Welcome back to #faithcheck! Every few episodes, we interview a fellow member of our big old faith family on their personal faith journey. Today, we welcome Sarah Are (she/her/hers). She is an Enneagram 2 who re-microwaves her coffee every morning, owns too many overalls, and organizes her books by color. Born and raised in the Presbyterian Church, Sarah is a seventh generation Presbyterian pastor, serving as the Associate Pastor for Youth and Young Adults at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas. Sarah also serves on the creative team for A Sanctified Art, where she specializes in creative liturgy, midrash and poetry. Sarah graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Social Work, and holds a Master of Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary.

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all! We decided to have some open conversation about stereotypes and societal expectations around relationships and dating. This can be a tricky conversation but Corissa (18), Charlie (15), and Cade (15) also discuss how we incorporate our faith and our beliefs into our dating lives. 

At Second Presbyterian Church, our confirmation class requires certain activities and lessons for youth to be able to be confirmand. One of those requirements is attending a handful of other denominations and learning what their beliefs are and how they differ from us. Today, Meredith (13) and Henry (14) chat about the Baptist church, Islamic mosque, Jewish temple, and Greek Orthodox church they've visited.

In today's episode, one of our adult volunteers for the youth program (as we call them, a SPY Advisor) sits down with us and chats about what he loves about being an advisor and why it's so important for youth this age to have trusted adult mentors and role models. 

In today's episode Charlie (15), Corissa (18), and Cade (15) interview a fellow church member, Coach Dr. Woody Jolley (as he introduces himself). Woody has spent over 50 years in education teaching and coaching at various schools and colleges. They chat about the growing tension seen between the older and younger generations, compare and contrast generational values, and who influences our political views. Most importantly though, they discuss how we can remedy this tension, especially in our Christian spheres and our faith families.

After a much needed break, The Good Thing is back! With many of our seniors looking ahead to all the coming changes in leaving high school and starting their freshman year of college, we decided to sit down and talk with college sophomore, Nora Johnson. Nora (19), Cade (15), Charlie (15) and Corissa (18) chat about the ways college breaks up their normal faith schedule and how we go about maintaining our faith life in a new and different atmosphere. 

Welcome to the final day of Podmas! In today's episode, we have mixed together verses from Matthew and Luke to read the full Christmas story as we generally hear it. We encourage you to listen alone or with your family and use this time to hear the story in full and reflect on all the things you learned over the last twelve days. Thank you for joining us for the 12 Days of Podmas. We will be taking a break from The Good Thing to enjoy the holidays with our families and will be back with more episodes on January 10. 

Welcome to Podmas Day 11! In today's episode, Corissa (18), Cade (15), and Ruth reflect on what they've learned and noticed through this deep dive into the Christmas story. We talk about recurring themes, facts we didn't know before, what stuck with us, and more. Don't worry though, this isn't the last Podmas episode of the season! Make sure to come back tomorrow for one last episode in the 12 Days of Podmas. 

Welcome to Podmas Day 10! Today's episode starts with Ruth reading the story "A Tale of Three Trees". After reading this story about how God uses his creation in every step of Jesus's life, Corissa (18) and Cade (15) talk about how little we can see the grand scheme of things, the God perspective, and how incredibly important God's creation is to Him and should be to us as well. 

Welcome to Podmas Day 9! Corissa (18), Cade (15), and Ruth discuss the shepherds (and a little bit more on Mary as well) and their role as messengers of the good news in the Christmas story.