Episode Details

🎙️ 5. Rev. Darrell Goodwin (United Church of Christ - UCC) - The God of Our Wildest Dreams

This episode is for every queer person who was told “not you,” and for anyone who’s ever wondered if God could still be safe after the church became a source of pain. It’s for the seekers, the wounded, the deconstructing—and those finding their way back to faith with new eyes.

It’s also a powerful call to churches everywhere: to create spaces where people can heal, belong, and believe again.

💡 Key Takeaways
• The God of fear is not the God of liberation
• Queer people carry profound spiritual gifts
• Deconstruction often begins with heartbreak—and leads to freedom
• Scripture invites questioning, not control
• True pastoral integrity requires honesty, even before we’re ready
• Churches must mean it when they say, “Come as you are”
• Liberation means right relationship—with self, God, and others

🙏 For Listeners Healing from Church Hurt
Rev. Goodwin challenges listeners: sometimes you have to stop believing in the God who made you feel small or afraid in order to encounter the God of your wildest dreams.

⛪ About Our Guest
Rev. Darrell Goodwin (@revdgoodwin) is the Executive Conference Minister for the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ (@unitedchurchofchrist). He is the first openly Black Queer person to serve in this role, where he oversees more than 600 congregations. A powerful preacher, seminary educator, and pastoral leader, Rev. Goodwin holds degrees from Boston College, the University of Vermont, Seattle University, and is a doctoral candidate at San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 WATCH: YouTube / Spotify
     LISTEN: Apple Podcasts + everywhere
     FOLLOW: @thesacredslope (IG, FB, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

🔗 Connect
🎧 Explore episodes & community: linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope
🎙 Hosted by Alexis Rice
🎵 Music by Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin & Sean Spence
📬 Nominate a guest: alexis@thesacredslope.com

🌿 Community Guidelines 🌿
Fruit of the Spirit:  ❤️ love • 💫 joy • ☮️ peace • 🕊 patience • 💝 kindness • 🌿 goodness • 🙏 faithfulness • 🤲 gentleness • 💪 self-control