Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Gordon T. Smith to explore what it means to live faithfully in the here and now. Gordon invites us to move beyond nostalgia and “what ifs,” and instead pay attention to the real circumstances of our lives—the places where God is already at work. Together, we talk about vocation as something deeper than career, the challenge of saying no, the importance of self-knowledge, and why learning to be present might be the most important spiritual...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Coastal Theology, Andy Withrow and Vanessa Caruso sit down with pastor and author Mark Buchanan (The Rest of God) to explore how Sabbath, vocation, and trust belong together. As VISTA prepares for its May 8–9 conference “Called and Formed”, Mark reframes Sabbath as more than a productivity break—it’s a practice that retrains our souls for patience, presence, and interruption, especially in a culture formed by convenience and distraction. The conversation mo...

Send us Fan Mail Author and pastor Jodi Spargur joins host Vanessa Caruso and poet Matthew Church to explore her new book Mend—a gentle yet challenging invitation for the Church to move beyond “fixing” toward true repair and reciprocity with Indigenous peoples. They talk about what it means to mend rather than fix—embracing slowness, humility, and generational commitment to right relationship. Along the way, the conversation weaves through stories of Indigenous hospitality and generosity, ref...

Send us Fan Mail "You want it darker? We killed the flame." These haunting words from Leonard Cohen capture the spiritual emergency of our times—and might be his most important message for today's church, according to theologian Dr. Brian Walsh. In this profound conversation, we explore how Cohen's music creates a bridge between ancient biblical imagination and contemporary spiritual hunger. Walsh's new book "Rags of Light" examines Cohen not merely as a poet or musician, but as a modern-day...

Send us Fan Mail What if the church's greatest strength isn't in repeating what's worked elsewhere, but in learning to improvise within our unique contexts? Dr. Mark Glanville, jazz pianist and Old Testament scholar, invites us to discover a more vibrant way of being church through the art of improvisation. Join us for this fascinating exploration of how churches can become more authentic, contextual, and vibrant by learning the art of spiritual improvisation. Then experience it firsthand at...

Send us Fan Mail Vanessa Caruso and Andy Withrow introduce a new podcast for the Vancouver Island School of Theology and the Arts (VISTA) and promote an upcoming conference titled "Blessed are the undone," featuring keynote speaker Angela Reitsma Bick and pre-conference lecturer Peter Schuurman. The conference, scheduled for May 15 and June 6-7, 2025, will explore the book "Blessed are the undone: testimonies of the quiet deconstruction of faith in Canada," co-authored by Bick and Schuurman. ...