured speaker at the Texas United Women in Faith Legislative Event. Rev. Bim serves as the Justice and Advocacy Fellow at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas and as a writer with Baptist News Global . The timing for the conversation was great, because it was the same week as the Faithful Resistance: A Public Witness for Immigrant Justice event in Washington, D.C. Thousands of people faith marched on the U.S. Capitol for a rally and for legislative visits, after a moving morning of worship with a powerful sermon by United Methodist Bishop Latrelle Easterling . (Event resources to stay engaged are linked at the bottom of this page) If you want to get involved in Texas, check out Texas Impact's Action Center , and consider signing up to get involved. If you are particularly interested in immigration advocacy, consider joining the Immigration Action Team. We hope you like the new format. If so, make sure to subscribe, like and share the content with your networks. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.
The Texas Impact team started the week with Bee and Rev. Dr. Becca discussing the scientific method and the idea that government officials can't unilaterally repeal science following an announcement from the administration that they had "repealed a scientific finding." So, it seemed particularly well-timed (shall we call it divine?) that we had already scheduled Regina Banks to join the podcast for this week. For those of you who followed along with Texas Impact's COP30 coverage , you will remember that Regina Banks is the Director of the Lutheran Office of Public Policy-California. Regina is a leader in the ELCA Advocacy space, an expert in the intersection of faith and climate policy, and was a star of our COP30 coverage. Scott talked with Regina about her faith and advocacy journey that has led her to this point, as well as her reflections on COP30 and where climate advocates go from here when the federal government seems unwilling to even acknowledge the problem. Let us know what you think about the new format, and make sure to like, share and subscribe. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org . Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe
