This week is the concluding episode of this season of the Imago Gei podcast, created and hosted by Kendra Arsenault.

Just a quick note to express how much I appreciate Kendra doing this podcast project with Spectrum. 

I sometimes think of Spectrum as an airport (with a comfortable lounge!) where travelers on spiritual journeys intersect and then continue in various directions. Flights of fancy and round trips are welcome.  

Kendra and I started talking about this podcast in 2021, as I wanted to weave Kendra’s journey deeper into the story of Adventism. Kindly, SDA Kinship joined and this triumvirate set out on a one-year media incubation project. 

It worked! That’s thanks to Kendra, the star of this collaboration experience. She is a delight to work with and I really appreciate the variety of conversations she has fostered. I’m looking forward to seeing where she goes NXT and she’ll always have a place in the Spec-drome. 

—Alexander Carpenter

***

Today, we are reflecting on the first year of the Imago Gei podcast. It’s been a little over a year since that defining moment of disclosing my bi identity, and today we are reflecting on the growth and journey this year has brought from the many wonderful guests who opened up an incredible world of theology, therapy, and hope for a more inclusive tomorrow. We also discuss the journey of learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, managing the anxiety of being different within our religious communities, and answering the big question of "when all our dragons are slayed, who am I now?"

Our cohost for this week is spiritual care provider Roxan Del Valle, MDiv, along with yours truly, Kendra Arsenault, MDiv. This week is our concluding podcast for this season of Imago Gei, which has been sponsored by two magnificent organizations that are so near and dear to my heart. I want to give a special thanks to Spectrum and Alexander Carpenter, in particular, along with SDA Kinship and Floyd Poenitz, who have partnered with me to bring you this project to amplify LGBTQ voices and LGBTQ theology for a wider audience.

You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or below.

—Kendra Arsenault

Alexander Carpenter is executive editor of Spectrum

Kendra Arsenault, MDiv, is the host of the Imago Gei podcast and a graduate of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary.

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