In this exciting episode, Brian and Fr. Shay interview Elle Dowd, author of the kick-ass book Baptized in Tear Gas. In this interview, Elle shares the story of what ignited her passions, the protests that she joined and what they taught her, how her activism and faith have merged, and so much more! Tune in to learn more about her book and how it came to be.
Elle Dowd (she/her/hers) is a bi-furious recent graduate of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a candidate for ordained ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Elle has pieces of her heart in Sierra Leone, where her two children were born and in St. Louis where she learned from the radical, queer, Black leadership during the Ferguson Uprising.
She was formerly a co-conspirator with the movement to #decolonizeLutheranism and currently serves as a board member of the Euro-Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice, does community organizing in her city as a board member of SOUL, serves on the Clergy Advocacy Board for Planned Parenthood, writes regularly as part of the vision team for the Disrupt Worship Project, and facilitates workshops in both secular conferences and Christian spaces. She is publishing a book with Broadleaf, Baptized in Teargas, about her conversion from a white moderate to an abolitionist which will be released on August 10 and is available for pre-order now.
To get in touch with Elle and to keep up with updates, you can visit her website www.elledowd.com and subscribe to her newsletter.
You can also see her online ministry via Facebook.com/elledowdministry or follow her on Twitter/SnapChat/Insta @hownowbrowndowd or on TikTok @elledowdministry
And pre-order her book Baptized in Tear Gas: From White Moderate to Abolitionist here: https://bit.ly/2YICjBf
Highlight in this episode:
- Let’s learn more about who Elle is [0:50]
- How her faith and activism came together [7:04]
- Do you need to move from the suburbs to a city to be involved? [18:47]
- Elle’s advice to anyone who wants to get involved [24:00]
- What do you do when you f***ed up? [26:30]
- What are the ways in which joy has shaped Elle’s faith and activism? [32:12]
- Where can you find Elle’s book and where can you connect with her? [37:27]
- Rapid-fire questions! [39:22]
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