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Over the next four weeks, For People will feature special guests from the Diocese of Atlanta: The Rev. Tricia Templeton, Justin Strickland, The Rev. Canon Salmoon Bashir, and Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright. Each guest will write that week's For Faith weekly devotional and join For People host Melissa Rau to dive deeper into their reflections. Join us each week as they share their stories and insights.

In the first guest episode, Melissa has a conversation with The Rev. Tricia Templeton centered on the parable of the Good Samaritan. During Tricia's time serving in the Peace Corps in the early 1980s, she experienced a frightening situation when thieves broke into her Malaysian hotel room while she slept, stealing everything except her passport. Stranded with no money and limited options, she encountered unexpected compassion from a Thai woman prostitute. This stranger provided meals, packed lunch for Tricia's journey, and gave her emergency money—going far beyond basic assistance. The parallels to Jesus' radical parable are striking: help often comes from those we least expect. As Tricia wisely observes, "The most unlikely person might be just the person who has what you need at that moment." Listen in for the full conversation.

Read For Faith, the companion devotional.

The Rev. Tricia Templeton has been rector of St. Dunstan’s for 21 years. She previously served churches in Knoxville and Chattanooga. Before going to seminary she was a newspaper reporter and editor and a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand.

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When we've been hurt or rejected, vengeance may be something we desire. Christian maturity helps us build capacities to defer and fend off the need for vengeance.

In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright have a conversation about vengeance. Using Luke 9:51-62, they unpack Jesus' response when his disciples wanted to "rain fire and brimstone" on a Samaritan village that rejected them. Jesus rebukes their desire for vengeance suggesting that vengeance distracts those who have decided to pursue the kingdom of God. Whether we're discussing global conflicts or personal relationships, the space between being triggered and responding represents our opportunity for growth. "Whatever triggers you is trying to set you free," Bishop Wright notes, suggesting our reactions point to places where healing is needed. Listen in for the full conversation.

Read For Faith, the companion devotional.

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What happens when we strip away centuries of religious interpretation and confront the actual teachings of Jesus of Nazareth? This Jesus isn't the gentle, apolitical figure often presented in modern Christianity, but rather "a holistically spiritual freedom fighter" deeply concerned with poverty, exploitation, and injustice.

In this episode, Bishop Wright has a conversation with Dr. Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., research scholar at Columbia University and former professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. Their conversation reminds us that Jesus as a radical social reformer whose message has been systematically diluted. Dr. Hendricks draws on St. Paul's emphasis on individual spiritual experiences to convey his message. "Paul transformed Jesus' concern for collective social, economic and political deliverance into an obsession with personal piety," Hendricks explains, suggesting that many Christians today understand Jesus primarily through St. Paul's interpretation, which fundamentally altered the trajectory of Jesus' radical message. Listen in for the full conversation.

A lifelong social activist, Obery Hendricks is one of the foremost commentators on the intersection of religion and political economy in America. He is the most widely read and perhaps the most influential African American biblical scholar writing today. Cornel West calls him “one of the last few grand prophetic intellectuals.”

A widely sought lecturer and media spokesperson, Dr. Hendricks’ appearances include CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Fox News, Fox Business News, the Discovery Channel, PBS, BBC, NHK Japan Television and the Bloomberg Network. He has provided running event commentary for National Public Radio, MSNBC, and the al-Jazeera and Aspire international television networks.

Learn more about Dr. Obery Hendricks and subscribe to his substack.

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What happens when we encounter truth we aren't ready for? Jesus' words about the Spirit of Truth were a guide to his disciples who couldn't yet bear everything their teacher had to share. Jesus' teachings on the Spirit of Truth remain a guide for us today too!

In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright have a conversation about truth and the weigh it carries in our lives. Most of us resist truth because we don't want our failures and frailties exposed. Yet spiritual maturity manifests in precisely this capacity: can we hear unflattering truths about ourselves without crumbling? Can we embrace both our status as sinners and saints? The liberating truth Jesus offers is that we don't need to earn our worth—we're already infinitely valued in God's eyes! Listen in for the full conversation.

Read For Faith, the companion devotional.

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"Diversity belongs to God's imagination." With this bold statement, Bishop Rob Wright cuts through the political noise surrounding conversations about human difference. In this thought-provoking episode, we explore how the ancient biblical story of Pentecost offers a divine endorsement of human diversity that transcends modern political debates.

In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright have a conversation about Pentecost centered around Acts 2:1-21 where the Holy Spirit descends on a linguistically and ethnically diverse gathering, creating understanding without erasing distinctiveness. This divine affirmation of difference provides a powerful counterpoint to modern anxieties about diversity. As Bishop Wright observes, "We can't see all of God until we see all of us," reminding listeners that our differences reflect God's creative abundance rather than problems to be solved. Listen in for the full conversation.

Read For Faith, the companion devotional.

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Prison takes many shapes and forms. The size of an individuals home or investment portfolio pales in comparison to true spiritual release - a freedom of purpose, clarity, and belonging that transcends physical limitations. This God given release is true freedom!

In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright delve into Acts 16, reflecting on the story of Paul and Silas. Imprisoned yet singing joyfully after freeing a slave girl from demonic possession, their experience serves as a powerful metaphor. The conversation explores themes of oppression and freedom, highlighting a recurring pattern in human history: the tendency to define freedom as "keeping a foot on someone else's neck."

Bishop Wright contrasts this with the radically different model offered by Jesus—liberation that lifts others rather than subjugates them. He emphasizes that before we can transform societal systems, we must first confront the "prisons" within ourselves: the grudges we cling to, the biases we perpetuate, and the wealth we hoard while others are deprived of life's basic needs. Listen in for the full conversation.

Read For Faith, the companion devotional.

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Words create worlds. From Genesis where God speaks creation into being, to Jesus asking a paralyzed man, "Do you want to be made well?", speech carries the power to transform reality. But what happens when certain topics become unspeakable?

In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright have a conversation that explores how modern society increasingly avoids difficult conversations. Using Jesus' healing story, Bishop Wright reveals how bringing things into speech opens pathways to healing and resurrection. They also discuss more recent examples including the evolution of Malcolm X's speech as his heart expanded, the way Muhammad Ali voiced what many thought but dared not say about Vietnam, and how Pope Francis's humble question "Who am I to judge?" transformed Catholic discourse. At its core lies a powerful truth: authentic speech flows from the heart's abundance. Listen in for the full conversation.

Read For Faith, the companion devotional.

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God does some of God's best work in the darkness! These painful periods hold unexpected creative potential—a perspective shared by both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize speech and Jesus in his final hours with his disciples. Dr. King spoke during a time of profound national division. Yet he saw beyond immediate chaos to "a genuine civilization struggling to be born." Similarly, Jesus, facing betrayal and death, used that moment to wash his disciples' feet and establish a new commandment of love that would define his followers for centuries.

Drawing comparisons between Dr. King's words from and Jesus' commandment in John 13, Melissa and Bishop Wright have a conversation on how turmoil itself can become the raw material for transformation. What current turmoil in your life might contain creative possibility? Listen in fo the full conversation.

Read For Faith, the companion devotional.

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Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.