There’s a widespread perception that faith and science are at war, but I think the reality is much more nuanced than that oppositional positioning.

In this episode, I’m talking with Will Rose and Thomas Johnston. They're two pastors who started a podcast called Your Matter Matters because they share conviction that curiosity is not the enemy of belief. We get into AI, public health, wonder, the pandemic, and what it actually looks like to have honest conversations about faith and science in a community that’s scared of both.

And in case you didn’t notice, we just hit a milestone: episode number fifty of Personalist Manifesto(s).

For those who have been on this personalist journey from the start, thanks for all your support.

For those who are recent additions, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here.

And for those who might want to join the contemplative revolution, who’s inviting them in?

Maybe you can help me with that.

Review, comment, share, subscribe, support financially… you know what I mean.

Your Matter Matters YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mRTwUOJO3Q&list=PLp_AwoZ2W80k8WEWLYYXmJNSZkaYoWRSX

Your Matter Matters Podcast:

https://your-matter-matters.captivate.fm/

Will Rose is an ELCA Lutheran Pastor serving as Parish Pastor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and Lutheran Campus Ministry in Chapel Hill NC. Will is a life long surfer and sci-fi/comic book geek who loves to engage at the intersection of both Faith and Science and Pop-culture and Theology. When not shepherding his congregation, surfing, or traveling with family, he helps co-host the podcasts Systematic Geekology and Across the Birfrost, the Mighty Thor Podcast.

• Holy Trinity Lutheran: https://www.holytrinitychapelhill.org/

• Lutheran Alliance for Faith, Science & Technology: ⁠https://www.luthscitech.org/⁠

Thomas's Bio & Links

Pastor Thomas Johnston serves at St. James Lutheran Church, Rockwell, North Carolina. He enjoys reading about the history of religion and science in North America and looks for ways to bring the conversation into the parish.

• AI & Humanity (essay): https://www.luthscitech.org/ai-and-humanity/

• Handling Religion and Public Policy Conversations With Care (essay): https://www.luthscitech.org/handling-conversations-with-care-where-religion-and-public-policy-meet/

Peace. It sounds simple, right?

But what happens when the idea of peace becomes a weapon?

In this conversation, my friends Myron Penner and Tripp Fuller pull back the curtain on one of the most quietly complicated tensions in religious community life: the space between preaching peace and practicing it.

We talk about peace church communities, long celebrated for their pacifist roots, and ask a harder question: when does a commitment to peace cause us to start protecting the wrong things?

And as we wrestle with that question, we talk about what it actually takes to build something real. Peace that's rooted in justice, not just the absence of noise.

This one is going to challenge some assumptions.

Tripp's Bio & Links

Tripp Fuller is a podcaster, theologian, minister and competitive home brewer. Currently, he is visiting Professor of Theology at Luther Seminary. He received his PhD in Philosophy, Religion, and Theology at Claremont Graduate University. For over 12 years Tripp has been doing the Homebrewed Christianity podcast where he interviews different scholars about their work so you can get nerdy in traffic, on the treadmill, or doing the dishes. Last year it had over 3 million downloads. It also inspired a book series with Fortress Press called the Homebrewed Christianity Guides to topics like God, Jesus, Spirit, Church History and so on. Check out Tripp's work at:

Website

Substack

BlueSky

Podcast

Myron's Bio & Links

Myron Penner is Professor of Philosophy and the Director of the Anabaptist-Mennonite Centre for Faith and Learning at Trinity Western University (TWU). He began working at TWU in 2005. He completed his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Purdue University in 2007. Myron's primary research areas are epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion but also has interests in philosophy of science and twentieth-century analytic philosophy. Check out Myron's work at:

Website

In this episode, I'm joined by two theologians who are asking important questions about technology—including AI: Noreen Herzfeld and Benjamin Chicka. You'll get to know them as our conversation unfolds, but a little context first.

This is actually a follow-up. The last time the three of us got together publicly was at Theology Beer Camp, and the response was overwhelming. There were so many questions we simply couldn't get to them all. So, we booked a second conversation to finish what we started. This is that conversation.

Noreen Herzfeld is Reuter Professor of Science and Religion at St. John’s University and senior research associate with ZRS Koper. A theologian and computer scientist, she is the author of several books, including The Artifice of Intelligence: Divine and Human Relationship in a Robotic Age and In Our Image: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Spirit.

Benjamin J. Chicka is Lecturer in Philosophy and Religious Studies at Curry College in Milton, MA. He is a philosophical theologian whose work connects classical American pragmatism, process theology, and ground-of-being theology. Such bridge-building between supposedly incompatible positions reflects his conviction that intrareligious pluralism is as important as interreligious pluralism for the future of theology. He is the author of God The Created and Playing as Others.

Additional Links

Listen to the initial AI panel here.

Learn more about the 2026 Ellul society conference here.

Learn more about Theology Beer Camp 2026 here.