Sacred & Strange
Welcome to Sacred & Strange — the official podcast of The Porch Missional Community & Coffee Roasters.
Hosted by Jason Urena, Sacred & Strange is a space where theology meets mystery, story meets spirit, and nothing is too weird to talk about. Each episode features honest conversations with guests from all walks of life—exploring the sacred moments that shaped them, the strange encounters that stretched them, and the passions that make them who they are. From deep theology to cryptids, church wounds to comic books, revival to the mundane, this is where the wild and the holy collide.
Brew a cup, open your mind, and join the journey.
Sacred & Strange
Shattered: The Tragedy, the Truth, and the God Who Stays w/ Rip Wahlberg
Trigger Warning: Child Loss, Grief, Trauma
This week on Sacred & Strange, Jay sits down with his close friend, Rip Wahlberg, for an honest, vulnerable, and deeply sacred conversation about walking through unimaginable grief. This episode includes a trigger warning: we discuss the death of Rip and Annemarie’s young son, Aiden, who tragically drowned in 2008. If this topic is tender or activating for you, please listen with care or wait until you feel ready.
Rip opens his heart to share the story no parent ever wants to tell—how their son’s accident unfolded, the immediate shock that shattered their world, and the long, painful journey that followed. But this isn’t just a story about loss. It’s a story about grief, healing, emotional honesty, spiritual formation, community, and the faithfulness of God in the places we least expect it.
Throughout the conversation, Jay and Rip explore:
- The moment life changed forever and what those first hours and days were really like
- How Rip and Annemarie processed grief differently, and why both paths were valid
- Why avoiding pain traps us—and walking into pain with God sets us free
- How vulnerability, therapy, community, and Scripture shaped their healing
- The danger of spiritual bypassing, clichés, and “speaking truth to pain”
- Identity, guilt, shame, and idolatry—and how false beliefs can become prisons
- Why God can handle your anger, your questions, your honesty, and your breaking
- How their children processed the loss, even those too young to remember
- What redemption and restoration really look like 15+ years later
- Why testimony matters, and how sharing their scars now brings hope to others
Despite the heaviness of the story, this episode radiates hope. Rip and his family didn’t bypass the valley—they walked through it. And what emerges on the other side is a tender, hard-won testimony of a God who meets us in grief, sits with us in sorrow, and leads us—slowly—into healing.
If you’re carrying pain, trauma, or loss, this episode may be difficult, but it may also be deeply validating. You’re not alone. Your grief matters. And there is a way forward.
00:00 Introduction and Trigger Warning
01:47 Welcoming Rip Wahlberg
02:51 Rip's Tragic Story Begins
04:26 The Drowning Incident
05:50 Immediate Aftermath and Community Support
19:39 Therapy and Coping Mechanisms
25:31 Reflections on Grief and Healing
34:11 Theological Insights on Pain and Comfort
43:33 Cultural and Generational Perspectives on Grief
46:32 Introduction to Grief and Faith
48:03 Exploring the Retribution Principle
52:16 The Story of Job and Human Suffering
01:02:56 Idolatry and Inner Healing
01:11:31 Family Testimonies and Healing
01:25:27 Concluding Thoughts and Reflections