Faith in Motion, the Podcast

"When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze… The promise is not that you will never walk through the valley of death. The promise is, when you walk through that valley, God will go with you."

Sometimes the weight of loss and suffering is too great a burden to bear, and there's no way to dress it up with easy answer to theological niceties. In this episode, Pastor Kelsey ...

“If my care for my kids is relentless... does God love me like this?”

Elizabeth came on to share about her book, Love Like a Mother: How the Sacred Work of Motherhood Reveals the Maternal Heart of God. But this conversation wasn’t just about her book - it is an invitation to explore a part of God that often goes ignored, unnoticed, and suppressed: the feminine, maternal side of God.

In all of our multitude of experiences with motherh...

Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me.
- John 14:1-14

This Lectio Divina on John 14:1–14 is a gentle, guided prayer practice that invites you to slow down, breathe, and spend a few quiet moments with God.

Lectio Divina is an ancient Christian practice of praying with scripture—listening, reflecting, and resting in God’s presence. In this episode, we’ll move through John 14 together, creating space to notice what God m...

Some days, the most honest prayer I can offer is a question. Maybe you feel that, too—the uncertainty bubbling up, and the wondering if doubt means we’re drifting away. This episode is a gentle companion for those shadowy places of faith, where wrestling with God feels both lonely and necessary. 

This week on Faith in Motion, we explore why doubt and uncertainty aren't the enemy of faith, but hallmarks of a faith that endures a...

“You don’t have to be perfect.” - Rev. Krista Zimmerman

Pastor Kelsey sits down with Rev. Krista Zimmerman for a thoughtful conversation on presence, perfectionism, and practicing a more grounded, grace-filled faith.

Together, they explore what it means to be present in ministry and daily life, how to set healthy boundaries (especially with technology), and why letting go—while difficult—is often necessary for spiritual growth. They ...

Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?

- Luke 24:32

Lectio Divina is a spiritual practice that invites us to slow down, breathe, and spend a few quiet moments with God. Together, we’ll listen to scripture, reflect, and pray. You don’t need any prior experience or expertise; just a willingness to pause and listen for God’s love within and around you...

“Perhaps it was Thomas who made the disciples face the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection.”

In this special episode, I share a sermon that my mother, Rev. Sheryl E. L. Peterson preached back in April of 1985, in honor of the 30th anniversary of her passing on April 8th. I found this while going through some of her papers, and it felt like a nudge from the Holy Spirit that this was the sermon of hers I found - just a few d...

“There's nothing and nowhere where God won't go. God can handle the pain, the doubt, the disbelief—and naming it allows us to honor the space and the time.”

In “The Blessings of Small Steps,” Pastor Kelsey sits down with Reverend Kimberly Knowle-Zeller to explore how blessing the messiness of everyday life opens us to God’s presence, especially when hope feels scarce. Together, they discuss how simple practices can help us...

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

- John 14:27

Lectio Divina is a spiritual practice that invites us to slow down, breathe, and spend a few quiet moments with God. Together, we’ll listen to scripture, reflect, and pray. You don’t need any prior experience or expertise; just a willingness to pause and listen f...

Every so often, I find it helpful to pause and name the things that are quietly holding me together—the small, ordinary practices that are keeping my faith alive.

This episode is a version of that.

These aren’t big, flashy spiritual habits. They’re simple things: bricking my phone, returning to prayer journaling (in a new way), reading more long-form writing, wearing color, leaning into creativity, and connecting with other moms.

None...

What if the goal of reading the Bible wasn’t to have all the right answers—but to fall in love with the story?

In this episode, I sit down with Meredith Miller to chat about her new book, Wonder: 52 Conversations to Help Kids Fall in Love With Scripture. Her passion for sharing the Bible and its stories with young folks - and helping adults feel confident in their abilities to do the same - truly shines.

We explore the idea that the ...

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

- Deuteronomy 6:4

Lectio Divina is a spiritual practice that invites us to slow down, breathe, and spend a few quiet moments with God. Together, we’ll listen to scripture, reflect, and pray. You don’t need any prior experience or expertise; just a willingness to pause and listen for God’s love within and around you.

Connect w...

When we think about the most important people in the Bible, most of us were taught the stories of men: Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul.

But women have always been part of God’s story.

In this episode we highlight three women in scripture whose courage and leadership helped shape the story of God’s people—women whose stories are often overlooked or reduced to a single line.

You’ll meet:

• Shiphrah and Puah, the Hebrew midwives who ...

In this episode, Pastor Kelsey sits down with Rev. Delaney Schlake-Kruse to explore the intersection of faith, feminism, and leadership in the church. Together they discuss why the word feminism still raises resistance in many faith communities and how patriarchal assumptions have shaped expectations of leadership in ministry.

Delaney invites us to reimagine leadership by looking closely at how Jesus leads—not through domination, hi...

For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.
- Proverbs 8:35

Lectio Divina is a spiritual practice that invites us to slow down, breathe, and spend a few quiet moments with God. Together, we’ll listen to scripture, reflect, and pray. You don’t need any prior experience or expertise; just a willingness to pause and listen for God’s love within and around you.

Connect with us:

Website: dancingpastor.org
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Women play an integral part in history, including in biblical history. In many contexts, they are seen as mere side characters, and often aren’t even recognized with a name. However, we know that women are not just sidebars: they are main characters. They love, they birth, they lead, they prophesy, they teach, they heal, they wage war, and they testify.

Author and Episcopal priest Rev. Alice Connor is here to share some of these wom...

It’s okay to be inconsistent in our faith practices. God doesn’t expect perfection.

In this episode, Pastor Kelsey reminds us that it’s okay to be human.

The reason so many new year resolutions fail is because we expect perfection from ourselves. We get off course or miss a few days, and we throw it all away. The same can be true with our faith and prayer practices. We might set an intention at the beginning of Lent to jour...

What if faith was never meant to be something we get right?

In this tender and honest conversation, Pastor Kelsey sits down with writer Val Hystek to talk about perfectionism, people-pleasing, and the deep desire many of us carry to be the “good girl” who gets faith, motherhood, and life right.

Val shares pieces of her story, including her experience of secondary infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss, and how those seasons unravel...