The Backstory Podcast

In this episode of The Backstory, Kyle Oliver (Virginia Theological Seminary) and Nikki Collins (Future of Faith) discuss Hope Exchange, a collaborative storytelling initiative. They explain the project’s two audiences — spiritually curious people who are institutionally wary, and church leaders/seminary faculty — and outline plans for live storytelling events, filmed stories, a digital Library of Hope, podcasts, and toolkits.

The guests share progress so far: building the team, conducting a Denver shoot, forming an ecumenical advisory group, and refining processes like coaching storytellers to preserve authenticity. The episode highlights goals around formation, audience engagement, and how storytelling can deepen connection and reshape narratives about faith.

Shannon Hopkins interviews filmmaker Nate Clark of Fourth Line Films about his documentary work, collaborations with faith-based organizations, and projects like The Passing On and H.E. Butt Foundation films. Nate shares his approach to discovering stories, working with communities, and balancing creative choices with ethical care.

After the interview, Josh Packard and Elizabeth Coffey reflect on distribution, audience engagement, and practical tips for organizations and storytellers on how to make and share meaningful films.

https://www.fourthlinefilms.com/

This episode of The Backstory explores Catholic Charities’ People of Hope Museum—a traveling, 18-wheeler exhibit that centers the stories of staff and volunteers who serve people in need. The team explains how the mobile museum collects short, powerful testimonies, combines educational displays, and partners with local agencies to spark empathy and community involvement.

Hosts discuss the project’s goals, logistics, and challenges, including rapid planning, measurement of impact, and how the tour connects online resources with in-person experiences across the country.

https://peopleofhope.us/

In this episode of The Backstory, the team from L'Arche and filmmakers from EverAble discuss their Sacred Stories project — a roving storytelling initiative that travels to L'Arche communities to capture spiritual lives and experiences of people with intellectual disabilities. They explain their inclusive, inductive interview methods, the ethical and logistical challenges of a mobile production, and how listening deeply informs their work.

The conversation covers the project's origins, creative choices like using an RV as a pilgrimage vehicle, the use of music and nonverbal soundscapes, and plans for future filming and editing. Follow their journey and find resources via L'Arche USA and Future of Faith.

https://www.larcheusa.org/about/sacred-stories/

https://www.ever-able.org/

In this episode Elizabeth Coffey speaks with Mike Horn of ASHA about narrative change, brand identity, and the power of listening. Mike explains ASHA’s approach—finding a simple, generative idea that grounds an organization’s identity, using art and behavioral design to open space for new stories, and building a platform that lets those stories travel.

The conversation also covers ASHA’s collaboration with Wesleyan Impact Partners, Rooted Good, and Parrish Collective to reframe Christian narratives, reach diverse audiences (including the ‘Dones’ group), and test stories in the real world.

https://ashaandco.uk/

In this episode of The Backstory, hosts Elizabeth, Josh, and Shannon pull back the curtain on a national storytelling project led by Wesleyan Impact Partners, Parish Collective, and Rooted Good. Guests Blair Thompson and Tim Soerens describe audience research into the “Dones” (people who feel ‘done’ with church), the creative strategy, and plans for both big‑budget and grassroots story pipelines.

The conversation explores partnership dynamics, funding and project roles, lessons from the planning phase, and the team’s approach to testing, learning, and scaling stories that aim to broaden how people see and experience church.

Hosts Elizabeth, Josh, and Shannon share project updates—recent hires, RFPs, and the start of paid production—as they push the National Storytelling Initiative from planning into action.

Shannon and Josh discuss fresh audience research showing many active Christians on the edge of church life and the need for more compelling, relevant stories. They also preview upcoming storytelling tests, campaigns, and gatherings.

Guest Melissa Spas, Belmont’s new managing director for the coordination program, explains goals to listen, convene, and build shared resources so grantees can learn from one another and scale narrative work across diverse Christian communities.

Find more about the coordination efforts at: https://www.belmont.edu/storytelling-coordination-program/

In this episode of The Backstory, Elizabeth Parks, Editor of the International Journal of Listening, joins the team to explore listening as a practice—ethical, interdisciplinary, and transformational. They discuss listening as invitation, the risks and costs listeners face, and how to collect stories in non‑extractive ways.

Practical takeaways include setting boundaries, centering reciprocity, asking who benefits, and preparing organizations and staff (like pastors and project leads) to be changed by what they hear. Parks points listeners to the International Journal of Listening and her work for further resources.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethshun-chingparks/

Website: https://www.elizabethsparks.org/

Welcome to The Backstory's expert episode featuring sociologist Nancy Ammerman. Nancy introduces the idea of lived religion and explains how narrative methods—asking "tell me about a time," using audio prompts, photos, and PhotoVoice—help researchers build trust and surface everyday sacred and spiritual experiences.

She also offers practical guidance on listening for people’s vocabulary, layering multiple methods to deepen stories, and organizing qualitative data through coding and memoing to find meaningful themes.

https://studyingcongregations.org/

https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Stories-Spiritual-Tribes-Religion/dp/0199917361

In this episode of The Backstory, hosts Elizabeth, Josh, and Shannon speak with Laura Everett of the Massachusetts Council of Churches about their storytelling initiative, Revelations. The conversation pulls back the curtain on project planning, ethics, and the practical steps they are taking to support storytellers.

Topics include research into safety and psychographic audience insights, cohort-based storytelling tied to film screenings, a national resource center for wholeness and security, and partnerships that protect vulnerable narrators while cultivating prophetic imagination and community.

https://www.masscouncilofchurches.org/