Meet the Team
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Don Schiewer Jr
FOUNDER
Don focuses his studies and teaching on second temple Judaism and Pre-Constantinian Christianity. He is one of the former hosts of the Evangebros podcast and the founder of Food for Thought in Toledo, a nonprofit focused on helping people out of food insecurity.
After spending 20 years developing tools for biblical study and teaching, Don decided to create Ancient Jesus/Future Faith as a way to more broadly share his resources, questions, and explorations with the world. Don is the driving force behind AJ/FF, and you can find him on the podcast, hosting several nights a week on YouTube Live. He is also developing curriculum for our upcoming webinars and courses.
When not working with AJ/FF, Don spends his time playing board games, riding his electric unicycle, or cheering on all the Cleveland sports teams, even when they break his heart.
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Tana M. Schiewer, PhD
PROJECT DIRECTOR
Tana is a rhetoric scholar and nonprofit leader who is continually exploring Abraham Joshua Heschel’s declaration that “words create worlds.” She holds a PhD in rhetoric and writing from Virginia Tech and is currently a volunteer at Dust Church.
Tana’s interest in AJ/FF stems from years of studying with (and being married to!) Don. She shares his passion for improving biblical literacy, viewing scripture as beautiful literature, and building a more compassionate and just world. You can find her co-hosting the podcast, moderating YouTube, and tooling around on AJ/FF’s social media. Tana will also be instrumental in creating many of the written resources supplied by AJ/FF.
In her spare time, Tana enjoys playing board games, constantly reorganizing her house, and doggedly learning world geography. She is getting ever closer to memorizing all 195 countries (she managed to name that all one time!), even if she doesn’t quite know where they all are.
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Sarah Mainardi
PODCAST CO-HOST
Sarah Mainardi is a master educator and accomplished musician with a life-long love for studying scripture. While she is an expert at inspiring young people to embrace creative expression, she also has a particular giftedness for teaching biblical concepts in a way that encourages critical thought and reflection. Her training and experiences in emotional health, christian counseling, bible scholarship, and discipleship, coupled with her teacher's heart, result in a way of life that seeks to know G_d and love others well.
Sarah is excited about co-hosting the AJ/FF podcast because she loves to learn and has a passion for scripture and spirituality. She hopes the podcast will be a safe place for all to come to know G_d and learn tools to unearth the beauty found in the whole of scripture.
Sarah loves spending time with her two daughters and her husband: traveling, biking, playing, visiting amusement parks, supporting local businesses, and finding adventures.