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Hello and welcome to Loving The Imperfect. Today we'll hear from Terry Gonda, a devout Catholic, who was fired from her position as a music director at a local Catholic church because of her marriage to a woman.

Join us today as she shares her story and we hear how a tragic situation like this can evolve and enrich a person's spiritual life. When this story broke in the summer of 2020, it made the pages of both the New York Times and the Associated Press as well as several local news agencies around Detroit.

From Terry's bio:

In addition to performing, Terry has studied psychological and spiritual growth for over a decade and is an experienced workshop presenter and lecturer. She offers concert/workshop packages for adults, young adults and teens. Venues may choose from existing workshops or work to tailor the experience for particular needs. Terry is a dynamic speaker and presentations are intense, funny, and full of depth.

Past workshops have included some or all of the following: practical tools for facing our fears in our everyday lives, tools for putting the healing journey into perspective, and inspirational/educational faith presentations.

Terry is also available to run longer retreat type weekends for small to medium size groups. These include a mixture of presentations, creative activities, and time for reflection as well as plenty of fun. Past retreats have included a weekend on "The Wisdom, Power and Beauty of Women".

Thank you for listening!

This episode concludes season 2. I will be taking a much-needed break. I will return in a couple of months. If you miss me, please listen to some of the past episodes you may have missed. A big thank you to all who have supported the show thus far by listening and commenting. I really appreciate it!

Blessings to you,

Brianne

Links mentioned:

Servant's Entrance

Terry Gonda's Website

My Documentary NOT FOR SALE: A Witness Story

#prayer #LBGTQ #Inclusive #religion #catholic #bible #mystical #mystic #theology #mysticism #music #art #love #christianity #peace #community

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.brianneturczynski.com or www.lovingtheimperfect.com

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Today we'll hear from Father Eric Williams, the priest of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Rochester. He's going tell us about his journey being an Episcopal priest. This interview is more of a conversation, so you'll hear a lot more of me in this interview, and it's a longer interview than most of my others.

So, I hope you enjoy this episode, and you get a lot out of it.

Thank you for joining me today.

#bible #biblestudy #priest #religious #retreat #prayer #god #jesus #meditation #podcast #love

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.brianneturczynski.com or www.lovingtheimperfect.com

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Today we'll hear from 90-year-old Dr. Daniel White, a local physician in this area, well known and well-liked by everyone.

He was drafted into the Vietnam War as part of a MILPHAT team and spent some time in Vietnam with the civilians.

Unlike most men who were drafted, Dr. White had a positive experience, and the friendships he made with the civilians has lasted a lifetime.

Thank you for joining me.

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.lovingtheimperfect.com

#vietnamvet #veteran #war #americanhistory #story #bible #prayer #podcast #vietnam #military

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.brianneturczynski.com or www.lovingtheimperfect.com

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Today we will hear from a 17-year-old local high school student who wishes to remain anonymous.

He is very interested in space, and as of right now, he wants to be an astrophysicist. Despite all you'll hear in this interview, this student is still afraid that he will not get into college.

What's really inspiring about his story, apart from his tremendous knowledge about space, is that he struggled in the first part of his high school career with his grades. He says that he was a blow off and he did try very hard. But it's unfortunate in our school systems that we do base so much of a student's goodness on the letter grade they receive.

He had an epiphany where he had to change his perspective on everything.

I hope that you enjoy this episode. Thank you for joining me.

#podcast #spirituality #episcopal #history #prayer #love #ministry #interviews #christianity #contemplative #meditation #Bible #Bible reading #religion #Biblestudy #christianmystic #mysticism #space #celestial #planets #Nasa #spacex #blackholes #mandelbrotset #math #einstein

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.brianneturczynski.com or www.lovingtheimperfect.com

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Welcome back to Loving the Imperfect. Today, we'll hear a story from Dr. Rick Maibauer. He is the first person to perform a total joint replacement in Ghana, West Africa. So, we're going to hear his story today. Another exercise, again, in deep listening. This is a good exercise for us. I hope you enjoy this story. Thank you for joining me.

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.brianneturczynski.com or www.lovingtheimperfect.com

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Hello and welcome to this week's episode! Born during World War II in England, Ged Youngman tells the story of her life as a nurse attending both dying children and healthy babies as a midwife. Later in the United States, she spent much of her time helping her church and overseeing many ministries. She has attended my parish, St. Philip's Episcopal Church, for 35 years. For this reason, I have known her practically my whole life. Growing up, she was essential to my spiritual life because she was involved in everything, from Vacation Bible School to the Episcopal diocesan camp called Gordonwood, where I spent three happy summers in my youth.

Ged was recently diagnosed with interstitial pulmonary disease, her lungs only have a small portion of healthy tissue, so the noise in the background of this episode is her oxygen machine.

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.BrianneTurczynski.com or www.LovingTheImperfect.com

#podcast #spirituality #episcopal #history #prayer #love #ministry #interviews #christianity #contemplative #meditation #Bible #Bible reading #religion #Biblestudy #christianmystic #mysticism #nursing #England

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.brianneturczynski.com or www.lovingtheimperfect.com

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Hello and welcome to Loving the Imperfect. Today we are hearing a story from Kenny Asewe. Kenny is the founder of At Home Music here in Rochester, he is going to tell us a really touching story about his mother, how she passed away, and some details of her funeral. He will also share with us three ways that God showed him and reassured him that she was in a better place and that she was at peace, which is something Kenny said that he really needed to know in order to be able to really grieve and move on. It is the story of a mother that was very loved by her children.

I think during Advent, we want to spend time remembering Mary, who was the mother of Jesus, and the sacrifices that Mary made. And so, Kenny is going to share with us a story of his mother and the sacrifices that she made for her children.

Today’s story is an exercise in deep listening. Deep listening is when we listen to someone else’s story with the ears of our hearts, with compassion. Kenny speaks virtually the entire episode, because he is simply telling us a story. Because he was born in Kenya and raised there speaking Swahili and English, he has retained his beautiful accent. I recommend those of you who have trouble understanding accents or who are hard of hearing to read along with the transcript.

Enjoy!

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.BrianneTurczynski.com or www.LovingTheImperfect.com

#podcast #spirituality #episcopal #history #prayer #love #ministry #interviews #christianity #contemplative #meditation #Bible #Bible reading #religion #Biblestudy #christianmystic #mysticism #kenya #africa #mothers #advent

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.brianneturczynski.com or www.lovingtheimperfect.com

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Today we will hear from respected music composer, spiritual leader, singer and retreat director, Gregory Norbet, who also spent 21 years as a Benedictine monk at the Weston Priory in Vermont. I'm honored to be able to speak with him today. I hope you enjoy this interview.

You can visit his website at www.gregorynorbet.org .

Songs on this episode: Choir of Angels and Hosea, both written and performed by Gregory Norbet.

If you stick around at the end of this interview, Gregory has been generous enough to allow me to record some of his music. Thank you for listening!
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For more information about me and my work, please visit www.BrianneTurczynski.com or www.LovingTheImperfect.com

#podcast #spirituality #episcopal #history #prayer #love #ministry #interviews #christianity #contemplative #meditation #Bible #Bible reading #religion #Biblestudy #christianmystic #mysticism #benedictinemonk #music #musiccomposition

For more information about me and my work, please visit www.brianneturczynski.com or www.lovingtheimperfect.com