From the Ground Up

In Service to Others

What does it mean to serve something greater than yourself — and what happens to your faith when that service asks everything of you? This week, Jess and Mark sit down with two men who have lived that question from the inside. Rev. Gregory S. Brown is the senior pastor at St. David Lutheran Church in West Columbia, South Carolina, and an Army National Guard chaplain. Lt. Col. David Kelso is a West Point graduate with 21 years of Army service, two tours in the Middle East, a Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. It's a conversation about duty, sacrifice, and the unexpected places where the sacred shows up — even in the hardest ones. Thanks to the incredible production team of Sorta Sacred: Music: Brian Schou  Design: Lauren Brown  Merch: Allison Winter

How to Be An Ally: Race, Faith, and the Work in Front of Us

In this episode, Jess and Mark sit down with the Reverend Kenneth W. Wheeler — retired ELCA pastor, public theologian, preacher, and author of US: The Resurrection of American Terror. Rev. Wheeler grew up under Jim Crow segregation in Jackson, Mississippi, and has spent seven decades as a Black man in America bearing witness to the through-line of white supremacy — from the lynching tree to January 6. Rev. Wheeler talks about what white people don't have to think about, what genuine allyship requires (and what it doesn't), the difference between guilt and action, and what it means to be made in the image of God in a country still reckoning with its original sins.  "Anger has to be acknowledged and grief has to be honored for growth to happen." Thanks to the incredible production team of Sorta Sacred: Music: Brian Schou  Design: Lauren Brown  Merch: Allison Winter

From the Ground Up

What can a bowl of spinach tell you about community, belonging, and what it means to truly welcome a neighbor?  Ann McGlynn, founder and executive director of Tapestry Farms in Davenport, Iowa, joins Mark and Jess to share how a simple gift of homegrown food from a refugee family sparked a nonprofit urban farm system that has now served over 130 families and grown tens of thousands of pounds of fresh produce across the Quad Cities.  They talk about the intersection of farming, dignity, and healing — and why the word flourishing means something different when you've had to leave everything behind to start over.  A conversation about roots, in every sense of the word. Thanks to the incredible production team of Sorta Sacred: Music: Brian Schou  Design: Lauren Brown  Merch: Allison Winter

Faithful Finances

Money is practical. It's also emotional, moral, and — if we're being honest — kind of spiritual.  In this episode, Mark and Jess sit down with Martha Wells, a Davenport-based accountant and enrolled agent with over 40 years of experience, to talk about what our finances actually reveal about our values.  From the anxiety of opening a shoebox full of receipts to the ethics of tax deductions and generous giving to talking to both your kids and your parents about money — this is the money conversation your church probably never had. Practical, honest, and surprisingly hopeful, we hope. Thanks to the incredible production team of Sorta Sacred: Music: Brian Schou  Design: Lauren Brown  Merch: Allison Winter

Perspectives on Faith and Life 2: Live!

Mark, Katy, and Sara are back — and this time they brought more jokes (some great, some gloriously terrible), more laughter, and yes, audio gremlins appeared in the pursuit of something new! But that's kind of the point.  Sorta Sacred was never meant to be overly polished. It's honest, it's human, and it's a little messy — just like faith itself. Pull up a chair for another round of real conversation about the questions that matter most. Thanks to the incredible production team of Sorta Sacred: Music: Brian Schou  Design: Lauren Brown  Merch: Allison Winter