Episode 3.3: Faith Leaders Speak Up For Choice with Rev Ginny Phillips Allen and Renee Adcock

Episode 3.3 “Faith Leaders Speak Up for Choice” with Rev. Ginny Phillips Allen and Rev. Renee Adcock. In this session, you will hear our conversations with two local faith leaders talking about abortion rights in lower Alabama. If you attended a protest following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in either Mobile or Fairhope, you likely saw Rev. Ginny Phillips Allen in her clerical collar standing on the streets and even being asked to speak on the steps of the Courthouse in downtown Mobile. She shares her journey from growing up as the daughter of conservative Baptist minister to taking a progressive, faith-based stance and being vocal on this issue in our community. We also hear from Rev. Renee Adcock, who recently founded a new spiritual center in Baldwin county, Spiritual Awakening Center 360, to hear how she has these conversations with her community. One point that she makes that I particularly love is that abortion is not a church or government matter, and one cannot use a spiritual text that is irrelevant to so many people to determine law for our country. Coming from a faith leader, this is an important distinction to make. She also talks about the spiritual leader's role in supporting people in their choices, whatever they may be. When asked about what gives her hope, Renee looks to this next generation of young people who are caring, inclusive, and willing to stand up for change. With these three episodes, we offer hope and supportive resources—if you are in a congregation where your faith leader is not publically or privately supportive of reproductive choice, or if you are a faith leader that feels silenced or ill-equipped, then you may find the resources in our EP 3 show notes helpful for making change in your spiritual community. Every single one of our guests have offered their support, so we hope that you will reach out and connect with them. And here is a link to our show notes—https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hWiVCJ9kIZvDBAdS8X9G-NZQ84VaUSThybpyLRiR3HM/edit#heading=h.fx116pkqr7g