Still Christian

What change might we witness in future generations of young people if adult Christians emphasized unconditional belonging over the pressure to believe 'correctly'?

In her book Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night, and How White Evangelicalism Betrayed a Generation, author and former camp speaker Cara Meredith wrestles with the complicated legacy of Christian camps in America.

Throughout our conversation, Cara offers a loving critique that celebrates the joys of Christian camp life while also calling such camps to a higher standard ministry, for the sake of our youth andthe people who lead them.

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Find the book here!

Cara's Substack!

Cara's Instagram!

In life and in faith, downsizing is a necessary process that helps us move from one phase of growth to the next. Amid what can often feel like a disorienting process, what's okay to let go ofandwhat should we hold on to?

Join us and Michelle Van Loon, author of Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism's Nonessentials, as we explore releasing the accumulated baggage of religionin order to step into a truer, simpler expression of our faith.

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Buy the book!

Check out Michelle's Substack!

Find her on Instagram!

How do we rebuild trust in God, ourselves, and others after life-shattering betrayal? In her travel memoir Tiger in a Lifeboat, Lauren Cibene invites us to accompany her through India as she experiences recovery and homecoming in the beauty of unfamiliar places.

We talk with Lauren about what it looks like to come home to yourself with courage and integrity after things fall apart.

Our number one takeaway? Hang in there, church kidz; we're gonna be alright.

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Check it out:

Lauren's Substack!

Buy the Book!

Instagram!

Is it possible to find a balanced approach between conservative and progressive beliefs?

We believe it is—especially after interviewing author and pastor Nicholas McDonald about his treasure of a book, The Light in Our Eyes: Rediscovering the Love, Beauty, and Freedom of Jesus in an Age of Disillusionment.Whew—can we get an Amen?

In this interview, Nicholas guides us through an exploration of the roots of the distinctly American Evangelical movement, concluding that our most compelling witness may be the fact that because we belong to Jesus, we belong to each other—in spite of all that could divide us.

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Check it out:

Nicholas’s Substack!

Buy the book!

We’re low key thrilled to introduce the Still Christian Podcast’s fifth season! Church Kidz: Where Are They Now? follows the stories of ordinary Evangelical church kids who grew up going to Sunday school. As adults, they’re wrestling with how to appreciate their childhood faith heritage while embracing the new thing God is doing in their lives and churches.

If you find yourself having grown up in the American Evangelical church and also wanting to experience more breadth and depth to your faith, you’re not alone. Each author and ministry leader featured in Season 5 offers a unique perspective on what it looks like to live out authentic faith in today’s spiritual and cultural climate.

More than anything, we hope these stories inspire you tokeep pressing in to Jesus—the source and goal of our faith.

So buckle up, Church Kidz. . . there are beautiful things ahead.

On this final episode of the Embodied Faithseries, Sarah and Katie reflect on what they’ve learned about how to live out their faith in a more embodied way with God, self, and others. Our bodies are messy and fragile, but they are also vessels that beautifully reflect the glory and goodness of God.

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Season 5 set to premiere January 2026!

What does the way our bodies function tell us about God’s design for humanity? We invite you to pull up a chair as Sarah, Katie, and reproductive health nurse Lindsey explore what it looks like to celebrate the goodness of God by learning to embrace the body in all its complexity.

Although many who grew up in Western Evangelical circles were taught to be suspicious of the body, this episode is a gentle, corrective invitation into holy curiosity regarding the body's beautiful design.

Topics covered:

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Be sure to follow us on Instagram @stillchristianpodcast!

What does embodied faith look like after experiencing the trauma of abuse?

In our conversation with the author of Cradled in the Arms of Compassionand professor of Spiritual Formation Dr. Frank Rogers Jr., we explore the sanctity of embodiment in light of the Incarnation of Jesus, who redeems our experiences of harm and holds us with infinite compassion.

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To learn more about Frank's work and order his book: GO HERE!

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*Trigger warning: The subject matter of this episode is finding healing after the trauma of childhood sexual abuse, along with grappling with the pain of death by suicide. Please use discretion when listening.

How do we become people who embody confidence when life does its best to tear us down? Spoiler alert: the answer is Jesus. Join co-hosts Sarah and Katie as we talk with confidence coach Ashley Henriott about her new book: Confidence Is an Inside Job, which offers readers a path to confidence that is based in the grounded security we find only in the deep, deep love of Jesus.

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Ashley's website!

Ashley's book!

In this special episode, we interview author Liz Charlotte Grant about her new book, Knock at the Sky. Together we wonder,

-Is it possible to have a view of the Bible that's authoritative but not authoritarian?

-Is doubt a problem, or could it be the place we meet the God who's been seeking us all along?

-What does it look like to love and know God in and through our imperfect bodies?

For those seeking a revivifying way to relate to the Bible and the God we find in its pages, listen, lean in, and be refreshed.

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Find Liz's work here!

Substack: thempathylist.com

Book: Knock at the Sky

This episode features our wisdom-packed conversation with certified Enneagram coach Drew Dixon. Together, we explore this question:

And this one:

If you want to learn some practical steps towards worshipping God with all your heart, mind, AND body, this episode is for you.

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BONUS: Drew is providing ½ off Enneagram Consultations forlisteners of this podcast! Go todrewldixon.com/stillchristian to learn more.

In this episode, our beloved host Sarah Almodovar hops into the interview seat as we explore what her work as a pre and post-natal yoga instructor has taught her about the wonder of our bodies and how the simple yet profound gift of movement can be an expression of worship.

For the dear souls who have been scared out of practicing yoga because you were told it “isn’t Christian,” this refreshing episode might just give you the new perspective you’ve been hoping for.

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Links: Yoga for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum

sarahjoalmo.com

instagram.com/sarahjoalmo

And we’re back! Join Sarah & Katie as we “vision cast” (how mega-churchy of us) for Season 4of The Still Christian Podcast: Embodied Faith. Western Christianity has leaned heavily on the rational mind as our primary means of knowing and worshipping God:

Join us as we explore what it means to bring our minds andour bodies into our faith.

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“I want to dive deeper into what it means to trustour bodies as a way of encountering God.” –K

“I want a greater appreciation and understanding of the mystery of our bodies—and all the ways we’ve overlooked them—and the gift that God has given us in our bodies.” –S

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*Bonus: This episode contains devastatingly apt metaphors from Rodger’s & Hammerstein’s 1997 film Cinderella starring Brandi (IYKYK).

Sarah and Katie reflect on the incredible female authors and stories featured in Season 3, and how each woman offers a unique viewpoint of both the harm and the hope of evangelical church culture. *Bonus: Listen for a super compelling preview of our upcoming season!

How can we attune our ears to the still, small voice of God when we are surrounded by constant noise--and how might the church be complicit in turning up the volume? In her winsome and wise upcoming book Slow Childhood, author Grace Pouch proposes that offering the next generation a slower, more intentional pace of life in which it is possible to live both conversationally and relationally with God starts with us.

What does it look like to disentangle ourselves from toxicforms of Christianity while maintaining the joy of our faith? For Jesus followers who are tempted to give up when this process gets messy, Kate Boyd provides gentle guidance and a wise path forward in her recent book, An Untidy Faith. Join Sarah and Katie as they chat with Kate about what it means to have one’s faith expanded by love of God and neighbor.

Sheila Wray Gregoire's The Great Sex Rescuehelps readers identify the lies they've been taught about marriage and sex and how to re-discover what God intended for couples to thrive. Join us as we talk with Sheila about the toxic distortion of Biblical principles that has left many couples confused and hurt and as we discover what a renewed vision of healthy marriage and sex looks like for Christians today.

*Contains sexual references

"They love the church. . .so why not fight for it?" With these words award-winning journalist Sarah Stankorb describes the courageous women featured in her bestselling book Disobedient Women, which tells the story of how a group of faithful women exposed layers of abuse and corruption within the evangelical church using the power of the internet. Join us as we learn from Sarah Stankorb how speaking up about church hurt has become a courageous act of advocacy on behalf of the voiceless.

Is it possible for faith deconstruction to be a formative spiritual practice that does not lead to de-conversion or losing one’s identity? Author Angela J. Herrington believes that it is. Join hosts Sarah and Katie as we talk with Angela about her new book, Deconstructing Your Faith Without Losing Yourself, and what it means to take a fearless inventory of one’s faith in a way that leads to a deeper, more authentic, abundant life.

Welcome to Season 3 of the Still Christian Podcast! To kick of our In Her Words series, Sarah interviews Katie about her journey of becoming a writer, re-discovering her voice after trauma, and the importance of uplifting female voices who are working to heal church hurt through the craft of writing.

*This episode may or may not include Katie reading an exclusive excerpt from a book she handwrote when she was 7 years old called The Christmas Pony. You're welcome.

The final episode of our Still Christian Through Suffering series, in which Katie and Sarah reflect upon the brave and sacred stories of faith and suffering shared this past season, and Sarah somehow manages to work in "Footprints in the Sand". . .again.

Mentioned in this episode:

Where is God when we do not feel safe within our own minds? Hosts Katie and Sarah interview Anglican teacher, scholar, and poet Greg Jeffers about his journey of recovery from trauma-related OCD. Greg's candid sharing of how God met him in unfathomable pain offers hope and illumination to those who find themselves walking in darkness and in need of light.

Mentioned in this episode:

Part two of our daring and delightful conversation about spiritual disciplines with author and speaker Diana Gruver.

Mentioned in this episode:

How Many Hours of Your Week Are Dedicated to God? article by Diana Gruver

Sword drills. Quiet time. Giving God your first fruits. Sound familiar? Then "Have we got a show for you!" (<-If you read this in Bob the Tomato's voice a la Veggie Tales circa 1997, you're in the right place.) If you've ever felt guilty about not doing it right when it comes to spiritual disciplines, we hope you'll join us as we explore what moving from guilt to freedom looks like in our pursuit of God.

Mentioned in this episode:

A song that will haunt you in your nightmares

Is the B-I-B-L-E still the book for us?* Is it more than a rule book or an inspirational collection of writings? Join Katie and Sarah along with pastor and spiritual director Drew Dixon as we take a closer look at how the Bible shaped our lives while growing up in church and how we relate to it differently now. (*Spoiler alert: it is.)

Mentioned in this episode:

Is It Time to Quit 'Quiet Time?'article from Christianity Today

Remember the popular purity culture book I Kissed Dating Goodbye? Hosts Sarah and Katie sure do. If you've ever contemplated kissing dating goodbye (or have actually done it!), hats off to you. Bless you. Let's talk about how weird that was.

Mentioned in this episode:

A Statement on I Kissed Dating Goodbye (from Josh Harris himself!)