Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness

18:43

Weekly Witness Ep.530 Being the Hands and Feet with...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/09/30

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

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34:36

Weekly Witness Ep.529 Boots on the Ground Faith with...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/09/23

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

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29:35

Weekly Witness Ep.528 Connecting the Dots with Abel Vega

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/09/16

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

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34:28

Weekly Witness Ep.527 Crisis and Opportunity for...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/09/10

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

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21:04

Weekly Witness Ep.526 Call to Feed the Hungry with...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/09/03

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

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30:08

Weekly Witness Ep.525 Dismantling the Structure of...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/08/27

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

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36:50

Weekly Witness Ep.524 Hard to Hear with Rev....

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/08/20

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

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38:44

Weekly Witness Ep.523 Capitol Catch-up with Bee...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/08/13

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

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42:27

Weekly Witness Ep.522 It's All Gospel with Rev. Jim...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/08/05

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

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27:52

Weekly Witness Ep.521 Making the World More Fair with...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/07/30

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

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39:06

Weekly Witness Ep.520 Radical Hope with Ilka Vega

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/07/13

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

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37:21

Weekly Witness Ep.519 Patriotism in Perspective with...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/07/02

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 series highlighting some foundational historical texts which

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31:34

Weekly Witness Ep.518 Strengthening Community Through...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/06/24

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,

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31:38

Weekly Witness Ep.517 Where Change Starts with Rev....

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/06/18

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

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30:23

Weekly Witness Ep.516 Growing Love into Justice with...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/06/10

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

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48:04

Weekly Witness Ep.515 Reason and Compassion with...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/06/03

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

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27:37

Weekly Witness Ep.514 Nurturing Hope with Rev. Tamika...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/05/27

This week, Scott was joined by Rev Tamika Nelson, executive director of United Campus Ministries of Greater Houston. Rev. Nelson was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); has served a United Methodist Church; and now works in a campus ministry affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the United Church of Christ. United Campus Ministry serves the UT School of Medicine, HCC locations, Texas Southern University, UHD, and Rice

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27:37

Weekly Witness Ep.513 Healthy Faith Language with...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/05/21

This week, Scott was joined by The Rev Becky Fox, pastor and head of staff at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lubbock. Covenant has a long history of engaging in justice ministries and advocacy in Lubbock and beyond. Scott and Becky discussed the important role churches like Covenant play in rural Texas and the role faith communities and faith leaders play in responding to the current political moment. With faith being in focus this election season, Becky discussed what it is like to have her

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27:37

Weekly Witness Ep.513 Healthy Faith Language with...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/05/20

This week, Scott was joined by The Rev Becky Fox, pastor and head of staff at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lubbock. Covenant has a long history of engaging in justice ministries and advocacy in Lubbock and beyond. Scott and Becky discussed the important role churches like Covenant play in rural Texas and the role faith communities and faith leaders play in responding to the current political moment. With faith being in focus this election season, Becky discussed what it is like to have her

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39:04

Weekly Witness Ep.512 Noise with a Purpose with...

Texas Impact"s Weekly Witness ·

2026/05/13

This week, Scott was joined by Sister Denise LaRock, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who has been working in the San Antonio area in ministries related to immigration for the last decade. Sr. Denise discussed her religious order and their focus on justice and compassion ministries. She also talked about her work in the immigration space and the role the faith community plays in advocating for our immigrant neighbors. Also, spoiler: Sister Denise has not met Pope Leo, but she and

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