Texas Impact's Weekly Witness

This week, Scott is joined by Rev. Dr. Neil Thomas, Senior Pastor of Cathedral of Hope of Dallas and a member of Texas Impact's Leadership Council. Dr. Thomas is a leading voice for LGBTQIA+ rights and a champion for communities that have been systemically marginalized. Scott and Neil discuss his faith (and geographic) journey, the upcoming election and Texas Impact's new set of legislative priorities.

See the full set of legislative priorities online at: https://texasimpact.org/legislative-priorities-2027/

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by Rev. Dr. Daryl Horton, pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Austin. Dr. Horton joined Texas faith leaders for a press conference on the steps of the Texas Capitol calling on Texans to be Day One Voters, and since many Texas communities are reporting record day one voting, we thought we would invite him back to talk about and promote Black Out Sunday to try to set more records during the early voting period. Scott and Daryl discuss the historic role of the black church in promoting voting and voting rights and the roles clergy and people of faith can play in encouraging civic participation.

Find out more about Black Out Sunday in this article by The Dallas Morning News: North Texas coalition of Black pastors encourages congregants to vote as faith leaders mobilize ahead of election

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Phil Dieke, Texas Impact's Board President. Phil and the Texas Impact Leadership Council have done a deep dive this year into the idea of "prophetic imagination" and how it relates to the work of Texas Impact and our members as we prepare for the upcoming election cycle and the legislative session to follow.

They also discuss the importance of making a plan to vote and the Texas Impact legislative priorities: https://texasimpact.org/legislative-priorities-2027/

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

This week, the Weekly Witness team joined Texas faith leaders on the steps of the Texas Capitol for a press conference highlighting diverse faith voices calling on Texans to fulfill their faith values by voting in the upcoming midterm elections. They encouraged Texans of faith to make a plan to vote, organize their friends, and show up on day one of early voting, October 19.

This week on Weekly Witness, Scott provides a short introduction to the full audio of the press conference featuring eleven Texas faith leaders.

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by Bishop Sue Briner, who serves as the bishop of the Southwestern Texas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Judicatory leaders are faced with decisions about when and if to respond to a wide range of policy concerns, so Scott and Bishop Briner discussed how faith leaders can discern when to speak out. Bishop Briner has chosen to spend considerable effort in working to protect democracy, so she shares her perspectives and challenges listeners to get involved with election protection efforts.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

If you have questions about election protection or see something that doesn't seem right, check out https://866ourvote.org/state/texas/ or call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by Darlene Alfred who has served in about every position a United Methodist layperson could serve from the local church to the conference and even global levels. In many of those roles, she was a "first" but always works to open doors for the next. She has served on the United Women in Faith Board and is a long-time Texas Impact Leadership Council member and joined the podcast this week to talk about Texas Impact's new legislative priorities.

Darlene talked about public education—it's especially important to her given that she has served on a school board and her kids both work in public schools. She also talked about the importance of voting.

See the full set of legislative priorities at: https://texasimpact.org/legislative-priorities-2027/

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by Abel who serves as the director of connectional ministries for the Rio Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Among his portfolio, Abel works on mission, justice, and disaster response ministries.

Abel also serves on Texas Impact's Leadership Council, who just released Texas Impact's biennial legislative priorities for the next biennium. Abel talks about the legislative priorities, specifically reflecting on public education, immigration and climate priorities.

See the full set of legislative priorities at: https://texasimpact.org/legislative-priorities-2027/

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by Minister Chris Johnson who serves as the director of missions at Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Houston and co-host of Impact Houston Live on KTSU Houston, 90.9 The Choice radio station.

Chris is well-positioned to listen to the voices of Houston residents, both on his radio program and in his church work. Scott and Chris talk about what he is hearing and discuss what he calls the "greatest humanitarian crisis" in modern American history. Check out the episode to hear more.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott was joined by Leadership Council member Dianne Hardy-Garcia, Director of Community Engagement and Advocacy at St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin. Prior to joining the staff at St. David's, Dianne served as a social worker and legislative staffer at the Texas Capitol. She reflected on her journey and made a compelling argument for Texas to fully fund SNAP. Learn more or sign the statement Dianne promoted at: https://www.calltofeedthehungry.org/

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by Blake Ziegler, Field Organizer for Texas and National Campaigns at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

Blake joined the Texas Impact team for the Ready. Set. Go! event in San Antonio to talk about Christian Nationalism and its impact in Texas and joined the Weekly Witness podcast to continue that conversation.

Blake discussed the work of RAC-Texas, their priorities and how Texans of faith can work together to ensure that our public spaces are welcoming for all Texans.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by Rev. Rosedanny Ortiz, a newly commissioned United Methodist Pastor serving as the lead pastor of Christ's Foundry UMC in Dallas. Originally from Puerto Rico, Rosedanny is now a leader who the Texas Tribune describes as one of the Latina clergy reshaping the UMC.

Rev. Ortiz talks about the importance of people of faith sharing the story of their community and reflects on her work serving a church with a large immigrant population. Later in the program, they discuss the work we all have to do to engage in advocacy and encourage faithful civic participation.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by Texas Impact's Executive Director Bee Moorhead and Legislative Counsel Beaman Floyd. The Texas Impact staff recently lead Ready. Set. Go! events in Denton and Dallas and will soon travel to San Antonio and Houston to meet with Texans of faith, including many of our Weekly Witness listeners to talk about faithful advocacy in this moment.

The midterm elections are coming soon with a legislative session following about two months later. Bee and Beaman joined the podcast to talk about where we are in the legislative cycle and how Texans can make their voices heard.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by Rev. Jim Harrington, the legendary Texas civil rights attorney turned Episcopal priest. Jim spent decades as a leader in fighting for civil and human rights as founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project, after previously working with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. After his retirement, Jim returned to justice work in a new role—that of an Episcopal priest. Scott and Jim reflect on his journey from the courtroom to the clergy collar and experiences ranging from representing farm workers to advocating for immigration justice from the pulpit—and the role faith communities have in shaping a more just community. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by Rabbi Eleanor Steinman, senior rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Austin. They discuss the new Texas public education curriculum, as well as LGBTQ+ advocacy through the lens of confronting Christian Nationalism, which is a particularly hot topic in Jewish congregations. Rabbi Steinman emphasizes the importance of making the world more fair for all and the work we all have to do in our current context.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott is joined by former colleague Ilka Vega, who has traveled the world serving in various mission, justice, and advocacy roles and is currently serving as the Executive for Economic and Environmental Justice at United Women in Faith. The Texas Impact team first met Ilka when she was a high school student at the Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, a United Methodist affiliated school in El Paso primarily serving students who walk across the border from Mexico, when Ilka attended her first United Women in Faith Legislative Event. Scott and Ilka talk about her journey from Lydia Patterson, her work in climate and immigration advocacy and her current work with United Women in Faith.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Matt Gaventa, senior pastor at University Presbyterian Church in Austin. Matt is a Texas Impact Board Member, and our executive director's pastor, and Bee has been very excited about his sermon series leading up to the nation's 250th anniversary. After listening to Scott's conversation with Matt, we hope it gives you something to think about during this historic year. Rev. Gaventa is completing a sermon serieshighlighting some foundational historical texts which challenge us to think in new ways about the 250th anniversary celebrations and the work we still have to do to create a more perfect union.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott was joined by Judge Manpreet Singh, the first Sikh judge elected in the state of Texas and first Sikh woman judge in the United States. Judge Singh talked with Scott about how the Sikh faith has called for equality for centuries and discussed how Sikh values connect with work in the public sphere and influence her own work.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Get full access to Texas Impact at https://texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Marcus Jones, author and University Chaplain at Huston Tillotson University in Austin after having previously served as the Executive Director of the Wesley Foundation at Midwestern State University, leader of the MOSAIC Cross-Cultural Center, and as Executive Director of UTA Wesley at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Rev. Jones has extensive experience working on college campuses and has written books on the topic, so Scott talked with him about serving in an HBCU in this political climate, what students are thinking about what is happening in our civic life and what the broader faith community can learn from their advocacy and experiences.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Dr. Jim Rigby, who has served as the pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin for 40 years. Rev. Rigby has garnered attention over the decades for his commitment to justice and a progressive brand of Christianity, and he has been in the news recently as Senate candidate James Talarico's pastor.

Rigby is getting more attention than a typical candidate's pastor, probably because Rep. Talarico is a seminarian who is putting his faith at the forefront of his candidacy.

To be clear, Texas Impact does not endorse candidates for public office. This episode of Weekly Witness is not about a candidate for office. Instead, like every episode of Weekly Witness, it's about a particular Texas faith leader and how they are doing ministry in their particular context. Currently, Jim Rigby's context includes having a parishioner with more than the usual amount of name recognition. So, this episode brings you a conversation about what it is like to do ministry from that perspective.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at http://texasimpact.org.

Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at http://texasimpact.org.

Get full access to Texas Impact at https://texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Dylan Corbett, founder and executive director of Hope Border Institute in El Paso. Dylan is a leader in the immigration space, working with and advocating for immigrants in communities across the globe before he landed in Texas. Dylan is especially influential in the Catholic Church when it comes to immigration concerns. He met with Pope Leo at the Vatican to share stories of migrants and was recently named by the Pope to serve on the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Scott and Dylan discussed his journey in faith, the importance of people of faith advocating for migration and the role of faith and Catholic social teachings in the public square. Scott also pressed him to invite the Pope to join us for a Weekly Witness episode, so watch this space for that.

We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!

To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at http://texasimpact.org.

Get full access to Texas Impact at https://texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe