Doubt, Becoming, & the Faith We Carry Together

Hey there, friends! Excited for another week together. Today, we return for season two episode two with a conversation about doubt, becoming, and what it means to keep showing up when faith feels uncertain.

We begin with the question: Can doubt be part of faith instead of the opposite of faith? From there, we reflect on the church traditions that shaped us, the difference between asking questions in safety and asking questions under authority, and how doubt can feel especially complicated for queer people who have been taught to question the truth of their own lives.

I (Tym) share about growing up in a church context where questions were technically allowed, but often answered in ways that made me feel like I should not have asked. Anny reflects on growing up in the Episcopal Church, where confirmation, catechism, common prayer, and liturgy created containers for questions rather than requiring absolute certainty.

Together, we talk about scripture, tradition, reason, experience, deconstruction and reconstruction, hell, the afterlife, Thomas, the Ascension, the baptismal covenant, and the power of saying, “I will, with God’s help.”

At the center of the episode is a deeply hopeful claim: doubt does not have to isolate us. When held in community, doubt can become part of our healing, part of our becoming, and part of a faith that is honest enough to be real.

Key themes

Doubt as part of faith
Queer becoming
Faith and uncertainty
Deconstruction and reconstruction
The Episcopal tradition and common prayer
Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience
Thomas and the need for “receipts”
The Ascension and “some still doubted”
The baptismal covenant
Community as a container for questions
Naming doubt without rushing to solve it
Faith that does not have to be fearless

Quotes to sit with

“Doubt is not the absence of faith. Doubt is what leads to greater faith.”

“Faith can’t exist without doubt.”

“Naming doubt can break isolation.”

“Community can hold questions we cannot hold alone.”

“Faith does not have to be fearless to be real.”

“The thing that binds us together is not common belief, but common prayer.”

“Doubt can reveal where theology has harmed us.”

“I will, with God’s help.”

Listener questions

How does this wondering feel to you: What if I don’t need certainty in order to keep showing up?

Or…

Jesus made room for Thomas. God mad room for all the Old Testament leaders and prophets - the ones who doubted their call, their place, and even God’s words… What would it mean for the Church to do the same?

Or…

What is this episode bringing up for you this week?

And remember: You belong here! <3