Cafeteria Christian

By Natalia Terfa, Emmy Kegler

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Category: Christianity

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Episodes: 348

Description

Cafeteria Christian started as a place for people who love Jesus but are so over the version of Christianity that forgets love, justice, and curiosity. Hosted by Pastor Natalia Terfa and Pastor Emmy Kegler, the show is a mix of faith conversations, cultural commentary, and the beautiful, complicated mess of trying to follow Jesus in the real world. From biblical deep dives to big feelings about the world, Emmy and Natalia create a space where honesty and hope coexist. Together, we're reclaiming the term "Cafeteria Christian" — because when it comes to faith, you really can take what you like and leave the rest.

Episode Date
#342 Hope and Despair
Dec 08, 2025
#341 They Tried to Bury Us: New Testament Ladies Edition
Dec 01, 2025
#340 Advent Countdown (chocolate not included)
Nov 24, 2025
#339 Viral Garbage and the Attention Economy
Nov 17, 2025
#338 No Kings Sunday w/Meta Herrick Carlson
Nov 10, 2025
#337 Just Go Feed People
Nov 03, 2025
#336 Confession: you're not inherently sinful
Oct 27, 2025
#335 Hot Take Chips
Oct 20, 2025
#334 I'm Going To Steal The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Oct 13, 2025
#333 Micah: the OG Doom Scroll
Oct 06, 2025
#332 The Seven Heavenly Virtues (Finally!)
Oct 02, 2025
#331 Why Is No One Ok?
Sep 24, 2025
#330 Tragedy, Hot Takes, Stupid Joys, and What Is Ours To Do
Sep 15, 2025
#329 Seven Deadly Sins, pt. 2
Sep 09, 2025
#328 Thoughts. Prayers. Despair. Rage.
Sep 02, 2025
#327 Should We Celebrate When Someone Dies?
Aug 26, 2025
#326 Seven Deadly Sins Pt 1
Aug 19, 2025
#325 Rest Is Not a Deadly Sin
Aug 11, 2025
#324 A Rebellion of Care w/ David Gate
Jul 07, 2025
#323 Outside Safe Space with Mikah Meyer
Jun 30, 2025
#322 Saints, Icons, and a Beef with Bridget, w/Erik Nelson
Jun 24, 2025
#321 Find Your Pretzel
Jun 16, 2025
#23 (Repost): The Drive-Thru Cheeseburger Principle
Jun 10, 2025
#320 No Mega-Church May (June) part 3: The Church Search
Jun 02, 2025
#319 No Mega-Church May
May 28, 2025
#318 No Mega-Church May
May 19, 2025
#317 Practicing Being Human w/ Beth Silvers
May 12, 2025
#316 The Noise of Your Songs
May 07, 2025
#315 Get in Loser, We're Going Conclaving
Apr 30, 2025
#314 Post-Easter Mini-sode with Emmy
Apr 25, 2025
#313 Hope is Sewer Rat with Feathers
Apr 15, 2025
#312 Why Does Holy Week Matter?
Apr 08, 2025
#311 Theology of Reality
Mar 31, 2025
#310 Good Soil w/ Jeff Chu
Mar 24, 2025
#309 Disciples of White Jesus w/ Angela Denker
Mar 17, 2025
#308 Empathy IS Christian
Mar 10, 2025
#307 Lent Is a Rollercoaster Baby We're Gonna Die
Mar 03, 2025
#306 The Beatitudes (Emmy & Natalia's Bible Corner)
Feb 24, 2025
#305 Embodied - Even Now w/ Ellie Roscher
Feb 17, 2025
#304 A Few Things That Are Helping
Feb 10, 2025
#303 I've Got Questions w/ Erin Hicks Moon
Feb 03, 2025
#302 Even After Everything - w/Stephanie Duncan Smith
Jan 27, 2025
#301 This is January 20, 2025
Jan 20, 2025
#300 Full Circle
Jan 13, 2025
#299 What are YOU Doing for Christmas?
Dec 16, 2024
#298 Christmas is a Mess
Dec 09, 2024
#297 Apocalyptic on Purpose
Dec 02, 2024
#296 We Do Not Give Thanks
Nov 27, 2024
#295 Women of Fire
Nov 18, 2024
#294 A Snack and a Nap
Nov 11, 2024
#283 Meditations for Election Anxiety
Nov 04, 2024
#292 Salvation
Oct 28, 2024
#291 Parenting, Pandemic Life, and Praise Music with Emmy's Bestie Catherine
Oct 21, 2024
#290 The Mary We Forgot, with Dr Jennifer Powell McNutt
Oct 16, 2024
#289 Satanic Panic, the devil, and Halloween
Oct 07, 2024
#288 Discernment
Sep 30, 2024
#287 Why Is Confirmation?
Sep 24, 2024
#286 "I Am Me" - Tell Us More
Sep 16, 2024
#285 Is Confession "good for the soul"?
Sep 09, 2024
#284 Does God Still Anoint People?
Sep 02, 2024
#283 Baptism
Aug 26, 2024
#282 Open Tables
Aug 19, 2024
#281 We're Back Baby!
Aug 12, 2024
#219 We Don't Talk About Mary (No No No)
Aug 05, 2024
#94 Nora's Bible Corner - Amos 5 Edition
Jul 29, 2024
#144 Kate Bowler and No Cure for Being Human
Jul 22, 2024
#66 Ordinary Blessings
Jul 15, 2024
#22 Bam Bam Christians with Emmy Kegler
Jul 08, 2024
#280 "Shield the Joyous" with Rev Lizzie
Jul 01, 2024
#279 The Body Stories w/ Ellie Roscher
Jun 24, 2024
#278 S is for Shipwreck
Jun 20, 2024
#277 What's On Our Tray (sorry Jesse) w/Jesse Ross
Jun 10, 2024
#276 The Bronze Medal Life: Summer Edition - w/Colleen Lindstrom
Jun 03, 2024
#275 Moral Injury and the Church - with Aaron Fuller
May 27, 2024
#274 Art is a Catalyst w/ Joe Davis
May 19, 2024
#273 The Exvangelicals w/guest Sarah McCammon
May 13, 2024
#272 A Grab Bag of Microaggressions w/Jesse Ross
May 06, 2024
#271 Voices of Persistence (on not giving up on the Bible)
Apr 29, 2024
#270 Ask Us Anything w/ Meta Herrick Carlson
Apr 24, 2024
#269 The End is the Beginning - with Matthew Ian Fleming
Apr 15, 2024
#268 Does God Have Favorites?
Apr 08, 2024
#267 You Who Remain
Mar 29, 2024
#266 Atonement Theories (CC Style)
Mar 26, 2024
#265 Holy Week & Anti-Semitism
Mar 18, 2024
#264 Actually, Not All Are Welcome
Mar 12, 2024
#263 Biblical Inconsistencies
Mar 04, 2024
#262 Theocracy Grab Bag
Feb 26, 2024
#261 "My Kingdom is Not of This World" - on Christian Nationalism, w/Angela Denker
Feb 19, 2024
#260 Giving Up Perfectionism for Lent (repost)
Feb 13, 2024
#258 Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth? (No.)
Feb 05, 2024
#257 Without Preface
Jan 30, 2024
#256 What does it mean to have a "call"?
Jan 22, 2024
#255 Squishy Season
Jan 16, 2024
#254 A Very Merry Messy Swiftie Honest Christmas
Dec 25, 2023
#253 You Can Believe Better Things w/ Janice Lagata
Dec 19, 2023
#252 December Flies Away
Dec 11, 2023
#251 An Enneagram Primer with Enneagram Ashton
Dec 04, 2023
#250 State of the Pod
Nov 27, 2023
#249 The Bronze Medal Life w/ Colleen Lindstorm
Nov 20, 2023
#248 Calling Out or Calling In w/ Jesse Ross
Nov 15, 2023
#247 Ordinary Blessings for the Christmas Season w/ Meta Herrick Carlson
Nov 06, 2023
#246 Mountaintops & Mission Trips
Oct 30, 2023
#245 Question & Response - Israel / Palestine Edition
Oct 23, 2023
#244 No Single Stories w/ Meta Herrick Carlson and Hiyam Tabash
Oct 16, 2023
#243 The Witchy Season
Oct 09, 2023
#242 Taylor Swift and the Religious Instinct
Oct 02, 2023
#241 An Evolving Faith with Sarah Bessey
Sep 25, 2023
#240 Faith is messy because people are messy
Sep 18, 2023
#239 Tiny Things and Holy Ground
Sep 11, 2023
#238 Heaven and Hell
Sep 04, 2023
#237 If All the World's a Stage, Are We All Performing?
Aug 28, 2023
#236 Transition and Ritual
Aug 21, 2023
#235 Community Response and Allyship w/ Jesse Ross
Aug 14, 2023
#234 Why Church Bonus Episode
Aug 07, 2023
#233 Why Church Pt 3 with Colleen Lindstrom, Megan Torgerson, and Emmy Kegler
Jul 31, 2023
#232 Why Church? Part 3 with Andrea Roske-Metcalfe, Miriam Samuelson Roberts, and Natalia Terfa
Jul 24, 2023
#231 Why Church? Part 2 with Dr. Michael Chan and Ellie Roscher
Jul 17, 2023
#230 Why Church? Part One with Meta, Jesse, and Matthew
Jul 10, 2023
#229 Why Church Matters Introduction
Jul 05, 2023
#228 All Are Welcome?
Jun 27, 2023
#227 Being the Mom of a Scary Trans Kid, with Jamie Bruesehoff
Jun 19, 2023
#226 Hillsong Gonna Hillsong... Again. w/Janice Lagata
Jun 05, 2023
#225 We Welcome Our AI Overlords
May 29, 2023
#224 Maycember
May 22, 2023
#223 Jesus was the OG Community Organizer
May 15, 2023
#222 Mother's Day is Fraught
May 08, 2023
#221 Seasonal Vocation
May 01, 2023
#220 Mystical Spirituality with Elle Dowd
Apr 24, 2023
#219 We Don't Talk About Mary (No No No)
Apr 17, 2023
#218 Faith, Doubt, and Certainty
Apr 10, 2023
#217 The Worst Friday
Apr 03, 2023
#216 Transforming Life, Identity, & Faith with guest Austen Hartke
Mar 28, 2023
#215 New Life and Old Testament
Mar 20, 2023
#214 Love Jesus. Do Crimes.
Mar 14, 2023
#213 Embodiment As a Spiritual Practice
Mar 07, 2023
#212 Giving Up Perfectionism for Lent
Feb 27, 2023
#211 HeGetsUs
Feb 20, 2023
#210 Black History and Black Futures
Feb 13, 2023
#209 #blessed
Feb 06, 2023
#208 Holy Land Q&A
Jan 30, 2023
#207 Sounds from the Holy Land
Jan 23, 2023
#206 The Embodied Path with Ellie Roscher pt. 3
Jan 16, 2023
#205 Sabbath and Snow Days
Jan 09, 2023
#204 Christmas Fluff
Dec 26, 2022
#203 - The Embodied Path with Ellie Roscher, part 2: Embodied Church
Dec 20, 2022
#202 A Child Shall Lead Us w/ Andrea Roske-Metcalfe
Dec 12, 2022
#201 Making Room This Advent
Dec 06, 2022
#200 Celebrating 200!!! w/ the whole crew
Nov 28, 2022
#199 The Embodied Path w/ Ellie Roscher (Pt 1)
Nov 21, 2022
#198 Brown Fall
Nov 14, 2022
#197 God Takes Sides and Other Heresies We Love
Nov 07, 2022
#196 Antisemitism and Christian Nationalism
Nov 01, 2022
#195 Faith v Science
Oct 25, 2022
#194 My Faith Is Weird Right Now
Oct 17, 2022
#193 The Wreckage of Christian Nationalism - with Angela Denker
Oct 10, 2022
#192 Open Frame
Oct 03, 2022
#191 Reclaiming Autonomy with Janice Lagata
Sep 26, 2022
#190 Spiritual Direction and Original Blessing with Danielle Shroyer
Sep 19, 2022
#189 A New Elder - with Beth Silvers
Sep 12, 2022
#188 Bible Bruises with Matthew Ian Fleming
Sep 05, 2022
#187 CC Group Therapy - with Whitney Logan
Aug 29, 2022
#186 Ordinary Blessings for Parents - with Meta Herrick Carlson
Aug 22, 2022
#185 Emmy's Church Exit Interview
Aug 15, 2022
#184 On Repentance and Repair - with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
Aug 08, 2022
#183 My Life Is Not a Q&A Session
Aug 01, 2022
#182 God and Galaxies
Jul 25, 2022
#181 A Better Way
Jul 12, 2022
#180 This Country Is a Dystopian Nightmare
Jul 03, 2022
#179 Reclaiming Spiritual Sovereignty with Dr Kelly Sherman Conroy
Jun 27, 2022
178 - None of These Facts Are Fun
Jun 20, 2022
#177 People Are Messy with Colleen Lindstrom
Jun 07, 2022
#176 I Just Can't Christian Right Now
May 31, 2022
#175 Why You Gotta Be So Mean: Internet Edition
May 24, 2022
#174 BS (Bible Study, Obviously)
May 17, 2022
#173 But I Want the Flower! and other Mother's Day Rants
May 08, 2022
#172 Why You Gotta Be So Mean?
May 02, 2022
#171 Burn It All Down with Janice Lagata
Apr 26, 2022
#170 The PK Life - with Layla Terfa
Apr 19, 2022
#169 Blessed Holy Week?
Apr 11, 2022
#168 Not All Facts Are Fun: Gender Identity
Apr 04, 2022
#167 Sideways Grief
Mar 28, 2022
#166 Messy, Whole, & Human
Mar 21, 2022
#165 God Loves Trans Kids
Mar 14, 2022
#164 Life: Where Bad Things Happen and People Change
Mar 07, 2022
#163 Welcome to the Long Sadness
Mar 01, 2022
#162 Free-Range Church with Pr Jenny Sung
Feb 22, 2022
#161 Love is what brings us together
Feb 14, 2022
#160 Mini Series - Sex - Episode Four - Marriage
Feb 09, 2022
#159 Sex Talk - Part Three - The Bible and Sex
Jan 31, 2022
#158 Sex Talk - Episode Two - Shame
Jan 26, 2022
#157 Sex Talk Episode One
Jan 18, 2022
#156 New Year, Same You
Jan 10, 2022
#155 Caregiving 101 - with Allison Breininger
Dec 20, 2021
#154 RSVPlease Don't Come
Dec 13, 2021
#153 Your Christmas Pageant is a Lie: the transmogrification of Christmas
Dec 06, 2021
#152 Faith Lost
Nov 29, 2021
#151 Adventus
Nov 22, 2021
#150 Don't Be Nice
Nov 15, 2021
#149 Nests, Depression, and Grace for us all
Nov 08, 2021
#148 Take Me to Church
Nov 01, 2021
#147 Both / And
Oct 25, 2021
#146 Grab Bag
Oct 18, 2021
#145 Faith Over Fear?
Oct 12, 2021
#144 Kate Bowler and No Cure for Being Human
Oct 04, 2021
#143 Welcome to the Matrix
Sep 27, 2021
#142 Future Church
Sep 20, 2021
#141 All Who Are Weary
Sep 13, 2021
#140 The Church of the Uncomfortable Middle, with Kristina Harutoonian
Sep 07, 2021
#139 Anti-Racism in the Church
Aug 30, 2021
#138 How Are We?
Aug 23, 2021
#137 Turn Us Over, We're Done
Aug 17, 2021
#136 Baptized in Tear Gas - with guest Elle Dowd
Aug 09, 2021
#135 Deconstruction is just a word - with Janice Lagata
Aug 02, 2021
#134 Olympics + Capitalism + Ethics = profit?
Jul 26, 2021
#132 Call Stories - Emmy and Natalia
Jul 13, 2021
#132 "Yo fam, I need to rock wichu" - Jesus
Jul 03, 2021
#131 Juneteenth Fixed Racism!!
Jun 21, 2021
#130 A Reminder
Jun 14, 2021
#129 Create Space
Jun 07, 2021
#128 What's Church for Anyway?
Jun 02, 2021
#127 And They Were All Together In ONE PLACE
May 24, 2021
#126: Israel and Palestine
May 17, 2021
#125 Already Hot
May 10, 2021
#124 (Un)Happy Mother's Day
May 08, 2021
#123 Air it Out, with Dr. Anna Roth
May 03, 2021
#122 Hope is Weird
Apr 26, 2021
#121 Hot Xtian Goss: White Lady Influencer Edition
Apr 19, 2021
#120 Ramadan Mubarak - with Asma Mohammed
Apr 12, 2021
#119 Minisodes: Nora's Bible Corner with Romans 3:23
Mar 31, 2021
#118 A Literal Get Out of Jail Free Card
Mar 22, 2021
#117 It Is What It Is
Mar 15, 2021
#116 Dr Suess, JK Rowling, and Consequence Culture
Mar 09, 2021
#115 The Bad News is You're Probably* Racist (*99.9%)
Mar 01, 2021
#114 Lent and Constant Wilderness
Feb 22, 2021
#113 Black History Month: Pop Culture Edition
Feb 15, 2021
#112 Gospel and Justice
Feb 08, 2021
#111 Being Exvangelical Part 2: Black History Month - with Janice Lagata
Feb 01, 2021
#110 Fig Trees and Inaugural Christianity
Jan 25, 2021
#109 Self Care Isn't Just a Face Mask
Jan 18, 2021
The Aftermath of January 6
Jan 11, 2021
#107 12 Tiny Things, with guest Ellie Roscher
Jan 04, 2021
#106 Current Event Round-up: Christmas-ish edition
Dec 22, 2020
#105 Being Exvangelical (part 1) with Janice Lagata
Dec 14, 2020
#104 You Better Watch Out
Dec 07, 2020
#103 Advent
Nov 30, 2020
#102 Nora Flips Arizona
Nov 23, 2020
#101 Post-election Feelings-Dump
Nov 19, 2020
#100 Our 100th Episode!!
Nov 09, 2020
#99 What's on your tray?
Nov 02, 2020
#98 Being Blue Among Red State Christians
Oct 26, 2020
#97 Hide Self View
Oct 19, 2020
#96 Indigenous Peoples' Day (with Ashley Fairbanks)
Oct 12, 2020
#95 IDI
Oct 06, 2020
#94 Nora's Bible Corner: Amos 5 Edition
Sep 28, 2020
#93 Cafeteria Nuanced Christian Life
Sep 21, 2020
#92 #savethechildren
Sep 14, 2020
#91 Labor and Rest
Sep 08, 2020
#90 Jacob Blake.
Aug 31, 2020
#89 Rage (be nice to teachers!)
Aug 24, 2020
#88 All the Feels
Aug 17, 2020
#87 Covid and Church
Aug 09, 2020
#86 Infallibility, Inerrancy, and Infectability
Aug 03, 2020
#85 Kanye 2020
Jul 26, 2020
#84 Prove It
Jul 13, 2020
#83 Patriotism in 2020
Jul 06, 2020
#82 Pride
Jun 29, 2020
#80 My Black Friend
Jun 22, 2020
#80 Dear Karen
Jun 15, 2020
#79 Protest and Privilege w/ Jesse Ross
Jun 08, 2020
#78 George Floyd
May 31, 2020
#77 Ahmaud Arbery
May 19, 2020
#76 (Un)happy Mother's Day
May 10, 2020
#75 Ramadan Mubarak
May 04, 2020
#74 Adiaphora (or the not-so-main-thing)
Apr 27, 2020
#73 Easter!!
Apr 20, 2020
#72 Listener Questions
Apr 06, 2020
#71 Into the Unknown
Mar 23, 2020
Do Not Fear
Mar 17, 2020
#69 Dear Church with Rev. Lenny Duncan
Mar 08, 2020
#68: Lent
Mar 01, 2020
#67 Intersectionality
Feb 25, 2020
#66 Ordinary Blessings
Feb 17, 2020
#65 Forgive and Never Forget
Feb 10, 2020
#64 Live Show / Youth Group
Feb 03, 2020
#63 It's an Epiphany!
Jan 06, 2020
#62 Holiday Boundaries
Dec 30, 2019
#61 Consumerist Christmas
Dec 23, 2019
#60 Merry ChristMESS
Dec 18, 2019
#59: Hot Christian Gos
Dec 08, 2019
#58: Advent is Here
Dec 02, 2019
#57: Burnout
Nov 25, 2019
#56 God of Wrath with Dr. Chan
Nov 17, 2019
#55 Dude, Bro.
Nov 11, 2019
#54 Natalia's Bible Corner w/ Emmy - Revelation
Oct 27, 2019
#53 Dating, etc. pt. 3
Oct 20, 2019
#52 Dating, pt. 2
Oct 14, 2019
#51 Alter Guild Season 4
Oct 06, 2019
#50 Dating, etc. pt. 1
Sep 29, 2019
#49 Denomination Nation
Sep 22, 2019
#48 Sabbath
Sep 15, 2019
#47 Jesus
Sep 08, 2019
#46 Family Baggage
Aug 25, 2019
#45 Megachurches are Mega-something
Aug 18, 2019
#44: What about grace?
Aug 11, 2019
#43 Q&R with Natalia
Aug 04, 2019
#42 You Don't Even Go Here!
Jul 28, 2019
#41 God and Country?
Jul 21, 2019
#40 #gratitude
Jul 14, 2019
#39 The Great Divorce
Jul 08, 2019
Natalia's Bible Corner (and Emmy) - 1 Corinthians 6 edition
Jun 23, 2019
#37 What We Believe
Jun 16, 2019
#36 What the Bible?
May 19, 2019
#35 Remembering Rachel
May 12, 2019
#34 Shitty Christian Phrases that Need to Get Retired
May 05, 2019
#33 Let's Get Biblical
Apr 28, 2019
#32 Natalia's Bible Corner: Women of the Bible with Pastor Emmy Kegler
Apr 21, 2019
#31 Natalia's Bible Corner: Holy Week
Apr 14, 2019
#30 Ugh Consumerism
Mar 17, 2019
#29 Love vs Like
Mar 10, 2019
#28 Mental Health
Mar 03, 2019
#27 Choices
Feb 24, 2019
#26 Forgiveness, Do I Have To?
Feb 17, 2019
#25 Let's Talk About Sex
Feb 10, 2019
#24 When you pray, pray like this
Feb 03, 2019
#23 Bam Bam Christians with Pastor Emmy Kegler
Jan 27, 2019
#22 What the tithe?
Jan 20, 2019
#21 Unequally Yoked
Jan 13, 2019
#20 Church in the Worst
Jan 06, 2019
#19 Prosperity Gospel
Dec 30, 2018
#18 How we do Christmas
Dec 23, 2018
#17 Happy Holidays and Merry Everything
Dec 16, 2018
Welcoming and Affirming with Pr Emmy Kegler
Dec 09, 2018
#15 Grief and Sadness
Dec 02, 2018
#14 Mini-Episode Q&A with Natalia
Nov 25, 2018
#13 Special Election Edition
Nov 04, 2018
#12 Ritual Promise
Oct 21, 2018
#11 Enneagram 100 (less than 101)
Oct 14, 2018
#10 Overcoming Church PTSD
Oct 07, 2018
#9 Raising Little Non-Dingbat Christians
Sep 30, 2018
#8 Suicide Awareness Month
Sep 23, 2018
#7 What happens when we die?
Sep 16, 2018
#6 Church Anywhere, God Everywhere
Sep 09, 2018
#5 Would Jesus Get Elected?
Sep 02, 2018
#4 All or Nothing
Aug 26, 2018
#3 Blessed Ramadan
Aug 19, 2018
Mini Episode - The Invitation
Aug 16, 2018
# 2 Take What You Like and Leave the Rest
Aug 12, 2018
#1 Cafeteria Christian
Aug 02, 2018