Faith, Hope & Stories

The conversation features Kevin Gilmore, CEO of Sussex County Habitat for Humanity, discussing his personal journey and the organization's mission to provide affordable housing. He emphasizes the spiritual connection to his work, the impact of housing on families, and the broader housing crisis in Sussex County. The conversation explores the impact of community engagement in affordable housing initiatives, the significance of volunteerism, and personal transformative experiences related to Habitat for Humanity. It highlights the importance of local involvement in policy decisions and the expansion of Habitat's programs to address housing needs.

Website

https://www.sussexcountyhabitat.org/

Takeaways

• Housing is a societal issue
• Affordable housing impacts families Community engagement is crucial
• Personal experiences shape perspectives

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Kevin Gilmore
• 01:46 Spiritual Journey and Calling
• 05:08 The Impact of Habitat for Humanity
• 07:40 Housing Affordability Crisis
• 10:08 The Importance of Stable Housing
• 12:07 Transportation and Housing Challenges
• 14:26 Community Engagement and NIMBYism
• 15:56 Affordable Housing as a Societal Issue
• 16:30 How to Support Habitat for Humanity
• 17:30 Mobilizing Community Support for Housing
• 19:00 Habitat's Impact in Sussex County
• 20:39 The Role of ReStores in Funding
• 22:25 Expansion Plans for Habitat ReStores
• 24:44 Personal Transformations Through Service
• 27:20 Cultural Experiences in Guatemala
• 28:19 The Camino de Santiago Journey
• 30:34 Finding Stability in Community Work
• 33:06 Focusing Habitat Efforts on Communities

The conversation with Joe Lawson, executive director of the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice, explores the establishment and mission of the Allliance. We highlight the personal journeys of its leaders and the systemic issues surrounding racial justice, criminal justice reform, and education inequities. It emphasizes the importance of community engagement and the need for systemic change to address the challenges faced by marginalized communities. The conversation delves into the roots of racism, the importance of personal connections in combating fear, and the role of faith in social justice. It emphasizes the power of storytelling and education in fostering understanding and hope in the fight against racism.

Website:

https://sdarj.org/

Books we discussed:

The War Within a War by Will Haygood

The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

Suspicion Nation by Lisa Bloom (The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It)

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Racial Justice Advocacy
• 01:01 Origins of the Southern Delaware Alliance
• 03:03 Personal Journeys and Community Engagement
• 05:53 The Impact of Corporate Experience on Social Justice
• 08:00 Focus on Criminal Justice and Incarceration
• 09:59 Challenges of Reentry and Recidivism
• 12:01 Systemic Racism and Its Consequences
• 15:06 Education Inequities and Funding Disparities
• 19:05 Fear and Misunderstanding in Society
• 19:56 The Roots of Racism and Fear
• 22:06 The Power of Personal Connection
• 25:01 Faith and Social Justice
• 29:16 Books as Tools for Understanding
• 32:16 Dialogue Towards Ending Racism
• 36:29 Storytelling as a Connection Tool
• 38:57 Hope Amidst Challenges

The conversation features Reverend Dr. Robin Blair discussing the importance of media literacy and digital discipleship in today's media-saturated environment, particularly for parents and children. She emphasizes the need for intentional media consumption and discernment as a form of spiritual care. The conversation explores the impact of media on children, emphasizing the need for parents to engage with their kids about media consumption and its implications. It highlights the importance of media literacy as a form of spiritual care and the role of parents and churches in guiding children through their media experiences.

https://www.robinblair.com/

Takeaways

• Media literacy as spiritual care
• Importance of discernment in media Media literacy is essential
• Parents must engage with children

Chapters

• 00:00 Navigating the Digital Landscape
• 12:00 The Role of Parents in Media Literacy
• 18:06 The Listening Compass: A Guide for Parents
• 25:36 Commercialization of Streaming Services
• 27:08 The Evolution of Children's Programming
• 29:34 Brand Influence on Children
• 31:56 Integrating Faith with Media Literacy
• 32:47 Church and Parental Collaboration
• 34:12 Navigating Difficult Conversations
• 36:57 The Role of Volunteering in Development
• 39:43 Media Relationships and Identity
• 41:06 The Importance of Real-Life Interactions
• 43:23 Parental Authority in Media Consumption

Lee Ann Walling talks with Susie Hearn, an ordained minister, about the unexpected path that led her from Texas (by way of Egypt) and o Delaware. The conversation centers on how Susie and her husband Larry became the primary caregivers for their infant granddaughter after the sudden death of their daughter—and what it means to parent as grandparents.Susie also shares how her call to ministry grew out of retail work, personal loss, and hospital chaplaincy. She reflects on a decade living in Egypt, the importance of welcoming communities, and why Epworth feels like home.

• How Susie and her husband went from being grandparents to becoming the day-to-day parents of their granddaughter, Holly.
• The sudden death of Holly’s mother and how the family navigated caregiving and custody.
• The difference between being a grandparent and being a parent, especially when setting boundaries and making decisions.
• Holly’s ADHD, school challenges, and the support she receives.
• Susie’s hopeful story about her son, who struggled in school and later became a physicist and radiation oncologist.
• Why Susie believes that love—not rigid family roles—is what makes a family.
• Susie’s path from retail management to seminary, ministry, and hospital chaplaincy.
• How a painful pregnancy loss helped shape her desire to serve others in hospitals.
• Why Susie and Larry left Texas, and how politics, climate, and raising a girl influenced their decision.
• Susie’s memories of nearly 10 years in Cairo, including Egyptian hospitality and everyday acts of kindness.
• Finding a welcoming church community and seeing Holly connect with church activities and summer camp.

00:00 — Introducing “Plucked From the Pews”
01:29 — Susie’s family story and becoming Holly’s guardian
04:20 — Custody, conservatorship, and family relationships
05:11 — The shift from grandparent to parent
06:03 — Holly’s ADHD and the family’s support
07:31 — Advice for grandparents raising grandchildren: one day at a time
08:31 — Holly’s strengths and challenges at school
09:29 — A hopeful perspective from Susie’s son’s story
10:26 — Talking honestly about family, age, and love
11:45 — Susie’s path from retail into ministry
14:24 — Personal loss and the calling to hospital chaplaincy
16:12 — Faith, suffering, and finding meaning without blaming God
16:41 — Why Texas became untenable for Susie and her family
18:06 — Chaplaincy, compassion, and meeting people where they are
19:00 — Open and affirming church communities
20:55 — Leaving Texas and finding a new home in Delaware
23:12 — How a short-term opportunity in Egypt became a 10-year adventure
23:37 — Egyptian hospitality and the kindness of strangers
26:24 — Finding community at Epworth
27:50 — Holly’s connection to church and summer camp
28:46 — How Susie and Larry met and eventually married
31:33 — Gratitude for the warmth and friendship of a church community

Pastor Bo Gordy-Stith interviews Lee Ann Walling about her debut novel, The Salt and Light Express, and the spiritual questions running through it. The conversation also touches on her path at Epworth, her work in communications, and how her own life experiences shaped the book’s themes of grief, community, forgiveness, and love.

• Bo introduces Lee Ann Walling as Epworth’s podcast host, musician, and longtime community builder, including her work on the Gordon's Pond Trail and in media and communications for nonprofits.
• Lee Ann talks about The Salt and Light Express, the first of two planned novels, and how spirituality is woven into everyday life rather than limited to church settings.
• In the novel, Chris grieves the death of her partner Sally, travels west in an RV, and begins piecing her life back together in Moab, Utah.
• The book explores how community forms among strangers, including people Chris initially misjudges, such as two Texans in a large motorhome and Jared, a Southern Baptist preacher who becomes a friend.
• Lee Ann discusses centering prayer, mindfulness, and the tension between wanting to quiet the mind and wanting to pray for specific outcomes like safety, strength, or healing.
• The novel questions what core beliefs are actually required to live as a Christian in 21st-century America, with the teachings of Jesus and the Beatitudes as a central reference point.
• Community and local action come up as a contrast to national polarization, with Lee Ann emphasizing feeding people, serving face to face, and working together through practical ministries.
• The story includes a major forgiveness arc involving a teenage driver whose inattention causes the fatal accident, and Lee Ann explains how research into Delaware law shaped that plotline.
• Another major thread is found family, as Chris tries to reconnect with relatives who are judgmental and discovers belonging elsewhere.
• The conversation also covers Claire, a Black character who becomes central to the love story, and how Lee Ann worked through questions of representation and stereotypes with a sensitivity reader.
• She closes by describing how Epworth has become a place where she feels known and able to contribute through music and podcasting.

00:00 - Intro to Lee Ann Walling, Epworth, and her creative path
03:08 - Chris, grief, and the spiritual landscape of the novel
04:37 - Misjudging people and discovering community
05:37 - Jesus, the Beatitudes, and the book’s faith questions
07:02 - Prayer, mindfulness, and centering prayer
08:41 - What prayer means in everyday life
09:55 - From autobiographical fiction to a more plotted second novel
12:06 - The next right thing as a life philosophy
13:06 - Forgiveness, non-dual thinking, and community surprises
14:28 - Why community matters more than national outrage
16:25 - Family rejection and reaching for connection
17:33 - Family research, ancestry, and writing from experience
20:09 - Forgiveness in the accident storyline
22:45 - Forgiveness as ongoing practice
23:15 - Spiritual direction and the question, “What were you hoping for?”
26:32 - Claire, love, and the emotional stakes of vulnerability
29:02 - Why the book is hopeful and works well for book clubs
30:20 - How the book is being categorized and what the next novel will explore
31:49 - Leaning into LGBTQ storytelling and lived experience
32:19 - The title, the Beatitudes, and the audiobook
33:13 - Closing thoughts on Epworth and finding a place to serve

Back to school season is a natural time to talk about the spiritual side of a child’s formation, and this conversation focuses on what it really takes to raise a child of faith. Lee Ann Walling talks with Joy Gordy-Stith, youth minister at Epworth, about helping teens navigate social media, anxiety, and real-life pressures while giving them a safe place to ask questions and grow.Joy also shares what has shaped her own faith, what church community can do for young people, and how Epworth tries to make youth and children’s ministry relational, not performative.

• Joy says the simplest approach is often the best: ask them about what they care about
• Her youth group talks about goats, cars, school plays, and real life issues
• She is often surprised by the insight teenagers bring to faith conversations

• Joy says the goal is not control, but foundation
• Kids learn by watching, not just by being told what faith is
• Church should become a habit and a natural part of life, not a source of resentment
• She encourages parents to think about what priorities their family is modeling

• Get to know the kids by name
• Build community beyond the youth room
• Show up in ways that extend beyond Sundays
• Joy remembers encouragement notes from church during a hard first year of college as a powerful example of support

• Joy wants youth to feel safe, loved, and free to ask questions
• She wants church to be life-giving, not a burden or chore
• Her deepest hope is that every young person knows there is nothing they could do that would make her stop caring about them

00:00 - Introducing Joy Gordy-Stith and the question of raising a child of faith
01:08 - Why teens need a safe place in a noisy, online world
02:57 - Social media pressure, bullying, and being affected even off-platform
03:54 - Why asking kids about their interests opens real conversation
04:59 - What youth are actually carrying: family stress, conflict, and hard realities
06:26 - Older students helping younger students find confidence
07:15 - Youth group ground rules: respect, no phones, no recording, confidentiality
09:28 - The story of Benny, the church dog who became part of the ministry
11:21 - What growing up as a pastor’s kid taught Joy about faith
12:42 - The downside of being a clergy child in public
14:49 - Parenting faith through questions, habits, and example
17:12 - Why families prioritize what they value, including sports and church
19:19 - What parents can hope for when kids leave home
21:18 - Building support by knowing kids personally
22:58 - Progressive dinners, lock-ins, and other youth activities
25:56 - Children’s time and why getting kids comfortable in worship matters
27:40 - How Sunday school builds relationships and uses hands-on learning
29:38 - Helping kids explore their own relationship with God
31:02 - Joy’s faith spectrum and making room for honest wrestling
32:00 - Showing kids love, grace, and steady presence
33:32 - Youth service projects and the importance of not using kids as free labor
36:04 - Youth helping with a Christmas carol fundraiser for Miriam’s Table
36:35 - The ministry of simply knowing kids, remembering names, and showing up

This conversation traces Murray Archibald’s life from a preacher’s-kid upbringing in Alabama to co-founding CAMP Rehoboth and helping shape a more welcoming community in Rehoboth Beach. He also reflects on the spiritual breakthrough that reoriented his life, the role of creativity in his faith, and the grief and resilience that followed Steve Elkins’ death.

• In this episode, Murray Archibald shares how being raised as a preacher’s kid, preacher’s grandkid, and preacher’s great-grandkid shaped his early worldview in North Alabama and North Georgia.
• He talks candidly about coming out in the late 1960s and early 1970s, feeling the church’s condemnation, and eventually walking away from organized religion for years.
• Murray describes a powerful spiritual awakening in New York during the AIDS era, which he experienced as hearing God say, “You are my child,” and which reoriented his entire life.
• He explains how that awakening became a call to serve the community rather than ordination, especially in the context of AIDS and LGBTQ exclusion.
• Murray recounts meeting Steve Elkins in the White House during the Carter administration, including the chance chain of events that led to a private White House tour and their lasting relationship.
• He details the origins of CAMP Rehoboth, including the phrase “Create a More Positive Rehoboth,” the influence of Rehoboth’s Methodist campground history, and the early organizing work that followed.
• He discusses the organization’s mission as connector and community builder, emphasizing neighbor-to-neighbor change over confrontational activism.
• Murray reflects on the AIDS crisis, the loss of friends in New York, local fundraising efforts, and how that work prepared them to build Camp Rehoboth.
• He speaks about Steve’s illness, aggressive lymphoma, and death in 2018, and how faith, trust, and community support helped him carry that grief.
• He describes returning to church at Epworth, feeling welcomed home, and later helping guide the congregation toward becoming a reconciling church.

00:00 - Murray’s biography and why his story matters
01:30 - Growing up in a family of Methodist ministers
02:48 - Coming out, church condemnation, and leaving religion behind
04:56 - The spiritual breakthrough that “turned my world right side up”
05:55 - AIDS, New York, and the first sense of divine calling
07:19 - Serving community rather than seeking ordination
08:18 - Meeting Steve Elkins at the White House
10:42 - Why Camp Rehoboth was founded
11:57 - “Create a More Positive Rehoboth” and the original concept
12:28 - Building the nonprofit and organizing the first efforts
14:34 - Camp Rehoboth’s mission as community connector
15:49 - The house-and-heart logo and becoming part of the town
16:17 - AIDS in Rehoboth, local losses, and activist work
17:50 - How AIDS organizing prepared them to build Camp Rehoboth
19:33 - Persevering through resistance and overextension
20:25 - Steve’s lymphoma diagnosis and rapid decline
22:17 - Faith as strength during illness and loss
23:15 - Journaling through grief and the legacy of Steve’s life
24:31 - Spirituality and creativity as one connected life
26:48 - Creativity exists in everyone
27:19 - The book project, poetry, and using journals as source material
29:21 - Morning pages as a form of guidance and prayer
31:21 - Returning to church and finding a spiritual home
33:04 - Helping make Epworth a reconciling congregation
34:01 - Board leadership, church governance, and current involvement
35:53 - Closing thanks and Murray’s lasting legacy

A fall preview from Lee Ann Walling. The next season begins Sunday, September 13. We have our own studio now. The first season of eight episodes had more than 1,600 streams.

Watch or listen at https://epworth.riverside.com/

The conversation with Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride delves into her personal inspiration, the role of faith and values in guiding her decision-making, the support and acceptance from her family, navigating online discourse and real-life conversations, and responding to adversity with dignity and grace. The conversation covers the importance of representing constituents, serving all constituents, the atmosphere for compromise, cultural regression, the role of imperfect allies, and hope for the future. It emphasizes the need for elected leaders to meet people where they are, serve all constituents, and work towards compromise and change.

Websites:

https://mcbride.house.gov/

https://sarahmcbride.com/

"Tomorrow Will Be Different" by Sarah McBride

Takeaways

• Navigating through adversity with grace
• The role of faith and values in guiding decision-making Importance of representing constituents
• The need for compromise and reaching across the aisle

Chapters

• 00:00 Personal Inspiration and Motivation
• 01:58 Faith, Values, and Decision-Making
• 05:07 Family Support and Acceptance
• 10:09 Online Discourse and Real-Life Conversations
• 15:00 Responding to Adversity with Dignity
• 17:30 Representing Constituents and Meeting People Where They Are
• 19:14 Serving All Constituents and the Role of Elected Leaders
• 21:19 Atmosphere for Compromise and Reaching Across the Aisle
• 25:29 Cultural Regression and Strategies for Change
• 27:25 The Role of Imperfect Allies and Hope for the Future

Summary

In this episode, the Rev. Dr. Vicki Gordy-Stith shares insights on faith, love, social justice, and how to find hope and resilience through spiritual practices. She discusses the disconnect between the core teachings of Jesus and our dividedness as a country and practical ways to live out faith in community.

Keywords

faith, love, social justice, hope, spiritual practices, Christianity, inclusion, resilience, community, God

Key Topics

• Core teachings of Jesus and their relevance today
• The evolution of understanding God's nature in scripture
• The role of social justice in faith communities
• Spiritual practices for resilience and hope
• The importance of inclusion and love in Christianity

Guest Name

The Rev. Dr. Vicki Gody-Stith, lead pastor of Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Sound Bites

• "Read scripture through the lens of Jesus, who embodies love."
• "The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty."
• "When we focus on community, we see our neighbors as family."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Personal Story of Faith Journey

02:00 The Core Teachings of Jesus and Their Relevance

02:28 Veering Off Course: Power, Violence, and Misinterpretation

03:39 The Growth of Understanding God in Scripture

05:07 The Sermon on the Mount and Its Message

06:04 Fleeing Christianity and Personal Experiences with God

07:25 The Expanding Understanding of God's Family

08:51 Interpreting Scripture in Context

10:01 Reading Scripture Through the Lens of Jesus

11:47 The Inclusive Life of Jesus and Its Significance

12:40 Faith, Doubt, and Certainty

13:35 Addressing Disillusionment with Christianity and God

14:41 Approaching the News with Faith and Prayer

17:52 Community and Local Action as a Response to Division

20:52 Social Justice as an Expression of God's Love

22:39 The Interconnection of Personal and Social Holiness in Methodism

23:37 Practices of Inclusion and Belonging at Epworth

28:57 Spiritual Practices for Resilience: Gratitude, Awe, and Mindfulness

33:50 The Power of Service and God's Spirit in Us

35:34 Closing Remarks and Themes for Future Focus