Berkley Center

Olakunle Babalola and Oluwadamilare Alade both emigrated from Nigeria to the United States and have found a spiritual home in the Celestial Church of Christ, a global evangelical denomination. In this conversation, the friends reflect on their journey to the Celestial Church and consider the power of praying to God in the Yoruba language.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Titus Adenote and Isiaka Ambali are Nigerian immigrants to the United States, where they have found a sense of personal belonging and spiritual fulfilment in the Celestial Church. In this conversation, the friends reflect on how divine intervention has shaped their journeys in pursuit of the American dream. 

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Teresa Irwin and Meg Spesia are both members of the Catholic Worker Movement, a network of faith-inspired communities dedicated to social justice that was founded by Dorothy Day in the 1930s. In this conversation, the friends reflect on how personal experiences including religious pilgrimage and missionary work have shaped their faith in the unseen. 

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Demetrius Brooks and Tanequa Tunstall are queer people of color who have drawn on their Buddhist faith to grapple with personal challenges as they each make a life in the American South. In this conversation, the friends reflect on the transformative power of Buddhist thought and practice in their daily lives.

This story was produced by Alero Oyinlola.

Rev. Paul Baxley, a Baptist pastor, and Rabbi Eric Linder were brought together by a shared commitment to interfaith work in Athens, Georgia, where they started an interreligious partnership in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. In this conversation, the friends and colleagues reflect on the challenges and possibilities of interfaith dialogue in a polarized society.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Itsa Eagle Bear Shash and his nephew Flint are members of the Apache community, where they find a sense of spiritual belonging while performing Native American rituals. In this conversation, the relatives reflect on how Native American spirituality has shaped their approaches to life and consider the close connection between Native American religion and the land.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Yvonne Frost and her late husband Gavin Frost founded the School and Church of Wicca, a monotheistic spiritual path centered on an abstract and unknowable deity, in 1968. In this conversation, Yvonne joins her daughter Alison Jo Frost to discuss the history and impact of Wicca thought and practice in the United States.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.

Donna Peera was raised Catholic, but in adulthood she has found her spiritual home in Shamanism, a collection of practices through which she transcends into different realms to access information from nature. In this conversation, Peera joins her daughter, Haseena, to discuss how Shamanism has shaped her personal and family life as a way of healing. 

This story was produced by Alero Oyinlola.

Kevin Locke, an Indigenous folk artist from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, learned to hoop dance from his mentor Arlo Good Bear, drawing on lessons passed down for generations. In this conversation, Locke joins StoryCorps facilitator Madison Mullen to discuss the meaning behind the hoop dance as a way for him to connect with the hopes and visions of his ancestors. 

This story was produced by Alero Oyinlola.

KeNosha Whitehead and Chandra Crane are distinctly different from the white and male evangelical seminarians of previous eras, due to their respective backgrounds as albino and mixed-race women. In this conversation, the friends discuss how overlapping questions of family, gender, and racial identity shape their experiences as the next generation of Protestant clergy in the South.

This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.