Finding Faith - How I Got Started

For my first podcast (one of the requirements for my Digital Journalism class) I mostly just wanted to test the waters and get a hang of this new form of content creation. Writing stories has always come easily to me, and if I have to speak on video, usually I'm speaking to my interviewee so that comes easily to me as well. However, being alone in an audio recording room just staring at a computer screen trying to tell a story is pretty tough.

I tried at first to just make it up as I went, but failed miserably by stumbling and stuttering over my words. I decided to script out most of what I wanted to say so I could just read it off the screen. By the end of my recording session, I felt much more comfortable and I was able to speak freely which I think sounds the best for a podcast.

The goal of my first cast was to basically just lay out my vision for Finding Faith, how I came upon the idea, and also to talk about what I learned from my interview with my pastor Chip Urmacher.

So what is Finding Faith, or rather what do I want it to be? I created this blog out of curiosity, wanting to know more about God. Not only that, I wanted to dive deeper into my own faith, ask questions, and learn by having conversations with new people about how they understand faith.

As a journalism student, I have an amazing opportunity to learn about people, and in doing so, learn about life. Interviewing people and telling their stories feels amazing for me, because I've always been a creative person.

I feel that when people see a blog or article that is faith based, they think there is little to learn beyond a few lines from the Bible. This couldn't be farther from the truth. My interview with Chip not only allowed me to expand on my faith, it gave me the opportunity to learn about storytelling as well. After all, as a pastor he is a storyteller. He has to find ways to figure out just what message he wants to share, and share it in a way that is engaging and truthful for the church community. His three-step process, which he explains and I talk about as well in the podcast, were very helpful for me. Since I will be storytelling as part of my career, I'm thrilled to see that it meshed so well with my blog theme.

Another topic I wanted to tackle in my podcast was a bit tougher. I think a problem that people can have if they are new to faith or not involved with it, is when they see a blog like mine, they instantly feel pressured. By this I mean they may feel as though they need to feel the same way I do towards faith, or that they aren't doing enough, or that I'm trying to make people believe what I do. This is the last thing I want!

All I'm striving for this blog to be is an exploration of my own journey with faith. I would never want to make someone feel as though they need to believe what or how I believe. However, I do think sharing my journey could have a really positive impact on someone if they were anything like me a few years ago. I was curious but lost, and I think seeing something like this would have really helped me.

So, all of that is kind of the basis of my first podcast. I also talked about my life leading up to getting baptized at Prairie Lakes and how I got into this whole journey in the first place. If you want to know more about it, go ahead and check out the cast below!