Kwok ’n’ Roll

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.

Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins is a professor of evangelism and church growth at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. He discusses his forthcoming book, Inclusive Love: Seeing the Black Church in the Rainbow, and his journey of affirming and embracing LGBTQ brothers and sisters. As an acclaimed photographer, he shares his experience creating portraits while honoring each person as created in God's image. His appreciation of Black aesthetics is inspired by Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Sojourner Truth. He insists that churches need to learn how to communicate visually, since people spend much time on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media. During Black History Month, he has been posting important books by African American authors on Facebook. He discusses the authors who have influenced him most.

The Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson is the former moderator of the Metropolitan Community Church and a longtime LGBTQ rights activist. She reflects on the political changes that have occurred a year into Trump’s second presidency, especially their impact on the LGBTQ community. She praises the efforts of clergy and faith leaders in Minneapolis for their protest against ICE and their witness to the Gospel. She shares that MCC churches in Florida, together with other progressive leaders, have been out on the streets protesting ICE and discriminatory bills. She discusses the development of MCC in ministering to the LGBTQ community through its 57 years of existence. MCC churches have been growing, especially in Brazil, and MCC churches and groups have been established in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Wilson also shares the spiritual practices that have sustained her as a prophetic leader who breaks barriers.

Dr. Raimundo César Barreto from Brazil teaches World Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. He discusses the recent U.S. bombing of Venezuela and the Donroe Doctrine from the long history of American hegemony of the continent. His work focuses on the study of ecumenism in Latin America, not from the top, but from grassroots movements working together to address land dispossession, labor issues, and mass poverty. He calls this base ecumenism. Base ecumenism has contributed to both Catholic and Protestant ecumenical discussions, making it more contextual and grounded in social justice. His books discuss the development of Latin American Christianity in the 21st century, paying attention to popular religion, indigenous experience, the roles of women, and the growth of Pentecostalism. He says that world Christianity has moved away from a Eurocentric interpretation of Christianity to local agency and expressions. The next step is to examine how these local stories are interconnected and mutually influence one another.

Dr. Barreto's books include Engaging Coloniality: The Liberative Story of Christianity in Latin America and Base Ecumenism: Latin American Contributions to Ecumenical Praxis and Theology.

Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite is an emerita professor and president of Chicago Theological Seminary. She is a feminist theologian, political commentator, and author of mystery novels. As a long-time public intellectual, she reflects on one year into the second Trump administration and the protests against ICE brutality in Minneapolis. She discusses how clergy and faith leaders bear witness in their nonviolent resistance and how this affects the country. Feminist theology, she says, is more relevant than ever, as toxic masculinity has dominated national discourse and politics. She uses her Substack “No Fear Religion and Politics” and writes mystery novels to spread her ideas about faith, democracy, and feminism.

Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite’s mystery novels include When Demons Float: A Kristin Ginelli Mystery and Malice: An Alex Bell Mystery.