Description

What transforms someone from a resident into a steward of a community?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Matt Lawson, longtime Laguna Beach civic leader and public safety advocate, whose decades of volunteer service recently were recognized when the City of Laguna Beach named its new Emergency Operations Center in his honor.

Matt shares the remarkable journey that brought him from New York and rural Connecticut to Laguna Beach, where he and his wife, Mary, discovered not simply a beautiful place to live, but a community they came to call home. That sense of belonging led to a lifetime of public service—from improving the city's design review process to helping reshape Laguna's approach to emergency preparedness, wildfire safety, and disaster resilience.

Together, Matt and Will explore what makes a healthy community, why volunteers matter, how trust is built between citizens and public officials, and why public safety is ultimately a shared responsibility. At its heart, this is a conversation about leadership, service, and the ordinary people whose quiet persistence helps extraordinary communities flourish.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Matt discuss:

• Matt's childhood in New York City and rural Connecticut, and the experiences that shaped his outlook on life
• The journey that eventually brought Matt and Mary Lawson to Laguna Beach
• Why Laguna immediately felt different from every other place they had lived
• The moment Matt stopped thinking of Laguna as simply where he lived and began thinking of it as home
• How a love for community naturally led to a commitment to public service
• Matt's first civic involvement through Laguna Beach's Design Review Process Task Force
• Why listening to diverse perspectives produced better public policy than ideological agreement
• The importance of improving public processes rather than simply changing outcomes
• Lessons learned from visiting other California coastal communities and adapting best practices to Laguna Beach
• How predictable, transparent government builds trust and reduces unnecessary conflict
• Why serving on local committees taught Matt the value of listening before proposing solutions
• The origins of Laguna Beach's Emergency Disaster Preparedness Committee
• The leadership of former Mayor Elizabeth Pearson and others who recognized the need for stronger emergency planning
• How Matt learned the importance of working alongside firefighters, police officers, engineers, and emergency professionals
• Why volunteers earn credibility by learning the work and respecting the expertise of professionals
• The challenges Laguna Beach faces because of its geography, topography, and wildfire risk
• How improved emergency planning has made the city significantly safer over the past decade
• The creation of modern emergency management systems, hazard mitigation planning, and stronger public safety infrastructure
• The importance of fuel modification, defensible space, underground utilities, and local water reliability
• Why families should prepare their own homes before the next emergency rather than waiting until disaster strikes
• The continuing work needed to modernize Laguna's aging fire stations and critical public safety facilities
• How thoughtful leadership balances environmental stewardship with protecting lives and property
• Why collaboration between volunteers, city staff, elected officials, police officers, firefighters, and residents has transformed Laguna's emergency preparedness
• What it meant to have Laguna Beach's new Emergency Operations Center named in Matt's honor
• Matt's conviction that public safety—and community itself—is ultimately a team sport

Key takeaway

Strong communities are not built by government alone. They are built when ordinary people decide that the place they call home is worth serving. Through patient listening, thoughtful leadership, and a willingness to work together, neighbors become stewards, and a city becomes more resilient, more connected, and better prepared for whatever the future may bring.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.

Description

What happens when theater becomes more than entertainment?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Adele Atkins, Managing Director of Laguna Playhouse, for a wide-ranging conversation about music, theater, leadership, human connection, and the extraordinary power of the arts to move us from our heads to our hearts.
Adele’s remarkable career began as a young cellist studying at Juilliard before an unexpected series of opportunities led her into Broadway and eventually arts management. She shares how saying yes to jobs she was not sure she was ready for opened a path toward a lifetime of creating places where artists and audiences can encounter one another.

Together, Adele and Will explore why a live performance is fundamentally different from watching something on a screen, why theaters can function almost like sacred spaces, and how shared experiences of music and drama can reconnect people in an increasingly digital and fragmented world. They also consider a larger challenge for Laguna Playhouse: not simply presenting excellent theater, but helping people learn how to experience it, talk about it, and allow it to become part of the life of the community.

The conversation ultimately becomes about something larger than theater. In a world increasingly shaped by screens, social media, gaming, and artificial intelligence, how do we protect and nurture the experiences that make us fully human?

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Adele discuss:

• Adele’s early years as a cellist and her training at Juilliard
• How an unexpected opportunity on Broadway led her from performing music into arts management
• Why having the courage to ask for opportunities before feeling completely prepared shaped Adele’s career
• Her discovery that creating opportunities for artists and audiences could be even more fulfilling than performing herself
• Why Adele sees theaters and performing arts venues as a kind of sacred space
• The relationship among performers, audiences, and the people who create the environment in which live performance becomes possible
• Why live theater, music, and dance can touch people in ways that television and streaming cannot
• How classical music can create deeply personal experiences without telling listeners what they are supposed to feel
• The idea that the arts move us from the head to the heart
• Why shared artistic experiences may become even more important in a world increasingly shaped by AI and digital connection
• The difference between having thousands of online connections and experiencing genuine heart-to-heart human connection
• Wild Child, Laguna Playhouse’s new musical about young people leaving screens and gaming behind and discovering connection in the wilderness
• Why the themes of belonging, isolation, and human connection in Wild Child are especially relevant for teenagers and young adults
• Adele’s plans for talkbacks, student engagement, and community conversations surrounding Playhouse productions
• Why the experience of theater should not necessarily end when the curtain comes down
• How Laguna Playhouse can help audiences talk together about what they have experienced
• The possibility of bringing actors, audiences, schools, churches, and community organizations into conversations around productions
• How comedy and entertainment can also create important moments of shared human experience
• Why Adele believes Laguna Playhouse needs to move beyond waiting for audiences to come through its doors and become more visible throughout the community
• The possibility of the Playhouse becoming part of Laguna’s broader public spaces, including the Promenade
• Adele’s experience turning around arts organizations financially while keeping their larger artistic and community mission at the center
• Why nonprofit arts organizations must remain financially disciplined in order to sustain their transformative work
• How commercially successful programming can help fund artistic, educational, and community programs
• Adele’s experience reducing Laguna Playhouse’s operating deficit by approximately $1 million
• Why fundraising for the Playhouse must be connected not merely to producing shows, but to the institution’s future role in Laguna Beach
• The continuing power of Rent, 30 years after its premiere, and why its themes can still speak to younger generations
• Whether audiences need to relearn how to become active participants in theater rather than passive consumers of entertainment
• The comparison between developing an exercise practice and developing the ability to experience live performance deeply
• Why seeing Hadestown, Dear Evan Hansen, opera, or another great production live creates something that cannot be reproduced on a screen
• Adele’s powerful memory of strangers reaching for one another and crying together during a Broadway performance of Dear Evan Hansen
• Why Laguna Playhouse must increasingly take performers and artistic experiences into schools and throughout the community
• The larger question of how Laguna Beach can preserve places where people encounter beauty, one another, and their own hearts

Key takeaway

The future of Laguna Playhouse may be about more than putting great theater on a stage. It may be about creating a place where performers and audiences encounter one another, where strangers share something they could never experience alone, and where a community increasingly surrounded by screens can rediscover the transformative power of moving from the head to the heart.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.

Description

What if one of Laguna Beach's most meaningful places is also one of its smallest?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Simone Adams, co-manager of the Laguna Beach Library Butterfly and Fairy Garden, for a conversation that begins with butterflies and fairy houses but quickly opens into something much deeper.

Simone shares the story of the garden's beginnings, how it became a cherished gathering place for children and families, and why thousands of visitors return each year to experience its unique blend of nature, creativity, and imagination. Together, she and Will explore what children can teach adults about wonder, presence, gratitude, and seeing the world with fresh eyes.

Along the way, the conversation reflects on volunteering, handwritten notes, the healing power of nature, the role of imagination in spiritual life, and the surprising possibility that Laguna Beach itself is a place where people are invited to slow down, reconnect, and rediscover what it means to be fully human.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Simone discuss:

• Simone's lifelong connection to Laguna Beach and her family's journey back to the community
• How the Butterfly and Fairy Garden grew from a monarch butterfly habitat into one of Laguna's most beloved community spaces
• Jessica DeStefano's vision and the volunteers who continue to care for and expand the garden
• Why the garden became especially important for children and families during the COVID years
• The Butterfly and Fairy Festival and how it has grown into a destination for thousands of visitors
• The Fairy Mail program and why handwritten letters still create meaningful connections
• How the garden introduces children to pollinators, stewardship, creativity, and responsibility
• Why imagination, wonder, and play remain essential parts of becoming fully human
• What adults can learn by seeing the world through the eyes of a child
• The importance of volunteering as a way of serving others and building community
• How nature, creativity, and simply slowing down can become sources of healing
• The impact of smartphones, social media, and constant distraction on our ability to experience beauty
• Why sunsets, butterflies, gardens, and conversations often matter more when they are experienced than when they are photographed
• The relationship between imagination, faith, and encountering the divine
• The story behind St. Fairy's by the Sea and its connection to Laguna's church history
• Why Will suggests that Laguna Beach itself can be understood as a kind of "fairy garden"—a community shaped by art, beauty, generosity, and wonder
• Simone's invitation for every visitor to slow down, look carefully, and rediscover the magic that may have been there all along

Key takeaway

The Fairy Garden is more than a destination for children. It is a reminder that wonder, imagination, kindness, and community are not things we outgrow. They are gifts we can rediscover—and perhaps the very qualities that make Laguna Beach feel like home.




About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna,

Will Crist sits down with Laguna Beach resident and author Bode Swanson for a wide-ranging conversation about character, masculinity, purpose, and the ancient virtues that help human beings flourish. Bode’s book, Great Souled Men, draws inspiration from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and the concept of magnanimity—the “great soul” that emerges as virtues are practiced and refined over a lifetime.

The conversation begins with the remarkable story of Wesley Autrey, who jumped onto the tracks of a New York City subway to protect a stranger as a train passed inches above them. For Bode, Autrey represents something important: an ordinary person who had developed enough courage, skill, and selflessness to act when the moment required it.Will and Bode explore why many young men today appear to be drifting and why the problem may be less about motivation than formation. Previous generations encountered systems that deliberately taught character—through family, churches, schools, Scouting, coaches, and community institutions. Today, much of that formative influence has shifted toward social media and a culture frequently measuring success through wealth, power, celebrity, followers, and status.

They discuss Aristotle’s idea of eudaimonia—human flourishing—and the “golden mean,” in which virtue is cultivated between deficiency and excess. Courage, for example, lies between cowardice and recklessness. Temperance lies between deprivation and indulgence. The conversation also turns personal as both Will and Bode reflect on becoming Eagle Scouts and the formative power of the Scout Oath and Law. They ask an important question: Where do young people encounter comparable systems of character formation today? Bode shares the example of Laguna Beach High School football coach John Shanahan and the difference a caring adult can make by giving young people not simply instruction, but a model, a community, and a larger vision of who they might become.

Will and Bode ultimately arrive at a shared insight: the goal is not simply achievement. It is becoming. A “great-souled” person develops the character, discipline, vision, and generosity to participate in something larger than themselves—to strengthen a family, build an organization, serve a community, mentor another person, or create something that may endure beyond their own lifetime.

In this episode:

• Why Bode begins Great Souled Men with Wesley Autrey’s extraordinary act of courage
• Aristotle’s meaning of magnanimity, or being “great-souled”
• Why virtue is a practice rather than a personality trait
• The growing struggle for purpose among young men
• What wealth, power, status, and social media are teaching the next generation
• Aristotle’s concept of eudaimonia and human flourishing
• The golden mean: finding virtue between excess and deficiency
• Why Boy Scouts once offered a powerful system of formation
• The importance of coaches, mentors, fathers, and other trusted adults
• Why purpose matters more than simply choosing the right career
• The difference between achieving something and becoming someone
• How ordinary people can build things that strengthen the whole community

Bode leaves listeners with one central challenge:

“We have to think about building things that benefit the whole rather than ourselves.”

That is a thought spoken directly from The Heart of Laguna.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.

Description

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Billy Fried, founder of La Vida Laguna and President of KXFM Community Radio, for a wide-ranging conversation about community, belonging, stewardship, and the future of Laguna Beach. Billy shares how moving to Laguna transformed his life, what inspired him to build businesses centered on adventure and connection, and why he believes community is created one conversation at a time.

Together, Fr. Will and Billy explore the relationship between tourism and belonging, the importance of welcoming visitors as neighbors rather than strangers, and how face-to-face conversation can heal the divisions amplified by social media. Along the way, they discuss public art, environmental stewardship, creative culture, aging, death, near-death experiences, and the shared responsibility of building a Laguna where everyone feels they belong.

Show Notes

 In this episode, Fr. Will and Billy discuss:

• Billy's journey from Los Angeles to finding home in Laguna Beach
• How La Vida Laguna introduced thousands of visitors to the ocean through kayaking and outdoor adventure
• Why KXFM serves as a community gathering place for Laguna Beach
• The difference between online conflict and face-to-face conversation
• How social media can divide us—and how community can bring us back together
• Why visitors and day-trippers should be welcomed as part of the Laguna experience
• Environmental stewardship and caring for Laguna's beaches and coastline
• Public art, biking, walkability, and creating a more connected community
• Supporting artists, local businesses, and Laguna's creative heritage
• Aging, death doulas, near-death experiences, and spiritual perspectives on life's transitions
• What it means to build a community where kindness is stronger than division

Memorable Themes

• "Everyone who comes to Laguna belongs here."
• "Community is built through conversation."
• "The ocean teaches us both humility and stewardship."
• "The opposite of division is belonging."
• "The heart of Laguna is its people."

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.

Beyond the Beach: Learning to See the Real Laguna with Bill Hoffman

Description

What happens when we stop treating a city as scenery and begin listening to the stories written into its streets, buildings, trees, public art, and gathering places?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist speaks with Bill Hoffman, retired teacher, urban planner, tour guide, and author of Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer. Bill’s fascination with cities began during a year in Spain, where pedestrian streets, public plazas, and centuries-old buildings showed him that cities can be more than roads, parking spaces, and places to pass through. They can hold memory, encourage relationship, and help people feel that they belong.

Together, Will and Bill explore what makes Laguna Beach distinctive, from its coves, greenbelt, eucalyptus trees, public art, early homesteaders, and artist colonies to its fierce commitment to preservation. They also ask a more challenging question: Can Laguna preserve what is beautiful without becoming resistant to change?

The conversation turns toward the millions of visitors who come to Laguna each year, especially day visitors who may experience little beyond the beach. Rather than treating them as outsiders who take parking spaces, create lots of traffic, and leave trash behind, what would happen if Laguna welcomed them as guests and introduced them to the deeper life of the city? Walking tours, trained local docents, historic markers, public-art routes, and community storytelling could help visitors discover the Laguna that residents love—and encourage them to care for it, support its businesses, meet its people, and return with a deeper sense of connection. This is a conversation about tourism, history, beauty, urban design, and the transforming power of learning to notice what has been hidden in plain sight.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Bill discuss:

• How living in Spain changed Bill’s understanding of cities
• Why streets, buildings, and neighborhoods tell stories
• Bill’s transition from teaching into urban planning and tour guiding
• How a San Francisco tour helped him rediscover purpose after retirement
• What tour guides notice that most people walk past
• Laguna Beach’s architectural variety, view protections, public art, and limited commercial franchises
• Why the city’s eucalyptus trees are part of its history
• The role of Laguna’s artists, environmentalists, and civic leaders
• The preservation of more than 20,000 acres of surrounding open space
• The tension between preserving Laguna’s character and allowing thoughtful change
• What Dana Point can teach Laguna about walkability and public gathering spaces
• The history and meaning hidden in Laguna’s streets, murals, sculptures, and trees
• Why visitors often experience Laguna only as a beach destination
• How walking tours could help day visitors discover the rest of the city
• The possibility of training local volunteer docents
• How cultural tourism could support local artists, restaurants, stores, and community organizations
• Why welcoming visitors into a relationship with Laguna may be more effective than treating them as a problem
• What beautiful public places contribute to human health and community life
• Why children and adults need opportunities to be introduced to beauty
• How learning to observe a city can change the way we see other human beings
• Bill’s book, Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer

A Central Question

What if the people who come to Laguna for the beach could leave knowing something about its artists, its history, its protected coastline, its greenbelt, and the people who have worked to preserve its character? They might not leave as tourists. They might leave as friends of Laguna.

About the Guest

Bill Hoffman is a retired educator, urban planner, historic-preservation advocate, tour guide, and founder of Hoffy Tours. He is also the author of Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer, a guide to memorable day trips throughout the region. His work helps people slow down, look more carefully, and discover the history and meaning hidden inside familiar places.

Learn More Hoffy Tours:
hoffytours.com

Bill's Book:
Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer. The book is available through Hoffy Tours, the Laguna Beach Books bookstore, Hobie Surf Shop, the publisher, and other booksellers.

Memorable Takeaway

A city becomes more meaningful when someone helps us see what we have been walking past.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.

Title: George Gilliam on Creative Identity, Music Therapy, and the Gift of Being Seen Episode

Description:

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes George Gilliam, Executive Director of Creative Identity, a ministry of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Laguna Beach. For more than 30 years, George has helped adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities discover their gifts through music, art, performance, and creative expression.

What began with one student has grown into a life-giving community where people too often defined by limitation are given opportunity, encouragement, and the chance to be seen for who they truly are. George shares his journey as a musician, jazz artist, music therapist, founder, and community leader. He reflects on what music therapy makes possible, why creativity opens doors that words often cannot, and what his students have taught him about patience, courage, tenderness, and the deep human longing to belong.

This conversation is about far more than art. It is about dignity. It is about visibility. It is about what happens when a community stops asking, “What can’t they do?” and begins asking, “What gifts are waiting to be released?”

This is a conversation about creativity, dignity, and the healing power of being seen. 

Show Notes:

In this conversation, Fr. Will and George explore:

• George’s early life as a musician and his path into music therapy
• The founding of Creative Identity more than 30 years ago
• How music and art help people express themselves without judgment
• Why people with disabilities are often underestimated
• The difference between seeing limitations and seeing gifts
• How Creative Identity helps adults build confidence, choice, social connection, and purpose
• Stories of students discovering abilities they did not know they had
• Why being seen is one of the deepest human needs
• What Laguna Beach can do to become a more welcoming creative community
• How people can support, volunteer, and get involved with Creative Identity

Memorable Theme:

People do not thrive because we pity them. They thrive when we see them, encourage them, and make room for their gifts to come forward.

Learn More:

Creative Identity: creativeidentity.org
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Laguna Beach: stmaryslagunabeach.org  

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.

The Heart of Laguna Is People: Christina Logue on Business, Belonging, and Human Connection

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Christina Logue, owner of Little Freebirds and president of the Laguna Beach Business Club. Christina’s story moves from a 28-year career in opticianry, leadership, training, teaching, and regulation in Canada to the bold decision to begin again in Laguna Beach as a small business owner.

What begins as a conversation about a children’s clothing store becomes something much larger: a reflection on service, community, customer experience, and the human relationships that make local businesses matter. Together, Will and Christina explore what it would mean for Laguna Beach to think of itself less as a collection of separate shops and more as a shared human experience — almost like Disneyland, where every person and every business helps create the whole.

This conversation is about business, belonging, reinvention, and the heart of a town that still has the opportunity to become known not only for beauty, beaches, and art, but for genuine human connection.

Show Notes

In this episode, Christina Logue shares her journey from Canada to Laguna Beach and from a major career in opticianry to owning Little Freebirds. She reflects on motherhood, reinvention, empty nesting, and the courage it takes to ask, “What part of this life is truly mine?”

Will and Christina discuss the deeper purpose of local retail: not simply selling products, but creating trust, warmth, welcome, and relationship. The conversation turns to Disney, John DiJulius (author of The Customer Service Revolution), customer experience, and the possibility that Laguna Beach could think more intentionally about the experience it creates for residents, visitors, and local businesses.

They also explore the founder’s dilemma: how small-business owners can become the bottleneck to their own growth when every decision has to come back to them.

At the center of the conversation is a simple but powerful idea: the heart of Laguna is its people — and the town's next opportunity may be to learn how to serve them with greater imagination, cooperation, and humanity.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.

The Heart of Laguna: Why a Community Needs Its Story | Karen Lagrew 

Episode Description

What gives a place its soul?

In this conversation, Will Crist sits down with Karen Lagrew —Vice President and former President of the Laguna Beach Historical Society and one of the few people born and raised in Laguna Beach—to explore the stories that continue to shape one of California’s most distinctive communities.

Together they move beyond dates and landmarks into something deeper: why history matters, how volunteers preserve more than old buildings, and what happens when a community forgets the people and values that formed it. Karen reflects on growing up in Laguna during the 1960s and 70s, the artists who shaped the town, hidden places visitors rarely notice, and the volunteers who quietly protect its unique character.

Along the way, the conversation becomes an invitation to every listener—not simply to appreciate where they live, but to become part of its story. Whether you have lived in Laguna for sixty years or are discovering it for the first time, this episode offers a thoughtful look at the relationship between memory, place, and belonging.

Show Notes

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why preserving history is really about preserving identity
• What it was like growing up in Laguna Beach before the surrounding Orange County developed
• How artists, volunteers, educators, and ordinary citizens created Laguna’s unique culture
• Why volunteer work often helps people discover what they were meant to contribute
• The hidden differences between visiting Laguna and truly belonging to it
• How the Laguna Beach Historical Society uncovers remarkable stories from the town’s past
• What today’s residents can learn from those who protected Laguna’s beaches, canyons, and neighborhoods
• Why communities that forget their stories risk losing their spirit
• Karen’s hopes for Laguna’s future amid growth and change
• Practical ways newcomers can become part of the community instead of simply living here

Memorable Quote: “History isn’t just about what happened. It’s about understanding who we are, what shaped us, and why this place still matters.”

About Our Guest

Karen Lagrew is Vice President and former President of the Laguna Beach Historical Society. A lifelong Laguna Beach resident, she has dedicated years to preserving the city’s rich history through research, exhibitions, educational programs, and community storytelling. Her work helps connect new generations to the people, places, and values that have made Laguna Beach unlike anywhere else.

Learn more about the Laguna Beach Historical Society by visiting the museum on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1:00–4:00 p.m., or by volunteering as a docent and becoming part of Laguna’s continuing story.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.

Description
In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Ryan Brown, Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Chamber Singers, for a rich conversation about music, belonging, beauty, and the deep human need for unity. Ryan reflects on what happens when individual voices come together in a choir—not by disappearing, but by listening, breathing, and creating something no one voice could make alone.

Together, Fr. Will and Ryan explore choral music as a practice of presence, a discipline of attention, and a living metaphor for community. The conversation moves from rehearsal rooms and sacred music to questions of home, welcome, LGBTQ belonging, spiritual healing, and what Laguna Beach can teach us about becoming a community where people hear, “You belong here.”

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Ryan discuss:

• Ryan’s role as Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Chamber Singers
• Why choral singing creates unity through breath, sound, listening, and shared intention
• The difference between musical product and musical experience
• How choirs become places of belonging and chosen family
• The power of beauty to open the heart
• Why music can become a spiritual discipline
• What it means to be welcomed home
• The experience of LGBTQ people in churches and the continuing need for true welcome
• Laguna Tunes, Chamber Singers, and the different ways people find their voice
• Leadership through power versus leadership through shared purpose
• Why choral music still matters in a divided world
• What Laguna Beach most needs to hear: kindness, home, and belonging

Memorable Themes

“Expression equals intention times technique.”
“Choir allows us to experience humanity with one another.”
“You belong here.”
“Welcome home.”

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00.