Season 5, Ep. 6 - Building Intersectional Church & Community with Jonelle Brown of Young Prophets Collective
Jonelle Brown of Young Prophets Collective and NelleRose Educational Services
Church hurt is widespread, and there are still many congregations which remain closed to Christians living on the margins because of sexuality / gender identity, disability, race / ethnicity, class, education level, etc. Young Prophets Collective, a growing online church and community, founded by JJ Warren, is working to shift this through building an affirming and intersectional space which welcomes all, and excludes none. I caught up with Jonelle Brown, an active member of Young Prophets Collective.
Throughout this episode we discuss -
Jonelle’s faith journey and what it felt like to find an LGBTQIA+ supportive faith space in college, and how this led her to found the first open and affirming campus ministry for fellow LGBTQIA+ Christian students.
Young Prophets Collective, why they center, equip and empower the voices of young people (although older folks are part of the community) — we cannot forget that Biblical prophets such as Jeremaiah started out young, too!
Why intersectionality is a critical part of Young Prophets Collective ministry, and their focus on growing intentionally vs. quickly.
Key components of building a digital faith community - time, energy and emotional investment, and how Y.P. Collective taps into this to guide their ministry.
How their weekly church service calls folks to the gathering practice (in the Methodist tradition) of sitting with and discussing pastor JJ’s sermon, and also asking one another,” How is your soul?
Jonelle’s background as an educator, and how this experience led her to found NelleRose Educational Services, which “empowers BIPOC scholars + their families to get through high school with confidence & success.” As a success liaison and mentor, “she aims to address the systematic educational challenges faced by marginalized students of color in the U.S., especially those co-identifying as English learners, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ individuals and neurodivergent students.”
Stay Connected & Further Resources -
Rev. JJ Warren and Friends, Rafiki Project, an initiative of Y.P. Collective
Young Prophets Collective (website) and social media: Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Donate to supoorttheir work.
Rev. JJ Warren (pastor and founder of Young Prophets Collective), he is the author of Reclaiming Church: A Call to Rejection for Religious Rejects and Where Two or Three are Connected.
Rev. JJ Warren’s 2019 speech at General Counsel, United Methodist Church
Learn more about Jonelle’s work as an educational consultant, and founder of NelleRose Educational Services here and stay connected to her on Instagram, @nellerose_edu.
Rafiki Project, an iniative of Y.P. Collective - United Methodists in Kenya and United Methodists in the U.S. united together in friendship and mutual aid.
Help Us Spread the Word!
If you enjoy the Pray with our Feet podcast, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, where you can subscribe to the show. You can also listen on Spotify, and on all major streaming platforms.
BE in Community with Us:
Find devotionals, blog posts, and shop in our online store.
Head over to Instagram and Threads where the conversation continues between episodes.
Enjoy our @PrayWithOurFeet IG Live series, Move it Forward Monday, uplifting conversations that spark change with activists, community leaders, artists and more.
Special thank you to my husband Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.