Saved by the City

By Religion News ServiceReligion & Spirituality Christianity

Saved by the City episodes

December 12, 2024Our Roasts and Toasts of 2024 + Tiffany Bluhm
Gather 'round with your marshmallows and cups of cheer, it's that time of year to send good tidings and spiced takes. No, that's not a typo, though maybe you can have your cake and eat it too with this year's roasts and toasts. Did you embrace the barrel leg and the ballet flat? Are you pro-pigmy hippo or did you mute baby Moo Deng? And what about the end of Bennifer (again)? Katelyn and Roxy are joined by their first ever co-host, the extra zingy Tiffany Bluhm, as we up vote and down vote our way through the most important cultural phenomena of the year of our Lord, two thousand and twenty four.
GUEST:
Tiffany Bluhm is an author, speaker, and podcaster with two books under her belt: “The Women We’ve Been Waiting For: A 40-Day Devotional for Self-Care, Resilience, and Communal Flourishing", and "Prey Tell: Why We Silence Women Who Tell the Truth and How Everyone Can Speak Up." Tiffany also serves as executive director of PAX, which provides mentoring and vocational development for Christians of color.

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50 min
December 05, 2024Living in the Limbo (aka: Advent) + Stephanie Duncan Smith
The days are getting short. The nights are getting long. Christ has come but he'll also come again. We're in the now and the not yet. We're waiting, preparing, standing guard. Y'all it's Advent. And this year, we are living that limbo life. Katelyn and Roxy explore the lessons of Advent for those in between seasons and how to live with intentionality when you're not sure what's next. Stephanie Duncan Smith joins the show to share some of her reflections on life through the lens of the liturgical calendar.
Plus: Is there an enneagram type for every liturgical season?
GUEST:
Stephanie Duncan Smith is a senior editor for HarperOne and the author of "Even After Everything: The Spiritual Practice of Knowing the Risks and Loving Anyway." She is also the creator of Slant Letter, a Substack for writers who want to deepen their craft and do it in style.

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46 min
November 28, 2024A Thanksgiving Special: Brownies, Frownies and Beef Bourguignon + John Schmidt and Jonathan Woodward
Picture this: a knock on the apartment door, in sweeps Jonathan Woodward, straight off a flight from Maine, grocery bags in hand. A few hours later, the apartment is heavy with the rich smells of simmering onions, sizzling beef and a stewing redwine sauce. A few more hours later, a few more knocks on the door and a party of four are seated at a table laden with food, wine and .... mics. It's our Thanksgiving special and we invite you to come, enjoy a meal with Katelyn, Roxy and special guests John Schmidt (Roxy's boo) and Jonathan (SBTC beloved producer). We laugh, we cry, we make fart jokes — and we are definitely filled with gratitude (and beef bourguignon, however you say that).
GUESTS:
The Rev. John Schmidt is the associate rector at The Church of the Epiphany in New York City. He has a Masters of Divinity from Duke Divinity School and is an avid oil painter. Oh yeah, and he's married to Roxy.
Jonathan Woodward is the producer of Saved by the City and the director of the RNS Audio podcast network. Oh yeah, and he also had roles on such TV series as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly, among others.

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51 min
November 21, 2024Ready or Not, Trump 2.0 + Tim Alberta
Were you surprised by this year's presidential election results? On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy examine some of the major stories — religion and otherwise — to come out of exit polls. Hello rightward drifting young men. We are joined by award-winning journalist and political observer, Tim Alberta, who offers us both retrospective and prospective, forensics and forecast. We ask what to expect in a second Trump administration — and where might evangelicals fit in.

GUEST:
Tim Alberta is a staff writer at The Atlantic and is the author of "The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism."

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44 min
November 14, 2024Divorce and Remarriage + Melissa Moore
And yet, there are so many of us who have gone through a divorce and found love again. This week, Roxy talks about the many jagged edges of divorce and the long healing process. Katelyn asks: How can you be a good friend supporting someone facing a divorce? And we are joined by Melissa Moore who shares her own story of divorce recovery and how being divorced has affected her remarriage — for better and worse.
GUEST:
Melissa Moore is a writer and leader with Living Proof Ministries. She is the co-author, with her mom Beth Moore, of "Now That Faith Has Come," a study on Galatians.

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51 min
November 07, 2024 Whoopsie-Daisy! Our Tales of Cringe & Regret
Life is no straight and narrow path and we've taken a few ill-advised turns. On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy reflect on our smallest and biggest whoopsie daisies. Well, not all of them. We have a few categories to guide us. For example: what’s your “I shouldn’t have said that regret," and “biggest regret from 1998-2002” and “a memorable fashion regret.” But also, it won’t be that bad, because of course, everyone has regrets. Even Katelyn's 5-year-old nephew — who you will hear from and who has some sage wisdom for what to do when you make a boo boo. And that's the question really — how do you move on and make the most from your mistakes?

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44 min
October 31, 2024Red Light, Green Light: Church Edition + Adelle M. Banks
What's spookier than a coffee hour full of strangers? Katelyn is on the road toward the midwest and a new city means a new church. But how to find the perfect match? It's no easy task and Roxy is here to help — with a super clarifying set of potential church scenarios. Red light: flee and don't look back. Yellow light: take a beat. Green light: go forth in peace. But, for real, what is it people look for when they look for a church? What makes a church good? We are joined this week by veteran religion reporter Adelle M. Banks who shares insights she's gleaned from congregations around the country who are trying to answer those questions — for today and tomorrow.
GUEST:
Adelle M. Banks is the projects editor and a national reporter for RNS. An award-winning journalist, Adelle is the co-author of “Becoming a Future-Ready Church: 8 Shifts to Encourage and Empower the Next Generation of Leaders.”

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42 min
October 24, 2024We're Good at Being Bad Christians + Jayne Sugg
If you've "deconstructed" from evangelicalism — or any faith tradition — you know that as your faith has evolved your practices have shifted too. On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy explore what it means to find ways to engage with God, with church and with spiritual practices that feel honest and life giving in this, ahem, season (you can take the girl out of evangelicalism but ...). We are joined by musician — and friend! — Jayne Sugg, whose new album "Belief Is Hard" is a beautiful exploration of her own "faith renaissance."
GUEST:
Jayne Sugg is a New Mexico transplant in New York City. She is a singer and songwriter and a teacher by day. She leads worship and is a member of The Good Shepherd Collective, "a diaspora of musicians who are committed to writing and making music about peace, love, and acceptance." Check out her debut album, Belief Is Hard, wherever you listen to your music!

Songs from Jayne's album are used on this episode with her permission.

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46 min
October 17, 2024When Politics Comes for Friendship + Nancy French
In this era of political extremes, few of us have gone untouched by polarization. We've had family fights, friendship rifts and, for some, church splits. When did politics become so central, so essential? Is this what idolatry looks like? In these last remaining weeks before America's presidential election, Katelyn and Roxy talk with former Republican darling (turned GOP pariah), Nancy French, about the personal cost of putting politics first. Nancy shares her own story of being disowned by many of her friends after she denounced Trump — and how her faith has sustained her on what's been a lonely journey.

GUEST:
Nancy French is a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter and now the author of her personal memoir, “Ghosted: An American Story.”

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47 min
October 10, 2024SBTC: LIVE from New York!
It's our first live episode, coming to you from Religion News Service's 90th anniversary symposium and gala (90 years!) in the heart of Manhattan. Our live audience has cocktails, so grab a drink and settle in as we test our audience's NYC knowledge, reflect on the past and future of Saved By the City, and quiz our guests to discover just how deep their religion nerdery goes. It's Saved By the City — live from New York!
GUESTS:
Simran Jeet Singh is is Assistant Professor of Interreligious Histories at Union Theological Seminary and Senior Advisor for the Aspen Institute’s Religion and Society Program, an RNS columnist, and author of the book “The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life.”
Richa Karmarkar is a RNS national reporter covering all things Hindu. She is a graduate of Columbia University with Master’s degrees in Religion and in Journalism. She also holds three Bachelor’s degrees in Religious Studies, History, and Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Nancy French is a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter and now the author of her personal memoir, "Ghosted: An American Story."

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45 min

About Saved by the City

From the publisher's feed

Roxy and Katelyn grew up in the white evangelical American heartland. Both were warned moving to a supposed bastion of secular culture would be dangerous to their faith. While navigating a city where…