Saved by the City

Latest Episodes:

Why I Chose to Have a Baby on My Own + Annie Parsons Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

When the clock keeps ticking, you gotta get picking ... a sperm donor, that is.

Ok, but really, as more and more women are single into their late thirties and early forties, the option to have a child through in vitro fertilization becomes a very live question. As much as forty may be the new twenty, the biological timeline for many women still looms large. If you're someone who wants to bear children, waiting for the right partner may feel like a dead end. Or, as our guest today puts it, that's a lot of pressure for a first date. On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy talk to a friend who made the decision to put dating on hold and become a mother on her own. We discuss process, finances, a bit of theology and a lot of love.

GUEST:

Annie Parsons gave birth to her baby boy in early October, just a few days after recording this episode. Everyone is healthy and happy and we are overjoyed for this fledgling family.

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You Don't Have to Perform for God (Thank God) + Karen Wright Marsh Nov 02, 2023

Show notes

But it is better if you get spiritual in the mornings.

For a very long time, spending time with God felt a bit like a chore to be checked off. Remember quiet times? One year Bible reading plans? On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy discussing finding rhythms and rituals that actually work for connecting with God — no guilt attached. And, bonus, actually became morning people along the way. We can't believe it either! Plus, Karen Wright Marsh helps us find inspiration for our daily devotions from the lives of the saints.

GUEST:

Karen Wright Marsh is the founding director of Theological Horizons, a ministry at the University of Virginia that hosts lectures, spiritual studies, dialogues, and mentoring initiatives. She is the author of Wake up to Wonder.

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On Israel, Gaza and the Hope for Peace + Greg Khalil Oct 26, 2023

Show notes

"Seek peace and pursue it — especially when it seems impossible."

Inspired by these words of his father, our guest today has been working to bring peace in the Holy Land since the early 2000s. The last few weeks have been an onslaught of horrifying news from Israel and Gaza — thousands upon thousands dead, hundreds held hostage, hundreds of thousands displaced. And, here, in America a rush to make sense of it — to clearly name the good guy and the bad guy, to further entrench lines in the sand that are already so deep. Amid the complexities of what many have called an "intractable problem," Katelyn and Roxy look to Greg Khalil, co-founder of Telos Group, an organization that insists you can be pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-American and pro-peace.

GUEST:

Greg Khalil is president and co-founder of Telos Group and an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Before founding the Telos Group, Greg lived in Ramallah, the West Bank, where he advised the Palestinian leadership on peace negotiations with Israel. Visit telosgroup.org for a list of resources on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Childhood Faith: The Cringe, The Cute, The Complicated + Esau McCaulley Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

What's on your Jesus Island?

Church, God, Christianity — they made up a core part of our identity as kids. In other words, we definitely had a Jesus Island. And, yes, that's a reference to Pixar's highly relatable "Inside Out." This episode of the podcast is full of them. Katelyn and Roxy plumb the depths of their childhood faith and discuss how those core memories continue to shape their faith today (or not!). We are joined by Esau McCaulley who shares some of his core faith memories as a kid, as well as the expectations put on black Christians and how the faith of his forebears set him on the path he’s on today.

GUEST:

Esau McCaulley is associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. He is the author of the recent memoir "How far to the Promised Land: One Black Family's Story of Hope and Survival in the American South," and "Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope."

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What’s With All the Fresh Scorn for Single Women? Oct 12, 2023

Show notes

Why can't you just let us be happy?

Recent internet pile ons have made it clear there are a whole lot of people out there — including some academics and sociologists, as well as all the incels — who believe single women are ruining society. Not an exaggeration. Marriage rates are down, birth rates are down, men are reporting all time lows in mental health and happiness — especially single men — and it's all because women have just gotten too picky. Or that they prefer cats and shakshuka to marriage, or something.

In this episode, Katelyn and Roxy take on some perplexingly persistent myths about single women (cat ladies? career women? cold fish?) and why they've taken hold in Christian circles.

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Our Bizarro New World Where Russell Moore Is a 'Liberal' + Russell Moore Oct 05, 2023

Show notes

And if Russell Moore is a liberal, then what the heck are we?

Our first guest for season six has us thinking about institutions. An exciting lead for a season opener, you say? It is! In part because this guest now leads an institution, Christianity Today, that both Katelyn and Roxy have some history with. But, not too long ago, he was an SBC bigwig — the president of its Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission — before, well, a lot of things went down. In 2015 ... and 2016 ... and pretty much every year after that. Check out our extensive coverage at RNS if you somehow missed it all and are curious.

On this episode, we talk to Moore about why he left the SBC in 2021; how he thinks of his own legacy in that world, including the question of complicity; and trying to lead a Christian institution when it’s tearing apart at the seams.

GUEST:

Russell Moore is editor in chief of Christianity Today and is the author of "Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America."

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What the New Hillsong Doc Gets Right ... and Wrong + Janice Lagata Jun 08, 2023

Show notes

... and very messy.

It's not everyday Saved by the City hosts Katelyn and Roxy get invited to be on documentaries, but it is every Hillsong documentary. The latest documentary treatment of the global megachurch’s descent into scandal recently premiered on FX and Hulu. And it featured our very own Ms. Beaty with some real zingers.

It also featured Carl Lentz. Like a lot of Carl Lentz.

The disgraced former pastor of Hillsong NYC took center stage once again and not everyone is happy about it. We talk with Janice Lagata, a former volunteer at Hillsong in Manhattan and fellow interviewee for the documentary, about how she felt after watching and why it prompted her to write an open letter to the director.

GUEST:

Janice Lagata is a musician, writer and host of two exvangelical podcasts: "God Has Not Given" and "Bad Words."

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The Women Who Ran with Jesus + Nijay K. Gupta Jun 01, 2023

Show notes

Mary, the mentor of Jesus.

A lifetime of Bible reading and the women who surrounded Jesus still feel so flat, so much a part of the flannel graph background. Why? In this episode, Katelyn and Roxy explore how their perceptions of the women in the New Testament were formed and why it's still so difficult to conceive of them as real, three-dimensional people. They are joined by New Testament scholar, Nijay K. Gupta, who offers more than a few clues about how and why the women around Jesus became side characters.

GUEST:

Nijay K. Gupta is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary and author of several books, including his newest, "Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church."

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A Personality Test Extravaganza! May 25, 2023

Show notes

ENTP! 2 wing 3! Let's talk about you and me!

We'll admit, a podcast episode all about our personalities might be a bit self-indulgent. But also fun! So bear with us as we dive headfirst into the various and sundry methods for categorizing oneself.

This week, Katelyn and Roxy go old school (Myers-Briggs), new school (StrengthsFinder) and a little woo-woo (Enneagram, just kidding, don't come after us). Plus, a journey into the desert with our spiritual guide — and podcast producer — Jonathan Woodward.

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What Churches Lose When Women Don't Lead + Rev. Dr. LaKeesha Walrond & Rev. Dr. Serene Jones May 18, 2023

Show notes

Let's go shatter a glass steeple or two, shall we?

When it comes to women in ministry, the gains have been ever so gradual. And at the top levels of leadership — from seminary faculty and deans to senior clergy positions — women seem to have hit a wall. Fewer than 25 percent of seminary faculty and deans are women, as are 11 percent of presidents, according to the Association of Theological Schools.

This week Katelyn and Roxy are joined by two of those rarities — the Rev. Drs. Lakeesha Walrond and Serene Jones — who have shattered plenty of stained glass ceilings in their careers. As seminary presidents in New York City, the two are partnering together, hoping to offer more opportunities for future faith leaders. We talk to them about the realities of ministry today, the stakes women in seminary face and why we should actually be worrying about the men.

GUESTS: