What does it mean to live out faith in real, tangible ways? In this moving episode, Compass host Ryan Dunn sits down with Rev. Ingrid McIntyre—a United Methodist pastor and seasoned community organizer based in Nashville, Tennessee—to explore activism, justice, and the spiritual fuel that sustains hope in challenging times.
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Episode Notes:
Rev. Ingrid McIntyre is a United Methodist pastor, an organizer, and a relentless advocate for justice in Nashville, Tennessee. Her work focuses on housing security, grassroots coalition-building, and giving voice to the marginalized. Ingrid’s leadership helped launch innovative housing for the unhoused, and her ministry is recognized for blending faith with action on the issues that impact our communities most.
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This episode posted on August 6, 2025
Episode Transcript:
Ryan Dunn [00:00:01]:
Welcome to Compass. Finding Spirituality in the Everyday. I'm your host, Ryan Dunn. This podcast often provides a platform for voices and ideas around social justice. This would include topics like housing, income equality, LGBTQ advocacy, ending racism, and more. We're in a period where it feels like in our context in the United States, we're losing progress on several of those issues. For me, that introduces a bit of a theological dilemma because I hold to the idea that, as MLK put it, the arc of justice is always advancing. And maybe it is overall.
Ryan Dunn [00:00:42]:
But it's disheartening when the few steps of progress which have really been witnessed over the last several years are met with reactive steps backwards. When LGBTQ voices are marginalized through public policy, when national priorities favor the rich over the unhoused, when racist rhetoric motivates legislation to define who is acceptable and who is not, and especially then, when those who are labeled as outsiders are moved into concentration camps. My friend, Reverend Ingrid McIntyre is heavily engaged in activism and advocacy around these issues in Nashville, Tennessee. It's emotional work, and while I know Ingrid to be a high energy person, I wondered how these steps backwards may be affecting her and advocates like her and also what provides fuel for the continued work with all these confrontations and public actions. So I went over to our little church in Nashville and talked with Ingrid about her journey into activism and how being an activist and a pastor correlate and what's fueling her hope. Whether you're curious about grassroots organizing, passionate about social justice, or seeking some inspiration for your own spiritual journey, this episode takes a look at what it means to live out faith in real, tangible ways. So let's get into it here on Compass.
Ryan Dunn [00:02:13]:
All right, Ingrid, we've known each other a while, but in the make believe world of us just meeting, we're at a party and having the normal kind of chit chat conversation of like, oh, what do you do? How do you describe what you do.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:02:28]:
At those places? It makes me a little nervous to say what I do. Sometimes it freaks people out maybe a little bit. But I would say that I'm a pastor in the United Methodist Church and that I'm an organizer in our community around issues that impact the community and impact individuals mostly adversely.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:02:53]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:02:53]:
So issues of justice where I feel like maybe justice is lacking.
Ryan Dunn [00:02:58]:
Yeah. How do you see those two roles overlapping?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:03:03]:
I mean, it's a natural fit as far as I'm concerned. I think that the values of Jesus and the values that Jesus lived are very much in line with what it looks like to have A just community. And so I feel like living those values out in real time and doing my best to embody the life of Jesus. The embodiment piece is really important to me more than the word. So, yeah, I think it's a pretty good fit. I mean, I might say that Jesus was a pastor and a community organizer. Maybe not a pastor in the United Methodist Church, but Jes. You know, I think the church.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:03:50]:
Right, Jes. Yeah, but. But yeah. So I think that those two things go hand in hand pretty well.
Ryan Dunn [00:03:58]:
Yeah.
Ryan Dunn [00:03:59]:
What does a.
Ryan Dunn [00:04:00]:
A week look like for you then? Like, how do you spend your time walking between those two roles?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:04:09]:
It's a lot. You know, this week has several folks in our congregation who are in the hospital and so visiting hospitals. But also Elon Musk has just said he's going to make a land grab here in Tennessee, particularly here in Nashville, specifically in a black and brown neighborhood that has historically been underserved. And so it was announced and passed in less than three days. And that doesn't feel like transparency.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:04:43]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:04:44]:
So showing up in public spaces and saying, where the people. Where are the people's voices in this?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:04:51]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:04:51]:
It was. Didn't have anything to do with people. Had to do with rich white men stealing land again.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:04:57]:
Again. Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:04:59]:
So being present in that space, as a person of faith, it's important to me that, that folks know that people of faith are not happy with some of the things that are going on in our. In our community these days.
Ryan Dunn [00:05:14]:
So when you say being present in that space, what does that mean?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:05:19]:
So I went to Cordell hall this morning, which is our state office building. It's where. It's next door to the Capitol.
Ryan Dunn [00:05:26]:
Okay.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:05:27]:
It's where all the legislators offices are and it's where the committee, like the House committee rooms and the Senate committee rooms are. So this was a meeting that was held in House hearing room three this morning. So I showed up holding a sign. My sign said rich white men stealing land again. And just wanted to show up in community so that it's not just rich, powerful or elected people that are being heard, but to make sure that the community is being heard. And to witness.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:06:05]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:06:05]:
Even just to be a witness, to say, I'm watching these four rich white men men make this decision this morning on behalf of the people of Tennessee. When Tennessee did not get to weigh in, not even most of the representatives in the state of Tennessee got to weigh in.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:06:23]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:06:24]:
A lot of them found out about this at the same time that the general public did. So to me, that Feels a little sneaky. And, you know, we can't even get the state to give us free land for affordable housing when there are thousands of people without housing yet they will give it away to literally the richest man in the United States to do something that's not going to help the people of Nashville.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:06:52]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:06:52]:
It'll help the. It'll help maybe capitalism, maybe with a tunnel from the airport straight into downtown. But, you know, that's not going to help individuals who live in Nashville, people who are going to have to pay for the upkeep of this, who pay for the ambulances and the fire trucks that go down there when Teslas explode or when people get stuck or when there's a flood, you know, like we had in 2010, and it floods. Like what? You know, all these things are things that we don't know anything about. So just holding folks accountable, whatever the situation is, that just happened to be what it was this morning.
Ryan Dunn [00:07:34]:
Okay. What led you towards doing this kind of work? Were you a. A pastor who was then suddenly. Well, not suddenly, but felt a call into that work, or was it the other way around, like you were doing the activism kind of work? And like, I think there's something speaking to my soul.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:07:53]:
Yeah. Well, I'm a pk, right? So that's part of it. That's just part of my context.
Ryan Dunn [00:07:58]:
Yeah. That's a preacher's kid.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:07:59]:
Yeah.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:08:00]:
Anybody or theological, as some people like to say. I'm not that. I don't think I'm there. I think I'm just a pk. But I've known for a long time that my work is along the margins. It's just where I have felt called for a very long time. I mean, probably since before, but at least since eighth grade. That's been very clear to me.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:08:24]:
And so oftentimes, can we.
Ryan Dunn [00:08:26]:
What happened in eighth grade? Was there an aha moment?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:08:31]:
And you're like, oh, no. I was staying with my cousin who I adore and didn't want to go home. It was a summer vacation, and I didn't want to leave. We didn't want to leave each other. And she was leaving to go to Appalachia Service Project the next day, and I couldn't go. And I was too young, like a year too young maybe to go. And so thank goodness I know the executive director of Appalachia Service Project yet. Be mad, Melissa.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:09:02]:
But I lied on my form and said that I was a year older than I was so that I could go with my cousin to Appalachia and Her church was in Indiana, and I lived in Tennessee, but we were serving in Tennessee. So La Follette, Tennessee, was the first place that I served with the Appalachian Service Project and knew in that moment that people weren't being treated fairly.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:09:25]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:09:26]:
People weren't receiving the. Just end of the stick, if you would. And it bothered me a lot. I knew that this was the area that my family came out of, Appalachia.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:09:40]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:09:41]:
And I knew that, you know, my dad's grandparents didn't have running water and. Or a restroom in their house.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:09:50]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:09:50]:
And so being in and among folks who were perpetually left out of an economic equation felt like a personal assault. And so just kept sort of down that road and realized that, oh, there are plenty of more people who are being treated even worse.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:10:13]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:10:16]:
Who things are not just for. Who have, you know, people whose ancestors were enslaved, people whose ancestors land was stolen from, people who have been stolen, you know, from. From homelands and things like that. So just kept learning more and more about our history and, like, what humans can do. That. That doesn't reflect love.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:10:43]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:10:43]:
To me, but that reflects greed. And so being a voice in the midst of that has been important to me for a long time. And so I guess the activism probably came first in terms of thinking this is what I want to do. But certainly I've had a bedrock of faith since, you know, 1976.
Ryan Dunn [00:11:12]:
So as you were entering your adult life, were there. Were you looking for jobs in the activism space? Were you looking for jobs in the clerical space? Out of that?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:11:27]:
Yeah, no, neither. I honestly don't know. I think I went to college really not knowing.
Ryan Dunn [00:11:36]:
Yeah, sure.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:11:38]:
You know, I was. For once in my life, I think I was just, like, doing the thing.
Ryan Dunn [00:11:42]:
You'Re supposed to do.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:11:43]:
Right. Which is not.
Ryan Dunn [00:11:44]:
This will give me the opportunities to do whatever.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:11:47]:
That's not my typical thing is to just do, you know, go along to get along. But I think maybe I was at that point go, you know, going to college even. I mean, I majored in communications and religion, but I didn't know really what that meant for me. And so I did start working in the church some, but continued to be called to that intersection of faith and politics, which is why I went to Wesley Seminary right here in Nashville. But Wesley really called to me because of where it is that it's in D.C. in the heart. Yeah. Wesley's in the heart of D.C.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:12:27]:
and so to be able to be in that space and soak up what that environment was giving, you know, taught me a Lot. And I had to. I watched people be brave a lot in that space. I haven't always been super brave in that space, and I don't know, I guess I'm brave in that space now, but still fearful.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:12:50]:
Right?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:12:50]:
It doesn't. I don't think that bravery takes your fear away necessarily.
Ryan Dunn [00:12:54]:
Okay.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:12:55]:
It just takes your. I'm just unwilling to be silent or invisible while people with power just run over folks. So I just can't. I would rather be scared and standing up than, I guess, comfortable and quiet. That's probably one thing that no one would ever describe me as, comfortable and quiet.
Ryan Dunn [00:13:38]:
So as you began to discern a sense of calling, were there certain events that really kind of moved you into a particular direction?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:13:50]:
Yeah, I still think that, like, you know, again, housing was what, you know, certainly Appalachia service project works on housing. Some dear, dear family friends had been a part of, like, homeless ministries for their whole lives, working in Catholic Worker houses, which I learned a lot from as well. And that was really moving to me. The One thing in D.C. you know, when we were there or when I was there is when the genocide in the Sudan was happening. I mean, not that things are still not great there. I mean, things are still not great there, but that was in the beginning.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:14:33]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:14:34]:
And so it just helped me see sort of how people were responding in general. It was the first time, I think, I was, like, really paying attention to how people responded to a major injustice and organizing. Right. Like actually organizing. Not just saying, oh, man, that's terrible, but doing something about it. And it's. It really revs me up, I think.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:14:59]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:14:59]:
Oh, like, you can do something about this. You can't. You don't just, like, read the news and complain. You can show up at the. You can start talking to people. You can, you know, get your other friends to show up with you. This is powerful.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:15:18]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:15:19]:
Our voices matter. So learning that. And then after I moved back to Nashville in 2010 and the flood happened, and it was, you know, a place, tent city that was beloved, that had flooded. There was not an option to not do something or, you know, it was not an option to be quiet and comfortable at that moment.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:15:39]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:15:39]:
People who, you know and loved have lost everything that they've had. They had. So, yeah, now's the time. Let's get with it.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:15:49]:
Right?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:15:49]:
So that really started a big push for activism, I think, in my life, but activism backed up by faith, saying, like, people deserve more than this. This, like, we were created to be whole and thriving people, not people have to struggle to find a meal. Not people have to struggle to get a good night's sleep so that our mental health is intact. Right. People have to struggle for their health care or. Or to be in relationship in a healthy way with each other. So that turned the boat, as we might say, for me, in a big way, where I think I just, like, lost it. I, you know, I lost my willingness for any kind of comfort and quietness, I think, in that space.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:16:39]:
And. Yeah. So here we are 15 years later, and it's just gone downhill or coasting positive down.
Ryan Dunn [00:16:50]:
And it's funny that you bring up the. The Sudan and the Darfur was what we were talking about at the time. I was working in a local church at that point, and I brought it up with the youth group, and I had some pushback against that because it felt a little bit political for some people. Is that something that you deal with and.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:17:13]:
Yeah.
Ryan Dunn [00:17:14]:
And how does that kind of political, Political speak affect your congregational relationship?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:17:26]:
Yeah, you know, I try to be nonpartisan most of the time, because to me, what matters is the. Is the values that we're lifting up.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:17:36]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:17:36]:
It's these values that I think are. Are most people of faith's values.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:17:41]:
Right?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:17:42]:
It's not just a Christian value. It's not, you know, just a Jewish value. It's not just a Muslim value. Like, we all hold these values as people of faith for the most part.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:17:53]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:17:55]:
Saying that justice shall roll down.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:17:59]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:17:59]:
Um, we should love our neighbors. We take care of the orphan and the widow. All of these things that we all agree with pretty much from all different faith perspectives and from a humanitarian perspective.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:18:14]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:18:15]:
And so to watch. To watch folks not live with dignity and humanity because of decision makers, sure, it's political. But, you know, Jesus was political like we're humans, you know, political is basically for the people of the people with the people.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:18:38]:
Right?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:18:38]:
And so this is about people, like, everything we do is political, right? Almost every single thing we do is political. So I think when people say don't be political, they probably mean don't be partisan, because we have to talk about politics to be able to do anything. I mean, you know, the city takes how much money from our church funds because of just stormwater runoff? I think we pay twelve hundred dollars a quarter now.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:19:16]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:19:16]:
And our church, that hardly has that just because of our parking lot and stormwater runoff, that's political. I called a person who's in politics to say, can we not have a discount for that?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:19:28]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:19:29]:
We're a mission church with Housing.
Ryan Dunn [00:19:33]:
I think it's important to note that.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:19:34]:
We have housing on housing in our front yard. And so, you know, all the things we do are pretty much, do you want red or purple carpet? Like it's going to be a decision that we have to make. You know, it's of the people we got. It's political. Who's going to win that argument in the church? Is it the person who's paying for the carpet or is it the rest of the folks?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:19:57]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:19:57]:
Like it. We can't get away from being political. So I think, and I have learned, and I'll say this for any listeners out there who are interested, that I have probably learned, one of the learnings would be. Yeah. Not to be partisan because almost every politician that you're going to back is going to fail you.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:20:23]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:20:25]:
We all know that people change and power does things to people.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:20:30]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:20:31]:
So even your bestie who runs for mayor or city council is not. Every decision they make is not going to be what you meant necessarily want them to make.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:20:40]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:20:42]:
And so standing on values is a much sure bet.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:20:46]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:20:48]:
Than standing for specific people or for specific parties. There's only one person I think that I've endorsed that I'm like still willing and happy to endorse and will to the grave, probably.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:21:02]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:21:03]:
But one person out of how many.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:21:06]:
Right.
Ryan Dunn [00:21:07]:
Yeah.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:21:08]:
They fail us. Politicians fail us. They're human. But values don't necessarily fail us. So like sticking with those feels like a good idea.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:21:17]:
Idea.
Ryan Dunn [00:21:18]:
You mentioned the housing at the church. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Like we're, we're recording this at the church here in Nashville. Like what's outside here?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:21:29]:
Yeah.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:21:30]:
So we sit on a six acre plot in southeast Nashville. Really just like right on 440, so pretty close to downtown. And like all the other amazing things, like, we're in a great location, I think, and in our front yard. Yard we have 12 homes that we built. They're micro homes. Two of them hold two people and the other 10 hold one person each. And it's a medical respite for people experiencing homelessness. My first appointment in the church was to the streets.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:12]:
It was not to a church or to a church building. And honestly, we've made it work. But church buildings are not my favorite.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:20]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:20]:
I would rather be spending time outside and in the streets and in the community than in a church building. So it feels like a lot to take care of sometimes. But we have utilized this space so that we have more people coming through during the week, more Community members coming through the week that would normally never step foot in a church.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:42]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:43]:
But they are utilizing our space because we have shared values.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:47]:
Values.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:48]:
And they are working in the community for those shared values.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:51]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:51]:
So they may not show up on a Sunday morning at church, but they trust me, which is an honor.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:58]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:22:58]:
And they know that they can come here and find safe space where they can organize, where they can talk about what the next step is for a campaign around helping protect folks in whatever ways they need to be protected or to help serve folks, feed folks who maybe they're going with to court this week.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:23:22]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:23:24]:
So using this space as a place to organize for our values, which again, is ecumenical, is interfaith, is. It crosses so many, so many intersections that we can all relate to. I think, like folks that are not in the 1%.
Ryan Dunn [00:23:50]:
Everybody kind of has their passion projects or in using terms around value, like the. The things that they tend to focus on a little bit more. And it sounds like housing is. Is one of those push buttons topics for you. Giving voice to marginalized communities is another one. In, in our own state or in our own context, it can feel like we're moving away from, like, full justice for this. You know, for example, like around Tennessee, our reaction to homeless people is to, you know, make it illegal to be homeless, that you can be ticketed for being on the sidewalk kind of deal or. Or for camping out in a certain space.
Ryan Dunn [00:24:37]:
So as it feels like we're. We're kind of walking back on issues of justice like that, and you're so enmeshed in this work of. Of being proactive in that space. Like, are there stories that. That kind of give you hope to keep going?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:24:52]:
Sure.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:24:53]:
I mean, it feels. I mean, it's a heavy time right now.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:24:57]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:24:57]:
Let's. Let's not confuse that. It is a very heavy time. And I would be silly to say that I don't feel heavy right now.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:25:06]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:25:08]:
Again, this. Just this morning at the, you know, going to the Capitol for the first time since session, and everybody's like, oh, Pastor Ingrid, you know, like all the. All the security, like, whatever. People who are used to people are.
Ryan Dunn [00:25:20]:
Genuinely happy to see.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:25:21]:
Well, and they're like, how's it going? You know, how's your summer? And it's like, terrible.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:25:26]:
It's.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:25:27]:
It feels terrible. You know, we've had 30 days of the hottest weather in Nashville in how long?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:25:34]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:25:35]:
Heat advisories every day, heat index of 114 yesterday. So, like, you're stuck inside and it feels like things are Falling apart everywhere. You know, you ask about my issues like certainly housing, certainly people's voices being heard, white Christian nationalism, you know, down with it. I mean, I'm not down with, I'm saying get rid of, be down. Let's, let's get rid of it. You know, the immigration stuff that's coming up, all of these things certainly. But the hope, I guess it is so heavy and yet I want to say people are amazing, right? There's so many more people that have power that maybe don't realize it, right. Or it's a different kind of power than they're used to.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:26:33]:
So they're not, they haven't maybe activated it yet. But the people who are learning to activate their voices and who are learning, who are starting to show up just because they can't think about doing anything else right now anymore, right? They're tired of it. They're tired of decisions being made for them, not by them, right? And so I think it is so hopeful, it is so hopeful to me when I see a woman from, from Robertson County. I mean this meeting this morning was at 8 o'. Clock. I'm sure she had to leave at 6 this morning. She works as a, in a, she works in a warehouse in Robertson County. She works the night shift.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:27:19]:
She came in after her night shift to be present and to speak at this thing this morning. And I just think, yes, this is it, right? This is people standing up and saying, these are my values. I'm. I don't have to be a pastor, I don't have to be a rabbi or an imam or you know, somebody in special power, District superintendent. No, I can just be Ingrid McIntyre and go and speak. I can just be Joanna and go and speak. I can just be, you know, Ms. Jane and go and speak.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:27:52]:
80 year old women are getting thrown out of committees right now because they are standing up for their values. And that is hope, right? That is, you know, maybe Jesus saying, take this cup from me, but here I am, I'm going to stand up, I'm going to keep going, right? And to me it's beautiful. Like, I think that is more transformative to a community than any redlining or you know, zoning hearings or we're going to put this tunnel right through your neighborhood without asking any of that, right? Personal transformation where one by one folks are standing up and saying, nah, I don't, this isn't okay with me anymore. That is helpful.
Ryan Dunn [00:28:49]:
I'll preach. One final question. In thinking about your spiritual journey, were there certain books, authors, voices, even preachers that kind of had an impact on your. On your theological mindset.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:29:10]:
Yeah, sure. I mean, liberation theology all the way for me.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:29:14]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:29:18]:
Dr. Beverly Mitchell, who just retired from Wesley Theological Seminary, I think she changed my life.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:29:25]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:29:25]:
I think I just, I got to tell her that at her retirement, which was nice. She just put things in front of my face that I needed to see and asked hard questions and was willing to have hard conversations about, you know, about capitalism, about the way our country works, about where our clothing comes from and who's making it and how much they're getting paid or what their lives look like. Right. Nothing is what it is on the surface. Like, we have to always dig deeper to see what is that? What does justice look like around almost every situation?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:30:11]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:30:12]:
What are, what are people's experiences? I mean, ultimately is the Earth, are living things, humans obviously included? Are we thriving? Is the environment thriving? It's not. Well, why not? Well, let's get to it.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:30:28]:
Right?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:30:29]:
Let's get to it. So if a human's not thriving, why not? Let's fix this. Fix the system. It's not an in one individual bad decision that has, like, made things fall apart. It's systems that are not made to work for certain people. And until you organize large groups of people to see those broken systems and then to help fix and change them, we're not going to get anywhere.
Ryan Dunn [00:30:56]:
Well, so if you wanted to put it an exclamation point on that, then, like, what would that be?
Ingrid McIntyre [00:31:01]:
Like, get active. Get activate. Right there. There are people in every community, not just Nashville.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:31:11]:
Right.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:31:12]:
There are people in Dixon. There are people in Robertson County. There are people in between here in Memphis. Right there. I mean, our rural communities have got to, like, we've got to figure it out with our rural communities. We've got to figure out how to build relationships because that's where some folks who are maybe not upholding the values that we believe in. And I can say that as a United Methodist, we do not believe in these values. We do not.
Ingrid McIntyre [00:31:53]:
And so how can we further and further organize ourselves to say to our. The people who are supposed to be speaking for us, who? Some of our United Methodists. Let me say that again, some of who are United Methodists. How are we holding them accountable? Activate your voice. You got it.
Ryan Dunn [00:32:24]:
That's it for this episode of Compass, Finding Spirituality in the Everyday. We're so grateful that you've joined us for this meaningful conversation exploring faith, justice, and the ways in which each of us can activate our voices for good. You know, I had to leave this interview a little bit early because I got a phone call that my wife had been bitten by a dog. She was on her way to the emergency room. Turned out she's. She's just fine. Just kind of a painful experience. But as I was there in the waiting room in the er, a young man brought in an older woman.
Ryan Dunn [00:33:00]:
Not sure what her issues were, but she was definitely confused. Well, it turns out this young man had just met her and saw that she needed help, brought her there to the er. As they were waiting for the doctors to call her back, he started sharing his life with her. He was showing her pictures of his children and talking about his relationship status. It was actually really, really heartwarming. As she was called back, it seemed a logical opportunity for the young man to maybe make his exit. He turned his good deeds right. However, he was concerned that she was confused, that she just needed somebody to be with her during that time.
Ryan Dunn [00:33:37]:
And so he stayed and went back with her. I'm not sure how the situation worked out, but to me, in witnessing that, it was just this exclamation point on Ingrid's idea that there are good people and this is where the hope is found that there are still good people who are willing to come alongside the their neighbor like that, even knowing so little about him having met them just a few minutes ago. So to that young man, hey, you're my hero. If you're looking for more from today's episode, head over to our [email protected] Compass you'll find detailed episode notes, resources, and even more episodes to inspire your journey. A huge thank you to the team at United Methodist Communications. They make this possible podcast possible and their dedication helps bring these important stories and conversations directly to you. If you haven't already, we'd love for you to subscribe or to rate and review Compass. Wherever you listen to your podcast, your feedback helps so much.
Ryan Dunn [00:34:36]:
It helps people find the show and become a part of this growing community. Thanks again for listening with us. We'll see you in a couple weeks time here on Compass. Peace.
