PART 1: The Waffle Church
[custom_podcast]
PART 2: Psychotherapy and Spirituality
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Host Maggi Van Dorn (left) With Rev. Sarah McCaslin
Our Guest:
Rev. Sarah McCaslin, MDiv, LMSW, Waffle Church Minister at St. Lydia’s in Brooklyn, and resident therapist at the Psychotherapy and Spirituality Institute. In a 2-part episode, Sarah talks with us about how her desire to serve and help others leads her on a simultaneous journey of ministry and psychotherapy. And yes, there will be waffles along the way!
Highlights:
On “Dinner Church”: It links really well to the scriptural stories that we understand about the beginning of Communion, and Jesus and his disciples gathered for a meal. Before there were churches, [early Christians] were meeting in each other’s homes, breaking bread, telling stories, sharing their concerns and helping one another.
On Worship with Children: I want to find a way to do worship that is not dumbed down, because children can receive a lot of nuanced and complicated information, they just process it differently than we do, and they have things they need to tell us, and we have things we need to learn from them.”
The Call to Ministry vs. the Call to Therapy: “It’s very similar, [the yearning to be] available to listen and to receive, to provide a non-judgmental and a non-anxious presence.”
On Providing Counseling to People of Different Faiths, or no Faith: “We have common language and vocabulary, and that’s the shared humanity [of] our emotional lives – grief, pain, suffering, estrangement, frustration, despair, hope – that’s the language that is always present and accessible.”
Play or Download:
Support For Our Work
The Interfaith Matters Podcast is made possible by donations to The Interfaith Center of New York, working to overcome prejudice, violence and misunderstanding by activating the power of the city’s religious leaders and communities.
This episode of Interfaith Matters is underwritten by One Spirit Learning Alliance – an interfaith learning institute that trains spiritual leaders and offers workshops for the public to spark personal transformation. More information is at Onespiritinterfaith.org/Matters, where our listeners can find a free download of one their teachings, “The Life We Are Called to Live.”
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