The Board Game Faith Newsletter, Issue 33
Hello, Board Game Faithful!
Kevin: Our church choir is getting ready for the cantata, which is very lovely (Pepper Choplin’s Walk with Me). I’ve even got a brief solo in it! It’s scheduled for Easter Sunday, after the sunrise service, so it will be a big day that may involve me nodding off during my OWN SOLO. Take that Swifties.
Daniel: One of the highlights for our family from the last couple weeks was our first chance to participate in our city’s “March March.” Columbia is home to the “True/False” film festival, a huge annual event showcasing documentaries from the around the world. But at the beginning of the festival, there is an unchoreographed parade in which anyone can take part. The only encouragement is that you show up as flamboyant as possible. It was a weird and wonderful event filled with life.
Behind the Episodes
It was wonderful getting to talk with Rev. Dr. Casey Sigmon in our last episode. She has been such a great and encouraging conversation partner about the value of play since we got to know each other a few months ago. She has invited Board Game Faith to participate in her own podcast, as well as the Pause/Play Center’s annual event in Kansas City, and we couldn’t be more thrilled!
Coming Up
We’ve got Sam Macdonald of Garphill Games fame (Architects of the West Kingdom, Circadians: First Light and Circadians: Chaos Order) coming up in a few months! That will be especially good fun. Sam has been an interim pastor, along with a musician and board game designer.
Games We're All About Right Now
Kevin: John Company 2nd edition remains a stalwart. I introduced it to a new person the other week, and he was “man, that awesome” for about 3 days. Best game ever!! I’m still working through ISS Vanguard as a solo experience, and I appreciate some of its thoughtful choices to help dunderheads like me remember things – there’s a small token with 2 actions remaining/1 action remaining, and another token with available/passed for every character, and those small choices make tracking things so much nicer and easier.
Daniel: Some good friends had us over to their house the other night to play Foundations of Rome. What a great game! It couples the “claiming spaces on a grid” mechanism that I really love (seems like there should be a better name for that) with absolutely gorgeous components. We had a blast.
Spirituality
Kevin: I am totally not into Lent this year. Bring on Easter, man! These dark hymns are harsh. I know they have a place in some Christian spirituality but this year it simply AIN’T WORKING FOR ME. A person shared with me how, in their strict Protestant upbringing, every Sunday was about Jesus’ death on a cross, basically a Good Friday sermon, and it was never Easter and resurrection. How gloomy is that? Always Good Friday and never Easter. Beware those whose spirituality is so dark, and never enjoy “the glad irony of the gospel” (Rev. Warren Carr). I’m just in an Easter spirit these days, and I can’t seem to fight it. Sorry Lent, maybe next year!
Daniel: I’ve started reading Edwin Friedman’s Failure of Nerve, on the advice of my ministry coach, and I’m very intrigued by it. What has stuck with me so far is his concept of a “self-differentiated leader” - one who is guided less by reactivity and more by sense of meaning and call. It reminds me of Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote that we are called to be thermostats, not thermometers.
Media We're Digging Right Now
Kevin: Constellation on Apple TV+ is great, as is Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon (both on Apple TV+ as well). Apple TV+ is on a roll! I’m reading Rachel Maddow’s Prequel, about Naziism and fascism in America in the 1940s. This is a story that needs to be told. Hitler had a lot of support over here, in part through his propaganda machine (they spent millions to impact American opinion) and through good old racism.
Daniel: I was excited to hear a new single from the Avett Brothers off of their upcoming album. The North Carolina band (Kevin, North Carolina!!) has been a favorite of ours for quite a while, but it’s been a few years since they released a new album. They’re kind of hard to describe, but if you find the idea of folk/bluegrass/Applachain/rock/punk appeal, you might want to check them out!
Thank You!
Thanks so much for being a part of the BGF community. We are grateful for each of you and the ways you make the world more awesome. And if you haven’t had a chance to tell us a little about yourself yet, we would love it if you could fill out this form please!