Sacred Sitdowns
Sharing one’s personal story is sometimes hard, but it is holy. Sacred Sitdowns seeks to allow a safe space for faith-filled conversations with members and friends of Geist Christian Church. Hosts Kyle Brown and Danny Gulden hope that all those who hear will be enlightened and inspired. Listen with us. You’ll be glad you did.
Sacred Sitdowns
Rev. Samantha Copeland
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Sam Copeland is the associate minister for youth and young adults at Geist. She's originally from Richardson, Texas, in the Dallas area and studied at TCU (go Frogs!!) and Vanderbilt Divinity School. She is the proud dog mom of Mocha, who she rescued from the Humane Society for Hamilton County in 2021 right after she moved to Indy. Sam loves all things Target and sometimes spends more time there than at her house in Broad Ripple, but when she is home, she loves hosting her friends for dinner, TCU football games, and so much more!
Let us tell you a story. A story that will challenge, inspire, and change the way you see the world. We're your host. I'm Danny Goulden. And I'm Kyle Brown. And this is Sacred Sit Downs.
SPEAKER_02A conversational podcast that explores how the Spirit of God moves within this world through the power of story.
SPEAKER_01In today's episode, we will sit down with a member or friend of Geist Christian Church as they share their dynamic, faith-filled story.
SPEAKER_02We hope that you will be enlightened and inspired by the words shared today as we gain deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. This is Sacred Sit Downs.
SPEAKER_01For those that don't know, we've been kind of playing around. Sam is wanted and to be here, and today is the day. Her agent.
SPEAKER_02Her agent was very hard to negotiate with. But luckily, um, so Sam is a native Texan. She's a graduate of Texas Christian University, TCU.
SPEAKER_00So Frogs.
SPEAKER_02Um, a graduate of Vanderbilt Divinity School, and she moved here to Indianapolis about two years ago, joined the staff at Geist Christian Church as one of the pastors um in August of 2021. And so just recently celebrated her second uh second anniversary on staff. And um, Sam, it's just great to have you on. Seriously, it it is this will be a fun conversation.
SPEAKER_00I am really happy to be here. I'm excited.
SPEAKER_01So, how'd you get here? I mean, not literally to this table, but how how to uh tell us a little bit about your faith journey.
SPEAKER_00Wow, what a loaded question.
SPEAKER_01It is a very loaded question.
SPEAKER_00Like growing up and well, so I grew up in the disciples of Christ denomination. Uh grew up going to church every week. Um, church has always been my safe space. I was very involved in my youth group. Church was the first place where I felt like I had a voice um and felt like I could talk and s not say whatever I wanted, but people would love me, even when I said things that maybe weren't what I actually wanted to say. Um, and just felt so supported there. And so from there I really got my start in leadership um through youth group and then um started on a group called Youth Ministry Council um through the the region in Texas.
SPEAKER_02Did you all have t-shirts?
SPEAKER_00Um yes, we did. Yes, okay. Did have t-shirts.
SPEAKER_01Now, did you have a um like in Kentucky it was called the X Committee? Did you all was it just the regional or did you have a special name for uh this group of folks?
SPEAKER_00It was the YMC.
SPEAKER_01The YMC.
SPEAKER_00The Youth Ministry Council, and then we had the regional youth ministry council. Okay, which I got to serve on my my senior year of high school. Um, which again, it was just like the church was the place that I was affirmed as a leader. Um, but I never wanted to be a minister because that was way too fancy. Um, that was way too much responsibility. I was never gonna be you just wanted to have fun.
SPEAKER_02You didn't want to do, yeah.
SPEAKER_00No, I I didn't want I didn't want that much responsibility. I didn't want, you know, no. Um I always told people I was gonna be a lay leader um in the church and I was never gonna go into ministry. And then that changed. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You weren't gonna do that as a profession. I mean, you know, being a lay leader doesn't pay anything.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Just wanna make sure that wasn't like your intended career path. Lay leader.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Which is very important, but is is not a deal.
SPEAKER_00Um no, I well, I found myself graduating from college with a a sports psychology degree, which um I've used so often um since then. I've never used it once.
SPEAKER_02Um and you worked in the athletic department at TCU while you were in school. What was that like?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that was so fun. Um, I loved doing that. I got started working with the recruiting program for the TCU football team, which was a dream. I'm a huge TCU football fan and grew up raised as a TCU football fan. Um, and so to just be in the same room as Gary Patterson, our former head coach, was um I've made a fool of myself so many times. He would walk up to me and I would just be speechless. Um, but yeah, so it was really great. And I thought I was living my dream, and then all of a sudden I found myself applying for grad schools thinking I was gonna go do athletics for the rest of my life, and I was so not happy about it. I was like, this is not fun. This something seems wrong, something is off. Um, and I had a great mentor of mine and a friend of mine. We went and um we got tacos and margaritas one night and um a very holy space. And I was just talking through all of the reasons why I wanted to work in athletics. I the job that I was doing was called student athlete development. We walked with student athletes through every part of their lives that wasn't um academics and that wasn't on the field. It was anything and everything else. Um, and I was working as the community service coordinator at the time. And as I was explaining this to my mentor, um Reverend Lee McCracken, she was like, you know what, Sam, this sounds a lot like chaplaincy. Um, it sounds like a lot like ministry, like walking through life with people. And I was like, okay, I could go to divinity school, but I'm not gonna work in a church.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna be a great lay leader. Yes. I'll be the best youth sponsor. I'll do whatever you call me to do, God. Just don't put me in charge. Yes, I'm well qualified.
SPEAKER_00Um, and that just started the next like three years of me going to divinity school, getting involved in things and um just tiptoeing myself into different forms of ministry with um with yes, but um yes, I will go to divinity school, but I'm going to do chaplaincy. Um, yes, I will take this job at Eastwood Christian Church in the children's ministry program, but I will only work in children's ministry. Like, don't make me do anything else. And this is only my like 15 hours a week, nothing else. Um, okay, yes, I will do the children's moment in church, but don't ask me to do communion. Um, okay, yes, like I'll step into this poor part, but I'm not gonna do that. Um, and then it became okay, I'll preach once, but I'm not gonna preach again. Just over and over again until I was like, okay, I guess I'll work in a church.
SPEAKER_01So I like to call that kind of the Jonah complex, right? I love that biblical story of of yes, but and and his transformation. For you, how did how did that shift? I mean, are you still in that season where you add the I'll do this, but or um, are those fewer and far between?
SPEAKER_00They definitely still come up. They're fewer and far between farther between. Right. Um, but they still come up. There's still ways that I'm like, oh, I I definitely don't see myself doing that. Like I could never do that. My last year of divinity school in the midst of COVID, that I just had this moment where I was like, you know what, if I just open myself up to everything that could be possible instead of shutting myself down um to what I think is not possible at all, um what could happen? And I think a lot of that just kind of stemmed back to my anxiety and um being a person who lives in the world with anxiety um and has to battle with this constant voice in my head that is telling me, you know, maybe you're not gonna be so good at that, or maybe that's not gonna be okay, or you know, if you fail at that, everything's gonna fall apart. But every time that I I confront that and kind of get past that, um, some beautiful things happen. Um and I've found that my ministry and uh the church has been a really beautiful place for me to to explore that um and to share that too. I recently had a colleague of mine actually say something to me of before talking to me, she had not heard a pastor openly admit to having anxiety um or talk about having mental health issues. And so that's just been really on my mind recently of how the church holds and how we as ministers and and as a church community hold um space for our humanity. Because yeah, that is something that I struggle with. And I've found that every time I open myself up and become a little bit more vulnerable and just let my true humanness show that I get to know myself better, I get to know the people around me better, that God reveals God's self more to me. Um, and that the community around me just like gets more and more beautiful. Um and I think that's one of those things to kind of tie it back into to like the letting go of the the butts. That's one of the things that kind of pushed me is I had one of those moments um in my my third year of divinity school where I was just kind of at a breaking point with COVID. I was just so bogged down with anxiety and a lot of things that I I had an open up moment with my congregation that I was serving at that time. And I I preached a sermon when I shared that. And it just felt so right. I felt so supported. The community felt so open and it felt like a moment when we all kind of came together and had this shared experience and that God was with us in that space of like having this anxiety, having COVID happening around us, um, that it just really affirmed my call. Um and so just the experience of every time that I move forward with it instead of holding back um something more beautiful happening.
SPEAKER_01So in your life, when were you able to put words to that anxiety? Like that feeling has probably been there, but being able to really to name it and say that that is what I'm experiencing. And even if you can't remember when, what were the tools or who were the people in your life that helped you uh in that that time of transition between that experiencing it and being able to name it as as a as a powerful step uh in in that process?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, for a lot of my life, I did not identify my anxiety because I felt like I'm a very privileged person. And I didn't want to be over dramatic. And I also didn't want to take away from anyone else's story or experience. Um and so I felt like I was having a human experience that everyone has, and I didn't want to be like, oh, well, I think I have anxiety too. Um and then just be like, oh, like I'm just a human living life. Um, which part of it is that like we all are. The thing that really for me changed everything was COVID. Um because it just got so intense. And you know, the world changed so much that I didn't have the same kind of structures that I used to have to cope. Um and it just got so intense, like physically debilitating, that I was like, oh, that's what this is. Um, to the point where like it was affecting how I was breathing. It was affecting how my body was. Um, like I could feel it like in my muscles, how tense I was.
SPEAKER_02Um you could feel the physical manifestation of the anxiety.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Um, and so it took that for me to like notice it and name it. Um, and from there, it was my sister Heather, who's a doctor, um, was the first person who helped me kind of name it and realize it. Um I had had some experiences before where I was kind of like, oh yeah, like I think this is anxiety. Um, but I I had this episode of intense anxiety where I called her and I was convinced that I had COVID. I was convinced because it was so hard for me to breathe. My muscles ached, and like I just I felt miserable. Um, and I was talking to her on the phone and she was like, This is your anxiety because I I didn't have a fear, like nothing was wrong with me. I had gotten a COVID test, like I was, I did not, I was not sick, but I felt sick. Um and so like her talking to me about it, like from a doctor's perspective, I was like, Oh, that's what this is. Um and then from there, I was very privileged to have help through the Vanderbilt um system to talk with a therapist. Um and that and our our care through there was what really helped me along that. But yeah, it got to the point where it was it was super physical for me that I was like, oh, this is what's happening.
SPEAKER_02Could you look back once you identify that? And you kind of touched on this, but other times in your life where you you felt a certain way and didn't know why, and then could kind of go back and fill in that blank of this is oh yeah, this was anxiety that I was dealing with.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, for sure. And the amount of times, and I mean I still do this, but just the amount of times that like I've minimized it or been like, oh, like, oh, that's what was happening. Um, that I just I know myself so much more fully.
SPEAKER_01So one of the things that uh you talked about the things that you used to cope, uh you could no longer do. And and this is uh probably a much more vulnerable question, and by all means we can move on. Uh what were some of those things? Because I I think that's helpful. Uh mental illness, uh anxiety, those things are not uh as prevalent. I I have not had those experiences as much. And so as someone outside, uh it's hard for me to see things. Uh, my wife has is been a great asset in our marriage to help me see things through a new lens. Um and it has not always been easy for for me and and for her to she shouldn't have had to walk alongside me, but she's she's played that role and I'm grateful for that. Um but when you talk about things, uh people are like, oh, I can relate to that. I see that uh maybe I'm missing something. What are some ways that you used to cope and how do you cope now and how has that shifted for you?
SPEAKER_00I think one of the big things was uh I it was a coping mechanism, but not really. It was just a distraction. Like staying busy with school, moving constantly, um, and just kind of going to the next thing as life was, um, just wasn't available anymore during COVID. And so like I just had to sit there with whatever I was feeling um instead of moving with it. And I knew how to do that. And so it it doesn't sound like a coping mechanism because it wasn't like it was like this super healthy or like it was like really great or like thriving by any means, but like I knew how to live with anxiety that moved.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, that was like, okay, how do I turn in this paper and get this thing done and do that and like get from this place to this place and be in five million places at once? I can do that. Um I cannot, well, maybe not actually, but um I cannot sit um and be in the same place and have my mind race that I didn't know how to deal with. And so it was just a different manifestation of how the anxiety was presenting itself that was running me into the ground. Um, I think coping mechanisms now, I'm still trying to figure out healthy coping mechanisms. My biggest thing right now is identifying and stopping myself from negative coping mechanisms. Sure. Um, which has been in and of itself like such a big um hurdle. And one that like I keep coming back to, and I'm like, I feel like once I identify like a negative coping mechanism, I should just be like, okay, like that's done. And then I just keep coming back to it. I'm like, no, it's so annoying. Um, and I talked about this recently at the communion table of just like I love like self-help books and like I love learning about myself and like um this idea of like getting better and like yeah. Um, and so but I I do get so frustrated in this like, oh dang it, we're all constantly becoming and like we're all constantly growing, and it's like a process that you have to keep going and doing. Um, and there's no arrival. Um, but yeah, one I mean, one of my negative coping coping mechanisms um is watching Netflix or watching um movies, TV shows, um, and escapism. So just like finding another storyline or like another um uh reality, quote unquote, um, to live into when things are getting overwhelming for me. Um, and that's hard for me too because I am such a movie buff and I love movies. Um, and so one of the things that I've gotten better at is identifying when you're enjoying the movie or escaping.
SPEAKER_01Yes in the movie.
SPEAKER_00Like where's the line? Um and then once I've identified it, how do I stop?
SPEAKER_02It's like a game within the um I I remember in my first call after seminary, um, it was actually my wife who uh came to me and said, I think you're depressed. And I said, Not not me. I mean, I'm you know, um I'm a seven on the Enneagram. I'm never depressed. I'm always and so um I remember uh she basically forced me to make an appointment with someone, and I picked someone on the opposite side of town so that no one from my church would know where I was going. And um I obviously that's the only consideration I had. And um what what it made me think about, and this was really my issue, it wasn't the churches. I think the church would have been completely fine. I mean, I know they would have been completely fine and supportive. I said, hey, I'm I'm struggling with my mental health, and you know, you continue to do that today. And so um I kind of fell into the stigma of it. And so I think as the three of us sit here, I'm I'm curious to know what role can the church play in mental health? Because I suspect um more people than we're even aware of struggle with that, especially coming out of COVID. And um what is the what what is the church's role in that, do you guys think? Can I answer my own question for a minute? Yeah. I think something uh Sam, you said about creating space. Um I think we need to do a better job. I think the the church, when I'm I mean like the big sea church, not just Guy's Christian Church on its own, but the big sea church um needs to be better at creating space for people to to share and to be able to go through in a safe space whatever they're going through. Um you know, they always say the reason most people who don't attend church don't attend is because they think uh Christians are judgmental. Um and even sometimes in our best-intentioned non-judgmentalism, I think we still come off that way. And so I I like what uh Sam, I like what you said is when serving in seminary, that became at Eastwood, it became a safe space for you, um, which I think is a real gift.
SPEAKER_01And being able to hear stories and and share stories, I think are uh extremely important. Um to know that you're not alone, but it takes such a an act of courage and vulnerability to be able to step out in faith um to share that I'm experiencing this and I don't know I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go next. I just know this to be my truth right now. Uh and I I just need you to to be here. And and the issue that I've always had is uh I'm a fix it person. And so when someone is is struggling, I want to fix it. I I wanna this is what you're oh let me fix it. And that's been such a hard uh learning curve for me. Because really you can't fix it. You just gotta sit, you gotta listen and you just gotta be present. And that is really, really hard for people who just want to to fix things. Uh even when sometimes that fixing is themselves. And sometimes you just gotta sit and be present in the feelings that you're experiencing and and not try to fix it and not try to move on. Or uh I also uh enjoy to lose myself in shows and movies because um I can suspend my own uh thought process, if you will, of what's going on in my own life. Um which is which is hard. And so having other people share their story is is is helpful. And I think a church is a place that should be able to do that as as we come together as a community of faith. Because someone listening today is struggling with anxiety or uh uh any other mental health issue, and so knowing that you're not alone and other people are having those same um unique experiences because everything is different, um, is powerful.
SPEAKER_00I want to come back to that safe space idea because one of the wonderful things about my story growing up in the church is that the church has been such a safe space for me. And that's not true for everyone. And I think that's part of why I feel so called to the church, is I want the church to be such a safe space for everyone. And I think when we come together and realize that the church is not a checklist of like, here's the ways that you need to be perfect, perfect, or like, here's the things that you need to believe in order to belong here, but instead it's everyone coming together in you know, our shared humanity, which is messy and broken and also beautiful and whole all at the same time. Um and for my personal theology, the Mago Dei, the the image of God within all of God's created beings, is so important to me. And so I think that when we live into our humanity and when we live into the people that God has created us to be, that we reflect God to one another. Um and so I think that when we come together as a church and we are authentically who we are and we're going through those hard times, we're going through those really great times, and we can grieve and we can celebrate together, then the kingdom, the kingdom of God reveals itself right in front of us. And so I think that's the the church's place um in in this process and and just acknowledging too that that it's just part of being human to experience these things.
SPEAKER_02And this idea of of welcome, I think, of creating space for everybody and the seeing the image of God um in everyone, I I think probably for each of the the three of us, I don't want to speak for you two, but for me, it's not a it's not a growth strategy, it's not a church mark, it it's a deeply held belief that I get from the Bible. When I read the Bible and I think about the totality of the story, I mean that's at the heart of the Bible as that image of God in everyone.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01And the fact that God uses a lot of broken people, people who have made poor choices, not broken, but just people who've made some really bad choices, are the ones God seems to use to bring about God's message. It's just uh it there's beauty.
SPEAKER_02God seems to have an affinity for those folks.
SPEAKER_01And and Jesus did too. Peter, I mean, this is just a a flawed, beautiful disciple. And I often see so much of myself in his character because I can go from both extremes from putting my foot in my mouth not once but twice, and um getting out of the boat and still finding myself slowly sinking in the water when I realize I probably shouldn't be doing this.
SPEAKER_02Kyle denied Jesus three times, and yet here I am. I used a lot of butts in mine.
SPEAKER_01I'll I'll go into ministry, but but yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, and I think the thing is too, like it it sounds so beautiful to sit here and be like, yeah, and like in our shared humanity and the brokenness, it's beautiful, but like my goodness, it's hard. Like, and it's messy, and like not the messy that again is so easy to sit here and talk about, but like the messy that like makes you like want to sit down and like like and bringing people together and like it, but it's like having those like arguments, it's having those hard conversations, it's you know, it's being the vulnerable, like authentic selves. So yeah, you're talking about like that marketing strategy, like it it sounds so good and it can be so good, but it is so hard. And there's some days even when I'm like, never mind, I don't want to do it.
SPEAKER_02Right. I I I don't want it right. I don't want to welcome today. I just uh yep.
SPEAKER_00Catch me tomorrow, maybe. Catch me.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna go watch Netflix and just So Sam, I'm uh you know, two years out of seminary uh at Bright Divinity School. Um Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt, gosh. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00That's okay.
SPEAKER_01How could I?
SPEAKER_00That's fine. That's another great school.
SPEAKER_01Both are great.
SPEAKER_02What else would you expect from an LTS grad?
SPEAKER_01I went to a seminary, not a divinity school. Um gosh. What has been the kind of the most challenging or most uh rewarding? I mean, it it's a it's a shift uh from being in class and serving a church to uh serving a church, um even serving a church like Geist Christian Church, uh two campuses. Um what has that been like for you?
SPEAKER_00I will start with the hardest thing, but also like it's not been that hard. I think one of the hardest things is or the thing that I miss the most is just the conversations. Like I'm probably going back to like it's hard to do this work. Um, I love having those like big conversations and like talking about like what all the theology means and you know, like that that's just so fun for me that sparks my imagination and creativity. Um and so those things definitely matter, but when it comes to the day-to-day and the like the life of the church, it's not the biggest focus. Um that being said, it has been so great to work with the staff here. I think we have really great conversations and um we keep those things in mind as we do our work. And so that's been really fun. I have really enjoyed working with the staff here. And I'm not just saying that because I'm talking with two of the people on the staff. Um No, we'll take it.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Um, but that that really has been such a joy and and also on the other side of that, like it is really awesome to just do ministry and you know, when those conversations are hard of like what does it mean? Like, who even is God? Um, to be like, oh well, let's just do church, you know? So um, but I I do sometimes, and probably because I've just recently seen some of my um divinity school friends, and we were, you know, having some of those big conversations. I was like, oh man, like I missed when we all sat around and just talked about who God is. Um but yeah.
SPEAKER_02I think you find ways to do that. I mean, as you as you move along. I think you have to. And I think probably most people are interested in those. I I know I'm guilty of this. I'm I sometimes I'll get deep in the weeds on like theological stuff, and I'm like, no one else is probably interested in this. And then you're like, no, some people are really interested in this, and they want it. So I need to probably give people more credit, you know, sometimes.
SPEAKER_01I think the hard part is some of the questions we may be asking is is getting people to the place where they can hear the questions we may be asking. Um, because who is God? Many people may have an idea of who God is, and when you stretch that even further, uh it's it's hard for individuals to even hear the question. Um, because you're you're wanting uh uh it's an abstract and and and we don't live in an I mean it's we don't like to live in an abstract world. Everything is it it makes us more comfortable when we're black and white. Yeah. Uh this idea of this beautiful shades of gray. It's not where we spend a lot of our time dancing in life.
SPEAKER_00I love living in a gray world. Like I love that space. And I think one of the things is that Divinity School Seminary gives us the shared language often to speak about it, especially those people that we went through the same schooling at the same time with. Um, that we just have the shared language to talk about it in a way that just comes more naturally than having those conversations with others. And so uh I would say that's that's more what I miss. Because yeah, I mean, these conversations do continue to happen. Um, but again, making them actually relevant and like make a difference instead of just like talking in abstract for no reason just to talk, um, which is half of why we would talk.
SPEAKER_02Um well, and I think what what we as pastors can do, once again, uh the big, big past, you know, not just the three of us. I think what the church can do better is equip people for theological reflection, because most everybody is doing some sort of theological reflection during the day, even if you're an atheist, right? You're wondering what does this mean? Why is this this way? Um, it's one of the reasons I like preaching on movies and TV shows. It's like, okay, if we can kind of learn to see the holy and and see how these things are asking the same questions we are. And so I think sometimes we as the church don't give people enough credit that they can be equipped to do theologic. Because I feel like for me, the biggest gift of um seminary education was not teaching me how to run a church, because as you all know, seminary doesn't teach you anything about running a church.
SPEAKER_00It's like they taught you that there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Like, huh? But it taught me to reflect. It taught me to theologically reflect on things. And so um I wish, you know, now that I'm however many years in the ministry, I wish I had been better going along at equipping folks to do that on their own, because it's not like we learned, we're not smarter than anyone else. We're not, we've just been equipped to do that so that we might equip others. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, Danny, I think that's a really good point. Uh, the idea of equipping folks. Sam, who is someone who has equipped you to um think theologically or help you see scripture or life differently, uh, whether it's at TCU or uh Vanderbilt Divinity, who's who are been who have been those people to kind of walk alongside you and and help you see that?
SPEAKER_00I would have to shout out my um my group of people from Vanderbilt Divinity School. Um our group chat is called Chalice Palace Saints. Um because it's a solid name. Thank you. Um because we lived at the Disciples Divinity House, um, the Chalice Palace. Um, and we have now graduated, so we are saints of that that space. Um but yeah.
SPEAKER_01I like it. That's good. That is good. A lot of thought went into that one.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Um it was a group effort. Um actually.
SPEAKER_02And you've sainthooded yourselves, which I appreciate. I like that.
SPEAKER_00Honestly, um, yeah, that tells you all you need to know about us. Um but yeah, just the the group of folks that we went through um the disciples divinity house together and Vanderbolt Divinity School together, um, and have kept up in this group chat and have gone to each other's ordinations. And um, so we've just walked together through divinity school education and through life and ministry and everything and weddings and um yeah, it it just through them I see how I see how everything lands. You know, I I see how community um forms, I see, you know, the good and the bad. I mean, we butt heads, you know, sometimes and um we've we've gone through the good and the bad together. Um and I I just yeah, I I just see it all there. I I could go on for days, so I don't want to keep I don't want to keep going on, but those those are my people.
SPEAKER_01So how has the shift been moving from kind of that safe place of of people who who speak my language, who understand me, who see um the good and the bad within me. How has that been sh moving to Indianapolis? Yeah. And and outside the the safety of that that space. Um how has that been?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so um it definitely was a challenge. So um I do have to shout out Josh Jackson. Um he's the minister over at Allisonville and he's been on the podcast.
SPEAKER_01He has season one. We were able to get him. Season one, episode four, I believe. It was easier to get him on the podcast. So I'm so glad his agent was easier to work with. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00He's got nothing going on. Um just kidding, he's a very busy person. Um, but he he and I both moved to Indianapolis around the same time. And so that was that was really great to have someone he he's in that uh that group. And so that was nice to have someone around. Um, but then also, you know, the group chat and those kinds of things, keeping connected in that way. Um, but about six months into living here, I realized that one of my friends from high school lives here in Indianapolis. Um, her name is Grace, and I Grace and I were like had some classes together in high school, but we were never super close. Um, but I reached out to her and and we went and got coffee. And um, by that evening, I was getting dinner with her and some of her friends here in Indy. Um, and now we're just a wholeway crew. Um, and there's like, I don't know, somewhere around 20 people in like the big, big friend group um that just does stuff all over Indianapolis and um really keeps my social life going. And um, you know, our group of girls has um our own group chat and we um, you know, have our girls' nights and um, you know, have also gotten to that place where I have this group of people that kind of goes through the good and bad here in Indianapolis with me. And it was just really this beautiful thing of my friend Grace saying yes to me to get in coffee with her, neither of us ever expecting from high school that we would be close ever as adults. And then the way that this friend group consistently just says yes to more and more people being like, Yeah, come on, come hang out with us. Let's go do this adventure, let's go here. We went to um uh Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby this year. Um, and you know, we went per for a Purdue football game one day and just like all these adventures, but also just like, you know, randomly hanging out on a Tuesday night. So um just these wonderful group of people to do life with and have fun with.
SPEAKER_01What a gift. I mean, it really is to have people because churches it's not like uh other places of employment where you go and work and you sometimes make friends at the places you work.
SPEAKER_02Um that doesn't weird to work at a church. I mean, it's a bit strange to have the church as your workplace.
SPEAKER_01It it's it's uh it's a it's usually a place where some people can go meet friends. And being a pastor, it's um, you know, I have good friends in the church, but there's still a limit to how much I, as a pastor, uh probably need to share with congregational members. It's not fair for me to to place the heaviness of of this job upon them. And so uh I'm I'm so thankful for that gift that you have that uh cares well for you when you're not working in the building and out in Indy.
SPEAKER_02So, Sam, we ask all of our guests this question, and we've talked a little bit about um Netflix and all that kind of stuff, but what is a what is a book, a podcast, a television show that you like to watch that you would recommend um to our listeners?
SPEAKER_00The book that I would recommend um that I have listened to on audiobook twice is Untamed by Glenn and Doyle. I love that book. Does she read she reads it on audiobook? Um, I highly recommend it. It just really made me think about life a lot. Um what a great recommendation. Made me think about life a lot. Um and um the TV show that I would recommend is one that I recently finished the the most current season of. It's called Sweet Magnolias on Netflix. Um and I just really enjoy it. I think it's a great show. It um is set in a small town and centers around these three best friends. And I feel like every time I watch the show, I'm like, I feel like this is what community is supposed to be about and this is what friendship is about, and I always want to live right next door to my best friends when I watch the show. So those are my two recommendations.
SPEAKER_02Very good, very good recommendations. I have not watched uh Sam and I talked about Virgin River before we came on, waiting on season five, and I think because I've watched that, I get the suggestions for sweet magnolias, but I've not watched it yet.
SPEAKER_00It's a good one.
SPEAKER_02Well, we are off and running. Sam, thank you for being our guest on the season premiere for season two of Sacred Sit Downs. We are off and running on more adventures. Uh, thank you for being here today. Thank you for being our guest. We'll have to have you back because I'm sure we have more to discuss and uh more will unfold in all our lives.
SPEAKER_01Kyle, wonderful job. Thanks, Danny. Thanks, Sam, for being on. I'm so grateful that you're part of our community, our tribe. I'm so thankful for Geist Christian Church and the ways in which they care well for their pastors, but that we're able to care for one another. So thanks for being on. Thanks for sharing your story and look forward to uh what season two brings for Sacred Sit Downs. Absolutely. See y'all later. This has been another episode of Sacred Sit Downs. We hope you will join us next time as we explore the power of story. We can be found on all major platforms, so be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Sacred Sit Downs.