Cocktail Theology is about life and God from a very broadly Christian perspective, with no filter, over cocktails.
Progressive, Biblically grounded, LGBTQ-affirming, candid discussions about faith, life, politics, roller coasters, sex, and anything else that matters.
Plus special long-form interviews with people we (and the Spirit) find interesting, like activist priest Fr. James Martin and food writer John Birdsall.
Elane and Benton talk with Michael-Ray about racial reconciliation, what we can learn from our ancestors, and addressing issues of social injustice within the church.
Michael-Ray Mathews is an ordained American Baptist minister, Host of the Prophetic Resistance podcast, and Deputy Director of Faith in Action, a national network of faith-based community organizations working to create innovative solutions to problems facing urban, suburban and rural communities.
Read MoreResponding to a listener’s request for help raising a gender nonbinary child, Benton and Elane discuss parenting, holy listening, their own journeys, and our need to accept ourselves the way God accepts us.
Cocktail of the Day: Wine
Read MoreIn Episode 45, Benton and Elane discuss the challenges around calling Jesus “Lord,” how to reconcile Jesus the man and the Jesus the Christ, and how the glorified, eternal Jesus was able to pick up bread after his resurrection. So many conundrums!
Morning Cocktail: More coffee.
Read MoreBenton and Elane talk classic cocktails. And nomenclature. Over Manhattans.
Recorded in Truckee, California in September 2020.
Cocktail: Manhattan
Music Credits
Our theme music: “Moving On (Feels Pretty Good)”. Words & music by Benton Stokes & Janine Smith. Available on Grace & Gravity (CD on BentonStokes.com; digitally on Amazon and iTunes)
Copyright 2018 Songs From the Basement (BMI). All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Read MoreElane and Benton talk about the challenges of loving God and loving your neighbor in an America that is antagonistic to people who follow God in the way of Jesus--and no, they aren't talking about evangelicals. Recorded in Truckee, California in September 2020.
Morning Cocktail: More coffee
Music Credits: All music by Benton Stokes, occasionally with friends
Read MoreRecorded in Truckee, CA as part of The Truckee Sessions, Elane and Benton discuss what worship is and what (and who) Christians worship. Hint: it's not always God.
Cocktail: Coffee, straight
Music Credits: Devoted, words and music by Benton Stokes
Read MoreElane and Benton chat with Judge Tim Fall, author of Running For Judge, where he describes the perils of running for reelection in Sacramento, the anxiety he suffered, and the kind of faith that brought him through.
Recorded in the first days of Shelter In Place in the morning, Benton and Elane were drinking coffee. Lots of coffee.
Read MoreElane and Benton discuss personified evil, usually referred to as Satan or the devil. Does Satan exist? Does he have horns and a tail? Is he as powerful as God? So many questions!
Read MoreElane and Benton talk about what it means to anticipate the coming of Jesus in the midst of a noisy, busy season. How do we wait to celebrate Christmas so we can allow for reflection and give space for complicated emotional responses like grief?
Recorded while Elane and Benton were on Facebook Live.
Read MoreRead MoreWhat we really do is run a kind of Dojo.
The word "Dojo" has come to mean a place where one learns and practices a particular martial art or particular physical activity. However, a dojo could also be a place where one learns and practices meditation or a place where one learns and practices art. "Jo" is "a place", "Do" is "a way" so a Dojo is a "place of the way."
It's about learning the way.
You've moved on. You've left a church. Have you left The Church? Have you left God? And what does all that mean for what's next for your community worship, your sense of connection, your life with God?
Benton and Elane discuss what Benton's been doing since he left his church job, and why being part of the consciously-universal Church is so attractive these days.
Read MoreForests. Beaches. Cathedrals. Grandma's sofa.
What is it about those places that makes them sacred to us? Do we all have sacred places?
And why aren't mine the same as yours, even if we experience them together?
Listen in as Benton and Elane discuss the burning of Notre Dame, and what the global response tells us about the power of a sacred place.
Read MoreBenton and Elane went to the Nashville Cocktail Festival, served drinks, and asked innocent attendees four questions about God. Some answers were silly, some were profound, and most were funny...especially as the night wore on.
This special edition of Cocktail Theology contains adult themes and language. Listener discretion is advised.
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In Episode 30 of Cocktail Theology, Benton and Elane talk with our favorite rabble rouser, noted blogger and speaker John Pavlovitz, about his latest book Hope and Other Superpowers, wonder, civility, kids, and John's coffee virginity.
Read MoreFor thousands of years, both Christians and non-Christians have argued over what the right beliefs are.
In this episode, Benton and Elane take a different approach: what is the bare minimum you can believe or do and still call yourself a Christian?
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In Episode 32 of Cocktail Theology--recorded in front of a studio audience on the Christian holy day of Pentecost--Benton and Elane sort out who the Spirit is, what having the Spirit around means, and how to hear and heed Her (mostly quiet) nudgings.
Read MoreYou are made in the image of God. That means you have the Creative Spirit within you and around you.
Now what?
Benton and Elane share what it means to be creative, and how you can channel that Creative Spirit in your own life.
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250 mass shootings in 215 days. Do they matter?
In the shadow of Gilroy and El Paso, Benton and Elane explore why Christians don't seem to care.
Read MoreIn Episode 36 of Cocktail Theology, Benton and Elane consider why is it modern Christians find it hard to believe that someone’s very different take on Jesus could be just as valid as their own.
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What happens when you hurl an insult at a “bad” person and they respond with kindness?
And what if the “good” people come at you like you’re the enemy when they find out you’re having (gasp!) conversation with someone from the other side?
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