Listen Live on KKFI
Every Sunday at 5:00amAbout the Show
Inspired
Inspired is the nation's leading public radio show about faith, ethics and spirituality. Each week we offer you analyses of the big headlines alongside lesser-told stories – those of Orthodox Jewish artists and African-American atheists, Muslim feminists and spiritual seekers. Through these stories, a rough sketch of our country’s religious landscape begins to emerge. It’s a marketplace of beliefs and ideas too complex for sound bites, and too important to ignore.
We discover what’s behind the re-boot of “Soularize,” a workshop for so-called “spiritual changemakers” and “spiritual innovators” that producer Kimberly Winston visited in May. Why did organizers decide to revive the event now, after a ten-year hiatus? How did Soularize move from its first incarnation in the American evangelical Christianity of the late 1990s to become the international and interfaith meeting it is today? And who and what exactly are the “spiritual changemakers” Soularize and its organizer’s target?
“You’re Not The Only Crazy One Out There”
Soularize founder Spencer Burke talks about his vision for Soularize and lays out its goals – to be a bridge between people working at the different intersections of faith with social justice, youth empowerment, migration, the environment, and longevity. He hopes that by bringing them together at Soularize, they will launch meaningful societal change that is grounded in faith and spirituality.
From Evangelicalism to Ecumenism: The Evolution of Soularize
Our conversation with Spencer Burke continues and explores his journey from evangelical megachurch pastor to spiritual seeker. He credits spiritual thinkers like Thich Nhat Hahn, Brian McClaren, and others with expanding not only his spiritual landscape but also with prompting him to take Soularize to a broader, interfaith cohort.
What Makes a ‘Spiritual Innovator?’
Guest Anne Borden Evans of the Ashoka Foundation discusses why this secular non-profit is interested in supporting what it calls “spiritual changemakers” and “spiritual innovators” like Spencer Burke and many of the attendees at Soularize.
