Faithfully Dissident Daughters: Reclaiming Christian Womanhood Beyond Patriarchy (with Chelsea Kim Long)

In this episode, I interviewed Chelsea Kim Long about her forthcoming book, Faithfully Dissident Daughters: Reclaiming Christian Womanhood Beyond Patriarchy. The conversation opens with a discussion of the Southern Baptist denomination's recent ruling restricting women from pastoral roles and the broader rise of Christian nationalism in the United States. Chelsea shares her personal story of growing up in non-denominational evangelicalism in the Midwest, where she was steeped in conservative patriarchal theology that framed gender hierarchies as benevolent.

She describes how her faith began to crack during college, first through questions about LGBTQ inclusion and social justice, and then more profoundly after becoming a mother — when pregnancy, a traumatic birth, postpartum depression, and infertility collided with a theology that had no framework for her embodied suffering. She recounts being told by church communities not to seek mental health medication, enduring years of shame and silence, and finally starting medication in 2020, which she describes as life changing.

Chelsea frames her deconstruction as an "hourglass" experience — everything she knew passed through a narrow, painful filter of grief and self-reckoning, but emerged into a more expansive, authentic faith. She now identifies as post-evangelical but remains a committed Christian, serving as a lay pastor and theologian in an intentional house church community.

Her book argues for a Christianity shaped by women's wisdom and embodied spiritual practice, pushing back against male-dominated theology and calling for spaces where women's bodies, voices, and leadership are fully affirmed. The episode closes with Chelsea describing the book's practical elements — journaling prompts, meditative coloring pages, a discussion guide, and chapters on embodied spiritual practices — and sharing where listeners can pre-order the book and connect with her online.

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