Vintage Saints and Sinners

Alton B. Pollard III joins Karen Wright Marsh to explore the religious and spiritual imagination of Toni Morrison.You won’t find her name at the top of the roster of Christian saints. She’s not often thought of as a religious writer. But Toni Morrison (1931-2019) the esteemed Nobel and Pulitzer winning novelist, editor and professor, converted to the Catholic church at age 12. What do we know about her faith?Meet Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the show here: www.karenwrightmar...

How is a leader made? The child of immigrants, Rev. Dr. Walter Kim tells stories of his faith journey and the spiritual mentors who have shaped him along the way. Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the show here: www.karenwrightmarsh.comGuest Walter Kim is the president of the National Association of Evangelicals and a Presbyterian pastor who has served as chaplain at Yale University. He has taught at Boston College and Harvard University, where he rece...

What is “embodied solidarity”? Larycia Hawkins illuminates the power of a risky Christian witness made incarnate in the world.Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the show here: www.karenwrightmarsh.comDr. Larycia Hawkins is an American scholar and speaker whose act of embodied solidarity became the subject of the award-winning documentary film Same God.Dr. Hawkins is general faculty at the University of Virginia, where she teaches in the departments of politics and religi...

Larycia Hawkins and Karen Wright Marsh recount the story of luminous Sophie Scholl, a university student who dared to stand up to Hitler.Young Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans were raised to stand up for righteousness. In the end, their convictions would cost them everything -- but leave behind a legacy of courage and integrity.Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the show here: www.karenwrightmarsh.comGuest Dr. Larycia Hawkins is an American scholar and speaker whose act of e...

Natasha Sistrunk Robinson is a visionary leader, a woman who has learned profound truths on her journey as a child in South Carolina to the U.S. Naval Academy and on to a career in service, ministry and mentoring.In this special conversation, Natasha Sistrunk Robinson talks about the Biblical figures and the African American witnesses who lived by the tough truths of courage, determination and reliance upon God. Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the show here: www...

Lauren Winner joins host Karen Wright Marsh to consider relationship advice from 12th century abbot Aelred of Rievaulx.Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167) guided monks living a cloistered communal life, far back in the misty medieval past. His teachings on authentic spiritual friendship still ring true in today’s secular, sexualized, commercialized, technology-driven world where friendship, like much of life, feels more complex than ever. Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the...

Alton B. Pollard III joins Karen Wright Marsh for a conversation on building bridges, casting visions and finding the way forward.Who are the little known saints who’ve altered the trajectory of your life? A junior high teacher? A courageous parent? Rev. Dr. Pollard tells the stories of people who’ve inspired him to become the leader he is today: a seminary president with hopeful visions of transformation.Reverend Dr. Alton B Pollard III is a national author, speaker, ordain...

Walter Kim and host Karen Wright Marsh wrestle with the complex legacy of Martin Luther, the singular man who changed for the world forever.Who was Martin Luther -- really? Grace-filled theologian? Confrontational reformer? Tender pastor? Harsh anti-Semite? Walter Kim examines the many sides of one of history’s most important figures.Walter Kim is the president of the National Association of Evangelicals and a Presbyterian pastor who has served as chaplain at Yale University. He has tau...

Philip Yancey joins host Karen Wright Marsh to tell the story of his friend, Dr. Paul Brand, the compassionate, innovative healer esteemed the world over.Bestselling writer Philip Yancey spent years following and working with renowned leprosy surgeon Dr. Paul Brand. A trained engineer and orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Brand innovated surgical techniques for damaged hands and feet. And as a missionary, he put his faith in practice by serving some of the lowliest people on the planet: members of Indi...

Alton B. Pollard III and Karen Wright Marsh discuss the story and complex thought of W.E.B Dubois, that towering figure in American social, political and intellectual life. In 1903, W.E.B. Dubois famously said, "The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color-line.” Through his long life, Dubois focused his powers of intellect and influence to counter white supremacy and claim the promises of democracy. His spirit of fierce integrity is needed now more than ever.Meet h...

Lauren Winner joins host Karen Wright Marsh to tell the story of Brother Lawrence (1614-1691) and his mindful practice of the presence of God. He spent decades down in the steaming monastery kitchen, scrubbing pots and pans, a “servant of the servants of God.” Uneducated and disabled by war, Brother Lawrence grew into an unlikely spiritual genius whose insights can still transform us today.Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the show here: www.karenwrightmarsh.comGuest Lau...

Larycia Hawkins and host Karen Wright Marsh recount the story of John Wesley, founder of Methodism.As a young man, pious John Wesley declared the “absolute impossibility of being half a Christian.” Crushing failures humbled his grand ambitions-- yet prepared Wesley for a renewed faith, one energized by freedom, love and transformative actionGuest Dr. Larycia Hawkins is an American scholar and speaker whose act of embodied solidarity became the subject of the award-winning documentary fi...

Writer Carlene Bauer and Karen Wright Marsh explore the many sides of Flannery O’Connor.The American author, Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) insisted that she was not a mystic and did not lead a holy life---yet faith infuses her fiction, letters, and private journals, tracing themes of sin and grace, fall and redemption, and the ultimate reality: God revealed in the Incarnation. What do we make of this unexpected saint?Guest Carlene Bauer is the author of a memoir, Not That Kind of Girl, and a ...

Lauren Winner joins host Karen Wright Marsh for a special conversation on “pandemic Christianity.”We’re well into the coronavirus pandemic and still struggling to make sense of it all. What have we lost? What have we gained? Where is God in this time?To gain a perspective on these questions, Karen Marsh speaks with Lauren Winner, a pastor, author, and professor of Christian spirituality.Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the show here: www.karenwrightmarsh.comGuest...

Philip Yancey and host Karen Wright Marsh tell the story of A.W. Tozer, the American Bible teacher whose gravestone read simply: “A Man of God.”Thirsting after God, he literally burned the midnight oil to know the Holy One. Yet A.W. Tozer failed his wife and children in profound ways. What do we do with the broken humanity of our spiritual heroes? Award winning author Philip Yancey wrestles with the question.Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the show here: www.kar...

Meet American legend Sojourner Truth through the eyes of Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, an African American woman who journeyed from South Carolina to the U.S. Naval Academy, and then to her calling as an international speaker, mentor, and thought leader.Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), famous for her preaching and activism on behalf of enslaved persons and disenfranchised women, blazed a trail that still shines today. She was a person of vision who was willing to take risks, speak up and make ...

Alton B. Pollard III joins Karen Wright Marsh to recount the story of Howard Thurman and to consider Thurman’s urgent question, “How can I believe that life has meaning if I do not believe that my own life has meaning?”Howard Thurman (1899–1981) is a rarity in our world. He practiced what he believed and what he believed was that every human being matters -- and not only that every human being matters, but that all of life matters. Thurman’s words and witness resonate now, more than ever.Gues...

Larycia Hawkins and host Karen Wright Marsh recount the story of the indomitable American civil rights leader Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer.Fannie Lou Hamer was a native of the Mississippi Delta, one of twenty children, the girl who was forced to leave school after sixth grade to work in the cotton fields. That same Fannie Lou heard the call of Jesus, boldly raised her hand and never looked back. Her courage would change America.Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the show here: ...

Walter Kim joins host Karen Wright Marsh to ask the question: was Dietrich Bonhoeffer an evangelical?Yes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a heroic martyr. But he was far more: a spiritual teacher to generations of strugglers. His words emboldened young Walter Kim to answer God’s unsettling call. Years later, Walter imagines what Bonhoeffer might have to teach in this current moment.Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more about the show here: www.karenwrightmarsh.comWalter Kim is the president of...

Lauren Winner joins host Karen Wright Marsh to take a fresh look at the story of Augustine and the promise of his faith for today.You’ve probably heard of Augustine (354-430) -- but if you’d met him as a college freshman, you wouldn’t have considered him to be saint material. Smart and ambitious, he’d rejected his mother’s faith in Jesus in favor of sex and high living. So how did Augustine become one of the world’s best known Christians? Meet host Karen Wright Marsh, and learn more abou...