Reverend Jes Kast and Dr. Jessy Defenderfer on Faith, Community, and Belonging in State College

Reverend Jes Kast is a pastor at Faith United Church of Christ in downtown State College, and Dr. Jessy Defenderfer is a political science professor at Commonwealth University Bloomsburg.

In this episode, the couple shares how they came to call State College home, why they’ve found it to be a welcoming place for members of the LGBTQ+ community, and what the faith community is like downtown. They also talk about what they love about living in Bellefonte and how the region’s political diversity fosters growth and connection across communities.

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Chapters

• 0:55 The Best Part of Being a Pastor in State College
• 1:22 How the Couple Ended Up in State College
• 3:17 First Impression of State College
• 6:48 How Jes and Jessy Found Each Other
• 13:16 Why Jes and Jessy Chose to Settle in Bellefonte
• 15:27 Jessy Shares Her Experience with a Long Commute
• 17:49 Jes and Jessy Share How State College Supports the LGBTQ+ Community
• 25:47 Jes Shares Her Culture Shock Experience Moving from New York to Central PA
• 26:41 The Diverse Political Landscape of Central PA
• 31:13 How the State College Area Could Improve
• 33:09 What's Surprising About Faith Community in State College
• 35:54 Building a Strong Spiritual Practice in State College
• 37:30 Jes and Jessy's Favorite Spots Around State College

Transcript

Brad Groznik (00:05)
This is the Rediscover State College podcast. On this show, we talk to locals about how they were able to find their happy place in Happy Valley. I'm your host, Brad Grosnik. Today we're joined by Reverend Jess Kass and Dr. Jesse Defender. Jess is a pastor at Faith United Church in downtown State College, and Jesse is a political science professor at Commonwealth University, Bloomsburg. In this episode, the couple shares how they came to call State College home.

why they found it to be a welcoming place for members of the LGBTQ community, and what the faith community is like downtown. They also talk about what they love about living in Bellefonte and how the region's political diversity fosters growth and connection across communities. We have Reverend Jess Cass and Dr. Jesse Defenderfer. Thank you guys so much for coming. Thank you for having us. So I'm curious, Jess, you're currently the pastor of Faith UCC. What's your favorite part of the job?

Jes Kast (01:01)
My favorite part of the job is the people by far. I serve an incredibly warm and loving congregation that wants to do good and justice and kindness and mercy in this area. when you're here, you can really make a difference for good or goodwill for the whole community. I love my congregation. It's the people.

Brad Groznik (01:22)
I read that in 2016, you were living in New York City and you had a calling away from the city. Can you just tell us about that? And how did you end up in State College from there?

Jes Kast (01:31)
So calling I know is very religious language, but we all have different times when we feel this prompting in our own heart. Something is changing or I need to go someplace else. And so in 2016, I was in the Upper West Side of Manhattan and I began to feel as someone who was raised in the Midwest, I often say I have a Midwest heart with a big city savviness. Great divisions were happening in America. There were skills that I had to help bridge people together.

to help people hear each other. And I began to have the sense that I needed to go perhaps away from New York to be in areas where there were people like me and people that weren't like me. Little did I know that I would meet my now wife, Dr. Jessie, who is many generations from Pennsylvania. And we began dating. We were wondering, do we stay in New York or do we leave? And I'm so grateful we left, so grateful.

because we have a very good life here, a sustainable life here that New York didn't provide. And so then we moved to this area for my job, though you already had a job in Pennsylvania. We were just talking recently. I said to Jesse, said, we're going to retire in the state, aren't we? And I didn't know that when we first moved here, it's just a good life here. And that's something I want people to know is that you have a well-rounded life here. In New York, it was a rat race.

And here I have my commitment to my job, but I also, like I've learned a garden and I was just looking at the library. They're going to be doing a class on sewing and I want to learn how to do that. And this is the community that you want to live in if you want a well-rounded life.

Brad Groznik (03:15)
Did it feel that way immediately when you first got take me to that maybe that first day? I don't know if you had an interview for for the job, but take me to that first time you kind of came to stay college and what did you what did it feel like?

Jes Kast (03:27)
So I was interviewing in my office in the Upper West Side of New York, and I noticed the people right away because my first interview was on Zoom, and the people that were represented were LGBTQ people in the interview, older single folks who had a different family makeup than I did. But it was really the gamut of personalities and people in my interview and this group of about 10 people, and I thought,

Oh, there really is a diverse representation in Central PA. I didn't know that in my first expression in finding this church. And I fell in love with the people. Again, the people in this area keep you and sustain you. And then when we moved here, it was a culture shock at first. It was, whoa, where am I? This is not New York City. We moved right before the pandemic. So the pandemic became, I said,

2020 was Project Love PA 2020. For us, the blessing during that very difficult time in the life of the world was I became such a proud Pennsylvanian during that time. And to see what not only my community has to offer, but the state has to offer. But that took some time of some grieving of what my old life was in New York and to learn what my new life could be here. And here we are. And we love it.

Brad Groznik (04:54)
Jesse, you grew up in Hershey. Is that right?

Jessy Defenderfer (04:56)
Yeah, the Hershey area. I was born in Chambersburg and then we moved. My dad started a job at Hershey. So at 13, I moved up to that area and went to college at Elizabetown College. And my family still is within the Lebanon Lancaster County area. My sisters are still there. I was in that area of Pennsylvania until I graduated college.

Brad Groznik (05:20)
Did you expect to come back? this where you imagined your life to like, this is where you were going to retire?

Jessy Defenderfer (05:25)
No, absolutely not. I left thinking that I would, I was on my way to DC and I was going to be in Washington DC for the rest of my life probably, or at least attempt to be there. And then I ended up going to the Ohio State University for my PhD, which was a little bit of a surprise move, but it was an excellent fit. And still,

Those six years I was in Columbus, Ohio, never ever intended to look for a job in Pennsylvania. Was not at the top of my list at all. I loved Ohio. I really got into like wanting to be in the Midwest, kind of a medium sized city. And in the world of academia, when you are offered a tenure track position for a job, and that was at the time, Bloomsburg University, now we're called

Commonwealth University at Bloomsburg. You get a job offer and you're, it's very hard to turn it down. So that's how I ended up back in Pennsylvania in a part of the state that I did not grow up in. So Bloomsburg is surrounded by mining towns is different than where I grew up much closer to like Lancaster, Southeast PA. While I had a similar feel, it had a very different feel at the same time. It was nice to be in kind of a different area of Pennsylvania.

Brad Groznik (06:48)
And so where did you guys meet? did your lives cross? It sounds like you were living in New York at that point with her or?

Jessy Defenderfer (06:55)
No,

no, wasn't. So the very short version of the story is that I went back to church. I rediscovered my faith at about 30. Through a couple of years process, I had a real sense that I wanted to be a part of ministry. But after completing a PhD, I wasn't about to go back to seminary. So after some reflection,

I came to this conclusion that I felt like I would make an excellent pastor's wife. And I started talking about it. My therapist, who I shared this with, she was very much on board and we talked about it for about a year before Jess and I were introduced. And I was at a women's retreat at my church in Columbus, Ohio. And we had a special speaker come in for the weekend. I get to know.

Rachel Kurtz, who is a singer-songwriter in the Lutheran Church circles. And I say to her in conversation one weekend, I really think I want to marry a pastor. And Rachel looked at me, and we had just met that weekend. She's from Minneapolis in Columbus, Ohio. I had come back from the weekend. I had already moved to Pennsylvania. So we're in Columbus, Ohio. And she looks at me and she says, ⁓ I could do that.

Jes Kast (08:19)
Like a matchmaker.

Jessy Defenderfer (08:20)
She took a picture of me and texted it to Jess, who was in New York City. And that's where it all began. And it seemed at first it was like, well, this might be possible because I had moved to Bloomsburg, which was two hours and 45 minutes from the city. Yeah, we started talking and we were long distance for a while. We got married even before we lived together. And so we were married and we had two

apartments, one in Bloomsburg and one in New York City. We were aggressively looking for the place that could hold us together, where we could build a life and start a home. And here we are, State College, Pennsylvania.

Brad Groznik (09:04)
Wow. What was it like when you received that text? ⁓ Was it out of the blue or like were you?

Jes Kast (09:10)
I mean, I was after a dissolvement of a long relationship. I was actively dating like it was a second job. And my friend Rachel texted and I thought, ⁓ she's cute. I wonder if this could happen. And then I said, how close to the city is she? And I thought, well, there's, I was in a 15 passenger van from Washington Heights to Hazelton, Pennsylvania, back and forth. These vans.

were, it was a Puerto Rican and Dominican company, just back and forth. And I was the only white person in this van going back and forth just to see my girlfriend in Pennsylvania. but in those vans, every time I would cross the state line and you'd see that sign, Pennsylvania, pursue your happiness, which is one of our old state motto signs, I thought, ⁓ my gosh, this is a good state. And I could find my heart rate going slower from

You know, the intensity of the city and the lush greenery everywhere and the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. With every 15 passenger van ride I was on on I-80, I began to fall in love with the state. That was part of our process of, as we were dating, we knew relatively soon that we wanted to get married. We've decided, okay, we think Pennsylvania actually will give us the livelihood we want and not just the gnawing to get ahead that's in New York City.

a full good life. And Jesse was the one that actually found the church that I serve. When you're interviewing for a church, I joke with people, it's like interviewing for a church is like the Tinder for churches. Like you have a profile and if you both swipe right, you begin to get to know each other and you put things on your profile about who you are. You're trying to sell yourself. And so the church and I both swiped right immediately in the first conversation of getting to know these people. thought.

we're going to be moving to State College. Center County area. We knew pretty quickly.

Brad Groznik (11:10)
So I want to pick up the story there in just a minute, but I would love to hear where are you from and what's been your journey toward becoming a pastor? Is that something you've always wanted to do?

Jes Kast (11:20)
yeah. Yeah. I grew up in a Christian home, multi-denominational Christian home. There was a generosity of thought and openness in my family's thinking. And when I was five, I would line up my stuffed animals into little pews and I would get grape juice and bread from the kitchen. And I would perform the Lord's table, the Eucharist to my stuffed animals.

I saw this ritual and I knew that I wanted to participate in it. I didn't see many women doing this when I was younger, let alone any queer women. But I knew in me that I really enjoyed being with people and I enjoyed contemplating that which is transcendent. I call that God, but know, A says higher power, so many different language to use here. That's been a consistency in my life. I've known that I'm going to be in ministry of some sort.

since I was little. And I was raised in Michigan, Northern rural Michigan. When you're growing up in it, I wanted to get out of it. I remember I went to undergrad in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is one of the larger cities in Michigan. And I felt like I had made it. Grand Rapids was on my self-returned address, but I kept dreaming. Fast forward, I was in the Middle East doing Muslim Christian peacemaking in Oman. And I met my colleague who ended up in New York City and we ended up working together.

And I loved it. New York was great and good and it has a very good place in my heart. Long-term, that is not a sustainable life. So after about 11 years in New York City and a very good beginning to my career, I was a pastor there in the Upper West Side and had a very good life. After a long-term relationship dissolvement there, there was an openness to what's the next chapter here. And that's when our friend Rachel sent the picture of Jessie and I was like, oh, she's cute. Let's try this.

Brad Groznik (13:15)
And so you got the job at Faith Church. were well established at Commonwealth University in Bloomsburg. And you said you started to look for a home around this area. And so what was that process like? How did you end up, I know you ended up settling in Bellefonte.

Jes Kast (13:32)
The best little town.

Jessy Defenderfer (13:35)
So it did help that I grew up in Pennsylvania and knew the state. I could kind of look where we were with Bloomsburg and create a reasonable, drivable radius to look for pockets where I knew that Jess and I would flourish. And so I kind of just like identified potentially Allentown, Harrisburg.

Hershey Hummelstown area. And then also State College was within this hour and a half drive that I thought I could manage with a faculty schedule. So I did start looking at the church profiles. There were other interviews that happened, but the State College connection, I knew I was a little worried because I knew that was taking us into the mountains more. Yeah. And so I kept thinking, well, there's

Jes Kast (14:25)
I'm a little worried at first.

Jessy Defenderfer (14:29)
There's a church in Hummelstown. And I actually, I went to high school in Hummelstown at a private school. And I was like, I knew that we would, we would also do really well there. We made the trek to come to state college. The day of her interview, there was a football game. It had surprising ice in October on the roads. It was actually a rather dangerous drive on 80 as we came over. And it was kind of still just magical.

Brad Groznik (14:59)
I was not expecting you to say magic.

Jes Kast (15:01)
I'm

Jessy Defenderfer (15:02)
no, that's like, it was so, even for me, could see the church itself was incredibly special. And then, you you have the excitement of a football weekend and getting to see Penn State at its high point in the fall. I felt really comfortable going further west than I thought I would. It's really because we got here and just immediately felt embraced.

Brad Groznik (15:27)
I got to ask, Bloomsburg is about 90 minutes away. And so what is it like to live in this area and have that kind of commute? know other people might consider doing that if they move here.

Jessy Defenderfer (15:38)
I

have a blended modality. So I have to be in person a couple of days a week and then I can do a good bit of my work remotely. That helps me a whole lot. Being in the car for three hours, two days a week or three days a week is a challenge. I enjoy podcasts. Here we are. I listen to a lot of audio books. It's so doable. Five days a week, I don't know. That would be personal preference.

and your family's set up and what kind of other responsibilities you have. But it works for me and it works because I like coming back to Bellefonte and not running into my students in the grocery store. There's a lot more people here between Bellefonte and State College. There more stores and restaurants. It is a more vibrant community than Bloomsburg. So there's more opportunity for us here.

than there is in Bloomsburg. The balance has been good so far. know, life is about to change. We're about to have a baby. So I don't know what this looks like in a year or two from now, but I keep up a consistent pattern as much as possible. And that includes like social activities so that I can feel connected to my job when I'm there. But then when I come back, I go to trivia every Wednesday night at Axeman and have a very

competitive team very consistently in the top five, just want to say that. ⁓ That's part of what you have to do is you have to just make sure that when you come home from work, like you're connecting back into the community and not just allowing the exhausting drive to kind of like take over your life because it can, it definitely could.

Brad Groznik (17:28)
Since you brought it up, I saw on Instagram that you guys are expecting. So congratulations on that. Thank you. And I'll just say, you know, as a parent, this town transforms again when you become a parent. You think you love the community now, just wait until you see how the community supports families and young kids. I'm very excited about that for you guys.

Jes Kast (17:49)
just backtrack a little bit. also wanted to say one of the things that was in my mind that I had to work through moving from New York City to more central PA was I was nervous as a lesbian couple, would our family belong here? Would our family be loved and supported here? And I looked for signs that this community wanted to

support the LGBTQ community. So I have to say, I think it was like the year or before we moved, the council, the borough council decided to paint the walkway rainbow colors. I think our friend Dan Murphy was part of that decision. And I saw that on Facebook and I just thought, okay, those little signs, I mean, that was so pivotal for my decision to say, okay, my family will be loved here. And that was a cue that our family belonged here.

If there are LGBTQ couples or individuals thinking, will I be loved and respected here? You know, my New York friends ask, do you feel safe in central PA? And my refrain sincerely is I feel safer here because my neighbors know us. My neighbors have our back. My church has our back. People know us, whatever their own individual convictions are. They're like, that's Jess and Jesse. That's our neighbor. So I just want to.

For those particularly that are LGBTQ or have kids that are LGBTQ, this has been an incredible community for us. And since we've been here, there's now a pride festival and the community churches, not just my church, but multiple churches and local organizations really want to support the LGBTQ community. And that's incredible. And it feels like we're part of something really important in a very key state in the United States. It feels like we're part of something.

really meaningful. I have to tell you, I also, was part of the New York City Pride March. That's like super corporate and super long and I mean, fun in its own way. But I have to say that the State College Pride Parade, being part of DIY Floats, man, I just feel so proud of every little DIY Float. There's something incredibly heartwarming and powerful being part of our community, the queer community.

in the larger community here. So those things are important and I want to thank the borough council for making those decisions before we arrived here.

Brad Groznik (20:17)
Thank you for saying that. That's wonderful to hear. And so I want to go back to your coming here. It feels like home and then you get the job. You maybe start to sell down and then pandemic. What was that experience like?

Jes Kast (20:29)
We had a year here before the pandemic and I think people need to, with any move, wherever you're moving from or to, there is just the psycho-emotional spiritual component of there's grief, of we're not at whatever place we were before. And when you move into a new neighborhood, there's a certain exhaustion of...

Well, where do I go get groceries and what is my gas station? And so that's just a normal process for wherever people move from or to. And so just as I'm feeling the sense of, okay, we are here in PA, the world shuts down and I am such a community builder. My church and all the churches had to figure out how are we going to build and sustain community and take care of people when...

We're literally isolated from one another. And so how do we nourish the spiritual, emotional component and intellectual component of people? And in many ways though, Brad, like many churches, we were on zoom. What we found is my ministry didn't just stay in central PA. Like there's a family in Winnipeg, Canada that joined and we actually ended up going up to be with them last year for my sabbatical.

It allowed for what was happening here in State College Center County to be showcased in a larger venue. And it allowed me, what was going on inside me was, oh my gosh, this is really important what we're doing here. I went from New York City to being one of many queer clergy to, not that I'm the only queer clergy here, I don't want to say that, but I am one of the only out queer clergy and that's...

says something about my church, that says something about who they want to be in this community, that they want to be a place of solace and security and refuge for all people. That makes a difference in this area in a different way than maybe New York, where I was just one number of many. I began to see how important our ministry is here for what this community needs. What was it like for you, Jessie?

Jessy Defenderfer (22:42)
Yeah, we didn't just move to a completely new area and it was a huge culture shock for Jess coming from the Upper West Side. But we also had just gotten married and had never lived together full time. So in 2019, we just pick up everything and kind of say, this is what we're doing. not only are we trying to manage living in a new place, which is just hard for anyone, but we were newly married.

trying to figure out how to live together. And then the pandemic happened. I actually think it was a grace for both of us in some ways because the intensity of moving out of New York City and into such a different place and a new relationship and trying to navigate what that means to be newly married, it all had to slow down a whole lot. Of course, the virus is a terrible thing. This is not by any means something that I would want to happen.

but it did slow us down. It did force us to be together at home. I'm very introverted, so for me, I actually did okay during the pandemic.

Jes Kast (23:52)
That's harder for me. I am not the introvert.

Jessy Defenderfer (23:55)
We camped in our backyard, just got into learning how to garden.

Jes Kast (23:59)
I mean, I have been on a journey with gardening. didn't, like Brad, just to give you an idea, I didn't understand, gardening's huge in this area, lots of beautiful farms. I am a huge advocate of farmers now. To give you an idea of how dumb I was when it came to gardening when we first moved here, I took a packet of seeds. I didn't understand that one seed equaled one plant. Like that's how much citified I was. And I poured this packet of seeds into some dirt of

cucumber plants. And you know, in a couple of weeks, they're sprouting. And I thought, holy cow, there's so many plants in here. And then Jesse came out and said, you do understand that one seed equals one plant, right? And I said, no, I do not understand. I lived in concrete. What am I doing? But that was a transformational moment of from the skyscrapers and concrete to the ground and the earth here. That was a very big change for us.

Jessy Defenderfer (24:55)
pandemic pushed people outside a lot, so we did ⁓ more hiking during that time. We hiked up Mount Nittany. We did Shingletown Gap until we found out that there were, that you could run into rattlesnakes ⁓ in Shingletown Gap. That was little scary. No, just hearing about it.

Brad Groznik (25:11)
You found that out by seeing one?

Jes Kast (25:15)
That was enough. My hiking season is the winter now.

Jessy Defenderfer (25:20)
⁓ We went to Blackmo Shannon, we started kayaking in Howard Dam, Bald Eagle. The slowing down pushed us into nature in State College. And it really was, wow, this is a great blend of having things that you need and a really great community and then also having just gorgeous landscapes and places to be outside.

Jes Kast (25:46)
Yeah, and I don't want to gloss over the culture shock for me. I got into therapy by one of the wonderful therapists in this area to kind of process that culture shock. And I remember telling my therapist, like, where the heck am I? Like, this is not Broadway. And just recently, this therapist, now I've been with him for like six years, he said, you have turned in to quite the central PA, homesteading, nature.

spiritual gal here and I said, yeah, do you know how many cool things are here? And he said, you're never going back to the city, are you? said, no, no, no, no, not at all. This is home. But it was quite a shock. And if you're open to working through that and dealing with that, and if you need support in that, that's great. This can be an incredible place and it is for us.

Brad Groznik (26:41)
Jesse, know you teach and you research American voting behaviors. Is there anything you can tell us about this area in terms of what's the makeup and anything that would be interesting? Sure.

Jessy Defenderfer (26:52)
Well, mean, State College itself is often seen as this little blue dot in the middle of a very red center part of the state. Belfonte is a little more mixed. There more Republicans and Democrats living next to each other and holding conversations with each other. State College is what feels like a little left of center pocket that if that's where you feel comfortable politically, like state college is a

It's a little bit of a haven. So we do live in Bellefont, and one reason that I like Bellefont so much is the political diversity just a few miles ⁓ north of State College. You don't have to go very far to be in a completely different political mindset, a more right of center views. And what I like about that, with Bellefont in particular, is you constantly have to kind of transcend these places where people have dug their heels in.

And they are, I'm on this side and you're on this other side. And you really have to push through that and just talk to people as, as neighbors. For me, as a political scientist, I want that. I want that kind of engagement. I want to be able to understand. Some people were not happy with president Trump being elected in 2024, but it's not like this came out of nowhere. His win.

is a win because people voted for him. And if you want to know why, or you don't agree with those voters and their decisions, you can't necessarily do that sitting in New York City. You're not going to understand what other people are experiencing. Being in a diverse political environment, it helps a whole lot to be able to see that there are legitimate gripes on both sides. And we have to talk to each other to be able to come to compromise or

to move forward, because we're certainly divided to a point now where it's difficult to live in the United States right now. And I think we, Jess and I, both want to be part of this movement to talk to everyone, even if we don't necessarily agree. Just be neighborly. And that's not necessarily like trying to talk politics with other people or trying to convince them that their perspective is wrong.

In fact, that would be the last thing I would talk about. Instead, we talk about gardening. How are your tomatoes doing? Or we talk about football. As I come from Ohio State, I'm really big into Big Ten football. Most of the bars and breweries around here know me as Ohio State Jesse because I show up to the bar in my Ohio State gear to watch football and it doesn't.

Sometimes it doesn't go over well and then everyone else just gets a kick out of it. But those are the things you talk about. You don't talk politics. We sort of have to get beyond that right now.

Jes Kast (29:56)
Or that's not the, I mean, we do, we have hard conversations with people, but that's not the only conversation. In my field, there's a sense of helping people be human with each other. And Jesse and I feel, to use that religious language again, a calling to help people be neighbors with each other, not to convince them, not even come to church great, but if not, that's okay too. Just how to live as humans together.

One therapist in my life one time said, living takes courage. I think that's true for all of us. And choosing to be vulnerable and open as neighbors with one another is how you build, as Dr. King talked about, the beloved community together. And so many people I know in this area want to build that beloved community. And so we really like living in Bellefonte a lot, partially because it is multi-political. It gives us

a skill of empathy and understanding to know our neighbor beyond just the social media memes. Like we actually know our neighbor. We feel blessed to live in Balfon.

Brad Groznik (31:05)
So you've spoken a lot about how wonderful the community is here. But from your viewpoint or from the work that you guys do, how can we be better? How can we grow as a community in a positive direction? And what steps do you see that we could take toward that?

Jes Kast (31:20)
I think one of the most difficult things is, this might sound silly, but getting in and out of state college by flights, it can be very difficult. That is a challenge because we will often drive to a larger city to get a more direct flight someplace. And that is different than New York. There was a convenience that I could just take the subway out to JFK, focusing on strengthening our local, we're very lucky that we have a local airport.

Let me say that first off, but strengthening our local airport to provide more affordable options in and out of this area, I think would strengthen our community. I also say that in the context of knowing that air transport right now is in a redevelopment in itself, so that this could be an opportunity for growth there for us. I think that would be one of the bigger things that I would say could strengthen our community.

Jessy Defenderfer (32:17)
Yeah, I was actually just thinking along these lines about access to Amtrak. There is a bus system that you can use to come up to State College, but the routes are long and circuitous and it's not easy for people to come visit State College unless, like our friends and family, they usually will say, hey, I'm driving on 80 because I'm going to somewhere else. And so I'll get off the highway and come see you.

This is a much bigger conversation about infrastructure, but it is something that we've experienced over and over and over again. It's like how hard it is to get people up here to visit because of the lack of just access. If you don't have a car or you don't want to drive, it can be a bit of a challenge.

Brad Groznik (33:05)
For sure. Since I have a pastor here, I'm curious, what do you think would surprise someone about the faith community in St.

Jes Kast (33:13)
what I was surprised by when I moved here, my colleague, my friend, I call him my brother, Pastor Greg at St. Paul's Methodist, our neighbor at Faith. When I moved here, Greg said to me, just the spiritual leaders, at least downtown, I know the downtown leaders the most, are a dynamic, forward-thinking, intellectually deep, spiritually deep community. You're coming to a robust faith leader community.

And I don't think I knew that. think I maybe had some stereotypes of what central PA might be. And those were, I had to confront my own stereotypes about that. And what I have learned is that indeed, of the downtown state college clergy that I know well, there's a strong interfaith community. I just went to lunch with Rabbi David and that want to work together for the betterment of the community.

An example of that is the first year I was here during Holy Week, particularly the downtown clergy, gathered together in front of the synagogue in town, and Rabbi David approved this and so the synagogue, and helping reconcile some of the anti-Semitic language that sometimes in Christianity, we planted a tree in front of the synagogue, the churches, as a form of peace and goodwill.

For me personally, interfaith work is really energizing. Like I love being around people who religiously believe differently than me. It strengthens my faith. And there is a robust interfaith community here. I think that's what I want people to know. I've been to the mosque in town. They've opened up the mosque during Ramadan and was able to share in an iftar meal. It's just nourishing. think because the university's here, you...

have a variety of religious viewpoints here that if you're not Christian or you're Jewish or Muslim, you will find the communities to connect with and nourish you. And I think of my church, Faith Church, whom I love dearly. I love serving them. They're incredible. I think they're brave, too. I think they're a brave church community. I think brave integrity and a moral compass that doesn't collude with ⁓

power or with prestige, think is something that is very attractive to people right now searching for higher purpose, how to navigate life with values. I think you will find that here, whether it my community or others, there are some other incredible churches that I feel privileged to work with. You will be spiritually nourished here for what you're looking for.

Brad Groznik (35:53)
can people do that? If there's somebody local or somebody comes here as a new resident, how can they build a strong spiritual practice? You have tips?

Jes Kast (36:02)
Yeah, yeah, I think one of the things is I'm a really big believer in congregational life because, you know, we all have our own personal practices, whether I go on a hike every Sunday morning or I go to synagogue on Friday nights or I'm at the mosque on Friday. I really believe our faith and our spirituality is not meant to be practiced in isolation. Like we are made as communal beings. So whether you

Like my friend, Shan Ma, she's at the Zen Buddhist Zendo here, also comes and sings in my church. Be part of communal congregational life. For when the crap hits the fan in your life, you have a congregation around you that will be there for you to bring the casserole, to pray for you, to support you, and that you also can contribute to the betterment and the spiritual life. I think congregational life is so important.

talked about the loneliness epidemic in this country in the last few years. My grad students and college students at Penn State, I'm always just amazed at them when they, they're very busy and may have partied the night before, but they're at church on Sunday morning because this is their home. This is their nourishment of higher belonging to get them through the week. I think it's really important to ground people, find a community that you can belong to and that they can belong to you.

to journey through. I think it's so crucial.

Brad Groznik (37:30)
I'd love to have just a quick lightning round of your favorite things to do or events in state college. heard Trivia Night at Axman on Wednesday. Anything else?

Jes Kast (37:39)
Farmers markets, love the farmers. Like I love the farmers. What else do you like? I like the food scene here too. And there's new and interesting restaurants that are opening. That's been really enjoyable.

Jessy Defenderfer (37:43)
You do. ⁓

currently pregnant so I'm not actively participating in this at the moment but the craft beer scene is pretty good. I enjoy going and just kind of sitting and meeting people which is one of the places where I strike up these conversations that you just wouldn't like typically have but you know you're just sitting at the bar and like hey

Brad Groznik (38:14)
What's

your favorite? Do you have a local brew that's one of your favorites?

Jessy Defenderfer (38:18)
my gosh. you're really putting me on the spot. So ⁓ the Pilsner, there's a couple of different versions of Pilsner that Bowl City has been brewing, they've consistently, Pilsner is probably my jam. They have a Bohemian Pilsner. They've done a Czech Pilsner. Both have been very good.

Jes Kast (38:41)
I think the local music scene is also very alive here. Major shout out to my best friend Hannah Bingman, a local singer-songwriter, incredible musicians here. think State Theater, particularly the attic at the State Theater, I love the musicians they bring in. You can see people often right before they get really big here and

It's fun because then you can talk about it like a couple, like I inherit these stories. You can talk about it later. Like we saw them and we met them before they were playing in Philly. Local music, very good here.

Jessy Defenderfer (39:16)
Through the summer, I try to get a Spikes game once a week, maybe every other week. I enjoy baseball a whole lot. mean, Big Ten sports are, it's thing. It doesn't always have to be football. I love hockey games. So in the winter, I love going to hockey games. I mean, there's so many sports to choose from to be able to like watch really high quality volleyball, wrestling. I've never had any interest in wrestling in my entire life.

until we moved to State College, Pennsylvania, and I have come to find out that Penn State wrestling is like, it's really the biggest sport here. We've had the opportunity to learn more about wrestling, which I've really enjoyed. Yeah. Yeah.

Jes Kast (39:58)
For women's soccer, Allie Krieger, who was really huge and came from here, I got really into women's soccer. I don't know how, I'm not the ball game person, but I am supportive of the women's sports.

Brad Groznik (40:12)
Those are all fantastic examples. Is there anything that you wanted to add or that I skipped over or wanted to talk about?

Jes Kast (40:18)
Whoever is listening and ends up moving here, there is an effort of putting yourself out there. Get to know what you like. The right people will find you as you try out things. And so be brave, be open. There really is something for everybody here and we can't wait to meet you.

Brad Groznik (40:36)
Thank you. It's fantastic.

Thanks for joining us on this episode of the Rediscover State College Podcast. Be sure to follow the Rediscover State College Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts to hear more incredible local stories. We'd also love to hear about your state college experience. What aspect of the area or person in town has really made a difference in your Happy Valley experience? Share your thoughts by sending us an email at hello at rediscoverstatecollege.com. ⁓