It’s the end of 2025 and 2026 is “coming in hot,” so Ciarra and Cass take a breath and do what we all say we’re going to do… but rarely actually do: look back at the year with honesty. They unpack the messy mix of grief and growth, the pressure Black women carry to be “perfect,” and how burnout shows up in the body (including Ciarra’s vocal nodules). From hustle identity to community care, they explore what it means to build a life that’s not just productive, but humane.

The episode closes with a powerful “sacred dissent” exchange—each friend naming what they hope the other carries into 2026: less pressure, more self-trust, deeper receiving, and a reminder that you don’t have to “arrive” to be worthy.

🌿 Find Cass & Ciarra Online
✨ Instagram: @RightThereWithYouPod
✨ Patreon: patreon.com/thecommunitygarden
✨ Cass: iamcasscooper.com | TikTok @just_cass2.0
✨ Ciarra: ciarajonesconsulting.com | TikTok @thegardeningtheologian

What if God was never a punisher—and hell was never the point?

In this powerful episode of Right There With You, hosts Cass Cooper and Ciarra Jones sit down with public theologians Tamice Spencer-Helms (Faith Unleavened) and Brian Recker (Hell Bent) to explore how fear, whiteness, and Christian supremacy have shaped American Christianity and the spiritual lives of millions.

Together, they unpack:

• How hell theology produces fear, shame, and control
• Why a punitive view of God leads to a punitive society
• The role of whiteness in shaping Christian identity, belonging, and power
• What it means to be Black, queer, and spiritually rooted outside colonized faith
• How to heal from religious trauma and rebuild spirituality in love
• Why restorative justice aligns more with Jesus than fear-based salvation
• The wilderness between Trayvon Martin and George Floyd—and what liberation looks like after loss

This conversation is tender, challenging, funny, and liberating. It’s for anyone navigating deconstruction, exvangelical healing, racial justice, queerness, parenting, divorce, co-parenting, or redefining their relationship to God.

If you’ve ever feared hell, questioned God’s love, or felt pushed out of church spaces—you’re right there with us.

Author of Faith Unleavened: The Wilderness Between Trayvon Martin & George Floyd
Founder, theologian, cultural critic, and co-creator of The Ember Gathering, a post-evangelical liberation event.

Author of Hell Bent: How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love
Former evangelical pastor, restorative justice advocate, and co-founder of The Ember Gathering.

🌿 Find Cass & Ciarra Online
✨ Instagram: @RightThereWithYouPod
✨ Patreon: patreon.com/thecommunitygarden
✨ Cass: iamcasscooper.com | TikTok @just_cass2.0
✨ Ciarra: ciarajonesconsulting.com | TikTok @thegardeningtheologian

In this episode of Right There With You, Cass and Ciarra tackle the uncomfortable truth: the male gaze is not ministry. From pulpits to platforms, patriarchal theology has long defined what holiness looks like—especially for women and queer folks.

Together, they explore how deconstruction, feminism, and faith intersect when the church’s obsession with purity, power, and performance collides with real people’s lives.

The conversation dives deep into spiritual grooming, gendered accountability, sexual repression, and performative forgiveness, asking: what happens when control is mistaken for care?

Cass and Ciarra illuminate the path toward sacred agency, reminding listeners that embodiment, truth-telling, and community care are not rebellion—they’re revival.

🌿 Find Cass & Ciarra Online
✨ Instagram: @RightThereWithYouPod
✨ Patreon: patreon.com/thecommunitygarden
✨ Cass: iamcasscooper.com | TikTok @just_cass2.0
✨ Ciarra: ciarajonesconsulting.com | TikTok @thegardeningtheologian

In this punchy, needed conversation, Cass and Ciarra name what’s happening to families when SNAP benefits are paused or cut: systemic policy violence. We reframe how we talk about “violence” in the context of food access, connect the dots between shutdown economics and hungry kids, and call out the gap between faith-in-words and care-in-action. We also offer practical ways to show up right now—mutual aid, local giving, and community care—while challenging the narratives that blame the most vulnerable. If you care about food security, social justice, and policy reform, this episode is your fire starter and field guide. ✊🏽

• Mutual Aid: Support a local mutual aid fridge, pantry, or school weekend-meal program.
• Food Banks: Donate time or funds to your nearest food bank.
• Policy: Call state reps to support SNAP extensions and emergency allotments.
• Community Check-In: Host a potluck or send a private “Do you need groceries this week?” message to your circle.
• Consider Donating to:

  Fort Worth: Funkytown Fridge at Westside Presbyterian Church: https://www.westsidepc.org/.
  Oakland: Oak Life Churcy: https://www.oaklifechurch.com/

  🌿 Find Cass & Ciarra Online
  ✨ Instagram: @RightThereWithYouPod
  ✨ Patreon: patreon.com/thecommunitygarden
  ✨ Cass: iamcasscooper.com | TikTok @just_cass2.0
  ✨ Ciarra: ciarajonesconsulting.com | TikTok @thegardeningtheologian
  

Weddings, work, and the “soft life.” Cass and Ciarra unpack why your partner may be the most consequential career decision you’ll ever make—and how to choose love that amplifies, not extracts. They dig into emotional labor in cis-hetero dynamics, what’s different in many queer partnerships, and the realities of going from solo to building a business with your person. Then they redefine success beyond hustle, talk nervous-system-friendly ambition, and share “sacred descent” practices for finding joy along the way.

✨ Highlights
• Partnership that accelerates (or stalls) your career
• Emotional extraction vs. equitable love
• Soft life energy without abandoning purpose
• Solopreneurship, layoffs, and scaling together
• Sacred descent: joy pockets, community, and self-worth beyond metrics

📚 Referenced
bell hooks — All About Love
Eve Rodsky — Fair Play
Anne Helen Petersen — Can’t Even
Pixar — Soul

🌿 Find Cass & Ciarra Online
✨ Instagram: @RightThereWithYouPod
✨ Patreon: patreon.com/thecommunitygarden
✨ Cass: iamcasscooper.com | TikTok @just_cass2.0
✨ Ciarra: ciarajonesconsulting.com | TikTok @thegardeningtheologian

Divorce doesn’t just cost money—it costs peace, time, and sometimes, your sense of self. In this solo episode, Cass shares how she spent three years and $60,000 leaving her marriage—and why she would pay it again. Through data, lived experience, and quiet truth-telling, she unpacks what divorce taught her about boundaries, burnout, and the real price of peace.

✨ Sacred Descent Prompt: Have you ever had to pay for your peace—in love, work, or life?

🌿 Find Cass & Ciarra Online
✨ Instagram: @RightThereWithYouPod
✨ Patreon: patreon.com/thecommunitygarden
✨ Cass: iamcasscooper.com | TikTok @just_cass2.0
✨ Ciarra: ciarajonesconsulting.com | TikTok @thegardeningtheologian

This season, we’re centering Black women and work — corporate work, creative work, emotional work, and the sacred act of finding rhythm in the middle of it all. 🌿

Cass and Ciarra dive into the realities of Black women thriving in systems not built for us, unpacking the weight of burnout, rising layoffs, and the illusion of DEI progress. Together, they explore how to navigate career, identity, and wellness while still living right there with you — in the mess, the healing, and the hope. 💫

🌈 Honest voices. Sacred dissent. Real talk about work, womanhood, and the world we’re building next.

🌿 Find Cass & Ciarra Online
✨ Instagram: @RightThereWithYouPod
✨ Patreon: patreon.com/thecommunitygarden
✨ Cass: iamcasscooper.com | TikTok @just_cass2.0
✨ Ciarra: ciarajonesconsulting.com | TikTok @thegardeningtheologian

Cass and Ciarra sit down with an HR professional to unpack what HR really does — and what it doesn’t. They explore how to navigate toxic culture, when to go to HR, and how to advocate for yourself without losing your peace.

This episode digs into the myths of HR, the reality of workplace power, and the importance of humanizing leadership. From FMLA and ADA to conflict resolution and emotional boundaries, this is a grounded, eye-opening guide to protecting your well-being at work.

Sacred Descent Prompt: How do you stay human in systems that forget we’re people first?

🌿 Find Cass & Ciarra Online
✨ Instagram:@RightThereWithYouPod
✨ Patreon:patreon.com/thecommunitygarden
✨ Cass: iamcasscooper.com | TikTok@just_cass2.0
✨ Ciarra: ciarajonesconsulting.com | TikTok@thegardeningtheologian