We're back! Hang on to your WWJD bracelets, and strap in for Season Two! We'll be tackling everything from Christian fame, to making friends and fighting loneliness, and an oral history of modern evangelical culture - complete with seashells! Join us every Wednesday as we tromp through the ups and downs of Big City Christianity.
Put on your fancy pants and join us at the Grand Ole Opry! We're headed south to Nashville, Tennessee: country music Mecca and Christian hipster capital of the world. In a bonus summer series, Roxy goes on a journey to see what's what for seekers in other great cities, exploring the spiritual side of four favorite metropolises. Our final city is Nashville and our master of ceremonies is Kat Armas. Kat is a fresh transplant to Nashville and gives us her first impressions of the Music City. We tal...
In a bonus summer series, Roxy goes on a journey to see what's what for seekers in other great cities, exploring the spiritual side of four favorite metropolises. This week we're off to Melbourne with Devi Abraham, who gives us the lowdown on the Land Down Under. Devi takes us on a tour of the oft-voted "most livable city in the world" and its richly diverse population — and food scene. We compare notes on evangelicalism, purity culture and finding community in a new city. And, yeah, we talk Hil...
Let's head west — on the iconic American road trip over the mountains and through the desert to that magical land of the silver screen and the swaying palms: Los Angeles. In a bonus summer series, Roxy goes on a journey to see what's what for seekers in other great cities, exploring the spiritual side of four favorite metropolises. This week we hit up Hollywood, and the star of our show is Laura Tremaine. Laura takes us behind the scenes of one of America's most storied cities as we explore both...
Take a trip with us across the pond to the Swinging City, the Old Smoke, London Town. In a bonus summer series, Roxy goes on a journey to see what's what for seekers in other great cities, exploring the spiritual side of four favorite metropolises. First up is London, hosted by our top-notch tour guide, Chine McDonald. Chine takes us through some of the twists and turns (and down a few of the dark alleys) of Christianity — and evangelicalism — in England. She gives us a glimpse into navigating r...
Life is long. Spiritual journeys are winding. Sometimes there are mushrooms. Plenty has been written about the rise of the so-called nones, those who are unaffiliated with any faith tradition. Many of them were once Christians. But behind the stats are millions of stories and spiritual journeys. Behind the stats are more than a few of our friends. In this episode, we reflect on those who have left the faith: why they left, how to learn from them and what it takes to stay friends. Audrey Assad jo...
We pledged the pledge. We made the promise. Purity culture failed to deliver. What now? Purity culture was at its height while we were growing up — and the teachings made an impact. But what to do now, decades later, when the promises and threats of purity culture no longer hold the same sway? And when the harms appear to so dramatically outweigh any good? In this episode, we wrestle with what a "Christian" sexual ethic really looks like — long after the teenage hormones have abated. Christine E...
How come nobody has a 'meet cute' anymore? Gone it seems are the days of accidentally brushing a stranger's hand while you both reach for the single copy of the same book at the library, only to lock eyes and "just know." Algorithms have replaced butterflies. And swiping right so rarely leads to starry eyes. In this episode, Katelyn and Roxy ask: is it even possible to meet someone in real life anymore? Enter: Heather Thompson Day, the "queen of matchmaking," who weighs in with some much needed ...
Christians will listen to a woman on TV but not a woman in the pulpit. What's up with that? We grew up seeing plenty of examples of women in power suits — from Hollywood to Wall Street, they were shattering glass ceilings and defying expectations. This new cultural norm fed big dreams and big ambitions for girls coming of age in the 1980s and '90s. But the 2000s have revealed a darker reality — from wage gaps to sexual harassment, the workplace for women is still far from ideal. Beyond that, the...
Wife? Nope. Mother? Nope. Great cook? Well ... working on it. We both grew up in homes that felt more egalitarian — there wasn't an emphasis on gender roles or an elevation of a "traditional" family model. However, somewhere along the way, we began to encounter ideas from church and Christian culture about what a "godly" woman looked like. This maven of domesticity kept a clean home, a well-fed brood and a satisfied spouse. She was queen of her home but submissive to her husband. And she was smo...
Things NYC is: fast, impatient, loud, exciting, sparkly, instantly gratifying. Things it is not: a monastery. When we moved here, we heard from a lot of evangelical friends and family that New York City could be damaging to our faith. Most of their warnings had to do with how secular and hedonistic the city is — all those worldly temptations. But, honestly, what we've found most wearing on our faith is the pace and noise of the city. Both of us long for and value a robust interior spiritual life...
NYC is an incredibly diverse city — it's also an incredibly divided one. In the wake of so much racial reckoning in this country, Katelyn and Roxy wrestle with their role as white women. What does it mean for white women to be good allies in anti-racist work (without centering themselves)? The hosts speak with author, activist and teacher Lisa Sharon Harper about how to “show up” for conversations on race and Katelyn and Roxy take on her assignment to understand their own family history. Every s...
In New York, it's easy to feel behind on all the fashion trends. (Even during a pandemic, some people out walking their dog have way cooler sweats than you.) NYC fashion is certainly fabulous, but is it as meaningless as chasing after the wind? Fashion journalist Whitney Bauck tells us why clothing is about so much more than the runway — and why thrifting might be the future.
There's a stereotype out there that NYC is a secular, godless, pothole. The 80 percent of New Yorkers who believe in God would disagree. We talk to two women, one Jewish, one Muslim, about how they embody their own faiths, before nerding out on some numbers. Check out this exploration of the markers that attend women of faith - and how deeply misunderstood they are.
From Jesus Freak to freaked out. In this episode, we grapple with "the e-word" and why we struggle to claim the evangelical label. Having grown up fully immersed in that culture and going on to dedicate much of our careers to the movement, we examine our disillusionment and disappointment with its trajectory — and where we go next. The past five years revealed fractures and hypocrisies that betrayed so much of what we — and a generation of millennial Christians — grew up being taught. Now we won...
It's a question both of us have gotten sometimes on dates! But it's a good question, one we ask ourselves a lot. We hear Robert Monson's quite unusual path into Christian faith (hint: a voice speaks) and unpack the problem of Christianese. In the end it’s about how a condescending question asked in a less than kind way can still lead to a bit of soul-searching. GUESTS: Robert J Monson - co-host of the 3 Black Men Podcast
We've had our fair share of first dates in NYC--some good, some kind of terrible. We talk to journalist Jon Birger about why women like us might need to ditch the online dating apps. Then we talk to a priest about *his* dating life. This episode addresses the natural tension between a culture that encourages experimentation and adventurousness, with an upbringing of ingrained reticence and 'purity'. GUESTS: Jon Birger, author of Make Your Move, The New Science of Dating and why Women Are In Char...
Katelyn and Roxy talk about the messages they received from fellow Christians when they decided to move to NYC. They heard fear… that they’d lose their faith or be indoctrinated with secular progressive culture. What they found in NYC as Christians is more complex. This episode addresses deep-seated beliefs among evangelicals, about big cities, secular culture, and their neighbors. GUESTS: Dr. Phillip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Co-Director, Program on Historical Studies of R...
A sneak peek at the upcoming podcast from RNS
