Ruth 3:1–5; 4:13–17, with Ashley Wilcox

First Reading Takes On the Bechdel Test

Lectionary Date: November 7, 2021 [24th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B]

It’s a big week for First Reading! As we dive into the resolution to the Book of Ruth, we have invited a guest to help us unpack the context of this story—special for its unusual focus on female protagonists.

Ashley M. Wilcox is a Quaker minister and the author of The Women’s Lectionary: Preaching the Women of the Bible throughout the Year, a handbook for feminist preachers. You (yes, you!) can hire Ashley as a preaching coach through her online resource, Preaching with Confidence. Ashley has been traveling around the country to speak, preach, and lead workshops on women and spirituality for more than a decade. For the past four years, she has been teaching preaching to students at the Candler School of Theology. You can connect with Ashley and learn more about her work at her website.

This week also marks the debut of our newest cohost, Rosy Kandathil! Rosy is a PhD candidate in Hebrew Bible at Emory University, and a former guest expert on First Reading. As she joins our team, we suppose that makes her an “expert in residence” with us. From here forward, each week the podcast will feature two of our hosts in various combinations, and we’ll all three get together now and then for a “party episode.” We’ll also continue our pattern of bringing in a guest colleague for a deeper dive every month or so. Welcome, Rosy!

Job 42:1–6, 10–17, with Will Kynes

God’s Consolation

Lectionary Date: October 24, 2021 [22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Year B]

Job is a long book that only gets a small showing in the Revised Common Lectionary. So we invited a scholar to help us unpack this week’s conclusion to the book in the context of the themes raised by the whole. Dr. Will Kynes is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Samford University. His research focuses on wisdom and suffering in the Hebrew Bible viewed from the varied perspectives of various biblical texts and their readers across history. Dr. Kynes is currently working on a book on how different cultures have found hope in the biblical tradition of wrestling with God. He is also the cohost (with Rony Kozman) of a great new podcast, “The Two Testaments,” which you can find over at www.thetwotestaments.com. So (after you listen to First Reading), head over there and give them the First Reading bump!

Esther 7:1–6, 9–10; 9:20–22, with Rosy Kandathil

For Such a Time as This

Lectionary Date: September 26, 2021 [18th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B]

Esther is a rich and complex biblical story—which is why it’s unfortunate that it only appears once in the 3-year lectionary cycle. But to help us make the most of this occasion, we invited Rosy Kandathil to join us for a deep dive into Esther. Rosy is a PhD candidate in Hebrew Bible at Emory University, where she is writing a dissertation on the collision of humor and violence in the book of Esther. Rosy’s insights help us get to the core relevant issues of the book: how it navigates multiple identities at once, deals with the challenges of thriving in diaspora, and hosts some of our own deep questions about violence and vengeance. Buckle up for a great episode!