Kwok ’n’ Roll

She made history as Canada's first Indigenous female Moderator of the United Church of Canada — and her journey to get there was anything but easy.

In this powerful conversation, Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne opens up about her personal story: from struggles with substance use to answering a call to ministry. Her path is one of resilience, faith, and radical transformation — and it has everything to do with why she leads the way she does. She was the first Indigenous woman to serve as moderator of the United Church of Canada from 2002-2025.

We dive into the ongoing struggles of First Nations peoples within the Church and in Canadian society at large — and what it truly means to decolonize a faith institution from the inside out.

But this conversation goes beyond the church walls. Recorded during the second week of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, United Church members were actively writing to their government and encouraging them to uphold international human rights and humanitarian law. As many Canadians grow increasingly alarmed by the prospect of a military threat from the U.S., faith communities are finding their political voice in new and urgent ways.

Rev. Lansdowne shares her exciting new project: “Church-y Conversations,” a Substack newsletter and a forthcoming podcast, “Church-y Conversations for People Who Know Things,” designed to be thoughtful resources for people navigating faith and social witness today. She is also the author of Wearing a Broken Indigene Heart on the Sleeves of Christian Mission.

Dr. Martin Nguyen is a professor of Religious Studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut. He is a scholar of Muslim theology and Islamic studies. He discusses the roots of U.S. Islamophobia and its impact on the American impression of the Middle East and the war in Iran. Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis, Americans have had negative reactions to the theocratic regime. September 11 further fueled Islamophobia, targeting Muslim individuals and communities. Dr. Nguyen’s book Modern Muslim Theology seeks to show how the Islamic tradition can help contemporary Muslims negotiate their relationships with God, with one another, and with the rest of creation. He belongs to a group of scholars interested in constructive Muslim thought and engaged scholarship, including public speaking, organizing, and empowering Muslim communities. He hopes people will educate themselves about the richness and diversity of Muslim people and recommends the following two books: Islam: A Short Guide to the Faith and Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters.

Dr. Martin Nguyen’s books include Modern Muslim Theology: Engaging God and the World with Faith and Imagination

John and Samuel Munayer are brothers and younger Palestinian theologians living in Jerusalem. They have coedited The Cross and the Olive Tree. They shared what life is like living in Jerusalem during the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. The war has disproportionately affected the Palestinian communities because they may not have bomb shelters. John and Samuel shared their stories of how they became interested in theology. They discussed the difference between the theology of martyrdom and the theology of survival. Even as their family suffered from the Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948, they still maintain hope for their people. They hope Palestinian Christians will remain steadfast and faithful to the Gospel, just as the olive trees survive drought and disaster. They admonish the Western churches that root for empire and encourage churches to speak up and see their problems as relating to justice for Palestinians.

John and Samuel Munayer’s book is The Cross and the Olive Tree: Cultivating Palestinian Theology Amid Gaza

Dr. Peter C. Phan is the Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University and a Vietnamese-American Catholic theologian. In this episode, he shares how his personal experience as a migrant has shaped his theology. In the book Christianity and Migration, Dr. Phan explores the overlap between migration studies and Christian theology. His theology of migration offers new ways of thinking about God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit in the age of migration. As a leading Asian American theologian, he encourages the next generation to pay attention to the pastoral care of Asian youths and to the relationship between the state and religion. He also shares his secret to being a prolific and productive scholar and the books he is working on.

Dr. Peter C. Phan’s newest book is Christianity and Migration: A Christian Theology of Migration.

Dr. Septemmy E. Lakawa teaches mission studies, trauma theology, and feminist theology at Jakarta Theological Seminary. She interviewed women who have experienced violence and responded to the sexual abuse of Chinese women in Indonesia. To do justice for the abused victims, she urges us to address their ruptured lives and the wounds that remain. She believes that love is still possible for these victims, but it is a kind of ruptured love. She also shares her current research on blue theology to address climate change. Since much has been done on green theology, she wants to research women’s rituals and the sea—including rituals of resistance, healing, and persistence. She is the first female full professor at her school and the author of Compassion and Trauma: A New Imagination of Christian Mission in Indonesian.