Freedom from Fear of Conflict

This fall season finds us contemplating a liberated faith. A faith that courageously calls us to look within ourselves and our communities and journey deliberately across territory which is far too often unchartered. It is a bold faith that continuously takes a U-turn from the road of white supremacy culture. It is a fearless faith that steers clear of perfectionism, one right way, power hoarding, a sense of urgency, and quantity over quality. Rev. Venida continues our exploration of Liberated Faith and helps us navigate a characteristic of white supremacy culture some may fear—Open Conflict.

Freedom from Paternalism & Power Hording

What do Jesus, Ella Baker, and Zohran Mamdani have in common? Hint: it's related to building power.

Preaching Bootcamper Denia preaches on the limitations and violence of power hoarding, how Jesus gives as a blueprint for power rooted in collective leadership, and how this blueprint has been used to make historic political gains during troubled times.

Denia PerezForefront ChurchNovember 2, 2025power, collective, leadership, community, activism

Worship of the Written Word

Pastor Angela explores our cultural habit of only honoring what is written. In doing so, we erase the wide range of ways we communicate with each other and all living things.

Freedom from Quality Over Quantity

In contemporary society, success is often defined through quantifiable, outward-facing metrics like numbers, growth, expansion, and visibility. This framework, which measures worth through financial gain and social validation, is heavily influenced by capitalist culture, and the rise of digital technology has made this even more expansive.

Dr. Erin EdwardsForefront ChurchOctober 19, 2025

Freedom from False Urgency

Preaching Bootcamp Deacon, Keli continues our “Liberated Faith” sermon series with a timely invitation to throw off the shackles of false urgency. Despite the chaos that surrounds us, our faith demands that we slow down and put our trust in God, no matter how uncomfortable or unsatisfactory that may seem.

Keli YoungForefront ChurchOctober 12, 2025false urgency, liberation, oppression, white supremacy, community

Free from Perfection

We continue our Liberated Faith sermon series with a look at how we can unlearn and break free from our alignment with white supremacy culture. Rev. Venida explores the role of perfectionism this week, and as we prepare to courageously weave our way through other critical topics in the following weeks.

Welcome Home to a Liberated Faith

Happy 13th Birthday to Forefront Church! We celebrate and give praise to God for each and every person, service, offering, prayer, hug, kind word, smile, tear, decision, sermon and song that have helped sustain this beautiful community for over a decade. Rev. Venida shares the Good News that the best is yet to come as we continue to liberate our faith and prepare the way for our next chapter.

Venida Rodman JenkinsForefront ChurchSeptember 28, 2025liberation, liberatedfaith, 13thanniversary, welcomehome

Generosity

We are a church truly lives out Jesus's calling to be the mustard seed. A seed that starts small but They do not stay small. They spread everywhere. They become shelter for all kinds of life. And in Jesus’ time, they were not seen as useful or noble. They were scrappy, stubborn, and impossible to contain.

Jonathan WilliamsForefront ChurchSeptember 21, 2025mustard seed, 13 for 13, generosity, preparing the way

Celebration

The discipline of celebration is believed to undergird all the spiritual practices we’ve explored over the past few weeks. Rev. Venida invites us to reflect on how the joy found in celebration can strengthen us, ease our anxieties, and open us to deeper love and compassion.

Venida Rodman JenkinsForefront ChurchSeptember 7, 2025discipline, celebration, justice, joy

Fasting

Tsia̍h-pá--buē: What we (might) talk about when we talk about fasting. Kevin speaks about his experience fasting in his life, both for Lent and, this year, for Ramadan. While we are often weary of discipline, what realizations might come out of the discipline of fasting?

Kevin LForefront ChurchAugust 31, 2025hunger, discipline, fasting, prayer, physicality

Rest

Rev. Venida focuses on the vital discipline of Rest, a practice that is mentioned frequently throughout the Bible and encouraged by Jesus himself. She invites us to reflect on what the Holy Spirit may be saying about embracing rest more intentionally in our lives, and how rest can strengthen and renew us for the journey ahead.

Venida Rodman JenkinsForefront ChurchAugust 24, 2025rest, capitalism, grindculture, discipline, selfcare

Revisiting the Discipline of Prayer

Kai Ngu walks us through why we are all shaped and disciplined by various institutions and contexts — the workplace, social media, the government, our families — towards becoming certain kinds of people. And while that’s unavoidable, maybe we can pause and think about who we are becoming through these disciplines, and who we would rather be. Perhaps beginning with the discipline of prayer.

Kai NguForefront ChurchAugust 17, 2025prayer, discipline, spirits, ancestors

Meditation or Desire's Premise

Prayer Deacon Benny reconsiders how we think about meditation, unpacking some of our cultural perceptions about it—decolonized, de-capitalized, and demystified. In preparation, Benny realizes that he has more meditative experience than he thought and realizes that we all meditate more than we realize.

Benny KrownForefront ChurchAugust 10, 2025meditation, contemplation, decolonize, anti-capitalist, silence

In Search of Simplicity

I Will Use My Voice! As we wrapped up our "Dear Paul" sermon series, Pastor Angela shares her thoughts on the misinterpretation of Paul's letter to a church in Corinth that has been used to justify the silencing of femme voices. If a woman is supposed to be silent in church, why did Jesus commission them to share the gospel repeatedly?

Angela Lockett-ColasForefront ChurchAugust 3, 2025discipline, simplicity

Shaming Women

I Will Use My Voice! As we wrapped up our "Dear Paul" sermon series, Pastor Angela shares her thoughts on the misinterpretation of Paul's letter to a church in Corinth that has been used to justify the silencing of femme voices. If a woman is supposed to be silent in church, why did Jesus commission them to share the gospel repeatedly?

Summer Reading Panel

Rev. Venida adds a unique twist to worship reimagined as she moderates the conversation with Forefront authors and special guest writers on the summer reading panel. They are Naima Coster, Anna Gilchrist, Diane Richards, and Dr. Mark G. Shrime. These featured authors share the impetus for their work, their writing as a sacred practice, and how their books can offer hope and carry messages of divine inspiration.

Predestination

Continuing our Dear Paul Series, Nytasha looks at Predestination and discusses the controversy regarding the interpretation and misuse of the scripture.

Nytasha ObasiForefront ChurchJuly 13, 2025oppression, predetermined, activism, complacency

The Body Shaming

As we continue our Dear Paul, Sermon Series, Rev. Venida invites us to imagine a world where body shaming does not exist. Where we are free to move and make decisions about our bodies and lives without being hindered by others’ impressions or opinions of us. Where we are able to use our authentic voices, minds, and creativity to decolonize and free our bodies from self-sabotage and everything restricting us from experiencing liberation. A world where we truly love ourselves and others.

This sermon examines body image oppression, Scripture which may have led us here, and how we can break free of the chains, heal, and reclaim our bodies. What a world!

Venida Rodman JenkinsForefront ChurchJuly 6, 2025body, shame, healing, trauma, reclaim

Excluding Queer Folks?

Forefront continued our series, Dear Paul: What’s Up with Excluding Queer Folks. Preaching Bootcamper, Jaim Zimmerman-Kent shared a powerful journey about what happens when your heart's truth clashes with what you've been taught. He reveals how his own path led him to better access peace and self-acceptance by rethinking everything he once knew.

Jaim Zimmerman-KentForefront ChurchJune 29, 2025closets, authenticity, faith, freedom, acceptance

Slavery?

Mary Obasi wrestles with Paul's writings on slavery—he wrote “there is no slave nor free in Christ”—but his words were used to justify slavery. Our sermon this week wrestles with Philemon, systems of control, and what it means to live like we’ve got siblings.