The Heart of Laguna

The Heart of Lagunahttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-heart-of-laguna--6779035The Heart of Laguna is a weekly series of candid, human conversations with Fr. Will Crist and faith leaders from across Laguna Beach—followed by dialogues with civic, nonprofit, and philanthropic voices shaping our community. This is not a show about debating doctrine or defending ideologies. It is about listening deeply, honoring real stories, and naming the values that knit us together as neighbors, citizens, and human beings.

We live in a world that feels increasingly fractured—by politics, religion, and socioeconomic division. This podcast exists to push back against that fragmentation by creating space for trust, belonging, and mutual respect to grow again. Each episode explores questions that matter:

What does it mean to be a community today?
What gets in the way?
And how, across our differences, can we begin to rebuild trust and heal—right here in Laguna Beach?

What does it mean to be a community today?
What gets in the way?
And how, across our differences, can we begin to rebuild trust and heal—right here in Laguna Beach?

The Heart of Laguna is more than a conversation—it is an act of civic and spiritual courage. These dialogues don’t stop at shared beliefs; they move toward shared action, identifying practical ways faith communities, nonprofits, public institutions, and individuals can work together for the common good.

Originally broadcast on KXFM radio, each episode now lives on as a podcast—so you can listen in your own time, at your own pace. At its core, this show exists to remind us of a simple truth:
Beneath our labels and roles, we are all human beings longing to belong, called to love, and capable of making our community more kind, just, and connected.]]>false8ceaaad1-0845-5ab8-ab3e-c5d4c809a4e6episodicLearning to See, Learning to Love: Greg Whitely on Seeing People — Fr. Will Crist and Greg Whitely, September 16, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/learning-to-see-learning-to-love-greg-whitely-on-seeing-people-fr-will-crist-and-greg-whitely-september-16-2026--75172618Learning to See, Learning to Love

What happens when we stay with someone long enough to see beyond our first impression?

Documentary filmmaker Greg Whiteley joins Fr. Will Crist on The Heart of Laguna for a conversation about curiosity, creativity, community, and what years behind a camera have taught him about loving other people.

Greg begins close to home: an impulsive move to Laguna Beach with his wife, Erin, and a neighborhood walk that introduced him to the astonishing world of downhill skateboarding. What began as alarm at a young man hurtling down Temple Hills became friendship—and an appreciation for the passion, freedom, and distinctive communities that keep Laguna wonderfully weird.

The conversation turns to Arthur Kane, the former New York Dolls bassist Greg knew through church. Giving Arthur rides became an opportunity to listen to stories of a life few people around him knew. When an unexpected band reunion brought Arthur back to the stage, Greg picked up his camera. That friendship became his first feature documentary, New York Doll, and an experience that changed Greg’s own life.

From Arthur to the athletes in Last Chance U, Cheer, and America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Greg describes a consistent responsibility: sit with people in their triumphs and suffering, and try to understand. When someone has a bad day, give it context. Film another person as you would want to be filmed. Help viewers recognize something of themselves in the person on screen.

Greg and Will also explore the communities that make creative work possible, the uncertainty of following a calling, and Will’s vision of how AI might change work and invite deeper questions about purpose. Their shared Christian faith brings them back to belonging, grace, and the challenge of remaining in relationship with people whose views they profoundly reject.

Greg offers a simple response to disagreement: “Tell me more.”

At the heart of this conversation is an invitation to look again—at a neighbor, a stranger, someone across the Thanksgiving table—and discover the human being we have not yet learned to see.

In this episode:

• Finding friendship and creative energy in Laguna Beach
• Arthur Kane and the unexpected beginnings of New York Doll
• Filmmaking as collaboration, community, and care
• Portraying vulnerability with dignity and context
• Creativity, AI, and questions of work and purpose
• Faith, belonging, and curiosity across disagreement

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/75172618Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:52:53 +0000William CristLearning to See, Learning to Love What happens when we stay with someone long enough to see beyond our first impression? Documentary filmmaker Greg Whiteley joins Fr. Will Crist on The Heart of Laguna for a conversation about curiosity, creativity,...Learning to See, Learning to Love

What happens when we stay with someone long enough to see beyond our first impression?

Documentary filmmaker Greg Whiteley joins Fr. Will Crist on The Heart of Laguna for a conversation about curiosity, creativity, community, and what years behind a camera have taught him about loving other people.

Greg begins close to home: an impulsive move to Laguna Beach with his wife, Erin, and a neighborhood walk that introduced him to the astonishing world of downhill skateboarding. What began as alarm at a young man hurtling down Temple Hills became friendship—and an appreciation for the passion, freedom, and distinctive communities that keep Laguna wonderfully weird.

The conversation turns to Arthur Kane, the former New York Dolls bassist Greg knew through church. Giving Arthur rides became an opportunity to listen to stories of a life few people around him knew. When an unexpected band reunion brought Arthur back to the stage, Greg picked up his camera. That friendship became his first feature documentary, New York Doll, and an experience that changed Greg’s own life.

From Arthur to the athletes in Last Chance U, Cheer, and America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Greg describes a consistent responsibility: sit with people in their triumphs and suffering, and try to understand. When someone has a bad day, give it context. Film another person as you would want to be filmed. Help viewers recognize something of themselves in the person on screen.

Greg and Will also explore the communities that make creative work possible, the uncertainty of following a calling, and Will’s vision of how AI might change work and invite deeper questions about purpose. Their shared Christian faith brings them back to belonging, grace, and the challenge of remaining in relationship with people whose views they profoundly reject.

Greg offers a simple response to disagreement: “Tell me more.”

At the heart of this conversation is an invitation to look again—at a neighbor, a stranger, someone across the Thanksgiving table—and discover the human being we have not yet learned to see.

In this episode:

• Finding friendship and creative energy in Laguna Beach
• Arthur Kane and the unexpected beginnings of New York Doll
• Filmmaking as collaboration, community, and care
• Portraying vulnerability with dignity and context
• Creativity, AI, and questions of work and purpose
• Faith, belonging, and curiosity across disagreement

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>3259false135fullWhen Fear Gives Way to Love: Chuck Henry on 9/11, the News, and What Makes Us Human — Fr. Will Crist and Chuck Henry, September 2, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/when-fear-gives-way-to-love-chuck-henry-on-9-11-the-news-and-what-makes-us-human-fr-will-crist-and-chuck-henry-september-2-2026--75172282When Fear Gives Way to Love: Chuck Henry on News, 9/11, and Our Common Humanity

What happens when a veteran news anchor who has spent more than 50 years reporting the news sits down to talk about what he has learned about people?

Chuck Henry joins Fr. Will Crist for a wide-ranging conversation about news, fear, vulnerability, and the experiences that bring human beings together.

Chuck takes us back to September 11, 2001, when he and an NBC news crew drove from Los Angeles to New York after air travel was shut down. Along the way—and later on the streets of New York—he discovered a story he hadn't expected: strangers helping strangers, communities gathering together, and people responding to tragedy with compassion.

Chuck shares remarkable original audio from that journey and reflects on what he witnessed in New York in the days following the attacks.

Will shares his own experience after 9/11, when the command to “love your enemies” led him to walk into an Orange County mosque, meet his Muslim neighbors, and eventually help create friendships among Christian, Muslim, and Jewish congregations.

Together, Chuck and Will explore:

• Why fear captures our attention—and what it does to us
• What Chuck discovered while covering 9/11
• How vulnerability can bring strangers together
• Why people increasingly turn away from traditional news
• How to disagree without turning another person into “the other”
• What changing technology and AI may mean for the future of news
• Why listening to another person's story matters
• Grief, loss, compassion, and the unexpected places we discover love

And they arrive at a deceptively simple possibility:

Love is what we discover in vulnerability.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/75172282Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:36:51 +0000William CristWhen Fear Gives Way to Love: Chuck Henry on News, 9/11, and Our Common Humanity What happens when a veteran news anchor who has spent more than 50 years reporting the news sits down to talk about what he has learned about people? Chuck Henry joins...When Fear Gives Way to Love: Chuck Henry on News, 9/11, and Our Common Humanity

What happens when a veteran news anchor who has spent more than 50 years reporting the news sits down to talk about what he has learned about people?

Chuck Henry joins Fr. Will Crist for a wide-ranging conversation about news, fear, vulnerability, and the experiences that bring human beings together.

Chuck takes us back to September 11, 2001, when he and an NBC news crew drove from Los Angeles to New York after air travel was shut down. Along the way—and later on the streets of New York—he discovered a story he hadn't expected: strangers helping strangers, communities gathering together, and people responding to tragedy with compassion.

Chuck shares remarkable original audio from that journey and reflects on what he witnessed in New York in the days following the attacks.

Will shares his own experience after 9/11, when the command to “love your enemies” led him to walk into an Orange County mosque, meet his Muslim neighbors, and eventually help create friendships among Christian, Muslim, and Jewish congregations.

Together, Chuck and Will explore:

• Why fear captures our attention—and what it does to us
• What Chuck discovered while covering 9/11
• How vulnerability can bring strangers together
• Why people increasingly turn away from traditional news
• How to disagree without turning another person into “the other”
• What changing technology and AI may mean for the future of news
• Why listening to another person's story matters
• Grief, loss, compassion, and the unexpected places we discover love

And they arrive at a deceptively simple possibility:

Love is what we discover in vulnerability.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>3070false134fullA Community Is a Team Sport: Matt Lawson on Leadership, Public Safety, and Loving Laguna Beach — Fr. Will Crist and Matt Lawson, August 26,https://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-community-is-a-team-sport-matt-lawson-on-leadership-public-safety-and-loving-laguna-beach-fr-will-crist-and-matt-lawson-august-26--74727208Description

What transforms someone from a resident into a steward of a community?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Matt Lawson, longtime Laguna Beach civic leader and public safety advocate, whose decades of volunteer service recently were recognized when the City of Laguna Beach named its new Emergency Operations Center in his honor.

Matt shares the remarkable journey that brought him from New York and rural Connecticut to Laguna Beach, where he and his wife, Mary, discovered not simply a beautiful place to live, but a community they came to call home. That sense of belonging led to a lifetime of public service—from improving the city's design review process to helping reshape Laguna's approach to emergency preparedness, wildfire safety, and disaster resilience.

Together, Matt and Will explore what makes a healthy community, why volunteers matter, how trust is built between citizens and public officials, and why public safety is ultimately a shared responsibility. At its heart, this is a conversation about leadership, service, and the ordinary people whose quiet persistence helps extraordinary communities flourish.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Matt discuss:

Matt's childhood in New York City and rural Connecticut, and the experiences that shaped his outlook on life
The journey that eventually brought Matt and Mary Lawson to Laguna Beach
Why Laguna immediately felt different from every other place they had lived
The moment Matt stopped thinking of Laguna as simply where he lived and began thinking of it as home
How a love for community naturally led to a commitment to public service
Matt's first civic involvement through Laguna Beach's Design Review Process Task Force
Why listening to diverse perspectives produced better public policy than ideological agreement
The importance of improving public processes rather than simply changing outcomes
Lessons learned from visiting other California coastal communities and adapting best practices to Laguna Beach
How predictable, transparent government builds trust and reduces unnecessary conflict
Why serving on local committees taught Matt the value of listening before proposing solutions
The origins of Laguna Beach's Emergency Disaster Preparedness Committee
The leadership of former Mayor Elizabeth Pearson and others who recognized the need for stronger emergency planning
How Matt learned the importance of working alongside firefighters, police officers, engineers, and emergency professionals
Why volunteers earn credibility by learning the work and respecting the expertise of professionals
The challenges Laguna Beach faces because of its geography, topography, and wildfire risk
How improved emergency planning has made the city significantly safer over the past decade
The creation of modern emergency management systems, hazard mitigation planning, and stronger public safety infrastructure
The importance of fuel modification, defensible space, underground utilities, and local water reliability
Why families should prepare their own homes before the next emergency rather than waiting until disaster strikes
The continuing work needed to modernize Laguna's aging fire stations and critical public safety facilities
How thoughtful leadership balances environmental stewardship with protecting lives and property
Why collaboration between volunteers, city staff, elected officials, police officers, firefighters, and residents has transformed Laguna's emergency preparedness
What it meant to have Laguna Beach's new Emergency Operations Center named in Matt's honor
Matt's conviction that public safety—and community itself—is ultimately a team sport

Key takeaway

Strong communities are not built by government alone. They are built when ordinary people decide that the place they call home is worth serving. Through patient listening, thoughtful leadership, and a willingness to work together, neighbors become stewards, and a city becomes more resilient, more connected, and better prepared for whatever the future may bring.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74727208Fri, 28 Aug 2026 01:05:48 +0000William CristDescription What transforms someone from a resident into a steward of a community? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Matt Lawson, longtime Laguna Beach civic leader and public safety advocate, whose decades of volunteer...Description

What transforms someone from a resident into a steward of a community?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Matt Lawson, longtime Laguna Beach civic leader and public safety advocate, whose decades of volunteer service recently were recognized when the City of Laguna Beach named its new Emergency Operations Center in his honor.

Matt shares the remarkable journey that brought him from New York and rural Connecticut to Laguna Beach, where he and his wife, Mary, discovered not simply a beautiful place to live, but a community they came to call home. That sense of belonging led to a lifetime of public service—from improving the city's design review process to helping reshape Laguna's approach to emergency preparedness, wildfire safety, and disaster resilience.

Together, Matt and Will explore what makes a healthy community, why volunteers matter, how trust is built between citizens and public officials, and why public safety is ultimately a shared responsibility. At its heart, this is a conversation about leadership, service, and the ordinary people whose quiet persistence helps extraordinary communities flourish.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Matt discuss:

Matt's childhood in New York City and rural Connecticut, and the experiences that shaped his outlook on life
The journey that eventually brought Matt and Mary Lawson to Laguna Beach
Why Laguna immediately felt different from every other place they had lived
The moment Matt stopped thinking of Laguna as simply where he lived and began thinking of it as home
How a love for community naturally led to a commitment to public service
Matt's first civic involvement through Laguna Beach's Design Review Process Task Force
Why listening to diverse perspectives produced better public policy than ideological agreement
The importance of improving public processes rather than simply changing outcomes
Lessons learned from visiting other California coastal communities and adapting best practices to Laguna Beach
How predictable, transparent government builds trust and reduces unnecessary conflict
Why serving on local committees taught Matt the value of listening before proposing solutions
The origins of Laguna Beach's Emergency Disaster Preparedness Committee
The leadership of former Mayor Elizabeth Pearson and others who recognized the need for stronger emergency planning
How Matt learned the importance of working alongside firefighters, police officers, engineers, and emergency professionals
Why volunteers earn credibility by learning the work and respecting the expertise of professionals
The challenges Laguna Beach faces because of its geography, topography, and wildfire risk
How improved emergency planning has made the city significantly safer over the past decade
The creation of modern emergency management systems, hazard mitigation planning, and stronger public safety infrastructure
The importance of fuel modification, defensible space, underground utilities, and local water reliability
Why families should prepare their own homes before the next emergency rather than waiting until disaster strikes
The continuing work needed to modernize Laguna's aging fire stations and critical public safety facilities
How thoughtful leadership balances environmental stewardship with protecting lives and property
Why collaboration between volunteers, city staff, elected officials, police officers, firefighters, and residents has transformed Laguna's emergency preparedness
What it meant to have Laguna Beach's new Emergency Operations Center named in Matt's honor
Matt's conviction that public safety—and community itself—is ultimately a team sport

Key takeaway3122false133fullFrom the Head to the Heart: Adele Adkins on the Transformative Power of Live Theater — Fr. Will Crist and Adele Atkins, August 12, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-the-head-to-the-heart-adele-adkins-on-the-transformative-power-of-live-theater-fr-will-crist-and-adele-atkins-august-12-2026--74727107Description

What happens when theater becomes more than entertainment?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Adele Atkins, Managing Director of Laguna Playhouse, for a wide-ranging conversation about music, theater, leadership, human connection, and the extraordinary power of the arts to move us from our heads to our hearts.
Adele’s remarkable career began as a young cellist studying at Juilliard before an unexpected series of opportunities led her into Broadway and eventually arts management. She shares how saying yes to jobs she was not sure she was ready for opened a path toward a lifetime of creating places where artists and audiences can encounter one another.

Together, Adele and Will explore why a live performance is fundamentally different from watching something on a screen, why theaters can function almost like sacred spaces, and how shared experiences of music and drama can reconnect people in an increasingly digital and fragmented world. They also consider a larger challenge for Laguna Playhouse: not simply presenting excellent theater, but helping people learn how to experience it, talk about it, and allow it to become part of the life of the community.

The conversation ultimately becomes about something larger than theater. In a world increasingly shaped by screens, social media, gaming, and artificial intelligence, how do we protect and nurture the experiences that make us fully human?

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Adele discuss:

Adele’s early years as a cellist and her training at Juilliard
How an unexpected opportunity on Broadway led her from performing music into arts management
Why having the courage to ask for opportunities before feeling completely prepared shaped Adele’s career
Her discovery that creating opportunities for artists and audiences could be even more fulfilling than performing herself
Why Adele sees theaters and performing arts venues as a kind of sacred space
The relationship among performers, audiences, and the people who create the environment in which live performance becomes possible
Why live theater, music, and dance can touch people in ways that television and streaming cannot
How classical music can create deeply personal experiences without telling listeners what they are supposed to feel
The idea that the arts move us from the head to the heart
Why shared artistic experiences may become even more important in a world increasingly shaped by AI and digital connection
The difference between having thousands of online connections and experiencing genuine heart-to-heart human connection
Wild Child, Laguna Playhouse’s new musical about young people leaving screens and gaming behind and discovering connection in the wilderness
Why the themes of belonging, isolation, and human connection in Wild Child are especially relevant for teenagers and young adults
Adele’s plans for talkbacks, student engagement, and community conversations surrounding Playhouse productions
Why the experience of theater should not necessarily end when the curtain comes down
How Laguna Playhouse can help audiences talk together about what they have experienced
The possibility of bringing actors, audiences, schools, churches, and community organizations into conversations around productions
How comedy and entertainment can also create important moments of shared human experience
Why Adele believes Laguna Playhouse needs to move beyond waiting for audiences to come through its doors and become more visible throughout the community
The possibility of the Playhouse becoming part of Laguna’s broader public spaces, including the Promenade
Adele’s experience turning around arts organizations financially while keeping their larger artistic and community mission at the center
Why nonprofit arts organizations must remain financially disciplined in order to sustain their transformative work
How commercially successful programming can help fund artistic, educational, and community programs
Adele’s experience reducing Laguna Playhouse’s operating deficit by approximately $1 million
Why fundraising for the Playhouse must be connected not merely to producing shows, but to the institution’s future role in Laguna Beach
The continuing power of Rent, 30 years after its premiere, and why its themes can still speak to younger generations
Whether audiences need to relearn how to become active participants in theater rather than passive consumers of entertainment
The comparison between developing an exercise practice and developing the ability to experience live performance deeply
Why seeing Hadestown, Dear Evan Hansen, opera, or another great production live creates something that cannot be reproduced on a screen
Adele’s powerful memory of strangers reaching for one another and crying together during a Broadway performance of Dear Evan Hansen
Why Laguna Playhouse must increasingly take performers and artistic experiences into schools and throughout the community
The larger question of how Laguna Beach can preserve places where people encounter beauty, one another, and their own hearts

Key takeaway

The future of Laguna Playhouse may be about more than putting great theater on a stage. It may be about creating a place where performers and audiences encounter one another, where strangers share something they could never experience alone, and where a community increasingly surrounded by screens can rediscover the transformative power of moving from the head to the heart.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74727107Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:40:08 +0000William CristDescription What happens when theater becomes more than entertainment? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Adele Atkins, Managing Director of Laguna Playhouse, for a wide-ranging conversation about music, theater,...Description

What happens when theater becomes more than entertainment?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Adele Atkins, Managing Director of Laguna Playhouse, for a wide-ranging conversation about music, theater, leadership, human connection, and the extraordinary power of the arts to move us from our heads to our hearts.
Adele’s remarkable career began as a young cellist studying at Juilliard before an unexpected series of opportunities led her into Broadway and eventually arts management. She shares how saying yes to jobs she was not sure she was ready for opened a path toward a lifetime of creating places where artists and audiences can encounter one another.

Together, Adele and Will explore why a live performance is fundamentally different from watching something on a screen, why theaters can function almost like sacred spaces, and how shared experiences of music and drama can reconnect people in an increasingly digital and fragmented world. They also consider a larger challenge for Laguna Playhouse: not simply presenting excellent theater, but helping people learn how to experience it, talk about it, and allow it to become part of the life of the community.

The conversation ultimately becomes about something larger than theater. In a world increasingly shaped by screens, social media, gaming, and artificial intelligence, how do we protect and nurture the experiences that make us fully human?

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Adele discuss:

Adele’s early years as a cellist and her training at Juilliard
How an unexpected opportunity on Broadway led her from performing music into arts management
Why having the courage to ask for opportunities before feeling completely prepared shaped Adele’s career
Her discovery that creating opportunities for artists and audiences could be even more fulfilling than performing herself
Why Adele sees theaters and performing arts venues as a kind of sacred space
The relationship among performers, audiences, and the people who create the environment in which live performance becomes possible
Why live theater, music, and dance can touch people in ways that television and streaming cannot
How classical music can create deeply personal experiences without telling listeners what they are supposed to feel
The idea that the arts move us from the head to the heart
Why shared artistic experiences may become even more important in a world increasingly shaped by AI and digital connection
The difference between having thousands of online connections and experiencing genuine heart-to-heart human connection
Wild Child, Laguna Playhouse’s new musical about young people leaving screens and gaming behind and discovering connection in the wilderness
Why the themes of belonging, isolation, and human connection in Wild Child are especially relevant for teenagers and young adults
Adele’s plans for talkbacks, student engagement, and community conversations surrounding Playhouse productions
Why the experience of theater should not necessarily end when the curtain comes down
How Laguna Playhouse can help audiences talk together about what they have experienced
The possibility of bringing actors, audiences, schools, churches, and community organizations into conversations around productions
How comedy and entertainment can also create important moments of shared human experience
Why Adele believes Laguna Playhouse needs to move beyond waiting for audiences to come through its doors and become more visible throughout the community
The possibility of the Playhouse becoming part of Laguna’s broader public spaces, including the Promenade
Adele’s experience turning around arts organizations financially while keeping their...]]>2782false
131full
Rediscover Wonder in The Laguna Beach Fairy Garden, Fr. Crist and Simone Adams August 19, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/rediscover-wonder-in-the-laguna-beach-fairy-garden-fr-crist-and-simone-adams-august-19-2026--74726318
Description

What if one of Laguna Beach's most meaningful places is also one of its smallest?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Simone Adams, co-manager of the Laguna Beach Library Butterfly and Fairy Garden, for a conversation that begins with butterflies and fairy houses but quickly opens into something much deeper.

Simone shares the story of the garden's beginnings, how it became a cherished gathering place for children and families, and why thousands of visitors return each year to experience its unique blend of nature, creativity, and imagination. Together, she and Will explore what children can teach adults about wonder, presence, gratitude, and seeing the world with fresh eyes.

Along the way, the conversation reflects on volunteering, handwritten notes, the healing power of nature, the role of imagination in spiritual life, and the surprising possibility that Laguna Beach itself is a place where people are invited to slow down, reconnect, and rediscover what it means to be fully human.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Simone discuss:
- Simone's lifelong connection to Laguna Beach and her family's journey back to the community
- How the Butterfly and Fairy Garden grew from a monarch butterfly habitat into one of Laguna's most beloved community spaces
- Jessica DeStefano's vision and the volunteers who continue to care for and expand the garden
- Why the garden became especially important for children and families during the COVID years
- The Butterfly and Fairy Festival and how it has grown into a destination for thousands of visitors
- The Fairy Mail program and why handwritten letters still create meaningful connections
- How the garden introduces children to pollinators, stewardship, creativity, and responsibility
- Why imagination, wonder, and play remain essential parts of becoming fully human
- What adults can learn by seeing the world through the eyes of a child
- The importance of volunteering as a way of serving others and building community
- How nature, creativity, and simply slowing down can become sources of healing
- The impact of smartphones, social media, and constant distraction on our ability to experience beauty
- Why sunsets, butterflies, gardens, and conversations often matter more when they are experienced than when they are photographed
- The relationship between imagination, faith, and encountering the divine
- The story behind St. Fairy's by the Sea and its connection to Laguna's church history
- Why Will suggests that Laguna Beach itself can be understood as a kind of "fairy garden"—a community shaped by art, beauty, generosity, and wonder
- Simone's invitation for every visitor to slow down, look carefully, and rediscover the magic that may have been there all along
Key takeaway

The Fairy Garden is more than a destination for children. It is a reminder that wonder, imagination, kindness, and community are not things we outgrow. They are gifts we can rediscover—and perhaps the very qualities that make Laguna Beach feel like home.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74726318Thu, 27 Aug 2026 22:47:03 +0000
William CristDescription What if one of Laguna Beach's most meaningful places is also one of its smallest? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Simone Adams, co-manager of the Laguna Beach Library Butterfly and Fairy Garden, for a...
Description

What if one of Laguna Beach's most meaningful places is also one of its smallest?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Simone Adams, co-manager of the Laguna Beach Library Butterfly and Fairy Garden, for a conversation that begins with butterflies and fairy houses but quickly opens into something much deeper.

Simone shares the story of the garden's beginnings, how it became a cherished gathering place for children and families, and why thousands of visitors return each year to experience its unique blend of nature, creativity, and imagination. Together, she and Will explore what children can teach adults about wonder, presence, gratitude, and seeing the world with fresh eyes.

Along the way, the conversation reflects on volunteering, handwritten notes, the healing power of nature, the role of imagination in spiritual life, and the surprising possibility that Laguna Beach itself is a place where people are invited to slow down, reconnect, and rediscover what it means to be fully human.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Simone discuss:
Simone's lifelong connection to Laguna Beach and her family's journey back to the community
How the Butterfly and Fairy Garden grew from a monarch butterfly habitat into one of Laguna's most beloved community spaces
Jessica DeStefano's vision and the volunteers who continue to care for and expand the garden
Why the garden became especially important for children and families during the COVID years
The Butterfly and Fairy Festival and how it has grown into a destination for thousands of visitors
The Fairy Mail program and why handwritten letters still create meaningful connections
How the garden introduces children to pollinators, stewardship, creativity, and responsibility
Why imagination, wonder, and play remain essential parts of becoming fully human
What adults can learn by seeing the world through the eyes of a child
The importance of volunteering as a way of serving others and building community
How nature, creativity, and simply slowing down can become sources of healing
The impact of smartphones, social media, and constant distraction on our ability to experience beauty
Why sunsets, butterflies, gardens, and conversations often matter more when they are experienced than when they are photographed
The relationship between imagination, faith, and encountering the divine
The story behind St. Fairy's by the Sea and its connection to Laguna's church history
Why Will suggests that Laguna Beach itself can be understood as a kind of "fairy garden"—a community shaped by art, beauty, generosity, and wonder
Simone's invitation for every visitor to slow down, look carefully, and rediscover the magic that may have been there all along
Key takeaway

The Fairy Garden is more than a destination for children. It is a reminder that wonder, imagination, kindness, and community are not things we outgrow. They are gifts we can rediscover—and perhaps the very qualities that make Laguna Beach feel like home.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
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Great-Souled Men: On Virtue, Purpose, and the Formation of Men, Bode Swanson and Fr. Will Crist, August 5, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/great-souled-men-on-virtue-purpose-and-the-formation-of-men-bode-swanson-and-fr-will-crist-august-5-2026--73642031In this episode of The Heart of Laguna,

Will Crist sits down with Laguna Beach resident and author Bode Swanson for a wide-ranging conversation about character, masculinity, purpose, and the ancient virtues that help human beings flourish. Bode’s book, Great Souled Men, draws inspiration from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and the concept of magnanimity—the “great soul” that emerges as virtues are practiced and refined over a lifetime.

The conversation begins with the remarkable story of Wesley Autrey, who jumped onto the tracks of a New York City subway to protect a stranger as a train passed inches above them. For Bode, Autrey represents something important: an ordinary person who had developed enough courage, skill, and selflessness to act when the moment required it.Will and Bode explore why many young men today appear to be drifting and why the problem may be less about motivation than formation. Previous generations encountered systems that deliberately taught character—through family, churches, schools, Scouting, coaches, and community institutions. Today, much of that formative influence has shifted toward social media and a culture frequently measuring success through wealth, power, celebrity, followers, and status.

They discuss Aristotle’s idea of eudaimonia—human flourishing—and the “golden mean,” in which virtue is cultivated between deficiency and excess. Courage, for example, lies between cowardice and recklessness. Temperance lies between deprivation and indulgence. The conversation also turns personal as both Will and Bode reflect on becoming Eagle Scouts and the formative power of the Scout Oath and Law. They ask an important question: Where do young people encounter comparable systems of character formation today? Bode shares the example of Laguna Beach High School football coach John Shanahan and the difference a caring adult can make by giving young people not simply instruction, but a model, a community, and a larger vision of who they might become.

Will and Bode ultimately arrive at a shared insight: the goal is not simply achievement. It is becoming. A “great-souled” person develops the character, discipline, vision, and generosity to participate in something larger than themselves—to strengthen a family, build an organization, serve a community, mentor another person, or create something that may endure beyond their own lifetime.

In this episode:

• Why Bode begins Great Souled Men with Wesley Autrey’s extraordinary act of courage
• Aristotle’s meaning of magnanimity, or being “great-souled”
• Why virtue is a practice rather than a personality trait
• The growing struggle for purpose among young men
• What wealth, power, status, and social media are teaching the next generation
• Aristotle’s concept of eudaimonia and human flourishing
• The golden mean: finding virtue between excess and deficiency
• Why Boy Scouts once offered a powerful system of formation
• The importance of coaches, mentors, fathers, and other trusted adults
• Why purpose matters more than simply choosing the right career
• The difference between achieving something and becoming someone
• How ordinary people can build things that strengthen the whole community

Bode leaves listeners with one central challenge:

“We have to think about building things that benefit the whole rather than ourselves.”

That is a thought spoken directly from The Heart of Laguna.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73642031Wed, 05 Aug 2026 23:31:00 +0000William CristIn this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Will Crist sits down with Laguna Beach resident and author Bode Swanson for a wide-ranging conversation about character, masculinity, purpose, and the ancient virtues that help human beings flourish. Bode’s...In this episode of The Heart of Laguna,

Will Crist sits down with Laguna Beach resident and author Bode Swanson for a wide-ranging conversation about character, masculinity, purpose, and the ancient virtues that help human beings flourish. Bode’s book, Great Souled Men, draws inspiration from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and the concept of magnanimity—the “great soul” that emerges as virtues are practiced and refined over a lifetime.

The conversation begins with the remarkable story of Wesley Autrey, who jumped onto the tracks of a New York City subway to protect a stranger as a train passed inches above them. For Bode, Autrey represents something important: an ordinary person who had developed enough courage, skill, and selflessness to act when the moment required it.Will and Bode explore why many young men today appear to be drifting and why the problem may be less about motivation than formation. Previous generations encountered systems that deliberately taught character—through family, churches, schools, Scouting, coaches, and community institutions. Today, much of that formative influence has shifted toward social media and a culture frequently measuring success through wealth, power, celebrity, followers, and status.

They discuss Aristotle’s idea of eudaimonia—human flourishing—and the “golden mean,” in which virtue is cultivated between deficiency and excess. Courage, for example, lies between cowardice and recklessness. Temperance lies between deprivation and indulgence. The conversation also turns personal as both Will and Bode reflect on becoming Eagle Scouts and the formative power of the Scout Oath and Law. They ask an important question: Where do young people encounter comparable systems of character formation today? Bode shares the example of Laguna Beach High School football coach John Shanahan and the difference a caring adult can make by giving young people not simply instruction, but a model, a community, and a larger vision of who they might become.

Will and Bode ultimately arrive at a shared insight: the goal is not simply achievement. It is becoming. A “great-souled” person develops the character, discipline, vision, and generosity to participate in something larger than themselves—to strengthen a family, build an organization, serve a community, mentor another person, or create something that may endure beyond their own lifetime.

In this episode:

• Why Bode begins Great Souled Men with Wesley Autrey’s extraordinary act of courage
• Aristotle’s meaning of magnanimity, or being “great-souled”
• Why virtue is a practice rather than a personality trait
• The growing struggle for purpose among young men
• What wealth, power, status, and social media are teaching the next generation
• Aristotle’s concept of eudaimonia and human flourishing
• The golden mean: finding virtue between excess and deficiency
• Why Boy Scouts once offered a powerful system of formation
• The importance of coaches, mentors, fathers, and other trusted adults
• Why purpose matters more than simply choosing the right career
• The difference between achieving something and becoming someone
• How ordinary people can build things that strengthen the whole community

Bode leaves listeners with one central challenge:

“We have to think about building things that benefit the whole rather than ourselves.”

That is a thought spoken directly from The Heart of Laguna.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>3182false130full
Who Belongs in Laguna? A Conversation with Billy Fried and Fr. Will Crist July 22, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/who-belongs-in-laguna-a-conversation-with-billy-fried-and-fr-will-crist-july-22-2026--73241438
Description

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Billy Fried, founder of La Vida Laguna and President of KXFM Community Radio, for a wide-ranging conversation about community, belonging, stewardship, and the future of Laguna Beach. Billy shares how moving to Laguna transformed his life, what inspired him to build businesses centered on adventure and connection, and why he believes community is created one conversation at a time.

Together, Fr. Will and Billy explore the relationship between tourism and belonging, the importance of welcoming visitors as neighbors rather than strangers, and how face-to-face conversation can heal the divisions amplified by social media. Along the way, they discuss public art, environmental stewardship, creative culture, aging, death, near-death experiences, and the shared responsibility of building a Laguna where everyone feels they belong.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Billy discuss:
- Billy's journey from Los Angeles to finding home in Laguna Beach
- How La Vida Laguna introduced thousands of visitors to the ocean through kayaking and outdoor adventure
- Why KXFM serves as a community gathering place for Laguna Beach
- The difference between online conflict and face-to-face conversation
- How social media can divide us—and how community can bring us back together
- Why visitors and day-trippers should be welcomed as part of the Laguna experience
- Environmental stewardship and caring for Laguna's beaches and coastline
- Public art, biking, walkability, and creating a more connected community
- Supporting artists, local businesses, and Laguna's creative heritage
- Aging, death doulas, near-death experiences, and spiritual perspectives on life's transitions
- What it means to build a community where kindness is stronger than division
Memorable Themes
- "Everyone who comes to Laguna belongs here."
- "Community is built through conversation."
- "The ocean teaches us both humility and stewardship."
- "The opposite of division is belonging."
- "The heart of Laguna is its people."
About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73241438Wed, 29 Jul 2026 18:00:41 +0000
William CristDescription In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Billy Fried, founder of La Vida Laguna and President of KXFM Community Radio, for a wide-ranging conversation about community, belonging, stewardship, and the future of...
Description

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Billy Fried, founder of La Vida Laguna and President of KXFM Community Radio, for a wide-ranging conversation about community, belonging, stewardship, and the future of Laguna Beach. Billy shares how moving to Laguna transformed his life, what inspired him to build businesses centered on adventure and connection, and why he believes community is created one conversation at a time.

Together, Fr. Will and Billy explore the relationship between tourism and belonging, the importance of welcoming visitors as neighbors rather than strangers, and how face-to-face conversation can heal the divisions amplified by social media. Along the way, they discuss public art, environmental stewardship, creative culture, aging, death, near-death experiences, and the shared responsibility of building a Laguna where everyone feels they belong.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Billy discuss:
Billy's journey from Los Angeles to finding home in Laguna Beach
How La Vida Laguna introduced thousands of visitors to the ocean through kayaking and outdoor adventure
Why KXFM serves as a community gathering place for Laguna Beach
The difference between online conflict and face-to-face conversation
How social media can divide us—and how community can bring us back together
Why visitors and day-trippers should be welcomed as part of the Laguna experience
Environmental stewardship and caring for Laguna's beaches and coastline
Public art, biking, walkability, and creating a more connected community
Supporting artists, local businesses, and Laguna's creative heritage
Aging, death doulas, near-death experiences, and spiritual perspectives on life's transitions
What it means to build a community where kindness is stronger than division
Memorable Themes
"Everyone who comes to Laguna belongs here."
"Community is built through conversation."
"The ocean teaches us both humility and stewardship."
"The opposite of division is belonging."
"The heart of Laguna is its people."

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
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Beyond the Beach: Learning to See the Real Laguna -- Bill Hoffman and and Fr. Will Crist, July 15, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/beyond-the-beach-learning-to-see-the-real-laguna-bill-hoffman-and-and-fr-will-crist-july-15-2026--72998194
Beyond the Beach: Learning to See the Real Laguna with Bill Hoffman

Description

What happens when we stop treating a city as scenery and begin listening to the stories written into its streets, buildings, trees, public art, and gathering places?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist speaks with Bill Hoffman, retired teacher, urban planner, tour guide, and author of Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer. Bill’s fascination with cities began during a year in Spain, where pedestrian streets, public plazas, and centuries-old buildings showed him that cities can be more than roads, parking spaces, and places to pass through. They can hold memory, encourage relationship, and help people feel that they belong.

Together, Will and Bill explore what makes Laguna Beach distinctive, from its coves, greenbelt, eucalyptus trees, public art, early homesteaders, and artist colonies to its fierce commitment to preservation. They also ask a more challenging question: Can Laguna preserve what is beautiful without becoming resistant to change?

The conversation turns toward the millions of visitors who come to Laguna each year, especially day visitors who may experience little beyond the beach. Rather than treating them as outsiders who take parking spaces, create lots of traffic, and leave trash behind, what would happen if Laguna welcomed them as guests and introduced them to the deeper life of the city? Walking tours, trained local docents, historic markers, public-art routes, and community storytelling could help visitors discover the Laguna that residents love—and encourage them to care for it, support its businesses, meet its people, and return with a deeper sense of connection. This is a conversation about tourism, history, beauty, urban design, and the transforming power of learning to notice what has been hidden in plain sight.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Bill discuss:
- How living in Spain changed Bill’s understanding of cities
- Why streets, buildings, and neighborhoods tell stories
- Bill’s transition from teaching into urban planning and tour guiding
- How a San Francisco tour helped him rediscover purpose after retirement
- What tour guides notice that most people walk past
- Laguna Beach’s architectural variety, view protections, public art, and limited commercial franchises
- Why the city’s eucalyptus trees are part of its history
- The role of Laguna’s artists, environmentalists, and civic leaders
- The preservation of more than 20,000 acres of surrounding open space
- The tension between preserving Laguna’s character and allowing thoughtful change
- What Dana Point can teach Laguna about walkability and public gathering spaces
- The history and meaning hidden in Laguna’s streets, murals, sculptures, and trees
- Why visitors often experience Laguna only as a beach destination
- How walking tours could help day visitors discover the rest of the city
- The possibility of training local volunteer docents
- How cultural tourism could support local artists, restaurants, stores, and community organizations
- Why welcoming visitors into a relationship with Laguna may be more effective than treating them as a problem
- What beautiful public places contribute to human health and community life
- Why children and adults need opportunities to be introduced to beauty
- How learning to observe a city can change the way we see other human beings
- Bill’s book, Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer
A Central Question

What if the people who come to Laguna for the beach could leave knowing something about its artists, its history, its protected coastline, its greenbelt, and the people who have worked to preserve its character? They might not leave as tourists. They might leave as friends of Laguna.

About the Guest

Bill Hoffman is a retired educator, urban planner, historic-preservation advocate, tour guide, and founder of Hoffy Tours. He is also the author of Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer, a guide to memorable day trips throughout the region. His work helps people slow down, look more carefully, and discover the history and meaning hidden inside familiar places.

Learn More Hoffy Tours:
hoffytours.com

Bill's Book:
Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer. The book is available through Hoffy Tours, the Laguna Beach Books bookstore, Hobie Surf Shop, the publisher, and other booksellers.

Memorable Takeaway

A city becomes more meaningful when someone helps us see what we have been walking past.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72998194Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:39:38 +0000
William CristBeyond the Beach: Learning to See the Real Laguna with Bill Hoffman Description What happens when we stop treating a city as scenery and begin listening to the stories written into its streets, buildings, trees, public art, and gathering places? In...
Beyond the Beach: Learning to See the Real Laguna with Bill Hoffman

Description

What happens when we stop treating a city as scenery and begin listening to the stories written into its streets, buildings, trees, public art, and gathering places?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist speaks with Bill Hoffman, retired teacher, urban planner, tour guide, and author of Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer. Bill’s fascination with cities began during a year in Spain, where pedestrian streets, public plazas, and centuries-old buildings showed him that cities can be more than roads, parking spaces, and places to pass through. They can hold memory, encourage relationship, and help people feel that they belong.

Together, Will and Bill explore what makes Laguna Beach distinctive, from its coves, greenbelt, eucalyptus trees, public art, early homesteaders, and artist colonies to its fierce commitment to preservation. They also ask a more challenging question: Can Laguna preserve what is beautiful without becoming resistant to change?

The conversation turns toward the millions of visitors who come to Laguna each year, especially day visitors who may experience little beyond the beach. Rather than treating them as outsiders who take parking spaces, create lots of traffic, and leave trash behind, what would happen if Laguna welcomed them as guests and introduced them to the deeper life of the city? Walking tours, trained local docents, historic markers, public-art routes, and community storytelling could help visitors discover the Laguna that residents love—and encourage them to care for it, support its businesses, meet its people, and return with a deeper sense of connection. This is a conversation about tourism, history, beauty, urban design, and the transforming power of learning to notice what has been hidden in plain sight.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Bill discuss:
How living in Spain changed Bill’s understanding of cities
Why streets, buildings, and neighborhoods tell stories
Bill’s transition from teaching into urban planning and tour guiding
How a San Francisco tour helped him rediscover purpose after retirement
What tour guides notice that most people walk past
Laguna Beach’s architectural variety, view protections, public art, and limited commercial franchises
Why the city’s eucalyptus trees are part of its history
The role of Laguna’s artists, environmentalists, and civic leaders
The preservation of more than 20,000 acres of surrounding open space
The tension between preserving Laguna’s character and allowing thoughtful change
What Dana Point can teach Laguna about walkability and public gathering spaces
The history and meaning hidden in Laguna’s streets, murals, sculptures, and trees
Why visitors often experience Laguna only as a beach destination
How walking tours could help day visitors discover the rest of the city
The possibility of training local volunteer docents
How cultural tourism could support local artists, restaurants, stores, and community organizations
Why welcoming visitors into a relationship with Laguna may be more effective than treating them as a problem
What beautiful public places contribute to human health and community life
Why children and adults need opportunities to be introduced to beauty
How learning to observe a city can change the way we see other human beings
Bill’s book, Exploring Southern California: 80 Outings for the Urban Adventurer
A Central Question

What if the people who come to Laguna for the beach could leave knowing something about its artists, its history, its protected coastline, its greenbelt,...]]>
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Creative Identity, Music Therapy, and the Gift of Being Seen -- George Gilliam and Fr. Will Crist, July 8, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/creative-identity-music-therapy-and-the-gift-of-being-seen-george-gilliam-and-fr-will-crist-july-8-2026--72876418
Title: George Gilliam on Creative Identity, Music Therapy, and the Gift of Being Seen Episode

Description:

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes George Gilliam, Executive Director of Creative Identity, a ministry of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Laguna Beach. For more than 30 years, George has helped adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities discover their gifts through music, art, performance, and creative expression.

What began with one student has grown into a life-giving community where people too often defined by limitation are given opportunity, encouragement, and the chance to be seen for who they truly are. George shares his journey as a musician, jazz artist, music therapist, founder, and community leader. He reflects on what music therapy makes possible, why creativity opens doors that words often cannot, and what his students have taught him about patience, courage, tenderness, and the deep human longing to belong.

This conversation is about far more than art. It is about dignity. It is about visibility. It is about what happens when a community stops asking, “What can’t they do?” and begins asking, “What gifts are waiting to be released?”

This is a conversation about creativity, dignity, and the healing power of being seen.

Show Notes:

In this conversation, Fr. Will and George explore:
- George’s early life as a musician and his path into music therapy
- The founding of Creative Identity more than 30 years ago
- How music and art help people express themselves without judgment
- Why people with disabilities are often underestimated
- The difference between seeing limitations and seeing gifts
- How Creative Identity helps adults build confidence, choice, social connection, and purpose
- Stories of students discovering abilities they did not know they had
- Why being seen is one of the deepest human needs
- What Laguna Beach can do to become a more welcoming creative community
- How people can support, volunteer, and get involved with Creative Identity
Memorable Theme:

People do not thrive because we pity them. They thrive when we see them, encourage them, and make room for their gifts to come forward.

Learn More:

Creative Identity: creativeidentity.org
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Laguna Beach: stmaryslagunabeach.org

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72876418Wed, 08 Jul 2026 21:46:37 +0000
William CristTitle: George Gilliam on Creative Identity, Music Therapy, and the Gift of Being Seen Episode Description: In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes George Gilliam, Executive Director of Creative Identity, a ministry of St....
Title: George Gilliam on Creative Identity, Music Therapy, and the Gift of Being Seen Episode

Description:

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes George Gilliam, Executive Director of Creative Identity, a ministry of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Laguna Beach. For more than 30 years, George has helped adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities discover their gifts through music, art, performance, and creative expression.

What began with one student has grown into a life-giving community where people too often defined by limitation are given opportunity, encouragement, and the chance to be seen for who they truly are. George shares his journey as a musician, jazz artist, music therapist, founder, and community leader. He reflects on what music therapy makes possible, why creativity opens doors that words often cannot, and what his students have taught him about patience, courage, tenderness, and the deep human longing to belong.

This conversation is about far more than art. It is about dignity. It is about visibility. It is about what happens when a community stops asking, “What can’t they do?” and begins asking, “What gifts are waiting to be released?”

This is a conversation about creativity, dignity, and the healing power of being seen.

Show Notes:

In this conversation, Fr. Will and George explore:
George’s early life as a musician and his path into music therapy
The founding of Creative Identity more than 30 years ago
How music and art help people express themselves without judgment
Why people with disabilities are often underestimated
The difference between seeing limitations and seeing gifts
How Creative Identity helps adults build confidence, choice, social connection, and purpose
Stories of students discovering abilities they did not know they had
Why being seen is one of the deepest human needs
What Laguna Beach can do to become a more welcoming creative community
How people can support, volunteer, and get involved with Creative Identity
Memorable Theme:

People do not thrive because we pity them. They thrive when we see them, encourage them, and make room for their gifts to come forward.

Learn More:

Creative Identity: creativeidentity.org
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Laguna Beach: stmaryslagunabeach.org

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
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The Heart of Laguna Is People: Business, Belonging, and Human Connection -- Christina Logee and Fr. Will Crist, July 1, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-heart-of-laguna-is-people-business-belonging-and-human-connection-christina-logee-and-fr-will-crist-july-1-2026--72778212The Heart of Laguna Is People: Christina Logue on Business, Belonging, and Human Connection

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Christina Logue, owner of Little Freebirds and president of the Laguna Beach Business Club. Christina’s story moves from a 28-year career in opticianry, leadership, training, teaching, and regulation in Canada to the bold decision to begin again in Laguna Beach as a small business owner.

What begins as a conversation about a children’s clothing store becomes something much larger: a reflection on service, community, customer experience, and the human relationships that make local businesses matter. Together, Will and Christina explore what it would mean for Laguna Beach to think of itself less as a collection of separate shops and more as a shared human experience — almost like Disneyland, where every person and every business helps create the whole.

This conversation is about business, belonging, reinvention, and the heart of a town that still has the opportunity to become known not only for beauty, beaches, and art, but for genuine human connection.

Show Notes

In this episode, Christina Logue shares her journey from Canada to Laguna Beach and from a major career in opticianry to owning Little Freebirds. She reflects on motherhood, reinvention, empty nesting, and the courage it takes to ask, “What part of this life is truly mine?”

Will and Christina discuss the deeper purpose of local retail: not simply selling products, but creating trust, warmth, welcome, and relationship. The conversation turns to Disney, John DiJulius (author of The Customer Service Revolution), customer experience, and the possibility that Laguna Beach could think more intentionally about the experience it creates for residents, visitors, and local businesses.

They also explore the founder’s dilemma: how small-business owners can become the bottleneck to their own growth when every decision has to come back to them.

At the center of the conversation is a simple but powerful idea: the heart of Laguna is its people — and the town's next opportunity may be to learn how to serve them with greater imagination, cooperation, and humanity.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72778212Wed, 01 Jul 2026 20:06:42 +0000William CristThe Heart of Laguna Is People: Christina Logue on Business, Belonging, and Human Connection In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Christina Logue, owner of Little Freebirds and president of the Laguna Beach Business...The Heart of Laguna Is People: Christina Logue on Business, Belonging, and Human Connection

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Christina Logue, owner of Little Freebirds and president of the Laguna Beach Business Club. Christina’s story moves from a 28-year career in opticianry, leadership, training, teaching, and regulation in Canada to the bold decision to begin again in Laguna Beach as a small business owner.

What begins as a conversation about a children’s clothing store becomes something much larger: a reflection on service, community, customer experience, and the human relationships that make local businesses matter. Together, Will and Christina explore what it would mean for Laguna Beach to think of itself less as a collection of separate shops and more as a shared human experience — almost like Disneyland, where every person and every business helps create the whole.

This conversation is about business, belonging, reinvention, and the heart of a town that still has the opportunity to become known not only for beauty, beaches, and art, but for genuine human connection.

Show Notes

In this episode, Christina Logue shares her journey from Canada to Laguna Beach and from a major career in opticianry to owning Little Freebirds. She reflects on motherhood, reinvention, empty nesting, and the courage it takes to ask, “What part of this life is truly mine?”

Will and Christina discuss the deeper purpose of local retail: not simply selling products, but creating trust, warmth, welcome, and relationship. The conversation turns to Disney, John DiJulius (author of The Customer Service Revolution), customer experience, and the possibility that Laguna Beach could think more intentionally about the experience it creates for residents, visitors, and local businesses.

They also explore the founder’s dilemma: how small-business owners can become the bottleneck to their own growth when every decision has to come back to them.

At the center of the conversation is a simple but powerful idea: the heart of Laguna is its people — and the town's next opportunity may be to learn how to serve them with greater imagination, cooperation, and humanity.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>3110false126full
Why a Community Needs it Story: Karen Lagrew Laguna Beach Historical Society — Fr. Will Crist and Karen Lagrew, June24, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/why-a-community-needs-it-story-karen-lagrew-laguna-beach-historical-society-fr-will-crist-and-karen-lagrew-june24-2026--72695570
The Heart of Laguna: Why a Community Needs Its Story | Karen Lagrew

Episode Description

What gives a place its soul?

In this conversation, Will Crist sits down with Karen Lagrew —Vice President and former President of the Laguna Beach Historical Society and one of the few people born and raised in Laguna Beach—to explore the stories that continue to shape one of California’s most distinctive communities.

Together they move beyond dates and landmarks into something deeper: why history matters, how volunteers preserve more than old buildings, and what happens when a community forgets the people and values that formed it. Karen reflects on growing up in Laguna during the 1960s and 70s, the artists who shaped the town, hidden places visitors rarely notice, and the volunteers who quietly protect its unique character.

Along the way, the conversation becomes an invitation to every listener—not simply to appreciate where they live, but to become part of its story. Whether you have lived in Laguna for sixty years or are discovering it for the first time, this episode offers a thoughtful look at the relationship between memory, place, and belonging.

Show Notes

In this episode, you’ll discover:
- Why preserving history is really about preserving identity
- What it was like growing up in Laguna Beach before the surrounding Orange County developed
- How artists, volunteers, educators, and ordinary citizens created Laguna’s unique culture
- Why volunteer work often helps people discover what they were meant to contribute
- The hidden differences between visiting Laguna and truly belonging to it
- How the Laguna Beach Historical Society uncovers remarkable stories from the town’s past
- What today’s residents can learn from those who protected Laguna’s beaches, canyons, and neighborhoods
- Why communities that forget their stories risk losing their spirit
- Karen’s hopes for Laguna’s future amid growth and change
- Practical ways newcomers can become part of the community instead of simply living here
Memorable Quote: “History isn’t just about what happened. It’s about understanding who we are, what shaped us, and why this place still matters.”

About Our Guest

Karen Lagrew is Vice President and former President of the Laguna Beach Historical Society. A lifelong Laguna Beach resident, she has dedicated years to preserving the city’s rich history through research, exhibitions, educational programs, and community storytelling. Her work helps connect new generations to the people, places, and values that have made Laguna Beach unlike anywhere else.

Learn more about the Laguna Beach Historical Society by visiting the museum on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1:00–4:00 p.m., or by volunteering as a docent and becoming part of Laguna’s continuing story.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72695570Thu, 25 Jun 2026 23:43:43 +0000
William CristThe Heart of Laguna: Why a Community Needs Its Story | Karen Lagrew Episode Description What gives a place its soul? In this conversation, Will Crist sits down with Karen Lagrew —Vice President and former President of the Laguna Beach Historical...
The Heart of Laguna: Why a Community Needs Its Story | Karen Lagrew

Episode Description

What gives a place its soul?

In this conversation, Will Crist sits down with Karen Lagrew —Vice President and former President of the Laguna Beach Historical Society and one of the few people born and raised in Laguna Beach—to explore the stories that continue to shape one of California’s most distinctive communities.

Together they move beyond dates and landmarks into something deeper: why history matters, how volunteers preserve more than old buildings, and what happens when a community forgets the people and values that formed it. Karen reflects on growing up in Laguna during the 1960s and 70s, the artists who shaped the town, hidden places visitors rarely notice, and the volunteers who quietly protect its unique character.

Along the way, the conversation becomes an invitation to every listener—not simply to appreciate where they live, but to become part of its story. Whether you have lived in Laguna for sixty years or are discovering it for the first time, this episode offers a thoughtful look at the relationship between memory, place, and belonging.

Show Notes

In this episode, you’ll discover:
Why preserving history is really about preserving identity
What it was like growing up in Laguna Beach before the surrounding Orange County developed
How artists, volunteers, educators, and ordinary citizens created Laguna’s unique culture
Why volunteer work often helps people discover what they were meant to contribute
The hidden differences between visiting Laguna and truly belonging to it
How the Laguna Beach Historical Society uncovers remarkable stories from the town’s past
What today’s residents can learn from those who protected Laguna’s beaches, canyons, and neighborhoods
Why communities that forget their stories risk losing their spirit
Karen’s hopes for Laguna’s future amid growth and change
Practical ways newcomers can become part of the community instead of simply living here
Memorable Quote: “History isn’t just about what happened. It’s about understanding who we are, what shaped us, and why this place still matters.”

About Our Guest

Karen Lagrew is Vice President and former President of the Laguna Beach Historical Society. A lifelong Laguna Beach resident, she has dedicated years to preserving the city’s rich history through research, exhibitions, educational programs, and community storytelling. Her work helps connect new generations to the people, places, and values that have made Laguna Beach unlike anywhere else.

Learn more about the Laguna Beach Historical Society by visiting the museum on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1:00–4:00 p.m., or by volunteering as a docent and becoming part of Laguna’s continuing story.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
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Welcome Home in One Voice: Ryan Brown on Choral Music, Belonging, and the Sound of Unity — Fr. Will Crist and Ryan Brown, June 17, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/welcome-home-in-one-voice-ryan-brown-on-choral-music-belonging-and-the-sound-of-unity-fr-will-crist-and-ryan-brown-june-17-2026--72584432
Description
In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Ryan Brown, Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Chamber Singers, for a rich conversation about music, belonging, beauty, and the deep human need for unity. Ryan reflects on what happens when individual voices come together in a choir—not by disappearing, but by listening, breathing, and creating something no one voice could make alone.

Together, Fr. Will and Ryan explore choral music as a practice of presence, a discipline of attention, and a living metaphor for community. The conversation moves from rehearsal rooms and sacred music to questions of home, welcome, LGBTQ belonging, spiritual healing, and what Laguna Beach can teach us about becoming a community where people hear, “You belong here.”

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Ryan discuss:
- Ryan’s role as Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Chamber Singers
- Why choral singing creates unity through breath, sound, listening, and shared intention
- The difference between musical product and musical experience
- How choirs become places of belonging and chosen family
- The power of beauty to open the heart
- Why music can become a spiritual discipline
- What it means to be welcomed home
- The experience of LGBTQ people in churches and the continuing need for true welcome
- Laguna Tunes, Chamber Singers, and the different ways people find their voice
- Leadership through power versus leadership through shared purpose
- Why choral music still matters in a divided world
- What Laguna Beach most needs to hear: kindness, home, and belonging
Memorable Themes

“Expression equals intention times technique.”
“Choir allows us to experience humanity with one another.”
“You belong here.”
“Welcome home.”

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72584432Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:39:04 +0000
William CristDescription In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Ryan Brown, Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Chamber Singers, for a rich conversation about music, belonging, beauty, and the deep human need for unity. Ryan reflects on...
Description
In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Ryan Brown, Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Chamber Singers, for a rich conversation about music, belonging, beauty, and the deep human need for unity. Ryan reflects on what happens when individual voices come together in a choir—not by disappearing, but by listening, breathing, and creating something no one voice could make alone.

Together, Fr. Will and Ryan explore choral music as a practice of presence, a discipline of attention, and a living metaphor for community. The conversation moves from rehearsal rooms and sacred music to questions of home, welcome, LGBTQ belonging, spiritual healing, and what Laguna Beach can teach us about becoming a community where people hear, “You belong here.”

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Ryan discuss:
Ryan’s role as Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Chamber Singers
Why choral singing creates unity through breath, sound, listening, and shared intention
The difference between musical product and musical experience
How choirs become places of belonging and chosen family
The power of beauty to open the heart
Why music can become a spiritual discipline
What it means to be welcomed home
The experience of LGBTQ people in churches and the continuing need for true welcome
Laguna Tunes, Chamber Singers, and the different ways people find their voice
Leadership through power versus leadership through shared purpose
Why choral music still matters in a divided world
What Laguna Beach most needs to hear: kindness, home, and belonging
Memorable Themes

“Expression equals intention times technique.”
“Choir allows us to experience humanity with one another.”
“You belong here.”
“Welcome home.”

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
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A Home for the Forgotten: Bluebell, Senior Cats, Compassion, and the Gift of Presence — Fr. Will Crist and Jenna Mikula, June 3, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-home-for-the-forgotten-bluebell-senior-cats-compassion-and-the-gift-of-presence-fr-will-crist-and-jenna-mikula-june-3-2026--72378020
Description

In this tender and deeply humane episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Jenna Mikula, Director of the Bluebell Foundation for Cats, a remarkable Laguna Beach sanctuary devoted to lifetime care for senior cats whose owners can no longer care for them. Jenna shares her journey from finance and accounting into a life of service, compassion, and purpose. Together, she and Fr. Will explore what senior cats can teach us about presence, grief, love, aging, and the sacred responsibility of caring for those who might otherwise be forgotten. This conversation is about cats, but it is also about us. It is about what happens when we stop discarding the vulnerable and begin seeing every life as worthy of tenderness, dignity, and care.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Jenna discuss:
- Jenna’s journey from a successful finance career to leading the Bluebell Foundation
- Why success and fulfillment are not always the same thing
- The history of Bluebell and its founder, Bertha Yergat
- How Bluebell provides lifetime care for senior cats
- Why estate planning for pets matters
- What senior cats teach us about grief, compassion, and presence
- The emotional and spiritual weight of end-of-life decisions
- How animals help open the human heart
- The connection between caring for discarded animals and caring for discarded people
- Why Laguna Beach is such a fitting home for Bluebell
- How volunteers can participate in Bluebell’s mission
Memorable Theme

Bluebell is not simply a place for cats. It is a living sign that no creature should be discarded, and that love remains possible until the very end.

Learn More

Bluebell Foundation for Cats is located in Laguna Canyon and welcomes those who want to support, volunteer, or learn more about planning for their pets' care.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72378020Fri, 05 Jun 2026 23:58:52 +0000
William CristDescription In this tender and deeply humane episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Jenna Mikula, Director of the Bluebell Foundation for Cats, a remarkable Laguna Beach sanctuary devoted to lifetime care for senior cats whose owners...
Description

In this tender and deeply humane episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Jenna Mikula, Director of the Bluebell Foundation for Cats, a remarkable Laguna Beach sanctuary devoted to lifetime care for senior cats whose owners can no longer care for them. Jenna shares her journey from finance and accounting into a life of service, compassion, and purpose. Together, she and Fr. Will explore what senior cats can teach us about presence, grief, love, aging, and the sacred responsibility of caring for those who might otherwise be forgotten. This conversation is about cats, but it is also about us. It is about what happens when we stop discarding the vulnerable and begin seeing every life as worthy of tenderness, dignity, and care.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Jenna discuss:
Jenna’s journey from a successful finance career to leading the Bluebell Foundation
Why success and fulfillment are not always the same thing
The history of Bluebell and its founder, Bertha Yergat
How Bluebell provides lifetime care for senior cats
Why estate planning for pets matters
What senior cats teach us about grief, compassion, and presence
The emotional and spiritual weight of end-of-life decisions
How animals help open the human heart
The connection between caring for discarded animals and caring for discarded people
Why Laguna Beach is such a fitting home for Bluebell
How volunteers can participate in Bluebell’s mission
Memorable Theme

Bluebell is not simply a place for cats. It is a living sign that no creature should be discarded, and that love remains possible until the very end.

Learn More

Bluebell Foundation for Cats is located in Laguna Canyon and welcomes those who want to support, volunteer, or learn more about planning for their pets' care.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
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Showing Up for Every Child: Sarah Durand on School Power, Connection, and the Future of Laguna’s Schools — Fr. Will Crist and Sarah Durandhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/showing-up-for-every-child-sarah-durand-on-school-power-connection-and-the-future-of-laguna-s-schools-fr-will-crist-and-sarah-durand--71354425
Showing Up for Every Child: Sarah Durand on School Power, Connection, and the Future of Laguna’s Schools — Fr. Will Crist and Sarah Durand, April 15, 2026

Description

What does it really take for a community to support its children well?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Sarah Durand, Executive Director of School Power, for a thoughtful conversation about education, enrichment, mental health, connection, and the future of Laguna Beach’s schools.

Sarah shares how her own life, family, and career journey led her into this work, and why School Power has become such a vital force in helping Laguna’s students thrive. Together, they explore what people often miss about the needs in local schools, why connection matters as much as achievement, and how a community can help children discover their strengths, passions, and sense of belonging.

This is a conversation about more than fundraising or school programs. It is about what kind of town Laguna Beach wants to be for its children, its families, and the generations still coming.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Sarah discuss:
- Sarah’s path into School Power and the personal experiences that shaped her call to this work
- How her parents’ example of service and adaptability influenced her life
- The hidden needs in Laguna Beach schools, including family financial stress and student mental health challenges
- How School Power supports students through grants, family support services, enrichment scholarships, and athletics funding
- Why connection, safety, and trusted adults are essential to student success
- The importance of helping young people discover what they love and where they can thrive
- How enrichment experiences open doors for students who might otherwise feel left out
- The pressures students place on themselves in a high-achieving community
- How Laguna Beach schools are addressing mental health through counseling, wellness spaces, tutorial periods, and family support
- Why learning to disagree respectfully is a critical life skill for students and adults alike
- The promise and challenge of AI in education, and why schools must help students prepare for a rapidly changing world
- Why parents need hope, perspective, and trust that their children can grow through setbacks
- Sarah’s vision for Laguna Beach as a community that truly shows up for kids and families
- How every resident, whether or not they currently have children in school, has a stake in strong public schools
Key takeaway

If Laguna Beach truly shows up for its children, it is not only supporting students in the present. It is shaping the kind of community Laguna will become.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71354425Wed, 15 Apr 2026 23:48:28 +0000
William CristShowing Up for Every Child: Sarah Durand on School Power, Connection, and the Future of Laguna’s Schools — Fr. Will Crist and Sarah Durand, April 15, 2026 Description What does it really take for a community to support its children well? In this...
Showing Up for Every Child: Sarah Durand on School Power, Connection, and the Future of Laguna’s Schools — Fr. Will Crist and Sarah Durand, April 15, 2026

Description

What does it really take for a community to support its children well?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Sarah Durand, Executive Director of School Power, for a thoughtful conversation about education, enrichment, mental health, connection, and the future of Laguna Beach’s schools.

Sarah shares how her own life, family, and career journey led her into this work, and why School Power has become such a vital force in helping Laguna’s students thrive. Together, they explore what people often miss about the needs in local schools, why connection matters as much as achievement, and how a community can help children discover their strengths, passions, and sense of belonging.

This is a conversation about more than fundraising or school programs. It is about what kind of town Laguna Beach wants to be for its children, its families, and the generations still coming.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Sarah discuss:
Sarah’s path into School Power and the personal experiences that shaped her call to this work
How her parents’ example of service and adaptability influenced her life
The hidden needs in Laguna Beach schools, including family financial stress and student mental health challenges
How School Power supports students through grants, family support services, enrichment scholarships, and athletics funding
Why connection, safety, and trusted adults are essential to student success
The importance of helping young people discover what they love and where they can thrive
How enrichment experiences open doors for students who might otherwise feel left out
The pressures students place on themselves in a high-achieving community
How Laguna Beach schools are addressing mental health through counseling, wellness spaces, tutorial periods, and family support
Why learning to disagree respectfully is a critical life skill for students and adults alike
The promise and challenge of AI in education, and why schools must help students prepare for a rapidly changing world
Why parents need hope, perspective, and trust that their children can grow through setbacks
Sarah’s vision for Laguna Beach as a community that truly shows up for kids and families
How every resident, whether or not they currently have children in school, has a stake in strong public schools
Key takeaway

If Laguna Beach truly shows up for its children, it is not only supporting students in the present. It is shaping the kind of community Laguna will become.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
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Facing Death, Finding Life: Barbara McMurray on Death Doulas, Presence, and the Courage to Be Human — Fr. Will Crist and Barbara McMurrayhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/facing-death-finding-life-barbara-mcmurray-on-death-doulas-presence-and-the-courage-to-be-human-fr-will-crist-and-barbara-mcmurray--71218959
Facing Death, Finding Life: Barbara McMurray on Death Doulas, Presence, and the Courage to Be Human — Fr. Will Crist and Barbara McMurray

Description

What happens when we stop avoiding death and begin talking about it honestly, compassionately, and without fear?

In this moving episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Barbara McMurray, one of the founders of the OC Death Workers Alliance, for a wide-ranging conversation about death doulas, grief, presence, community, and what it means to remain truly human in a fearful and distracted world.

Barbara describes how the OC Death Workers Alliance began around her dining room table and has grown into a broad community of death doulas, hospice workers, medical professionals, organizers, artists, and caregivers who are helping Orange County become more “death literate.” Together, she and Fr. Will explore the spiritual and emotional work of accompanying people through dying, the value of creating safe spaces to talk about death, and why being present may be one of the most healing gifts we can offer one another.

This conversation reaches far beyond death care. It touches on loneliness, fear, social media, belonging, resurrection, and the courage to listen deeply to one another. It is thoughtful, tender, and quietly transformative.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will Crist speaks with Barbara McMurray, co-founder of the OC Death Workers Alliance, about the work of death doulas and the growing movement to help people face death with greater honesty, preparation, and compassion.

They discuss how the Alliance began as an informal gathering of people working in death-related fields and has grown into a supportive network that includes death doulas, hospice nurses, physicians, artists, organizers, and others who care for people at the end of life. Barbara explains how this work can be emotionally intense and sometimes isolating, and why community among death workers matters.

The conversation also explores the role of fear in how people face death and how the simple presence of others can reduce suffering. Fr. Will and Barbara reflect on how being heard, understood, and accompanied can help people move from fear toward peace. They connect that same insight to the wider life of the community, asking how Laguna Beach can become a place where people are more present to one another in the face of grief, division, loneliness, and uncertainty.

Along the way, they talk about social media, death literacy, living funerals, the communion of saints, near-death experiences, and the importance of creating spaces where people can ask honest questions about mortality without shame or avoidance.

This is a rich and deeply human conversation about death, yes—but even more, it is about life, love, community, and what it means not to be alone.

Topics covered include:
- Death doulas and what they do
- The origins of the OC Death Workers Alliance
- Why death work can feel isolating
- How fear shapes the way people face dying
- The power of presence at the bedside
- Living funerals and new ways of honoring life before death
- How grief, remembrance, and celebration can coexist
- Social media, dehumanization, and the loss of real conversation
- The need for death literacy in modern life
- How communities can become more compassionate and less fearful
- Why being present may be the most important gift we offer one another
About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71218959Thu, 09 Apr 2026 21:34:38 +0000
William CristFacing Death, Finding Life: Barbara McMurray on Death Doulas, Presence, and the Courage to Be Human — Fr. Will Crist and Barbara McMurray Description What happens when we stop avoiding death and begin talking about it honestly, compassionately,...
Facing Death, Finding Life: Barbara McMurray on Death Doulas, Presence, and the Courage to Be Human — Fr. Will Crist and Barbara McMurray

Description

What happens when we stop avoiding death and begin talking about it honestly, compassionately, and without fear?

In this moving episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Barbara McMurray, one of the founders of the OC Death Workers Alliance, for a wide-ranging conversation about death doulas, grief, presence, community, and what it means to remain truly human in a fearful and distracted world.

Barbara describes how the OC Death Workers Alliance began around her dining room table and has grown into a broad community of death doulas, hospice workers, medical professionals, organizers, artists, and caregivers who are helping Orange County become more “death literate.” Together, she and Fr. Will explore the spiritual and emotional work of accompanying people through dying, the value of creating safe spaces to talk about death, and why being present may be one of the most healing gifts we can offer one another.

This conversation reaches far beyond death care. It touches on loneliness, fear, social media, belonging, resurrection, and the courage to listen deeply to one another. It is thoughtful, tender, and quietly transformative.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will Crist speaks with Barbara McMurray, co-founder of the OC Death Workers Alliance, about the work of death doulas and the growing movement to help people face death with greater honesty, preparation, and compassion.

They discuss how the Alliance began as an informal gathering of people working in death-related fields and has grown into a supportive network that includes death doulas, hospice nurses, physicians, artists, organizers, and others who care for people at the end of life. Barbara explains how this work can be emotionally intense and sometimes isolating, and why community among death workers matters.

The conversation also explores the role of fear in how people face death and how the simple presence of others can reduce suffering. Fr. Will and Barbara reflect on how being heard, understood, and accompanied can help people move from fear toward peace. They connect that same insight to the wider life of the community, asking how Laguna Beach can become a place where people are more present to one another in the face of grief, division, loneliness, and uncertainty.

Along the way, they talk about social media, death literacy, living funerals, the communion of saints, near-death experiences, and the importance of creating spaces where people can ask honest questions about mortality without shame or avoidance.

This is a rich and deeply human conversation about death, yes—but even more, it is about life, love, community, and what it means not to be alone.

Topics covered include:
Death doulas and what they do
The origins of the OC Death Workers Alliance
Why death work can feel isolating
How fear shapes the way people face dying
The power of presence at the bedside
Living funerals and new ways of honoring life before death
How grief, remembrance, and celebration can coexist
Social media, dehumanization, and the loss of real conversation
The need for death literacy in modern life
How communities can become more compassionate and less fearful
Why being present may be the most important gift we offer one another

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through...]]>
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Art, Belonging, and the Creative Urge: Randy Morgan on Laguna’s Artistic Soul – Fr. Will Crist and Randy Morgan, April 1, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/art-belonging-and-the-creative-urge-randy-morgan-on-laguna-s-artistic-soul-fr-will-crist-and-randy-morgan-april-1-2026--71050764
Art, Belonging, and the Creative Urge: Randy Morgan on Laguna’s Artistic Soul – Fr. Will Crist and Randy Morgan

Description

What makes Laguna Beach more than a beautiful town by the sea? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with acclaimed Laguna Beach artist, sculptor, and author Randy Morgan for a rich conversation about art, belonging, creativity, faith, and the inner drive to make something meaningful.

Randy reflects on his decades in Laguna’s art world, from large public murals and sculptures to the discipline, struggle, and joy of being an artist. He shares stories behind major works, including the beloved Skipper Carrillo statue, the Waterman’s Wall, and new large-scale projects in San Juan Capistrano and Huntington Beach.

This is more than a conversation about technique. It is a conversation about the creative life itself: how artists find their voice, why true art requires work and faith, and what it means to become fully yourself. Randy also speaks candidly about the challenge of making a life in the arts, the role of mentorship, and why creativity is not reserved for painters and sculptors alone.
If you care about Laguna’s artistic heritage, the mystery of human creativity, or the spiritual dimension of making something beautiful, this episode will stay with you.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Randy discuss:

How Laguna Beach became a home for artists and why it continues to matter Randy’s early discovery of art, including his first blue ribbon as a child The long artistic and cultural history that makes Laguna unique Why artists need a place to belong The stories behind Randy’s major public works, including: The Skipper Carrillo statue The Waterman’s Wall The Art Hotel project The history mural in San Juan Capistrano His new swallow and horseshoe sculpture planned for San Juan What it takes to create large public art rooted in history, research, and community memory The difference between work, craft, and true artistic expression Why becoming an artist means finding your own style, voice, and individuality The role of mastery, discipline, and mentorship in developing creative gifts How Randy sees art as a gift from God and the artist as a vessel for creation Why art-making can feel like prayer, meditation, and listening The challenge and promise of AI in the future of art Why everyone, in some sense, carries a creative calling How young artists can begin their journey by finding a teacher, mentor, or guide

Memorable themes from the conversation

“Laguna is not a museum. It is a home for artists.” “Artists belong here.” “Art is an urge.” “You have to do the work.” “Everybody finds their own style.” “God put this thing in us that makes us want to create.” “It’s a leap of faith.” “We make something to share with people.”

Why listen
- This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered:
- How does an artist find their true voice?
- What makes Laguna Beach such a powerful place for creativity? Can creativity be a spiritual path?
- What does it mean to make something that lasts in a community? How do we encourage the next generation of artists?
About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71050764Wed, 01 Apr 2026 21:15:56 +0000
William CristArt, Belonging, and the Creative Urge: Randy Morgan on Laguna’s Artistic Soul – Fr. Will Crist and Randy Morgan Description What makes Laguna Beach more than a beautiful town by the sea? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits...
Art, Belonging, and the Creative Urge: Randy Morgan on Laguna’s Artistic Soul – Fr. Will Crist and Randy Morgan

Description

What makes Laguna Beach more than a beautiful town by the sea? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with acclaimed Laguna Beach artist, sculptor, and author Randy Morgan for a rich conversation about art, belonging, creativity, faith, and the inner drive to make something meaningful.

Randy reflects on his decades in Laguna’s art world, from large public murals and sculptures to the discipline, struggle, and joy of being an artist. He shares stories behind major works, including the beloved Skipper Carrillo statue, the Waterman’s Wall, and new large-scale projects in San Juan Capistrano and Huntington Beach.

This is more than a conversation about technique. It is a conversation about the creative life itself: how artists find their voice, why true art requires work and faith, and what it means to become fully yourself. Randy also speaks candidly about the challenge of making a life in the arts, the role of mentorship, and why creativity is not reserved for painters and sculptors alone.
If you care about Laguna’s artistic heritage, the mystery of human creativity, or the spiritual dimension of making something beautiful, this episode will stay with you.

Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Will and Randy discuss:

How Laguna Beach became a home for artists and why it continues to matter Randy’s early discovery of art, including his first blue ribbon as a child The long artistic and cultural history that makes Laguna unique Why artists need a place to belong The stories behind Randy’s major public works, including: The Skipper Carrillo statue The Waterman’s Wall The Art Hotel project The history mural in San Juan Capistrano His new swallow and horseshoe sculpture planned for San Juan What it takes to create large public art rooted in history, research, and community memory The difference between work, craft, and true artistic expression Why becoming an artist means finding your own style, voice, and individuality The role of mastery, discipline, and mentorship in developing creative gifts How Randy sees art as a gift from God and the artist as a vessel for creation Why art-making can feel like prayer, meditation, and listening The challenge and promise of AI in the future of art Why everyone, in some sense, carries a creative calling How young artists can begin their journey by finding a teacher, mentor, or guide

Memorable themes from the conversation

“Laguna is not a museum. It is a home for artists.” “Artists belong here.” “Art is an urge.” “You have to do the work.” “Everybody finds their own style.” “God put this thing in us that makes us want to create.” “It’s a leap of faith.” “We make something to share with people.”

Why listen
This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered:
How does an artist find their true voice?
What makes Laguna Beach such a powerful place for creativity? Can creativity be a spiritual path?
What does it mean to make something that lasts in a community? How do we encourage the next generation of artists?

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
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Prepared Together: Sarah Limones on Wildfire Readiness, Neighborhood Resilience, and the Future of Laguna – Fr. Will Crist and Sarah Limoneshttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/prepared-together-sarah-limones-on-wildfire-readiness-neighborhood-resilience-and-the-future-of-laguna-fr-will-crist-and-sarah-limones--71048537
Prepared Together: Sarah Limones on Wildfire Readiness, Neighborhood Resilience, and the Future of Laguna – Fr. Will Crist and Sarah Limones

Description

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist speaks with Sarah Limones, Emergency Operations Coordinator for the Laguna Beach Fire Department, about what it really means to prepare a city for disaster.

Sarah oversees the full cycle of emergency management in Laguna Beach—preparedness, response, recovery, and public education. In this thoughtful conversation, she explains why the city’s beauty also brings risk, how wildfire and earthquake readiness depend on personal and neighborhood preparation, and why houses of worship can play a vital role in strengthening community resilience.

Along the way, the conversation opens into something deeper: what it means to belong to a place, to know your neighbors, and to build the kind of trust that matters before a crisis comes. This is a practical and hopeful episode about preparedness, responsibility, and the power of community.

Show Notes

In this conversation, Fr. Will Crist and Sarah Limones discuss:
- What the Emergency Operations Coordinator does in Laguna Beach
- Why Laguna’s natural beauty also creates unique emergency risks
- Recent local incidents, including the Rancho Fire and the tsunami warning
- Why wildfire preparation begins long before a fire starts
- The importance of hardening homes and creating defensible space
- How residents can sign up for emergency alerts through Nixle and AlertOC
- Laguna’s evacuation workshops and why they matter
- The value of neighborhood preparedness, not just individual preparedness
- How churches and faith communities could help host preparedness gatherings
- How disasters reveal both vulnerability and the goodness of people
- Why younger generations need to hear Laguna’s fire history, including 1993
- How emergency planning can become a way of building stronger human connection
- Why knowing your neighbor may be one of the most important forms of preparedness
Resources mentioned
- Nixle: Text 92651 to 888777
- AlertOC: Visit AlertOC.com
- Laguna Beach city emergency preparedness information: lagunabeachcity.net
- Free home wildfire consultations through the Laguna Beach Fire Department
- Firewise neighborhood information through the city/fire department
- Upcoming preparedness education, including workshops and community events
Key takeaway

Preparedness is not only about supplies and alerts. It is also about relationships. In Laguna Beach, resilience begins when neighbors know each other, communities plan together, and people decide ahead of time that they will face emergencies side by side.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71048537Wed, 01 Apr 2026 18:22:03 +0000
William CristPrepared Together: Sarah Limones on Wildfire Readiness, Neighborhood Resilience, and the Future of Laguna – Fr. Will Crist and Sarah Limones Description In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist speaks with Sarah Limones, Emergency...
Prepared Together: Sarah Limones on Wildfire Readiness, Neighborhood Resilience, and the Future of Laguna – Fr. Will Crist and Sarah Limones

Description

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist speaks with Sarah Limones, Emergency Operations Coordinator for the Laguna Beach Fire Department, about what it really means to prepare a city for disaster.

Sarah oversees the full cycle of emergency management in Laguna Beach—preparedness, response, recovery, and public education. In this thoughtful conversation, she explains why the city’s beauty also brings risk, how wildfire and earthquake readiness depend on personal and neighborhood preparation, and why houses of worship can play a vital role in strengthening community resilience.

Along the way, the conversation opens into something deeper: what it means to belong to a place, to know your neighbors, and to build the kind of trust that matters before a crisis comes. This is a practical and hopeful episode about preparedness, responsibility, and the power of community.

Show Notes

In this conversation, Fr. Will Crist and Sarah Limones discuss:
What the Emergency Operations Coordinator does in Laguna Beach
Why Laguna’s natural beauty also creates unique emergency risks
Recent local incidents, including the Rancho Fire and the tsunami warning
Why wildfire preparation begins long before a fire starts
The importance of hardening homes and creating defensible space
How residents can sign up for emergency alerts through Nixle and AlertOC
Laguna’s evacuation workshops and why they matter
The value of neighborhood preparedness, not just individual preparedness
How churches and faith communities could help host preparedness gatherings
How disasters reveal both vulnerability and the goodness of people
Why younger generations need to hear Laguna’s fire history, including 1993
How emergency planning can become a way of building stronger human connection
Why knowing your neighbor may be one of the most important forms of preparedness

Resources mentioned
Nixle: Text 92651 to 888777
AlertOC: Visit AlertOC.com
Laguna Beach city emergency preparedness information: lagunabeachcity.net
Free home wildfire consultations through the Laguna Beach Fire Department
Firewise neighborhood information through the city/fire department
Upcoming preparedness education, including workshops and community events

Key takeaway

Preparedness is not only about supplies and alerts. It is also about relationships. In Laguna Beach, resilience begins when neighbors know each other, communities plan together, and people decide ahead of time that they will face emergencies side by side.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
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Holding Laguna Together: Mayor Mark Orgill on Community, Fear, Gratitude, and the Work of Listening – Fr. Will Crist and Mark Orgill, Marchhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/holding-laguna-together-mayor-mark-orgill-on-community-fear-gratitude-and-the-work-of-listening-fr-will-crist-and-mark-orgill-march--70750372
Description

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill for a thoughtful conversation about what it takes to hold a community together in a time of fear, division, and rapid change.

They explore gratitude, family, civic life, the challenge of listening across differences, and the importance of staying human in an age shaped by technology, anxiety, and constant noise. Mayor Orgill reflects on what he has learned from serving on the city council, why community still matters so deeply in Laguna Beach, and how ordinary people can help rebuild trust one conversation at a time.

This is a conversation about more than city government. It is about neighbors, belonging, and the kind of courage it takes to keep showing up for one another.

Show Notes
- In this episode, Fr. Will Crist speaks with Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill about:
- Gratitude as a grounding practice in public life
- How family, especially his mother’s presence and guidance, shaped his character
- The tension of civic leadership in a diverse and emotionally charged community
- Why fear often drives conflict in local issues
- How national polarization spills into local life
- The challenge of misinformation and disinformation
- Why respectful listening matters more than winning arguments
- What Laguna can teach the country about community
- The importance of relationships over ideology
- How older adults can rediscover purpose and belonging after retirement
- Why volunteering helps people reconnect with others and with themselves
- How AI may change work, and why human connection will matter even more
- Why the city’s General Plan matters for Laguna’s future
- The need for broad community participation in shaping the next chapter of Laguna Beach
- The role faith communities can play in helping people gather, listen, and engage
A simple invitation: stay involved, reach out, and join the conversation

Memorable themes from the conversation
- “Alive is gratitude.”
- “We’re all Laguna.”
- “You treat people like you want to be treated.”
- “Relationship is the most important thing.”
- “If we could break through some of that fear and resentment, we could rediscover community.”
Call to action

Mayor Orgill encourages residents to stay involved, reach out, and participate in the life of the community. One practical starting point is attending the informal Friday community meetings in the City Council Chambers.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70750372Thu, 19 Mar 2026 16:18:33 +0000
William CristDescription In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill for a thoughtful conversation about what it takes to hold a community together in a time of fear, division, and rapid change. They...
Description

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill for a thoughtful conversation about what it takes to hold a community together in a time of fear, division, and rapid change.

They explore gratitude, family, civic life, the challenge of listening across differences, and the importance of staying human in an age shaped by technology, anxiety, and constant noise. Mayor Orgill reflects on what he has learned from serving on the city council, why community still matters so deeply in Laguna Beach, and how ordinary people can help rebuild trust one conversation at a time.

This is a conversation about more than city government. It is about neighbors, belonging, and the kind of courage it takes to keep showing up for one another.

Show Notes
In this episode, Fr. Will Crist speaks with Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill about:
Gratitude as a grounding practice in public life
How family, especially his mother’s presence and guidance, shaped his character
The tension of civic leadership in a diverse and emotionally charged community
Why fear often drives conflict in local issues
How national polarization spills into local life
The challenge of misinformation and disinformation
Why respectful listening matters more than winning arguments
What Laguna can teach the country about community
The importance of relationships over ideology
How older adults can rediscover purpose and belonging after retirement
Why volunteering helps people reconnect with others and with themselves
How AI may change work, and why human connection will matter even more
Why the city’s General Plan matters for Laguna’s future
The need for broad community participation in shaping the next chapter of Laguna Beach
The role faith communities can play in helping people gather, listen, and engage
A simple invitation: stay involved, reach out, and join the conversation

Memorable themes from the conversation
“Alive is gratitude.”
“We’re all Laguna.”
“You treat people like you want to be treated.”
“Relationship is the most important thing.”
“If we could break through some of that fear and resentment, we could rediscover community.”

Call to action

Mayor Orgill encourages residents to stay involved, reach out, and participate in the life of the community. One practical starting point is attending the informal Friday community meetings in the City Council Chambers.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
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Laguna’s Hometown Spirit: Ed Hanke on the Patriots Day Parade, Volunteering, and the Power of Community — Fr. Will Crist, March 11, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/laguna-s-hometown-spirit-ed-hanke-on-the-patriots-day-parade-volunteering-and-the-power-of-community-fr-will-crist-march-11-2026--70665631
Laguna’s Hometown Spirit: Ed Hanke on the Patriots Day Parade, Volunteering, and the Power of Community — Fr. Will Crist

Podcast Description

What keeps a community alive?

On this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Ed Hanke, President of the Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade, longtime volunteer, Pageant of the Masters volunteer, and community leader.

Ed shares the story behind Laguna’s beloved hometown parade and reflects on how volunteering has shaped his life and connected him with hundreds of people across the city. From high school football boosters to the Pageant of the Masters, community choirs, church leadership, and neighborhood organizations, Ed has spent decades helping bring people together.

The conversation also explores something deeper: why connection, conversation, and volunteering may be more important than ever in an age of social media, political division, and rapidly advancing AI.

Ed’s message is simple and powerful: When people spend time together—talking, volunteering, singing, celebrating—they rediscover what it means to be human.

Show Notes

Guest

Ed Hanke, President, Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade Volunteer with Pageant of the Masters, Laguna Tunes Community Choir, and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Vestry.

In This Episode

Laguna’s Patriots Day Parade
- Saturday parade beginning at 11:00 AM
- Route begins at Laguna Beach High School on Park Avenue
- Continues down Park Avenue to Glenneyre
- Turns toward Forest Avenue and City Hall
- Concludes with a grandstand and bandstand celebration
A classic Laguna tradition where locals are either in the parade or cheering from the sidewalk.

The Power of Volunteering
Ed shares how volunteering began when his son played football at Laguna Beach High School and quickly grew into a lifelong commitment to community service.

Key insight:

“By volunteering, we actually get more out of it than what we feel like we’re giving.”

Pageant of the Masters
- Ed is entering his 15th year participating
- Over 500 volunteers help bring the production to life
- Cast members often form deep friendships that last decades
- Many participants return year after year
The Pageant becomes a true community family.

Laguna Tunes Community Choir
A no-audition choir open to anyone who loves to sing.
Directed by Bob Gunn, the choir welcomes beginners and experienced singers alike.

Why Laguna Is Unique

Ed reflects on Laguna Beach’s distinctive spirit:
- A city with extraordinary civic participation
- Many organizations working together
- A community that cares deeply about its future
Even when people disagree, Laguna often finds ways to respect different viewpoints while staying connected as neighbors.

The Challenge of Disconnection
The conversation explores how phones, social media, and constant news cycles can create separation between people.

Ed suggests something simple but powerful:
- Sit down
- Turn off the phone
- Talk to another person
Human conversation remains one of the most important forms of connection.

AI and the Future of Being Human
The episode also touches on the coming wave of artificial intelligence.
While AI may increase efficiency and reduce drudgery, the real question becomes:
How do we remain deeply human in a technological world?

Ed believes the answer lies in:
- volunteering
- community
- face-to-face conversation
- shared experiences
Memorable Moments
- “By volunteering, we get more out of it than we give.”
- “If people just sat down and talked, they’d come away more enlightened.”
- “Human beings need connection.”
- “Just because you can’t do something physically doesn’t mean you can’t participate.”
One Small Step This Week
Come out and enjoy Laguna Beach’s Patriots Day Parade.
Whether you march, volunteer, or simply watch from the sidewalk, it’s a chance to experience the spirit of Laguna’s hometown community.

Learn More
- Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade
- Pageant of the Masters
- Laguna Tunes Community Choir
About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70665631Mon, 16 Mar 2026 19:42:33 +0000
William CristLaguna’s Hometown Spirit: Ed Hanke on the Patriots Day Parade, Volunteering, and the Power of Community — Fr. Will Crist Podcast Description What keeps a community alive? On this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Ed...
Laguna’s Hometown Spirit: Ed Hanke on the Patriots Day Parade, Volunteering, and the Power of Community — Fr. Will Crist

Podcast Description

What keeps a community alive?

On this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Ed Hanke, President of the Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade, longtime volunteer, Pageant of the Masters volunteer, and community leader.

Ed shares the story behind Laguna’s beloved hometown parade and reflects on how volunteering has shaped his life and connected him with hundreds of people across the city. From high school football boosters to the Pageant of the Masters, community choirs, church leadership, and neighborhood organizations, Ed has spent decades helping bring people together.

The conversation also explores something deeper: why connection, conversation, and volunteering may be more important than ever in an age of social media, political division, and rapidly advancing AI.

Ed’s message is simple and powerful: When people spend time together—talking, volunteering, singing, celebrating—they rediscover what it means to be human.

Show Notes

Guest

Ed Hanke, President, Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade Volunteer with Pageant of the Masters, Laguna Tunes Community Choir, and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Vestry.

In This Episode

Laguna’s Patriots Day Parade
Saturday parade beginning at 11:00 AM
Route begins at Laguna Beach High School on Park Avenue
Continues down Park Avenue to Glenneyre
Turns toward Forest Avenue and City Hall
Concludes with a grandstand and bandstand celebration
A classic Laguna tradition where locals are either in the parade or cheering from the sidewalk.

The Power of Volunteering
Ed shares how volunteering began when his son played football at Laguna Beach High School and quickly grew into a lifelong commitment to community service.

Key insight:

“By volunteering, we actually get more out of it than what we feel like we’re giving.”

Pageant of the Masters
Ed is entering his 15th year participating
Over 500 volunteers help bring the production to life
Cast members often form deep friendships that last decades
Many participants return year after year
The Pageant becomes a true community family.

Laguna Tunes Community Choir
A no-audition choir open to anyone who loves to sing.
Directed by Bob Gunn, the choir welcomes beginners and experienced singers alike.

Why Laguna Is Unique

Ed reflects on Laguna Beach’s distinctive spirit:
A city with extraordinary civic participation
Many organizations working together
A community that cares deeply about its future
Even when people disagree, Laguna often finds ways to respect different viewpoints while staying connected as neighbors.

The Challenge of Disconnection
The conversation explores how phones, social media, and constant news cycles can create separation between people.

Ed suggests something simple but powerful:
Sit down
Turn off the phone
Talk to another person

Human conversation remains one of the most important forms of connection.

AI and the Future of Being Human
The episode also touches on the coming wave of artificial intelligence.
While AI may increase efficiency and reduce drudgery, the real question becomes:
How do we remain deeply human in a...]]>
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Healing the Lies We Carry: Arolyn Burns and Michelle Highberg on Trauma, Gratitude, and the Divine Spark — Fr. Will Crist, March 4, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/healing-the-lies-we-carry-arolyn-burns-and-michelle-highberg-on-trauma-gratitude-and-the-divine-spark-fr-will-crist-march-4-2026--70512155
Podcast Description

What helps people rediscover their worth when trauma, fear, and digital distraction pull them away from themselves and from one another?

On this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist is joined by Arolyn Burns, CEO of Just Gather and a licensed therapist, and Michelle Highberg, founder of Just Gather of Just Gather and principal of Gratefully Philanthropic Consulting in Laguna Beach. Together they explore the idea that every person carries a divine spark—an inner truth that can be hidden by trauma, stress, negative self-belief, and disconnection. Their conversation moves through healing, gratitude, EMDR, nature, technology, and the deep human need for presence and belonging.

Michelle shares how Just Gather helps people step away from digital dependency and reconnect through gratitude hikes, cleanups, creativity, and human fellowship. Arolyn offers insight from her work as a therapist, explaining how trauma shapes the stories people tell themselves—and how healing begins when those stories are challenged by truth.

This is a conversation about what wounds us, what heals us, and what becomes possible when we remember that we are loved, worthy, and meant for connection. Show Notes

Guests

Michelle Highberg: Founder of Just Gather, a Laguna Beach nonprofit encouraging human connection, gratitude, creativity, and freedom from digital overdependence, and Principal of Gratefully Philanthropic Consulting in Laguna Beach.

Arolyn Burns: CEO of Just Gather and licensed therapist and practitioner using EMDR, hypnotherapy, and mindfulness-based healing tools.

In This Episode

What is “alive” right now
- Arolyn speaks about truth rising, unity consciousness, and the need for deeper human understanding
- Michelle shares about joy, friendship, community, and gratitude
The divine spark within each person
- The shared belief that every person carries sacred worth
- Why healing begins when people remember who they really are
Trauma, toxic stress, and the lies people believe
- “I’m not good enough.”
- “I’m worthless.”
- How childhood wounds can shape adult identity and suffering
Michelle’s work in trauma healing
- EMDR explained in an accessible language
- How bilateral stimulation helps reprocess trauma
- Why healing often comes when false narratives finally break apart
Gratitude as a healing discipline
- Why gratitude changes what people see
- “We get more of what we focus on.”
- How gratitude can restore perspective, peace, and agency
Just Gather and the work of reconnection
- Why Arolyn and her team focus on human presence and digital balance
- Community cleanups, gratitude hikes, art gatherings, and “device to harmony” events
- The symbol of the crown: reminding people they are in charge of their own minds, choices, and lives
Nature, Laguna Beach, and healing
- Why Laguna’s environment can itself be restorative
- The role of beauty, sound, movement, and art in emotional and spiritual healing
Technology, AI, and the human soul
- Using technology as a tool, not as a replacement for humanity
- Why human presence, creativity, and love remain irreplaceable
Spiritual truth and emotional freedom
- The difference between the lies that bind us and the truth that frees us
- How healing often means naming fear, confronting false beliefs, and receiving a deeper truth
Memorable Lines
- “We get more of what we focus on.”
- “The truth never changes.”
- “Healing begins when the lie is revealed.”
- “Laguna Beach itself can be a healer.”
- “We are loved, and we are loving.”
Community Invitations Mentioned

Just Gather Wellness Community-based opportunities for connection, gratitude, cleanup events, and digital balance. Possible entry points include:
- Gratitude hikes
- Sunday morning land cleanups
- Device-free community gatherings
- Arts-based fellowship events
One Small Step for the Week

Look someone in the eye. Smile. Acknowledge them.
A moment of presence may be the beginning of healing—for them and for you.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70512155Fri, 06 Mar 2026 19:24:57 +0000
William CristPodcast Description What helps people rediscover their worth when trauma, fear, and digital distraction pull them away from themselves and from one another? On this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist is joined by Arolyn Burns, CEO of...
Podcast Description

What helps people rediscover their worth when trauma, fear, and digital distraction pull them away from themselves and from one another?

On this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist is joined by Arolyn Burns, CEO of Just Gather and a licensed therapist, and Michelle Highberg, founder of Just Gather of Just Gather and principal of Gratefully Philanthropic Consulting in Laguna Beach. Together they explore the idea that every person carries a divine spark—an inner truth that can be hidden by trauma, stress, negative self-belief, and disconnection. Their conversation moves through healing, gratitude, EMDR, nature, technology, and the deep human need for presence and belonging.

Michelle shares how Just Gather helps people step away from digital dependency and reconnect through gratitude hikes, cleanups, creativity, and human fellowship. Arolyn offers insight from her work as a therapist, explaining how trauma shapes the stories people tell themselves—and how healing begins when those stories are challenged by truth.

This is a conversation about what wounds us, what heals us, and what becomes possible when we remember that we are loved, worthy, and meant for connection. Show Notes

Guests

Michelle Highberg: Founder of Just Gather, a Laguna Beach nonprofit encouraging human connection, gratitude, creativity, and freedom from digital overdependence, and Principal of Gratefully Philanthropic Consulting in Laguna Beach.

Arolyn Burns: CEO of Just Gather and licensed therapist and practitioner using EMDR, hypnotherapy, and mindfulness-based healing tools.

In This Episode

What is “alive” right now
Arolyn speaks about truth rising, unity consciousness, and the need for deeper human understanding
Michelle shares about joy, friendship, community, and gratitude
The divine spark within each person
The shared belief that every person carries sacred worth
Why healing begins when people remember who they really are
Trauma, toxic stress, and the lies people believe
“I’m not good enough.”
“I’m worthless.”
How childhood wounds can shape adult identity and suffering
Michelle’s work in trauma healing
EMDR explained in an accessible language
How bilateral stimulation helps reprocess trauma
Why healing often comes when false narratives finally break apart
Gratitude as a healing discipline
Why gratitude changes what people see
“We get more of what we focus on.”
How gratitude can restore perspective, peace, and agency
Just Gather and the work of reconnection
Why Arolyn and her team focus on human presence and digital balance
Community cleanups, gratitude hikes, art gatherings, and “device to harmony” events
The symbol of the crown: reminding people they are in charge of their own minds, choices, and lives
Nature, Laguna Beach, and healing
Why Laguna’s environment can itself be restorative
The role of beauty, sound, movement, and art in emotional and spiritual healing
Technology, AI, and the human soul
Using technology as a tool, not as a replacement for humanity
Why human presence, creativity, and love remain irreplaceable
Spiritual truth and emotional freedom
The difference between the lies that bind us and the truth that frees us
How healing often means naming fear, confronting false beliefs, and receiving a deeper truth
Memorable Lines
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Injure No Man, Bless All Mankind: Christian Science Voices — Fr. Will Crist with Anne Cooling & Marshall Ingwersonhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/injure-no-man-bless-all-mankind-christian-science-voices-fr-will-crist-with-anne-cooling-marshall-ingwerson--69995687
Title: Heart of Laguna — Fr. Will Crist with Ann Cooling & Marshall Ingwerson, February 11, 2026

Podcast Description

What would it take to rebuild safe, human conversation in a time when fear sells and stereotypes spread faster than truth?

On this episode of The Heart of Laguna (February 11, 2026), Fr. Will Crist welcomes two guests from the Christian Science community: Anne Cooling, a longtime interfaith leader and communications voice for Christian Science churches across Southern California, and Marshall Ingwerson, a Laguna Beach resident and veteran journalist from The Christian Science Monitor.
We talk about what makes Laguna feel like home, why negativity drives media, and why real healing begins locally—over coffee, in neighborhoods, and in the quiet courage to listen. Along the way we explore prayer as “seeing differently,” the power of presence, and why fear may be the most powerful divider in American life.

Show Notes

Guests
- Anne Cooling — Interfaith leader in Orange County for three decades; communications role serving Christian Science churches across Southern California
- Marshall Ingwerson — Career journalist and editor with The Christian Science Monitor; Laguna Beach resident
What We Talk About
- What’s “alive” right now: fresh air, neighborhood connection, and the joy of familiar faces
- Why outrage and negativity dominate modern media—and what it costs our communities
- The founding mission of The Christian Science Monitor: “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind”
- Why people don’t feel safe—and how safe spaces are built (not by winning, but by listening)
- How churches can address fear without joining political tribes
- The danger of stereotypes: “If you say these words, I know who you are”
- Prayer as listening, spiritual understanding, and learning to “see differently”
- Why local conversations matter more than national posturing
- Stories of impact: readers funding girls’ education in Malawi; the power of being “seen”
- A practical closing invitation: one small act to make Laguna feel more like home
Memorable Lines
- “Negativity sells.”
- “Nobody has ever won a political debate—they only made the other side angry.”
- “Change has to start in our own hearts and our own lives.”
- “Give one person the benefit of the doubt this week.”
One Small Practice for the Week

Choose one person you’ve judged—maybe someone you don’t even know—and consciously release the negative story you’ve attached to them. Practice seeing them as human. If it’s hard, hand it over to God and try again tomorrow.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69995687Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:45:04 +0000
William CristTitle: Heart of Laguna — Fr. Will Crist with Ann Cooling & Marshall Ingwerson, February 11, 2026 Podcast Description What would it take to rebuild safe, human conversation in a time when fear sells and stereotypes spread faster than truth? On...
Title: Heart of Laguna — Fr. Will Crist with Ann Cooling & Marshall Ingwerson, February 11, 2026

Podcast Description

What would it take to rebuild safe, human conversation in a time when fear sells and stereotypes spread faster than truth?

On this episode of The Heart of Laguna (February 11, 2026), Fr. Will Crist welcomes two guests from the Christian Science community: Anne Cooling, a longtime interfaith leader and communications voice for Christian Science churches across Southern California, and Marshall Ingwerson, a Laguna Beach resident and veteran journalist from The Christian Science Monitor.
We talk about what makes Laguna feel like home, why negativity drives media, and why real healing begins locally—over coffee, in neighborhoods, and in the quiet courage to listen. Along the way we explore prayer as “seeing differently,” the power of presence, and why fear may be the most powerful divider in American life.

Show Notes

Guests
Anne Cooling — Interfaith leader in Orange County for three decades; communications role serving Christian Science churches across Southern California
Marshall Ingwerson — Career journalist and editor with The Christian Science Monitor; Laguna Beach resident
What We Talk About
What’s “alive” right now: fresh air, neighborhood connection, and the joy of familiar faces
Why outrage and negativity dominate modern media—and what it costs our communities
The founding mission of The Christian Science Monitor: “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind”
Why people don’t feel safe—and how safe spaces are built (not by winning, but by listening)
How churches can address fear without joining political tribes
The danger of stereotypes: “If you say these words, I know who you are”
Prayer as listening, spiritual understanding, and learning to “see differently”
Why local conversations matter more than national posturing
Stories of impact: readers funding girls’ education in Malawi; the power of being “seen”
A practical closing invitation: one small act to make Laguna feel more like home
Memorable Lines
“Negativity sells.”
“Nobody has ever won a political debate—they only made the other side angry.”
“Change has to start in our own hearts and our own lives.”
“Give one person the benefit of the doubt this week.”
One Small Practice for the Week

Choose one person you’ve judged—maybe someone you don’t even know—and consciously release the negative story you’ve attached to them. Practice seeing them as human. If it’s hard, hand it over to God and try again tomorrow.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
2927false115full
From Letting Go to Receiving: Rickie Redman on Aging and End-of-Life Wisdom — Fr. Will Crist and Rickie Redman, February 4, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-letting-go-to-receiving-rickie-redman-on-aging-and-end-of-life-wisdom-fr-will-crist-and-rickie-redman-february-4-2026--69794164
Episode Description

What happens when the community that once defined us changes — when retirement arrives, relationships shift, or life asks us to begin again?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Rickie Redman, Director of Aging in Place at the Susi Q Center in Laguna Beach, for a deeply human conversation about aging, identity, and how we build meaningful lives in later seasons.

Together they explore how community evolves as we age, why retirement is less an ending and more a creative redesign, and how loss can become an opening into freedom rather than decline. Ricky shares her journey into working with older adults, from volunteer artist to end-of-life practitioner, and offers practical wisdom about helping people rediscover purpose, passion, and connection.

The conversation also moves into deeper territory: grief, end-of-life planning, rituals of farewell, near-death experiences, and how spiritual imagination helps us move from fear toward hope. Along the way, they reflect on the idea that aging is not simply about letting go — but learning how to receive what comes next.

This episode invites listeners of all ages to rethink aging, community, and what it means to live fully — right now.

Show Notes

Guest
- Rickie Redman — Director of Aging in Place, Susi Q Center (Laguna Beach)
- End-of-life practitioner and community advocate focused on aging, purpose, and connection
Topics Covered

Aging and the changing nature of community
- Retirement as a loss of built-in community — and the discipline of intentionally rebuilding connection
- Aging in Laguna Beach: staying rooted in place while navigating life transitions
- Community as memory, identity, and belonging
Redefining retirement
- “There is no retirement — only the next project or death.”
- Discovering passions that energize rather than drain
- Giving yourself time in the first year after retirement to explore and reimagine identity
Practical tools for rediscovering purpose
- The four-quadrant exercise:
  things you love and are great at
  things you’re good at but don’t enjoy
  things you dread
  and what to delegate or release
- Matching community needs with individual passions
Volunteerism and finding calling
- Ricky’s journey from interior design student to working with older adults
- How volunteer experiences can unexpectedly reshape life direction
Aging in place and identity transitions
- Navigating grief after losing spouses, roles, or physical abilities
- Moving from loss toward agency and self-definition
- Designing a life aligned with values rather than obligation
End-of-life planning as a life-affirming practice
- Why conversations about death can increase vitality and peace
- Death cafés and creating safe spaces for reflection
- Writing legacy letters as part of preparation
Spiritual perspectives on death and transformation
- Death as transition rather than endpoint
- Near-death experiences as modern “stained glass windows” helping people imagine beyond fear
- Lent, resurrection, and the spiritual path of surrender
Ritual, grief, and community healing
- Slowing down funerals to allow gratitude and presence
- End-of-life rituals such as vigil, anointing, and sacred farewell practices
Letting go vs. receiving
- Reframing aging from decline to expansion
- Surrender not as defeat but as openness to new life
Key Themes
- Community is not automatic — it must be chosen and cultivated.
- Aging is a creative process of interior design.
- End-of-life conversations can bring clarity, freedom, and peace.
- Fear of death often drives control — but surrender opens the door to grace.
Call to Action
- Reflect on what energizes vs. drains you — and design your life around what brings you alive.
- Consider beginning end-of-life planning early as an act of care for yourself and your loved ones.
- Explore community spaces, such as the Susi Q, that support connection, purpose, and meaningful aging.
About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>
https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69794164Wed, 04 Feb 2026 23:35:42 +0000
William CristEpisode Description What happens when the community that once defined us changes — when retirement arrives, relationships shift, or life asks us to begin again? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Rickie Redman, Director...
Episode Description

What happens when the community that once defined us changes — when retirement arrives, relationships shift, or life asks us to begin again?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Rickie Redman, Director of Aging in Place at the Susi Q Center in Laguna Beach, for a deeply human conversation about aging, identity, and how we build meaningful lives in later seasons.

Together they explore how community evolves as we age, why retirement is less an ending and more a creative redesign, and how loss can become an opening into freedom rather than decline. Ricky shares her journey into working with older adults, from volunteer artist to end-of-life practitioner, and offers practical wisdom about helping people rediscover purpose, passion, and connection.

The conversation also moves into deeper territory: grief, end-of-life planning, rituals of farewell, near-death experiences, and how spiritual imagination helps us move from fear toward hope. Along the way, they reflect on the idea that aging is not simply about letting go — but learning how to receive what comes next.

This episode invites listeners of all ages to rethink aging, community, and what it means to live fully — right now.

Show Notes

Guest
Rickie Redman — Director of Aging in Place, Susi Q Center (Laguna Beach)
End-of-life practitioner and community advocate focused on aging, purpose, and connection
Topics Covered

Aging and the changing nature of community
Retirement as a loss of built-in community — and the discipline of intentionally rebuilding connection
Aging in Laguna Beach: staying rooted in place while navigating life transitions
Community as memory, identity, and belonging
Redefining retirement
“There is no retirement — only the next project or death.”
Discovering passions that energize rather than drain
Giving yourself time in the first year after retirement to explore and reimagine identity
Practical tools for rediscovering purpose
The four-quadrant exercise:
things you love and are great at
things you’re good at but don’t enjoy
things you dread
and what to delegate or release
Matching community needs with individual passions
Volunteerism and finding calling
Ricky’s journey from interior design student to working with older adults
How volunteer experiences can unexpectedly reshape life direction
Aging in place and identity transitions
Navigating grief after losing spouses, roles, or physical abilities
Moving from loss toward agency and self-definition
Designing a life aligned with values rather than obligation
End-of-life planning as a life-affirming practice
Why conversations about death can increase vitality and peace
Death cafés and creating safe spaces for reflection
Writing legacy letters as part of preparation
Spiritual perspectives on death and transformation
Death as transition rather than endpoint
Near-death experiences as modern “stained glass windows” helping people imagine beyond fear
Lent, resurrection, and the spiritual path of surrender
Ritual, grief, and community healing
Slowing down funerals to allow gratitude and presence
End-of-life rituals such as vigil, anointing, and sacred farewell practices
Letting go vs. receiving
Reframing aging from decline to expansion
Surrender not as defeat but as openness to new life
Key Themes
Community is not automatic — it must be chosen and...]]>2893false114fullOut of Pajamas and Into Community, Love Laguna, Kids, and the 80% We Share — Fr. Crist and Gail Onondera, January 28, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/out-of-pajamas-and-into-community-love-laguna-kids-and-the-80-we-share-fr-crist-and-gail-onondera-january-28-2026--69652904Out of Pajamas and Into Community: Gail Onondera on Love Laguna, Kids, and the 80% We Share — Fr. Will Crist and Gail Onondera, January 28, 2026

What does a healthy community look like in 2026—when we’re still half-asleep from COVID, arguing online, and quietly wondering where real connection went?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist talks with Gail Onondera, head of Children’s Ministry at Laguna Presbyterian Church and the “chief cook and bottle-washer” behind Love Laguna—Laguna Beach’s citywide volunteer day that keeps proving a simple truth: when people show up together, the town gets stronger.

Gail shares how she and her husband raised their family here, how service became a calling (even without formal training), and why young parents—especially moms—are hungry for community that’s real, local, and face-to-face. Together, Gail and Fr. Will explore what’s coming next: AI, work, education, and the growing need for the one thing technology cannot replicate—human presence.

They also name the hard stuff: political division, media-driven stereotyping, and the fear that makes neighbors talk past each other. And they offer a practical hope: create safer spaces, follow a process that reduces fear, and remember that most of us still share far more than we think.

If you’ve been feeling isolated, cynical, or stuck at home, this conversation is an invitation: get out of the house, join something, meet someone—and be careful… you might fall in love with your own town again.

Show Notes

Guest
Gail Onondera — Head of Children’s Ministry, Laguna Presbyterian Church
Community organizer and key leader of Love Laguna (Laguna Beach’s citywide volunteer/service day)
What You’ll Hear in This Episode
Gail’s Laguna story: moving here in 1997, raising two kids in local schools, and staying rooted in neighborhood friendships
How a calling grows over time: from “helping where needed” to full-time ministry with children and families
Love Laguna: what it is, why it works, and how it helps newcomers find community without needing “a bar scene.”
Why volunteering isn’t just giving—it’s participating in something that multiplies connection and joy
Parenting and pressure: why “What’s your plan?” can be the wrong question for seniors and young adults
AI and the future of work: fear of job loss vs. opportunity for humans to do more of what they’re uniquely built to do
The post-COVID hangover: the ease of staying home vs. the discipline of choosing real-life community
What Laguna does unusually well: hospitality, small-town scale, cross-community collaboration, and “people who just do it.”
The challenge underneath politics: fear, stereotypes, and media narratives that dehumanize
A practical path toward unity: creating safe spaces and using structured dialogue models (including Braver Angels -- https://braverangels.org/)
“The 80%”: the shared values we rediscover when fear lowers and listening becomes possible
Hope for Laguna: multi-generational wisdom, caring for an aging community, and giving people opportunities to share their gifts
Quote-Ready Moments
“Let’s focus on the one thing AI can never do: human presence.”
“People don’t just want a project—they want a way to belong.”
“Most of us share about 80%—it’s the fear that makes us forget.”
“Laguna is a town of opportunities—if you’ll step out the door.”
Call to Action
If you’re new to town—or you’ve lived here for years but feel disconnected—choose one place to show up consistently: a school, a ministry, a nonprofit, a neighborhood effort, or Love Laguna.
Don’t start with, “Where am I needed?” Start with: “Where do I come alive?” Then participate.
And if you want a simple first step: smile at one person on your next walk. It’s small—but it’s how communities begin again.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69652904Wed, 28 Jan 2026 21:51:37 +0000William CristOut of Pajamas and Into Community: Gail Onondera on Love Laguna, Kids, and the 80% We Share — Fr. Will Crist and Gail Onondera, January 28, 2026 What does a healthy community look like in 2026—when we’re still half-asleep from COVID, arguing online,...Out of Pajamas and Into Community: Gail Onondera on Love Laguna, Kids, and the 80% We Share — Fr. Will Crist and Gail Onondera, January 28, 2026

What does a healthy community look like in 2026—when we’re still half-asleep from COVID, arguing online, and quietly wondering where real connection went?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist talks with Gail Onondera, head of Children’s Ministry at Laguna Presbyterian Church and the “chief cook and bottle-washer” behind Love Laguna—Laguna Beach’s citywide volunteer day that keeps proving a simple truth: when people show up together, the town gets stronger.

Gail shares how she and her husband raised their family here, how service became a calling (even without formal training), and why young parents—especially moms—are hungry for community that’s real, local, and face-to-face. Together, Gail and Fr. Will explore what’s coming next: AI, work, education, and the growing need for the one thing technology cannot replicate—human presence.

They also name the hard stuff: political division, media-driven stereotyping, and the fear that makes neighbors talk past each other. And they offer a practical hope: create safer spaces, follow a process that reduces fear, and remember that most of us still share far more than we think.

If you’ve been feeling isolated, cynical, or stuck at home, this conversation is an invitation: get out of the house, join something, meet someone—and be careful… you might fall in love with your own town again.

Show Notes

Guest
Gail Onondera — Head of Children’s Ministry, Laguna Presbyterian Church
Community organizer and key leader of Love Laguna (Laguna Beach’s citywide volunteer/service day)
What You’ll Hear in This Episode
Gail’s Laguna story: moving here in 1997, raising two kids in local schools, and staying rooted in neighborhood friendships
How a calling grows over time: from “helping where needed” to full-time ministry with children and families
Love Laguna: what it is, why it works, and how it helps newcomers find community without needing “a bar scene.”
Why volunteering isn’t just giving—it’s participating in something that multiplies connection and joy
Parenting and pressure: why “What’s your plan?” can be the wrong question for seniors and young adults
AI and the future of work: fear of job loss vs. opportunity for humans to do more of what they’re uniquely built to do
The post-COVID hangover: the ease of staying home vs. the discipline of choosing real-life community
What Laguna does unusually well: hospitality, small-town scale, cross-community collaboration, and “people who just do it.”
The challenge underneath politics: fear, stereotypes, and media narratives that dehumanize
A practical path toward unity: creating safe spaces and using structured dialogue models (including Braver Angels -- https://braverangels.org/)
“The 80%”: the shared values we rediscover when fear lowers and listening becomes possible
Hope for Laguna: multi-generational wisdom, caring for an aging community, and giving people opportunities to share their gifts
Quote-Ready Moments
“Let’s focus on the one thing AI can never do: human presence.”
“People don’t just want a project—they want a way to belong.”
“Most of us share about 80%—it’s the fear that makes us forget.”
“Laguna is a town of opportunities—if you’ll step out the door.”
Call to Action
If you’re new to town—or you’ve lived here for years but feel disconnected—choose one place to show up consistently: a school, a ministry, a nonprofit, a...]]>2826false113fullPresence That Multiplies: Monica McDade on Kids, Community, and the Joy of Showing Up — Fr. Will Crist and Monica McDade, January 21, 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/presence-that-multiplies-monica-mcdade-on-kids-community-and-the-joy-of-showing-up-fr-will-crist-and-monica-mcdade-january-21-2026--69554187Episode Description

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Monica McDade, Chief Advancement Officer for the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach. Monica shares what’s really happening with kids right now—especially the rise in anxiety—and why the Club is more than an after-school program. It’s a steady, safe place where children are known, supported, and guided back into calm.

The conversation moves from Laguna’s unique culture—its creativity, public art, and freedom to be different—to a frank look at how philanthropy has changed. Monica describes the shift from personal relationships to anonymous grant portals, and why the work now requires both heart and strategy.

But the heart of this episode is a single idea: consistent presence. Not “volunteering” as scarcity, but participation as abundance. Together, Will and Monica explore how the Club can become a pathway not only for kids, but also for adults—especially older adults—who want to rediscover joy, purpose, and connection by showing up for the next generation.
Monica also shares upcoming Club events—including the Partnership Breakfast (February 26) and Youth of the Year Dinner (February 27)—and invites listeners to learn more and get involved.

Show Notes

Monica’s role and the scope of the Club
Monica introduces her role as Chief Advancement Officer: fundraising, visibility, outreach, marketing, and volunteer engagement.
The Club serves Laguna Beach and Saddleback Valley (Lake Forest, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo), reaching 4,000+ children each year.
The organization runs 56+ programs, is a licensed kindergarten, and includes a clinical psychologist supporting behavioral and wellness needs.
Kids and anxiety
Monica describes how children absorb tension at home and at school and bring it with them into every environment.
The Club trains staff in techniques for decompression, diffusion, and creating calm—designing spaces intentionally for wellness and safety.
A key theme: “We meet kids in their moment—wherever they are.”
Calling, career, and the work of joy
Monica shares how fundraising “called” her—moving from sales and marketing into mission-driven work after a major health turning point.
She reflects on why working with kids brings daily joy and celebration, even while the need is serious.
How philanthropy has changed
Monica contrasts “then and now”:
Relationship-based giving (home visits, direct conversation, personal checks, ongoing involvement)
Versus today’s grant portals and impersonal processes (“300 characters or less” and no human contact)
Will and Monica explore the difference between philanthropy and sponsorship—and the importance of listening to what donors truly want from a relationship and impact.
AI, technology, and re-humanizing the relationship
They discuss how technology can increase distance—and why learning tools like AI matters now.
A key point: “AI won’t replace you; someone using AI might.”
The deeper question beneath the tech: how to use new tools to restore human relationships, not replace them.
What makes Laguna unique
Monica highlights Laguna’s creative DNA:
partnerships with arts institutions,
public art everywhere,
and the permission to be “different” without being pushed out.
She invites listeners to visit the Club’s Laguna Canyon Road campus and see the LCAD murals, a living example of Laguna’s artistic identity.
The Club as a family support system
Monica reframes the Club’s “product” as peace of mind for parents:
kids are safe,
fed,
engaged,
homework supported,
and sent home healthier and calmer.
“Volunteer” vs. “Participate”
Will challenges the language of volunteering as scarcity (“taking some of your time”).
They reframe it as participation—an abundant, life-giving exchange where people receive as much as they give.
A central phrase emerges: consistent presence is the missing nutrient in modern life.
Older adults, purpose, and “surrogate grandparents”
They explore an untapped opportunity:
Older adults who feel isolated or diminished
finding joy and purpose through being present with kids.
Monica affirms the need: reading story time, tutoring, mentoring—simple, relational roles that matter.
Will suggests churches and the Interfaith Council could serve as a natural bridge for this kind of participation.
Learning without realizing you’re learning
Monica describes practical, “old-school” presence:
chess,
Legos,
Dungeons & Dragons,
dodgeball,
phone-free summer environments.
She shares a powerful example: the Club garden becoming curriculum—kids learning water, soil, patience, care, and then cooking what they grew.
Signs of hope in Laguna
Monica points to the children—and to young leaders they can see and imagine becoming.
She describes kids’ excitement at seeing the mayor as “one of us,” reinforcing a sense of belonging and possibility.
Monica names the “tapestry” of Laguna—city leaders, police, fire, schools, nonprofits—still woven together by care.
Upcoming events and invitation
Monica invites listeners to connect and learn more about participation.
Upcoming dates:
Partnership Breakfast — February 26
Youth of the Year Dinner — February 27
The Club is approaching its 75th anniversary next year (currently 74 years of service).

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69554187Fri, 23 Jan 2026 03:11:58 +0000William CristEpisode Description In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Monica McDade, Chief Advancement Officer for the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach. Monica shares what’s really happening with kids right now—especially the rise...Episode Description

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist welcomes Monica McDade, Chief Advancement Officer for the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach. Monica shares what’s really happening with kids right now—especially the rise in anxiety—and why the Club is more than an after-school program. It’s a steady, safe place where children are known, supported, and guided back into calm.

The conversation moves from Laguna’s unique culture—its creativity, public art, and freedom to be different—to a frank look at how philanthropy has changed. Monica describes the shift from personal relationships to anonymous grant portals, and why the work now requires both heart and strategy.

But the heart of this episode is a single idea: consistent presence. Not “volunteering” as scarcity, but participation as abundance. Together, Will and Monica explore how the Club can become a pathway not only for kids, but also for adults—especially older adults—who want to rediscover joy, purpose, and connection by showing up for the next generation.
Monica also shares upcoming Club events—including the Partnership Breakfast (February 26) and Youth of the Year Dinner (February 27)—and invites listeners to learn more and get involved.

Show Notes

Monica’s role and the scope of the Club
Monica introduces her role as Chief Advancement Officer: fundraising, visibility, outreach, marketing, and volunteer engagement.
The Club serves Laguna Beach and Saddleback Valley (Lake Forest, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo), reaching 4,000+ children each year.
The organization runs 56+ programs, is a licensed kindergarten, and includes a clinical psychologist supporting behavioral and wellness needs.
Kids and anxiety
Monica describes how children absorb tension at home and at school and bring it with them into every environment.
The Club trains staff in techniques for decompression, diffusion, and creating calm—designing spaces intentionally for wellness and safety.
A key theme: “We meet kids in their moment—wherever they are.”
Calling, career, and the work of joy
Monica shares how fundraising “called” her—moving from sales and marketing into mission-driven work after a major health turning point.
She reflects on why working with kids brings daily joy and celebration, even while the need is serious.
How philanthropy has changed
Monica contrasts “then and now”:
Relationship-based giving (home visits, direct conversation, personal checks, ongoing involvement)
Versus today’s grant portals and impersonal processes (“300 characters or less” and no human contact)
Will and Monica explore the difference between philanthropy and sponsorship—and the importance of listening to what donors truly want from a relationship and impact.
AI, technology, and re-humanizing the relationship
They discuss how technology can increase distance—and why learning tools like AI matters now.
A key point: “AI won’t replace you; someone using AI might.”
The deeper question beneath the tech: how to use new tools to restore human relationships, not replace them.
What makes Laguna unique
Monica highlights Laguna’s creative DNA:
partnerships with arts institutions,
public art everywhere,
and the permission to be “different” without being pushed out.
She invites listeners to visit the Club’s Laguna Canyon Road campus and see the LCAD murals, a living example of Laguna’s artistic identity.
The Club as a family support system
Monica reframes the Club’s “product” as peace of mind for...]]>2842false112fullMain Beach to Meaning, Love Laguna, Quiet Mercy, and the Leadership of Showing Up — Fr. Will Crist and Gail Duncan, January 14 2026https://www.spreaker.com/episode/main-beach-to-meaning-love-laguna-quiet-mercy-and-the-leadership-of-showing-up-fr-will-crist-and-gail-duncan-january-14-2026--69553516On this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Gail Duncan—longtime Laguna Beach advocate, Rotary leader, and community connector—to talk about what makes this town work when it “shouldn’t work on paper.”

Gail shares her journey from Metro Detroit to Laguna, her love for Rotary’s learning culture, and why Love Laguna has become one of the most powerful “belonging builders” in the city—bringing together business leaders, churches, families, and kids for hands-on service in just one Saturday morning.

The conversation moves from civic joy to real challenges: the evolving downtown promenade, parking and transition pains, and how Laguna can keep its spirit alive while adapting. Along the way, Gail opens a window into one of the town’s quiet acts of mercy—“taking care of the homies”—a simple weekly practice of sandwiches, coffee, presence, and dignity at Main Beach.
This is a candid, hopeful conversation about leadership that doesn’t grandstand—leadership that shows up, knows its limits, and still makes a difference.

Show Notes

1) Meet Gail Duncan: “Laguna was my spot.”
Gail shares how she arrived in Laguna in the early 2000s after years of travel.
Her first chapter in town: running the Art Hotel in North Laguna, living onsite, and learning Laguna by meeting people—one relationship at a time.
How organizations like the Chamber, Rotary, Assistance League, and Interfaith Council became her “on-ramps” into community life.
2) Rotary: belonging, learning, and a full-circle moment
Gail’s perspective from the 1970s: a time when women couldn’t join Rotary in her hometown.
What Rotary has meant to her in Laguna: world-class speakers, constant learning, and a sense of civic momentum.
3) Love Laguna: the service day that builds a town
Gail describes Love Laguna (first Saturday in October) as a “capsule” of Laguna’s spirit.
Why it works: you get leaders, churches, families, kids, and neighbors doing tangible good together—painting, yard cleanup, community projects.
How the program has grown over the years and benefits from learning from other cities that have done similar initiatives longer.
4) Retirement is a transition—and nobody teaches you how
Gail speaks honestly about post-career life: the temptation to overcommit and the discipline of learning her limits.
Her “retirement leadership lesson”: offer help without over-offering—support others without becoming the center of their story.
The ongoing question: “Where do I fit now?” and how community roles evolve with seasons and leadership transitions.
5) Community and small-business life: living in the place you serve
A thoughtful exchange about how towns change when business owners don’t live locally.
A contrast between an older model—business leadership integrated with Rotary, schools, churches—and the modern pressures that push owners and workers outside the community.
Gail’s consistent advice to new business owners: join the Chamber early—don’t isolate.
6) What makes Laguna unique: “You have to decide to show up.”
Gail’s love for local institutions and traditions: festivals, Pageant of the Masters, and the energy of community nights.
A standout story: a Laguna initiative providing suitcases filled with essentials for foster youth who must relocate suddenly—practical compassion with dignity built in.
How local media and community storytelling (Stu News, the Indy, and KXFM) help “spread the good news” of what’s working.
7) Current challenges: the promenade and the pains of transition
Gail names what she’s watching closely: the downtown promenade and the construction/transition realities it brings.
Parking, access, and the everyday friction of change—and her instinct to stay steady rather than catastrophize: “This isn’t a collapse, it’s a transition.”
8) Signs of hope: “taking care of the homies”
Gail explains a weekly practice through the Interfaith network: making sandwiches, picking up coffee, bringing it to Main Beach, and sharing it with a small group of unhoused neighbors.
What’s really happening there: food, yes—but also being seen, belonging, and relationship.
She describes how mutual support works within the unhoused community and among volunteers (including splitting responsibilities to make it sustainable).
9) Friendship Shelter and Laguna’s long tradition of “starting institutions”
Gail highlights the importance of Friendship Shelter and encourages deeper community support—especially during leadership transitions.
Fr. Will adds context about Laguna’s history of building structures to meet needs, then letting them grow into community institutions.
10) Values and future hope: limits, love, and letting life be guided
Gail’s “neighbors’ values” in one line: know who you are, know your limits, and make a difference for someone else.
A parenting metaphor that becomes a civic leadership metaphor: don’t hover; let people grow.
The conversation closes on hope rooted in trust—releasing the need to orchestrate everything, and choosing love and presence as the daily practice.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69553516Fri, 23 Jan 2026 01:29:32 +0000William CristOn this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Gail Duncan—longtime Laguna Beach advocate, Rotary leader, and community connector—to talk about what makes this town work when it “shouldn’t work on paper.” Gail shares her...On this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Gail Duncan—longtime Laguna Beach advocate, Rotary leader, and community connector—to talk about what makes this town work when it “shouldn’t work on paper.”

Gail shares her journey from Metro Detroit to Laguna, her love for Rotary’s learning culture, and why Love Laguna has become one of the most powerful “belonging builders” in the city—bringing together business leaders, churches, families, and kids for hands-on service in just one Saturday morning.

The conversation moves from civic joy to real challenges: the evolving downtown promenade, parking and transition pains, and how Laguna can keep its spirit alive while adapting. Along the way, Gail opens a window into one of the town’s quiet acts of mercy—“taking care of the homies”—a simple weekly practice of sandwiches, coffee, presence, and dignity at Main Beach.
This is a candid, hopeful conversation about leadership that doesn’t grandstand—leadership that shows up, knows its limits, and still makes a difference.

Show Notes

1) Meet Gail Duncan: “Laguna was my spot.”
Gail shares how she arrived in Laguna in the early 2000s after years of travel.
Her first chapter in town: running the Art Hotel in North Laguna, living onsite, and learning Laguna by meeting people—one relationship at a time.
How organizations like the Chamber, Rotary, Assistance League, and Interfaith Council became her “on-ramps” into community life.
2) Rotary: belonging, learning, and a full-circle moment
Gail’s perspective from the 1970s: a time when women couldn’t join Rotary in her hometown.
What Rotary has meant to her in Laguna: world-class speakers, constant learning, and a sense of civic momentum.
3) Love Laguna: the service day that builds a town
Gail describes Love Laguna (first Saturday in October) as a “capsule” of Laguna’s spirit.
Why it works: you get leaders, churches, families, kids, and neighbors doing tangible good together—painting, yard cleanup, community projects.
How the program has grown over the years and benefits from learning from other cities that have done similar initiatives longer.
4) Retirement is a transition—and nobody teaches you how
Gail speaks honestly about post-career life: the temptation to overcommit and the discipline of learning her limits.
Her “retirement leadership lesson”: offer help without over-offering—support others without becoming the center of their story.
The ongoing question: “Where do I fit now?” and how community roles evolve with seasons and leadership transitions.
5) Community and small-business life: living in the place you serve
A thoughtful exchange about how towns change when business owners don’t live locally.
A contrast between an older model—business leadership integrated with Rotary, schools, churches—and the modern pressures that push owners and workers outside the community.
Gail’s consistent advice to new business owners: join the Chamber early—don’t isolate.
6) What makes Laguna unique: “You have to decide to show up.”
Gail’s love for local institutions and traditions: festivals, Pageant of the Masters, and the energy of community nights.
A standout story: a Laguna initiative providing suitcases filled with essentials for foster youth who must relocate suddenly—practical compassion with dignity built in.
How local media and community storytelling (Stu News, the Indy, and KXFM) help “spread the good news” of what’s working.
7) Current challenges: the promenade and the pains of transition
Gail names what she’s watching closely: the...]]>2756chamberofcommerce,civicleadership,communityservice,homelessness,interfaithcouncil,lagunabeach,love,rotary,rotaryclub,servicefalse111fullPearl Street to Purpose: Pastor Jay Grant on Laguna’s Heart, Hope, and Love That Holds -- Fr. Will Crist and Jay Grant, December 31, 2025https://www.spreaker.com/episode/pearl-street-to-purpose-pastor-jay-grant-on-laguna-s-heart-hope-and-love-that-holds-fr-will-crist-and-jay-grant-december-31-2025--69262793Episode Description

What makes Laguna Beach more than a postcard?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Pastor Jay Grant, a 55-year Laguna Beach resident and a pastor at Networks Community Church. Jay takes us back to the early days—renting an ocean-view place on Pearl Street for $60 a month, the rise of the Sawdust Festival out of the counterculture, and the way Laguna’s creative soul became a magnet for people from all over the world.

But this isn’t just nostalgia.

Jay speaks candidly about the difference between believing in God and knowing God personally, why he insists that love is a choice, and how Laguna’s character showed itself in moments like the 1993 firestorm. Together, we explore what has changed in the last 10–15 years, the challenge of affordability, the role local churches play in caring for “street friends,” and why Jay still calls Laguna “a city of hope.”

If you care about community, resilience, spirituality that actually works on a Tuesday, and the kind of leadership that begins with simple faithfulness—this conversation will land.

Show Notes

A Laguna beginning: Pearl Street and the old days
Jay starts with a story that instantly puts you in another era: moving into the old Harper House on Pearl Street—$60 a month, ocean view, single-wall construction, and using calendars on the wall to cut the wind. It’s funny, specific, and deeply Laguna.

The “two-lane” life: work in town, ministry in town
Jay shares a core conviction: the best ministry often comes from people who serve God in and work in the community. He describes decades of life that braided together church leadership, the Sawdust Festival, family life, and coaching kids—an everyday, embodied spirituality.

The Sawdust Festival origin story: counterculture, craftsmanship, and a “happening.”
Jay gives a vivid history lesson on the Sawdust: artists juried out of the Festival of Arts, precursor shows, the move to the Funk property, buying the land, and the “unthinkable” moment—charging admission. He paints the early years as electric: late-night hours, huge crowds, and a cultural mix that made the Sawdust feel like an open-air experiment in freedom, art, and searching.

Faith that’s personal, not just inherited
Jay tells his own spiritual arc—from being raised in a faith tradition to exploring Eastern spirituality to the moment when faith became relationship. He describes it like walking into a dark room, and suddenly the lights come on: “I believed in God… then I met God.”

“Love is a choice”: marriage, faith, and staying power
One of the strongest segments is Jay’s insistence that love—human or divine—is not built on feeling. Feelings fluctuate. Commitment endures. He connects this to marriage and to the life of faith: choosing love when the “warm glow” isn’t there.

A portrait of Laguna: beauty, people, and the everyday saints
Jay’s love letter to Laguna is concrete: not just beaches and canyons, but the people and places that make a town feel like home—shops, neighbors, Friday night football with Catalina in the distance, shared rituals, and the small interactions that create belonging.

The 1993 firestorm: where Laguna’s heart showed itself
Jay speaks personally about losing his home in the 1993 fire and what happened next: strangers handing him money, people showing up with supplies, leaders “adopting” streets, and the community rallying. It’s a reminder that resilience is not abstract—it’s relational.

What’s changed: affordability and the loss of “regular life.”
Jay doesn’t romanticize the present. He names the big shift: affordability. What used to be possible with a normal job now feels out of reach for the next generation. He frames it as a community adjustment—real, ongoing, and defining.

Networks Community Church: worship, breakfast, and “street friends.”
Jay describes Networks as a low-key church with a strong emphasis on worship, scripture, and practical care—especially welcoming “street friends” for breakfast, providing clothing and toiletries, and partnering across churches to support people in need. The tone is simple: “We want people to know there’s a place they can go.”

A different kind of “icon.”
Fr. Will offers a striking reframing: icon not as celebrity, but as someone through whom a glimpse of the holy becomes visible—humility, nonjudgmental presence, kindness, and the quiet power of being a gift to others. He identifies Pastor Grant as an icon in Laguna.

Failure, grace, and the hope that doesn’t collapse
Jay leans into a theme that lands hard for a lot of people: Scripture is full of failures, and that’s not an embarrassment—it’s the point. “God is a God of failures,” he says, meaning: God meets people honestly, in the mess, and doesn’t wait for perfection.

“One day at a time”
Jay closes with a steady, 83-year-old wisdom: he stays grounded by resisting the anxiety machine, leaning into prayer, loving his wife, loving his church, loving the city, and living each day like a fresh beginning.

Suggested Listener Invitation
If this episode stirred something in you, share it with a neighbor—and then do one small thing this week that builds Laguna’s future: show up, volunteer, introduce yourself, or help someone carry a load.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69262793Wed, 31 Dec 2025 21:11:32 +0000William CristEpisode Description What makes Laguna Beach more than a postcard? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Pastor Jay Grant, a 55-year Laguna Beach resident and a pastor at Networks Community Church. Jay takes us back...Episode Description

What makes Laguna Beach more than a postcard?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Pastor Jay Grant, a 55-year Laguna Beach resident and a pastor at Networks Community Church. Jay takes us back to the early days—renting an ocean-view place on Pearl Street for $60 a month, the rise of the Sawdust Festival out of the counterculture, and the way Laguna’s creative soul became a magnet for people from all over the world.

But this isn’t just nostalgia.

Jay speaks candidly about the difference between believing in God and knowing God personally, why he insists that love is a choice, and how Laguna’s character showed itself in moments like the 1993 firestorm. Together, we explore what has changed in the last 10–15 years, the challenge of affordability, the role local churches play in caring for “street friends,” and why Jay still calls Laguna “a city of hope.”

If you care about community, resilience, spirituality that actually works on a Tuesday, and the kind of leadership that begins with simple faithfulness—this conversation will land.

Show Notes

A Laguna beginning: Pearl Street and the old days
Jay starts with a story that instantly puts you in another era: moving into the old Harper House on Pearl Street—$60 a month, ocean view, single-wall construction, and using calendars on the wall to cut the wind. It’s funny, specific, and deeply Laguna.

The “two-lane” life: work in town, ministry in town
Jay shares a core conviction: the best ministry often comes from people who serve God in and work in the community. He describes decades of life that braided together church leadership, the Sawdust Festival, family life, and coaching kids—an everyday, embodied spirituality.

The Sawdust Festival origin story: counterculture, craftsmanship, and a “happening.”
Jay gives a vivid history lesson on the Sawdust: artists juried out of the Festival of Arts, precursor shows, the move to the Funk property, buying the land, and the “unthinkable” moment—charging admission. He paints the early years as electric: late-night hours, huge crowds, and a cultural mix that made the Sawdust feel like an open-air experiment in freedom, art, and searching.

Faith that’s personal, not just inherited
Jay tells his own spiritual arc—from being raised in a faith tradition to exploring Eastern spirituality to the moment when faith became relationship. He describes it like walking into a dark room, and suddenly the lights come on: “I believed in God… then I met God.”

“Love is a choice”: marriage, faith, and staying power
One of the strongest segments is Jay’s insistence that love—human or divine—is not built on feeling. Feelings fluctuate. Commitment endures. He connects this to marriage and to the life of faith: choosing love when the “warm glow” isn’t there.

A portrait of Laguna: beauty, people, and the everyday saints
Jay’s love letter to Laguna is concrete: not just beaches and canyons, but the people and places that make a town feel like home—shops, neighbors, Friday night football with Catalina in the distance, shared rituals, and the small interactions that create belonging.

The 1993 firestorm: where Laguna’s heart showed itself
Jay speaks personally about losing his home in the 1993 fire and what happened next: strangers handing him money, people showing up with supplies, leaders “adopting” streets, and the community rallying. It’s a reminder that resilience is not abstract—it’s relational.

What’s changed: affordability and the loss of “regular life.”
Jay doesn’t romanticize the present. He names the big shift: affordability....]]>2562false110fullBelonging, Civic Responsibility, and the Kind of Leadership that Starts Small -- Fr. Will Crist and Slade Carlton, December 24, 2025https://www.spreaker.com/episode/belonging-civic-responsibility-and-the-kind-of-leadership-that-starts-small-fr-will-crist-and-slade-carlton-december-24-2025--69215435
In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Slade Carlton, Outreach Volunteer at Laguna Beach United Methodist Church, a local builder-turned-community leader who has devoted himself to serving neighbors on the margins and strengthening civic life.

Slade shares how a simple “blessing bag” idea became a four-year movement of relationship-based outreach—109 Saturday beach cleanups and counting—built in partnership with local churches, Friendship Shelter, and the Laguna Beach Police Department. Together, they explore what makes Laguna’s interfaith spirit so unusual, why affordable housing is now a defining challenge, and how the ASL (Alternative Sleeping Location) reflects the values we refuse to let go of: dignity, compassion, and practical care.

This isn’t a debate about politics. It’s a conversation about belonging, civic responsibility, and the kind of leadership that starts small—one relationship, one project, one neighbor at a time.

Show notes

Guest: Slade Carlton — Outreach Volunteer, Laguna Beach United Methodist Church
Host: Fr. Will Crist — St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Laguna Beach

In this episode
Slade’s path: builder/entrepreneur → community outreach leader after selling his company
The “blessing bag” project revealed how personal homelessness is for many families
Why relationship-based outreach matters: learning names, building trust, creating community
How Laguna’s Saturday Main Beach cleanups began—and why they’ve continued for four years (109 events)
Laguna’s unique “weird and wonderful” tradition: embracing people on the margins (Joe Lucas, Eiler Larson, and more)
Why Laguna “doesn’t work on paper”—and how churches help bridge divides
Housing & Human Services: what Slade is learning about preserving affordability and community life
The ASL (Alternative Sleeping Location): what it provides, why it matters, and what’s changing
Why affordability is the long-term issue: “not enough homes,” “not enough affordable homes,” and what it means for teachers, police, workers, and artists
ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units): promise vs. reality in Laguna
A leadership challenge: how to welcome new residents into Laguna’s civic story—not just its amenities
Signs of hope: the Cold Weather Shelter, interfaith collaboration, and younger leaders shaping the future
Memorable lines
“Laguna Beach doesn’t work on paper… but somehow we make it work.”
“It’s what you do, not what you say.”
Get involved
Interested in volunteering or learning more about outreach at Laguna Beach United Methodist Church? Visit their website or stop by on a Sunday—ask about outreach opportunities, beach cleanups, and service partnerships.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69215435Sat, 27 Dec 2025 01:28:50 +0000William CristLaguna Beach is famous for beauty—but the real story is how a small town holds together when things don’t “work on paper.” In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Slade Carlton, Outreach Volunteer at Laguna Beach United...
In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, Fr. Will Crist sits down with Slade Carlton, Outreach Volunteer at Laguna Beach United Methodist Church, a local builder-turned-community leader who has devoted himself to serving neighbors on the margins and strengthening civic life.

Slade shares how a simple “blessing bag” idea became a four-year movement of relationship-based outreach—109 Saturday beach cleanups and counting—built in partnership with local churches, Friendship Shelter, and the Laguna Beach Police Department. Together, they explore what makes Laguna’s interfaith spirit so unusual, why affordable housing is now a defining challenge, and how the ASL (Alternative Sleeping Location) reflects the values we refuse to let go of: dignity, compassion, and practical care.

This isn’t a debate about politics. It’s a conversation about belonging, civic responsibility, and the kind of leadership that starts small—one relationship, one project, one neighbor at a time.

Show notes

Guest: Slade Carlton — Outreach Volunteer, Laguna Beach United Methodist Church
Host: Fr. Will Crist — St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Laguna Beach

In this episode
Slade’s path: builder/entrepreneur → community outreach leader after selling his company
The “blessing bag” project revealed how personal homelessness is for many families
Why relationship-based outreach matters: learning names, building trust, creating community
How Laguna’s Saturday Main Beach cleanups began—and why they’ve continued for four years (109 events)
Laguna’s unique “weird and wonderful” tradition: embracing people on the margins (Joe Lucas, Eiler Larson, and more)
Why Laguna “doesn’t work on paper”—and how churches help bridge divides
Housing & Human Services: what Slade is learning about preserving affordability and community life
The ASL (Alternative Sleeping Location): what it provides, why it matters, and what’s changing
Why affordability is the long-term issue: “not enough homes,” “not enough affordable homes,” and what it means for teachers, police, workers, and artists
ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units): promise vs. reality in Laguna
A leadership challenge: how to welcome new residents into Laguna’s civic story—not just its amenities
Signs of hope: the Cold Weather Shelter, interfaith collaboration, and younger leaders shaping the future
Memorable lines
“Laguna Beach doesn’t work on paper… but somehow we make it work.”
“It’s what you do, not what you say.”
Get involved
Interested in volunteering or learning more about outreach at Laguna Beach United Methodist Church? Visit their website or stop by on a Sunday—ask about outreach opportunities, beach cleanups, and service partnerships.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>2498false19fullI Want to Do Something About That — Global Outreach from the Heart of Laguna -- Fr. Will Crist and Barbara Van Gaasbeek, December 17, 2025https://www.spreaker.com/episode/i-want-to-do-something-about-that-global-outreach-from-the-heart-of-laguna-fr-will-crist-and-barbara-van-gaasbeek-december-17-2025--69214807Description

From Siberia to Sudan: how one lay leader turns compassion into action—and invites Laguna to go bigger. What happens when a lifelong “can-do” spirit meets real human need?

This week on The Heart of Laguna, Father Will Crist welcomes Barbara Van Gaasbeek, Chair of Outreach at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Laguna Beach. Barbara’s story is a masterclass in compassionate leadership—starting with her years leading national sustainability and green building programs at Honda, and continuing into “retirement,” where she’s helped mobilize St. Mary’s for bold, practical service locally and around the world.

From sending humanitarian aid to radiation-impacted communities in Siberia, to funding a deep-sea fishing boat after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, to supporting clean water, shoes, and mobility solutions—Barbara keeps coming back to one phrase: “I’m going to do something about that.”

The conversation also turns to Laguna Beach’s unique potential: the creativity, expertise, and resources already here—and the possibility of bringing together the wider community (faith-based or not) for big, “outrageous” projects that restore purpose and save lives.

Featured current focus: Sudan and South Sudan, where famine is devastating communities. Barbara shares St. Mary’s effort to fund Plumpy’Nut, a life-saving therapeutic food that can restore a starving child in about two weeks.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the world’s problems, this episode offers a different path: move from “ain’t it awful” to “let’s do it.”

Show notes

Guest: Barbara Van Gaasbeek — Chair of Outreach, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (Laguna Beach); former Honda national administrator for green building programs.
In this episode:
Barbara’s path from corporate sustainability leadership to community outreach
Responding to a crisis in Siberia/Chelyabinsk with humanitarian aid (three 40-foot containers)
Post-tsunami rebuilding: funding a deep-sea fishing boat to restore livelihoods
Practical innovations that save lives: LifeStraw, The Shoe That Grows, and more
Local service in Laguna Beach: pantry support, Thanksgiving produce in-gathering, community partnerships
The big question: why logistics fail the poor while commerce moves luxury with ease
A challenge to Laguna: gather leaders and creatives for larger “city-sized” projects
Current urgent focus: Sudan & South Sudan famine relief
St. Mary’s goal: $4,000 to save 80 lives
Funding Plumpy’Nut through trusted relief partners
Get involved: To support St. Mary’s Sudan/South Sudan relief effort, contact Ryan Martin, Parish Administrator at St. Mary’s: (949) 494-3542 (Mon–Fri, 9am–3pm).

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69214807Fri, 26 Dec 2025 23:11:13 +0000William CristDescription From Siberia to Sudan: how one lay leader turns compassion into action—and invites Laguna to go bigger. What happens when a lifelong “can-do” spirit meets real human need? This week on The Heart of Laguna, Father Will Crist welcomes...Description

From Siberia to Sudan: how one lay leader turns compassion into action—and invites Laguna to go bigger. What happens when a lifelong “can-do” spirit meets real human need?

This week on The Heart of Laguna, Father Will Crist welcomes Barbara Van Gaasbeek, Chair of Outreach at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Laguna Beach. Barbara’s story is a masterclass in compassionate leadership—starting with her years leading national sustainability and green building programs at Honda, and continuing into “retirement,” where she’s helped mobilize St. Mary’s for bold, practical service locally and around the world.

From sending humanitarian aid to radiation-impacted communities in Siberia, to funding a deep-sea fishing boat after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, to supporting clean water, shoes, and mobility solutions—Barbara keeps coming back to one phrase: “I’m going to do something about that.”

The conversation also turns to Laguna Beach’s unique potential: the creativity, expertise, and resources already here—and the possibility of bringing together the wider community (faith-based or not) for big, “outrageous” projects that restore purpose and save lives.

Featured current focus: Sudan and South Sudan, where famine is devastating communities. Barbara shares St. Mary’s effort to fund Plumpy’Nut, a life-saving therapeutic food that can restore a starving child in about two weeks.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the world’s problems, this episode offers a different path: move from “ain’t it awful” to “let’s do it.”

Show notes

Guest: Barbara Van Gaasbeek — Chair of Outreach, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (Laguna Beach); former Honda national administrator for green building programs.
In this episode:
Barbara’s path from corporate sustainability leadership to community outreach
Responding to a crisis in Siberia/Chelyabinsk with humanitarian aid (three 40-foot containers)
Post-tsunami rebuilding: funding a deep-sea fishing boat to restore livelihoods
Practical innovations that save lives: LifeStraw, The Shoe That Grows, and more
Local service in Laguna Beach: pantry support, Thanksgiving produce in-gathering, community partnerships
The big question: why logistics fail the poor while commerce moves luxury with ease
A challenge to Laguna: gather leaders and creatives for larger “city-sized” projects
Current urgent focus: Sudan & South Sudan famine relief
St. Mary’s goal: $4,000 to save 80 lives
Funding Plumpy’Nut through trusted relief partners
Get involved: To support St. Mary’s Sudan/South Sudan relief effort, contact Ryan Martin, Parish Administrator at St. Mary’s: (949) 494-3542 (Mon–Fri, 9am–3pm).

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>2819false18fullFaith, Suffering, and the Courage to Build Community -- Fr. Will Crist and Rabbi Marcia Tilchin, December 10, 2025https://www.spreaker.com/episode/faith-suffering-and-the-courage-to-build-community-fr-will-crist-and-rabbi-marcia-tilchin-december-10-2025--68982061🎙 Episode Description

Faith, Suffering, and the Courage to Build Community

Fresh from London, Rabbi Marcia Tilchin—founder of the Jewish Collaborative of Orange County—joins Father Will Crist for a wide-ranging, deeply human conversation about Jewish identity, interfaith friendship, suffering, spirituality, and the holy work of building community in a transient world. From Detroit to Orange County, from synagogue life to hidden seekers in Laguna Beach, this episode explores what it truly means to belong—and how faith communities can meet people where they are with humility, love, and presence.

📝 Show Notes
Guest: Rabbi Marcia Tilchin Founder, Jewish Collaborative of Orange County Former congregational rabbi | Interfaith leader | Community builder

🔹 In This Episode, We Explore:
Marcia’s Journey to Orange County: From Detroit, New York, and Washington, D.C., to Tustin’s Congregation B’nai Israel—and what makes Jewish life in Orange County uniquely challenging.
What “Conservative Judaism” Really Means: Conserving tradition while interpreting it for modern life in a rabbinic—not fundamental—faith.
Growing Up the Only Jewish Child: How isolation shaped identity, resilience, and calling.
American Jew vs. Jewish American: The difference between faith as culture and faith as identity.
Women in the Rabbinate: Marcia’s calling shaped during a time when women were still barred from ordination.
Jewish Life in a Transient Culture: Why Orange County lacks the deep-rooted communal loyalty found in New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles.
The Hidden Jewish Population of Laguna Beach: Why many Jews here feel spiritually curious—but disconnected from organized religious life.
Spiritual but Not Religious: How ancient Jewish mysticism and spiritual practice are quietly returning for a new generation of seekers.
Interfaith Friendship After 9/11: The powerful story of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, the Mosque on Madero Street (Orange County Islamic Foundation), and Temple Beth El building homes together in Mexico.
Faithfulness Without Dominating: Learning to stand with people in suffering without trying to fix, convert, or control.
Antisemitism in the Modern Era: How the events of October 7 and global tensions are reshaping Jewish life and identity for a new generation.
Religion in a DIY World: How digital culture has changed the way people seek spirituality and community.
What Built the Megachurch Movement in Orange County: Lessons from Saddleback and the Crystal Cathedral—meeting suffering before promoting doctrine.
The Mission of the Jewish Collaborative: Creating a big tent for Jewish service, spirituality, social justice, support groups, burial society, and meditation.
The Quiet Suffering of the Affluent: Why loneliness is not limited to poverty—and how presence matters more than programs.
💬 Memorable Lines from the Episode
“We are here to learn how to love amidst suffering.”
“Judaism is not a fundamental religion—it’s a living rabbinic conversation.”
“People don’t need to be fixed. They need to be accompanied.”
“You can be surrounded by wealth and still be profoundly alone.”
“Anytime you call a meeting in the name of God, the right people will show up.”
🌊 Core Themes
Interfaith friendship
Jewish identity in modern America
Spiritual seeking beyond institutions
Suffering as sacred ground
Community in a transient culture
Tradition and interpretation
Presence over performance

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68982061Wed, 10 Dec 2025 20:51:40 +0000William Crist🎙 Episode Description Faith, Suffering, and the Courage to Build Community Fresh from London, Rabbi Marcia Tilchin—founder of the Jewish Collaborative of Orange County—joins Father Will Crist for a wide-ranging, deeply human conversation about...🎙 Episode Description

Faith, Suffering, and the Courage to Build Community

Fresh from London, Rabbi Marcia Tilchin—founder of the Jewish Collaborative of Orange County—joins Father Will Crist for a wide-ranging, deeply human conversation about Jewish identity, interfaith friendship, suffering, spirituality, and the holy work of building community in a transient world. From Detroit to Orange County, from synagogue life to hidden seekers in Laguna Beach, this episode explores what it truly means to belong—and how faith communities can meet people where they are with humility, love, and presence.

📝 Show Notes
Guest: Rabbi Marcia Tilchin Founder, Jewish Collaborative of Orange County Former congregational rabbi | Interfaith leader | Community builder

🔹 In This Episode, We Explore:
Marcia’s Journey to Orange County: From Detroit, New York, and Washington, D.C., to Tustin’s Congregation B’nai Israel—and what makes Jewish life in Orange County uniquely challenging.
What “Conservative Judaism” Really Means: Conserving tradition while interpreting it for modern life in a rabbinic—not fundamental—faith.
Growing Up the Only Jewish Child: How isolation shaped identity, resilience, and calling.
American Jew vs. Jewish American: The difference between faith as culture and faith as identity.
Women in the Rabbinate: Marcia’s calling shaped during a time when women were still barred from ordination.
Jewish Life in a Transient Culture: Why Orange County lacks the deep-rooted communal loyalty found in New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles.
The Hidden Jewish Population of Laguna Beach: Why many Jews here feel spiritually curious—but disconnected from organized religious life.
Spiritual but Not Religious: How ancient Jewish mysticism and spiritual practice are quietly returning for a new generation of seekers.
Interfaith Friendship After 9/11: The powerful story of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, the Mosque on Madero Street (Orange County Islamic Foundation), and Temple Beth El building homes together in Mexico.
Faithfulness Without Dominating: Learning to stand with people in suffering without trying to fix, convert, or control.
Antisemitism in the Modern Era: How the events of October 7 and global tensions are reshaping Jewish life and identity for a new generation.
Religion in a DIY World: How digital culture has changed the way people seek spirituality and community.
What Built the Megachurch Movement in Orange County: Lessons from Saddleback and the Crystal Cathedral—meeting suffering before promoting doctrine.
The Mission of the Jewish Collaborative: Creating a big tent for Jewish service, spirituality, social justice, support groups, burial society, and meditation.
The Quiet Suffering of the Affluent: Why loneliness is not limited to poverty—and how presence matters more than programs.
💬 Memorable Lines from the Episode
“We are here to learn how to love amidst suffering.”
“Judaism is not a fundamental religion—it’s a living rabbinic conversation.”
“People don’t need to be fixed. They need to be accompanied.”
“You can be surrounded by wealth and still be profoundly alone.”
“Anytime you call a meeting in the name of God, the right people will show up.”
🌊 Core Themes
Interfaith friendship
Jewish identity in modern America
Spiritual seeking beyond institutions
Suffering as sacred ground
Community in a transient culture
Tradition and...]]>3042false17fullThe Power of Presence: Hunger, Hope, and Human Connection--Fr. Will Crist and Maurice Baz, December 3, 2025https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-power-of-presence-hunger-hope-and-human-connection-fr-will-crist-and-maurice-baz-december-3-2025--68889748Episode Description

The Heart of Laguna – “The Power of Presence: Hunger, Hope, and Human Connection”
What if addressing hunger isn’t only about food—but about restoring dignity, belonging, and hope?

In this deeply moving episode of The Heart of Laguna, I sit down with Maurice Baz, Co-Chair of the Laguna Beach Interfaith Council and Data Project Manager at the Laguna Food Pantry. Maurice brings us inside the quiet, transformational work happening every morning behind the pantry doors—where groceries are shared, but so are stories, courage, and second chances.
From a barefoot boy on the streets of India, to a life-altering family medical crisis in Europe, to a simple jacket placed on a stranger’s shoulders outside the pantry—Maurice traces the moments that forged his calling to serve. Together, we explore hunger not only as a social problem, but as a sacred space for encounter. We talk about presence as a spiritual discipline, volunteering as a form of resistance against division, and Laguna Beach as a microcosm of both beauty and hidden need.

This episode is a powerful invitation: not simply to help, but to belong—to step into the shared human circle where no one is invisible and everyone matters.

Show Notes
Guest: Maurice Baz
Data Project Manager, Laguna Beach Food Pantry
Co-Chair, Laguna Beach Interfaith Council
Volunteer, humanitarian, technologist, and lifelong advocate for inclusive community service
Background in machine learning, physics education, disability advocacy, and global volunteer work
In This Episode, We Explore:

1. A Life Formed by Service Across the World
Growing up across cultures—from Washington, DC to London and the Middle East
Early volunteer work in Lebanon, Colombia, and the UK
Music, disability, and the neurological power of human connection
From machine learning engineer to grassroots community servant
2. Five Defining Moments that Shaped a Calling
India, age 7: Witnessing joy and dignity in profound poverty
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Learning to hold “infinite hope” amid finite disappointment
A mother’s catastrophic injury: Learning that dignity is not lost in suffering
The Fundamental Attribution Error: Why we misjudge people in hardship
A winter morning at the pantry: A stranger gives his jacket to a homeless man—no words exchanged
Each story reveals the same truth:
“Service isn’t about fixing people. It’s about walking beside them.”

3. The Laguna Beach Food Pantry: More Than a Food Program
Founded after the 1993 Laguna fires
Grew from serving 80 families per day pre-COVID to nearly 290 families per day today
Supported by 28 grocery partners through California’s SB1383 food recovery law
Backed by 200 active volunteers
Who the Pantry Serves:
Working families
Seniors on fixed incomes
Hospitality workers
School bus drivers
Single parents
People living in their cars
Distribution: 🕗 Monday–Friday | 8:00–10:30 AM
🌐 www.lagunafoodpantry.org
🔗 Resource Guide: bit.ly/ocresources

4. Hunger as a Doorway to Human Encounter
Hunger as quiet trauma—not just empty stomachs
Why behavior often hides unseen pain
How a simple “How are you really doing?” changes everything
The pantry as a place where:
Guests become volunteers
Volunteers become neighbors
Receiving help becomes an act of courage
Offering help becomes an act of respect
5. Volunteering as a Spiritual & Moral Practice
Service as presence—not performance
Volunteering as a reset for the human soul
One hour can change:
How you see others
How you see yourself
How you see your city
“We don’t need to save the world. We need to touch it.”

6. Laguna Beach: Beauty, Disparity, and Shared Responsibility
Extreme wealth and hidden hunger existing side by side
Housing as both an economic and emotional crisis
The grief of displacement
The danger of invisibility in a thriving city
Why the “other” is always already part of “us”
7. The Interfaith Council: Where Faith Becomes Action
Leaders from churches, synagogues, Baha’i community, shelter services, and nonprofits
Monthly gatherings grounded in prayer and real-world needs
Support for:
Cold weather shelters
Friendship Shelter day services
Pantry distribution
Youth unhoused outreach

“It’s the only room where you hear ‘Amen,’ ‘Baruch Adonai,’ and ‘Do we have enough folding chairs?’ in the same minute.”

Signs of Hope & Resilience
A man at the pantry saying quietly: “I’m trying again.”
A daily walk to the ocean as an act of defiance against despair
Neighbors donating “extra” produce without needing recognition
The quiet persistence of people choosing to begin again
Key Invitation from This Episode
If you do one thing this week:
Volunteer one hour
Go somewhere unfamiliar
Stand beside someone you don’t usually meet
Let yourself be changed by presence—not politics
Practice listening without solving
That’s how communities heal.

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. I

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68889748Thu, 04 Dec 2025 23:00:44 +0000William CristEpisode Description The Heart of Laguna – “The Power of Presence: Hunger, Hope, and Human Connection” What if addressing hunger isn’t only about food—but about restoring dignity, belonging, and hope? In this deeply moving episode of The Heart of...Episode Description

The Heart of Laguna – “The Power of Presence: Hunger, Hope, and Human Connection”
What if addressing hunger isn’t only about food—but about restoring dignity, belonging, and hope?

In this deeply moving episode of The Heart of Laguna, I sit down with Maurice Baz, Co-Chair of the Laguna Beach Interfaith Council and Data Project Manager at the Laguna Food Pantry. Maurice brings us inside the quiet, transformational work happening every morning behind the pantry doors—where groceries are shared, but so are stories, courage, and second chances.
From a barefoot boy on the streets of India, to a life-altering family medical crisis in Europe, to a simple jacket placed on a stranger’s shoulders outside the pantry—Maurice traces the moments that forged his calling to serve. Together, we explore hunger not only as a social problem, but as a sacred space for encounter. We talk about presence as a spiritual discipline, volunteering as a form of resistance against division, and Laguna Beach as a microcosm of both beauty and hidden need.

This episode is a powerful invitation: not simply to help, but to belong—to step into the shared human circle where no one is invisible and everyone matters.

Show Notes
Guest: Maurice Baz
Data Project Manager, Laguna Beach Food Pantry
Co-Chair, Laguna Beach Interfaith Council
Volunteer, humanitarian, technologist, and lifelong advocate for inclusive community service
Background in machine learning, physics education, disability advocacy, and global volunteer work
In This Episode, We Explore:

1. A Life Formed by Service Across the World
Growing up across cultures—from Washington, DC to London and the Middle East
Early volunteer work in Lebanon, Colombia, and the UK
Music, disability, and the neurological power of human connection
From machine learning engineer to grassroots community servant
2. Five Defining Moments that Shaped a Calling
India, age 7: Witnessing joy and dignity in profound poverty
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Learning to hold “infinite hope” amid finite disappointment
A mother’s catastrophic injury: Learning that dignity is not lost in suffering
The Fundamental Attribution Error: Why we misjudge people in hardship
A winter morning at the pantry: A stranger gives his jacket to a homeless man—no words exchanged
Each story reveals the same truth:
“Service isn’t about fixing people. It’s about walking beside them.”

3. The Laguna Beach Food Pantry: More Than a Food Program
Founded after the 1993 Laguna fires
Grew from serving 80 families per day pre-COVID to nearly 290 families per day today
Supported by 28 grocery partners through California’s SB1383 food recovery law
Backed by 200 active volunteers
Who the Pantry Serves:
Working families
Seniors on fixed incomes
Hospitality workers
School bus drivers
Single parents
People living in their cars
Distribution: 🕗 Monday–Friday | 8:00–10:30 AM
🌐 www.lagunafoodpantry.org
🔗 Resource Guide: bit.ly/ocresources

4. Hunger as a Doorway to Human Encounter
Hunger as quiet trauma—not just empty stomachs
Why behavior often hides unseen pain
How a simple “How are you really doing?” changes everything
The pantry as a place where:
Guests become volunteers
Volunteers become neighbors
Receiving help becomes an act of courage
Offering help becomes...]]>3077false16fullFrom Street to Sanctuary: Faith, Healing, and the Work of Belonging--Fr. Will Crist and Deacon Joe Seminara - Nov 26 2025https://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-street-to-sanctuary-faith-healing-and-the-work-of-belonging-fr-will-crist-and-deacon-joe-seminara-nov-26-2025--68762697Episode Description

The Heart of Laguna – “From Street to Sanctuary: Faith, Healing, and the Work of Belonging”

What does it take to walk with someone from life on the street back into community? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, I sit down with Deacon Joe Seminara of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, a retired law enforcement officer whose career moved from patrol work into deep street-level outreach with people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. Joe shares how his years in a “Quality of Life” unit transformed his understanding of trauma, addiction, and the spiritual hunger beneath human suffering.

We explore the devastating realities of fentanyl, untreated mental illness, childhood trauma, and isolation—alongside the power of relationship, community, and grace. From jail ministry to street outreach to his vision for a police chaplaincy in Laguna Beach, Joe offers a grounded, hope-filled view of what real restoration looks like: not just getting people off the street, but welcoming them fully back into community.

This episode is about forgiveness already given, dignity never lost, and the radical idea that we don’t rescue people—we walk with them home.

Show Notes
Guest: Deacon Joe Seminara
Deacon, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, Laguna Beach
Retired Federal and Municipal Law Enforcement Officer (35+ years)
Former Quality of Life Unit Officer, Long Beach
Jail Ministry Leader | Street Outreach Advocate
Candidate for Laguna Beach Police Chaplain
In This Episode, We Explore:

1. From Badge to Street Ministry
35 years in law enforcement
Transition from patrol to Quality of Life outreach
Trading the uniform for a polo shirt and minivan to build trust
Working directly with:
Detox programs
Rehab centers
Mental health services
Social Security
Housing placement
Why relationship—not enforcement—creates real change
2. Trauma, Addiction, and the Reality on the Streets
Childhood trauma as a primary driver of homelessness
Domestic violence, chaos, neglect, and long-term emotional injury
Self-medication through drugs and alcohol
Why fentanyl has changed everything
48,000+ fentanyl deaths last year in the U.S.
Addiction as symptom—not identity
“People don’t start broken. They become overwhelmed.”

3. Living in the Past, Living in the Future, and the Gift of Now
Guilt as a prison of the past
Anxiety as captivity to the future
Addiction as an attempt to escape consciousness
Why sobriety requires more than detox—it requires meaning
4. Absolution, Grace, and the End of Spiritual Earning
Forgiveness isn’t granted—it’s announced
Christ forgave once, for all
The role of confession as liberation from shame
Why guilt empowers despair—but grace restores agency
The thief on the cross as the Gospel in one sentence
“You are already forgiven. The work is believing it.”

5. The Hard Road Back: Detox, Rehab, and Rebuilding Life
Detox → Rehab → Sober Living → Medical Care → ID → Income → Housing
Dental care, disability services, job placement
The critical role of consistent follow-up
“What saves people is knowing someone is still there.”
6. Why Community Is the Missing Link in Recovery
Recovery doesn’t end with shelter
Without community, relapse is almost inevitable
Why churches must become long-term spiritual homes, not just emergency responders
Faith communities as:
Anchors
Identity-builders
Recovery partners
Accountability without condemnation
7. A Vision for Laguna: Police Chaplaincy & Church-Based Outreach
Ride-alongs with officers
Peer counseling for first responders
Church volunteers in coordinated street outreach
Scripture, conversation, Bibles, prayer—and presence
A vision for:
Mobile outreach teams
Showers & hot meals
Weekend street ministry
Faith-based recovery pathways
8. The Crisis of Mental Illness & Structural Failure
Only 7 indigent psychiatric beds in all of LA County at one point
Lack of long-term stabilization resources
How mental illness and homelessness feed each other
Why this is medical, not moral
“We are not doing enough for the mentally ill—period.”

9. Housing, Wealth, and the Hidden Struggles of Laguna
Equity-rich, income-poor seniors
Young families priced out
The need for low-income and workforce housing
Wealth does not equal security
Success measured in dollars vs. dignity
10. A New Vision: A “Welcome Wagon” for Laguna Beach
Interfaith-led community welcome teams
Visiting new residents—regardless of wealth or status
Sharing:
Faith communities
Volunteer opportunities
Arts & culture
KXFM
The same welcome offered to:
Formerly unhoused
New homeowners
Long-time renters
“Isolation looks different at every income level.”

11. Youth, Faith, and the Generational Challenge
Social media overload
Loss of faith-based schools
Biblical illiteracy in jail
Moving from judgment to belonging
Teaching God’s love—not fear
Central Themes of This Episode
Trauma and healing
Grace over guilt
Presence over punishment
Community over isolation
Belonging as the true goal of recovery
A Key Question This Episode Asks

What if the greatest healing Laguna Beach can offer is not money, programs, or power—but belonging?

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68762697Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:00:00 +0000William CristEpisode Description The Heart of Laguna – “From Street to Sanctuary: Faith, Healing, and the Work of Belonging” What does it take to walk with someone from life on the street back into community? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, I sit down...Episode Description

The Heart of Laguna – “From Street to Sanctuary: Faith, Healing, and the Work of Belonging”

What does it take to walk with someone from life on the street back into community? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, I sit down with Deacon Joe Seminara of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, a retired law enforcement officer whose career moved from patrol work into deep street-level outreach with people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. Joe shares how his years in a “Quality of Life” unit transformed his understanding of trauma, addiction, and the spiritual hunger beneath human suffering.

We explore the devastating realities of fentanyl, untreated mental illness, childhood trauma, and isolation—alongside the power of relationship, community, and grace. From jail ministry to street outreach to his vision for a police chaplaincy in Laguna Beach, Joe offers a grounded, hope-filled view of what real restoration looks like: not just getting people off the street, but welcoming them fully back into community.

This episode is about forgiveness already given, dignity never lost, and the radical idea that we don’t rescue people—we walk with them home.

Show Notes
Guest: Deacon Joe Seminara
Deacon, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, Laguna Beach
Retired Federal and Municipal Law Enforcement Officer (35+ years)
Former Quality of Life Unit Officer, Long Beach
Jail Ministry Leader | Street Outreach Advocate
Candidate for Laguna Beach Police Chaplain
In This Episode, We Explore:

1. From Badge to Street Ministry
35 years in law enforcement
Transition from patrol to Quality of Life outreach
Trading the uniform for a polo shirt and minivan to build trust
Working directly with:
Detox programs
Rehab centers
Mental health services
Social Security
Housing placement
Why relationship—not enforcement—creates real change
2. Trauma, Addiction, and the Reality on the Streets
Childhood trauma as a primary driver of homelessness
Domestic violence, chaos, neglect, and long-term emotional injury
Self-medication through drugs and alcohol
Why fentanyl has changed everything
48,000+ fentanyl deaths last year in the U.S.
Addiction as symptom—not identity
“People don’t start broken. They become overwhelmed.”

3. Living in the Past, Living in the Future, and the Gift of Now
Guilt as a prison of the past
Anxiety as captivity to the future
Addiction as an attempt to escape consciousness
Why sobriety requires more than detox—it requires meaning
4. Absolution, Grace, and the End of Spiritual Earning
Forgiveness isn’t granted—it’s announced
Christ forgave once, for all
The role of confession as liberation from shame
Why guilt empowers despair—but grace restores agency
The thief on the cross as the Gospel in one sentence
“You are already forgiven. The work is believing it.”

5. The Hard Road Back: Detox, Rehab, and Rebuilding Life
Detox → Rehab → Sober Living → Medical Care → ID → Income → Housing
Dental care, disability services, job placement
The critical role of consistent follow-up
“What saves people is knowing someone is still there.”
6. Why Community Is the Missing Link in Recovery
Recovery doesn’t end with shelter
Without community, relapse is almost inevitable
Why churches must become long-term spiritual homes, not just...]]>3151false15fullGrace, Guilt, and Getting Real in Laguna Beach--Fr. Will Crist and Bishop Brian Delvaux, St. Francis By the Sea Cathedral. November 19, 2025https://www.spreaker.com/episode/grace-guilt-and-getting-real-in-laguna-beach-fr-will-crist-and-bishop-brian-delvaux-st-francis-by-the-sea-cathedral-november-19-2025--68889609Episode Description

The Heart of Laguna – “Grace, Guilt, and Getting Real in Laguna Beach”

What happens when two priests ordained in 1974 sit down and talk honestly about faith, failure, calling, and community?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, I’m joined by Bishop Brian Delvaux of St. Francis Cathedral in Laguna Beach. Brian tells the story of his winding path—from Roman Catholic priest, to leaving ministry, to marriage and family life, to selling pipe and phones, and finally returning to the priesthood as bishop of a small, independent Catholic community just around the corner from St. Mary’s.

Together, we wrestle with what it means to be “real” people of faith in a divided world: how we confuse niceness with love, why disagreement is not hatred, and how guilt and fear have been used to keep people small instead of setting them free. We explore grace as God’s initiative, not a spiritual paycheck, and we ask what it would look like for Laguna Beach to become a place where people can truly listen across differences—political, religious, and cultural—and discover each other’s humanity.

If you’ve ever felt like you don’t quite fit the religious box you were handed, or you’re longing for a deeper, more spacious kind of Christian faith, this conversation is for you.

Show Notes
Guest: Bishop Brian Delvaux – Bishop of St. Francis Cathedral, an independent Catholic community on Park Avenue in Laguna Beach, California.
Former Roman Catholic priest (ordained 1974)
Husband, father, and grandfather
Longtime pastor, hospital chaplain, and teacher of adult Catholic theology

In This Episode, We Talk About:
A life-long calling with twists and turns
Brian’s early inspiration from a young priest who “poured himself out” for his community
Seminary life as a place of real people—“crazy, fun, and holy”—not plaster saints
Leaving active ministry, working in the secular world, and discovering faith from the pews
The path back into the priesthood and eventually the episcopacy in an independent Catholic context
Grace, guilt, and the end of religious infantilism
The difference between guilt that crushes and guilt that simply says, “I’m sorry.”
Moving beyond a “third-grade religion” where you earn grace by being good
Grace as God’s initiative: “You don’t get grace for helping the lady across the street; you get grace so you can help her across the street.”
Confession not as payment, but as shedding the illusion that we are unforgivable
Division, “haters,” and the poverty of niceness
Why our culture now confuses disagreement with hate
How fear of conflict leads to shallow niceness instead of deep love
The difference between being a tourist in other people’s worlds and truly entering their culture, experience, and pain
The cost—and necessity—of learning to love people we don’t agree with

Church leadership in a new age
The shift from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side” for clergy and faith leaders
Why small churches and small groups often shape history more than big institutions
Creating spiritual spaces where people can be honest, imperfect, and welcomed as they are
How an independent Catholic parish seeks to honor Catholic theology while removing unnecessary barriers to belonging

Laguna Beach as a spiritual microcosm
Laguna as a home for artists and creators who “imitate the Creator”
The town as a microcosm of humanity’s larger challenges and hopes
Signs of resilience and hope—from interfaith gatherings and shared prayer to community efforts like “Love Laguna”
The conviction that this place is not just beautiful, but capable of much more in how we love and listen to each other

Beyond stereotypes: Christians, not just labels
Seeing denominations as “table groups” within the larger Christian community
Moving from “you’re Catholic, so you must be X” / “you’re Episcopalian, so you must be Y” to real encounter
The possibility of groups, like Braver Angels, that help people with different political views move beyond caricatures into genuine relationship

Questions for Reflection
Where in your own life have you settled for “niceness” instead of real, honest, loving conversations?
What parts of your faith are still stuck at the “third-grade” level—and what would it look like to grow up spiritually?
Who have you written off as a “hater” or an enemy before you actually listened to their story?
How might you, in your corner of Laguna Beach (or wherever you live), become a facilitator of deeper listening instead of just another advocate for your side?

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68889609Wed, 19 Nov 2025 16:00:00 +0000William CristEpisode Description The Heart of Laguna – “Grace, Guilt, and Getting Real in Laguna Beach” What happens when two priests ordained in 1974 sit down and talk honestly about faith, failure, calling, and community? In this episode of The Heart of...Episode Description

The Heart of Laguna – “Grace, Guilt, and Getting Real in Laguna Beach”

What happens when two priests ordained in 1974 sit down and talk honestly about faith, failure, calling, and community?

In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, I’m joined by Bishop Brian Delvaux of St. Francis Cathedral in Laguna Beach. Brian tells the story of his winding path—from Roman Catholic priest, to leaving ministry, to marriage and family life, to selling pipe and phones, and finally returning to the priesthood as bishop of a small, independent Catholic community just around the corner from St. Mary’s.

Together, we wrestle with what it means to be “real” people of faith in a divided world: how we confuse niceness with love, why disagreement is not hatred, and how guilt and fear have been used to keep people small instead of setting them free. We explore grace as God’s initiative, not a spiritual paycheck, and we ask what it would look like for Laguna Beach to become a place where people can truly listen across differences—political, religious, and cultural—and discover each other’s humanity.

If you’ve ever felt like you don’t quite fit the religious box you were handed, or you’re longing for a deeper, more spacious kind of Christian faith, this conversation is for you.

Show Notes
Guest: Bishop Brian Delvaux – Bishop of St. Francis Cathedral, an independent Catholic community on Park Avenue in Laguna Beach, California.
Former Roman Catholic priest (ordained 1974)
Husband, father, and grandfather
Longtime pastor, hospital chaplain, and teacher of adult Catholic theology

In This Episode, We Talk About:
A life-long calling with twists and turns
Brian’s early inspiration from a young priest who “poured himself out” for his community
Seminary life as a place of real people—“crazy, fun, and holy”—not plaster saints
Leaving active ministry, working in the secular world, and discovering faith from the pews
The path back into the priesthood and eventually the episcopacy in an independent Catholic context
Grace, guilt, and the end of religious infantilism
The difference between guilt that crushes and guilt that simply says, “I’m sorry.”
Moving beyond a “third-grade religion” where you earn grace by being good
Grace as God’s initiative: “You don’t get grace for helping the lady across the street; you get grace so you can help her across the street.”
Confession not as payment, but as shedding the illusion that we are unforgivable
Division, “haters,” and the poverty of niceness
Why our culture now confuses disagreement with hate
How fear of conflict leads to shallow niceness instead of deep love
The difference between being a tourist in other people’s worlds and truly entering their culture, experience, and pain
The cost—and necessity—of learning to love people we don’t agree with

Church leadership in a new age
The shift from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side” for clergy and faith leaders
Why small churches and small groups often shape history more than big institutions
Creating spiritual spaces where people can be honest, imperfect, and welcomed as they are
How an independent Catholic parish seeks to honor Catholic theology while removing unnecessary barriers to belonging

Laguna Beach as a spiritual microcosm
Laguna as a home for artists and creators who “imitate the Creator”
The town as a microcosm of humanity’s larger...]]>3055false14fullMany Faiths, One City: How Interfaith Service Is Holding Laguna Together--Fr. Will Crist and Beth Garlock - Nov 12, 2025https://www.spreaker.com/episode/many-faiths-one-city-how-interfaith-service-is-holding-laguna-together-fr-will-crist-and-beth-garlock-nov-12-2025--68762693Episode Description

The Heart of Laguna – “Many Faiths, One City: How Interfaith Service Is Holding Laguna Together”

What happens when churches, temples, and spiritual communities stop debating doctrine and start feeding the hungry, sheltering the cold, and showing up for their city—together?
In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, I’m joined by Beth Garlock, longtime leader with the Laguna Beach Interfaith Council, whose 16+ years of service have helped shape one of the most quietly powerful networks of compassion in our city. Beth shares how a simple invitation grew into a life of interfaith service—feeding neighbors nightly, sheltering families during storms, supporting hospitality workers, organizing disaster relief, and building bridges across faith lines.

We talk about what makes Laguna uniquely kind, the hidden needs beneath the beauty, the power of shared service, and why the future of faith may rest less in belief debates and more in presence, relationship, and responsibility for the whole city.

This is a conversation about joint responsibility, practical compassion, youth, recovery from isolation, and why loving your neighbor is no longer optional—it’s survival.

Show Notes
Guest: Beth Garlock
Leader, Laguna Beach Interfaith Council
Laguna Beach resident for 26 years
16–17 years of continuous Interfaith leadership
Member, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Community organizer, disaster relief coordinator, and shelter advocate
In This Episode, We Explore:

1. How Beth Found Her Calling in Interfaith Work
Moving to Laguna Beach 26 years ago
Being mentored into Interfaith by the late Ann “Saint Anne” Richardson
Attending one meeting—and never leaving
Discovering a spiritual home in common good, not uniform belief
2. What the Interfaith Council Actually Does
Nightly community dinners for over a decade
Rotating church-based meal sponsorships
Cold Weather Shelter Program hosted by houses of worship
Collaboration with the City of Laguna Beach and Police Department
Overflow shelter for rain and cold emergencies
Ongoing cooperation with the Laguna Food Pantry
3. “Is Anyone Still Hungry in Laguna?”
The reality: Food pantry + nightly dinners + morning coffee & sandwiches
Former solo effort now sustained community-wide
A model of redundant compassion—no single point of failure
Hope that no one is falling through the cracks
4. Invisible Workers & Hidden Needs
Hospitality workers in beachfront hotels
Many commuting in daily, often under economic strain
Quiet outreach currently happening through faith partners
Christmas giving extended beyond congregations to worker families
Immigration anxieties and economic fragility addressed with dignity
5. The Power of Community Response in Crisis
Rapid Interfaith response to the Palisades Fire
Emergency permits pulled for Main Beach
Community prayer vigil, cash donations, clothing drives
The lesson: “People want to help. They just need a way in.”
6. Love Laguna & Open Service to the Whole City
Citywide volunteer day open to everyone
Families with no church affiliation joining to serve
Service as the new front door into community
Faith without barriers
7. What Makes Laguna Beach Unique
Strong culture of volunteerism
Reputation as a “Kindness City”
A rare non-judgment zone
Small-town relational feel
Deep acceptance across lifestyles, backgrounds, and beliefs
8. The Danger of “Checkbook Compassion”
Gratitude for generosity—but concern about distance from people
The irreplaceable power of:
Presence
Naming someone
Sitting with pain
Charity must stay human-sized and relational
9. COVID, Isolation, and the Crisis of Disconnection
The lingering relational damage of lockdown
Digital connection ≠ human presence
The rising urgency of face-to-face community
Churches as vital centers of embodied belonging
10. AI, the Future, and Why Faith Still Matters
The coming wave of artificial intelligence
The emerging role of religion:
Relationship
Physical presence
Human touch
Faith communities as the last non-automated spaces of meaning
11. A Radical Idea: The Entire City Is the Parish
Ancient Anglican vision: Beating the Bounds
The parish defined as geography, not membership
The Interfaith vision: “We are responsible for everyone inside the city limits.”
Hotels, hospitals, restaurants, landscapers, workers, seniors, youth—all included
12. Youth, Spiritual Hunger & a Surprising Renewal
Teens and young adults returning to spiritual life
Service as the on-ramp to belief
Faith expressed through action before affiliation
Core Themes of This Episode
Interfaith cooperation
Shared civic responsibility
Compassion without labels
Presence over politics
Service as spiritual practice
Recovery from isolation
Youth and the future of faith
A Central Question This Episode Raises

What if loving your neighbor is no longer a religious virtue—but the only way a city survives what’s coming next?

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68762693Wed, 12 Nov 2025 16:00:00 +0000William CristEpisode Description The Heart of Laguna – “Many Faiths, One City: How Interfaith Service Is Holding Laguna Together” What happens when churches, temples, and spiritual communities stop debating doctrine and start feeding the hungry, sheltering the...Episode Description

The Heart of Laguna – “Many Faiths, One City: How Interfaith Service Is Holding Laguna Together”

What happens when churches, temples, and spiritual communities stop debating doctrine and start feeding the hungry, sheltering the cold, and showing up for their city—together?
In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, I’m joined by Beth Garlock, longtime leader with the Laguna Beach Interfaith Council, whose 16+ years of service have helped shape one of the most quietly powerful networks of compassion in our city. Beth shares how a simple invitation grew into a life of interfaith service—feeding neighbors nightly, sheltering families during storms, supporting hospitality workers, organizing disaster relief, and building bridges across faith lines.

We talk about what makes Laguna uniquely kind, the hidden needs beneath the beauty, the power of shared service, and why the future of faith may rest less in belief debates and more in presence, relationship, and responsibility for the whole city.

This is a conversation about joint responsibility, practical compassion, youth, recovery from isolation, and why loving your neighbor is no longer optional—it’s survival.

Show Notes
Guest: Beth Garlock
Leader, Laguna Beach Interfaith Council
Laguna Beach resident for 26 years
16–17 years of continuous Interfaith leadership
Member, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Community organizer, disaster relief coordinator, and shelter advocate
In This Episode, We Explore:

1. How Beth Found Her Calling in Interfaith Work
Moving to Laguna Beach 26 years ago
Being mentored into Interfaith by the late Ann “Saint Anne” Richardson
Attending one meeting—and never leaving
Discovering a spiritual home in common good, not uniform belief
2. What the Interfaith Council Actually Does
Nightly community dinners for over a decade
Rotating church-based meal sponsorships
Cold Weather Shelter Program hosted by houses of worship
Collaboration with the City of Laguna Beach and Police Department
Overflow shelter for rain and cold emergencies
Ongoing cooperation with the Laguna Food Pantry
3. “Is Anyone Still Hungry in Laguna?”
The reality: Food pantry + nightly dinners + morning coffee & sandwiches
Former solo effort now sustained community-wide
A model of redundant compassion—no single point of failure
Hope that no one is falling through the cracks
4. Invisible Workers & Hidden Needs
Hospitality workers in beachfront hotels
Many commuting in daily, often under economic strain
Quiet outreach currently happening through faith partners
Christmas giving extended beyond congregations to worker families
Immigration anxieties and economic fragility addressed with dignity
5. The Power of Community Response in Crisis
Rapid Interfaith response to the Palisades Fire
Emergency permits pulled for Main Beach
Community prayer vigil, cash donations, clothing drives
The lesson: “People want to help. They just need a way in.”
6. Love Laguna & Open Service to the Whole City
Citywide volunteer day open to everyone
Families with no church affiliation joining to serve
Service as the new front door into community
Faith without barriers
7. What Makes Laguna Beach Unique
Strong culture of volunteerism
Reputation as a “Kindness City”
A rare non-judgment...]]>2862false13fullPresence Over Distance: Faith, Belonging, and the Courage to Be Seen--Fr. Will Crist and the Rev. Courtney Mackey November 5, 2025https://www.spreaker.com/episode/presence-over-distance-faith-belonging-and-the-courage-to-be-seen-fr-will-crist-and-the-rev-courtney-mackey-november-5-2025--68894295🎙 Episode Description

Presence Over Distance: Faith, Belonging, and the Courage to Be Seen
In this moving episode of The Heart of Laguna, Father Will Crist welcomes the Rev. Courtney Mackey, pastor of Laguna Beach United Methodist Church. Together, they explore what it truly means to be present in a world shaped by isolation, division, and digital distance. From Courtney’s journey to Laguna following the UMC’s historic 2024 policy change, to a powerful shared reflection on presence, community, race, hospitality, and hope—this conversation invites us back into real relationship with one another.
This is an episode about radical welcome, authentic faith, and why love of neighbor may be the most urgent spiritual practice of our time.

📝 Show Notes
Guest: Rev. Courtney Mackey Pastor, Laguna Beach United Methodist Church Community leader, theologian of presence, advocate for radical welcome

🔹 In This Episode, We Explore:
A Sacred Turning Point: Courtney and his husband, Geron, arrive in Laguna Beach following the United Methodist Church’s 2024 decision affirming same-sex marriage—finding sanctuary overlooking the Pacific.
COVID and the Loss of Presence: How the pandemic taught us to live without physical presence—and why we still haven’t fully recovered from that loss.
The Spiritual Power of Presence: Why people don’t just need answers—they need to be seen. “People may forget your sermon, but they never forget how you made them feel.”
Church Beyond the Building: Beach cleanups, food distribution, public engagement, hospitality nights, and what it means to serve outside the sanctuary.
Race, Fear, and Belonging: Courtney speaks honestly about raising Black sons in Orange County, navigating fear, and the urgent need for safe, loving community.
Jesus as the Embodiment of Presence: From the wilderness tent to the temple to the incarnation—God’s story as a story of being with.
Table Fellowship & the Lost Art of Gathering: Why eating together, reasoning together, and showing up together matters more than ever.
The Danger of Performative Religion: Authentic presence vs. “bait-and-switch” faith. Why people long for what is real.
Laguna Beach: Beauty vs. Belonging: Do people come here only for beauty—or also for kindness?
Stereotypes, Outrage & the Media Machine: How division is monetized—and how relationships dismantle fear.
Public Faith & Civic Courage: Why faith communities must show up at city council, in policy conversations, and in the real needs of neighbors.
What Gives Hope Right Now: “All means all.” From affordable housing to interfaith cooperation to a growing sense that the tide is turning.
💬 Memorable Lines from the Episode
“When we are present, there is no ‘other.’”
“The church should never go back to the same after COVID—if it does, we learned nothing.”
“People don’t need to be fixed. They need to be seen.”
“We know they are Christians by their love.”
🌊 Core Themes
Presence over performance
Radical hospitality
Belonging across differences
Faith in public life
Healing through relationship
Courage in polarized times
The Beloved Community

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68894295Wed, 05 Nov 2025 16:56:00 +0000William Crist🎙 Episode Description Presence Over Distance: Faith, Belonging, and the Courage to Be Seen In this moving episode of The Heart of Laguna, Father Will Crist welcomes the Rev. Courtney Mackey, pastor of Laguna Beach United Methodist Church. Together,...🎙 Episode Description

Presence Over Distance: Faith, Belonging, and the Courage to Be Seen
In this moving episode of The Heart of Laguna, Father Will Crist welcomes the Rev. Courtney Mackey, pastor of Laguna Beach United Methodist Church. Together, they explore what it truly means to be present in a world shaped by isolation, division, and digital distance. From Courtney’s journey to Laguna following the UMC’s historic 2024 policy change, to a powerful shared reflection on presence, community, race, hospitality, and hope—this conversation invites us back into real relationship with one another.
This is an episode about radical welcome, authentic faith, and why love of neighbor may be the most urgent spiritual practice of our time.

📝 Show Notes
Guest: Rev. Courtney Mackey Pastor, Laguna Beach United Methodist Church Community leader, theologian of presence, advocate for radical welcome

🔹 In This Episode, We Explore:
A Sacred Turning Point: Courtney and his husband, Geron, arrive in Laguna Beach following the United Methodist Church’s 2024 decision affirming same-sex marriage—finding sanctuary overlooking the Pacific.
COVID and the Loss of Presence: How the pandemic taught us to live without physical presence—and why we still haven’t fully recovered from that loss.
The Spiritual Power of Presence: Why people don’t just need answers—they need to be seen. “People may forget your sermon, but they never forget how you made them feel.”
Church Beyond the Building: Beach cleanups, food distribution, public engagement, hospitality nights, and what it means to serve outside the sanctuary.
Race, Fear, and Belonging: Courtney speaks honestly about raising Black sons in Orange County, navigating fear, and the urgent need for safe, loving community.
Jesus as the Embodiment of Presence: From the wilderness tent to the temple to the incarnation—God’s story as a story of being with.
Table Fellowship & the Lost Art of Gathering: Why eating together, reasoning together, and showing up together matters more than ever.
The Danger of Performative Religion: Authentic presence vs. “bait-and-switch” faith. Why people long for what is real.
Laguna Beach: Beauty vs. Belonging: Do people come here only for beauty—or also for kindness?
Stereotypes, Outrage & the Media Machine: How division is monetized—and how relationships dismantle fear.
Public Faith & Civic Courage: Why faith communities must show up at city council, in policy conversations, and in the real needs of neighbors.
What Gives Hope Right Now: “All means all.” From affordable housing to interfaith cooperation to a growing sense that the tide is turning.
💬 Memorable Lines from the Episode
“When we are present, there is no ‘other.’”
“The church should never go back to the same after COVID—if it does, we learned nothing.”
“People don’t need to be fixed. They need to be seen.”
“We know they are Christians by their love.”
🌊 Core Themes
Presence over performance
Radical hospitality
Belonging across differences
Faith in public life
Healing through relationship
Courage in polarized times
The Beloved Community

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>3041false12fullThe Kingdom Is Already Here: Faith, Fire, Friendship, and the Courage to Listen--Fr. Will Crist and Bp. Spencer Samuelian, October 29, 2025https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-kingdom-is-already-here-faith-fire-friendship-and-the-courage-to-listen-fr-will-crist-and-bp-spencer-samuelian-october-29-2025--68762914Episode Description

The Heart of Laguna – “The Kingdom Is Already Here: Faith, Fire, Friendship, and the Courage to Listen”

What does it look like when faith becomes a bridge instead of a boundary? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, I’m joined by Bishop Samuelian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Laguna Beach. What begins with childhood memories of wildfire devastation and sandbag lines in the canyon unfolds into a profound conversation about the nature of faith, love across religious difference, political tension, judgment, repentance, curiosity, and the quiet emergence of the Kingdom of God right here among us.

We talk about growing up in Laguna, serving in Peru, returning to raise a family, navigating religious identity in a divided world, and why the most faithful thing we can do right now may be to show up, listen deeply, serve together, and stop being afraid of one another.
This episode is about trust, courage, humility, and the radical idea that the Kingdom of God isn’t something we wait for—it’s something we participate in together, right now.

Show Notes
Guest: Bishop Spencer Samuelian
Bishop, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Laguna Beach
Laguna Beach resident and graduate of Laguna Beach High School
Returned missionary (Peru)
Husband and father of four
Community leader, youth mentor, and interfaith collaborator
In This Episode, We Explore:

1. Fire, Loss, and the Spirit of Laguna
Childhood memories of the great Laguna fires
Filling sandbags beside burned-out cars
The moment Bishop Samuelian first fell in love with this city
Fire not only as devastation—but as awakening to community
2. Growing Up Laguna
Moving from San Juan Capistrano to Laguna Beach
High school years at Laguna Beach High
The formative power of a diverse, creative, respectful town
Returning years later to raise his own children here
3. Faith Without Forcing
What it means to follow Christ without coercion
Loving others without needing to convert them
Discipleship defined by love, not argument
Respect across Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other traditions
4. Politics as a False Religion
The danger of political identity replacing spiritual identity
How fear is used to manipulate and divide
Why power cannot build the Kingdom of God
The only force that actually endures: trust
5. The Kingdom of God Is Already Here
Jesus as one who overturned empire, temple control, and violence
The Kingdom revealed through:
Individual care
Unfettered love
Presence with the suffering
The ocean as a living metaphor for the Kingdom—always here, rarely noticed
6. Judgment, Repentance, and Change
Repentance as daily transformation, not shame
Sacrament as renewal of love, not fear
Judgment not as punishment—but as awakening to truth and mercy
God as a God who says: “Do you now see? And can you still love—yourself and Me?”
7. LGBTQ+ Experience, Bullying, and Grace
Bishop Samuelian’s personal story of protecting his younger gay brother
Wrestling with faith, fear, and family
Discovering that God’s love is not rationed
Effort over perfection
Compassion as spiritual maturity
8. Curiosity as a Spiritual Discipline
Moving from convincing to listening
Creating non-anxious space for real conversation
Seeing the Holy Spirit reflected in the other
Letting go of defensive identity
9. 9/11, Mosques, and the Power of Showing Up
Father Will’s story of praying at a mosque after 9/11
Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities building homes together in Mexico
Corazón missions as shared sacred work
The haunting moment of a Jewish tank commander and a Muslim civilian discovering each other across history
The conclusion they reached: “This insanity has to stop.”
10. COVID, Youth, and Courageous Service
Teen boys risking exposure to deliver food to seniors
Fear transformed into service
How crisis dismantles generational walls
How shared danger reawakens shared humanity
11. Isolation vs. Incarnation
How COVID normalized disembodied faith
The danger of:
Worship without presence
Community without touch
Why the future of spiritual life depends on real gathering
12. Love, Share, Invite
A model of community that resists fear
Love without condition
Share without transaction
Invite without pressure
Friendship before affiliation
13. Laguna’s Deep Strengths & Real Risks
Extraordinary beauty and diversity
Economic strain and housing pressure
Ideological polarization
The quiet danger of people no longer speaking honestly
Why silence—not disagreement—is the real threat
14. Service as the Bridge Across Difference
Why serving together is the fastest way to rebuild trust
Why kindness transforms political enemies into human beings
Why the spirit always shows up when hands start working
Core Themes of This Episode
The Kingdom of God
Trust across religious difference
Faith without fear
Repentance as growth
Service as sacred language
Courageous listening
Friendship as holy ground
A Central Question This Episode Raises

What if the Kingdom of God is not something we are waiting for—but something we are already standing in, together, right now?

About the Show
The Heart of Laguna is a weekly conversation from KXFM in Laguna Beach. Each episode explores what holds us together when the world feels like it’s coming apart—through stories, spirit, and service from the soul of the city.🎙 New episodes every Wednesday morning on KXFM at 8:00. ]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68762914Wed, 29 Oct 2025 15:00:00 +0000William CristEpisode Description The Heart of Laguna – “The Kingdom Is Already Here: Faith, Fire, Friendship, and the Courage to Listen” What does it look like when faith becomes a bridge instead of a boundary? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, I’m...Episode Description

The Heart of Laguna – “The Kingdom Is Already Here: Faith, Fire, Friendship, and the Courage to Listen”

What does it look like when faith becomes a bridge instead of a boundary? In this episode of The Heart of Laguna, I’m joined by Bishop Samuelian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Laguna Beach. What begins with childhood memories of wildfire devastation and sandbag lines in the canyon unfolds into a profound conversation about the nature of faith, love across religious difference, political tension, judgment, repentance, curiosity, and the quiet emergence of the Kingdom of God right here among us.

We talk about growing up in Laguna, serving in Peru, returning to raise a family, navigating religious identity in a divided world, and why the most faithful thing we can do right now may be to show up, listen deeply, serve together, and stop being afraid of one another.
This episode is about trust, courage, humility, and the radical idea that the Kingdom of God isn’t something we wait for—it’s something we participate in together, right now.

Show Notes
Guest: Bishop Spencer Samuelian
Bishop, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Laguna Beach
Laguna Beach resident and graduate of Laguna Beach High School
Returned missionary (Peru)
Husband and father of four
Community leader, youth mentor, and interfaith collaborator
In This Episode, We Explore:

1. Fire, Loss, and the Spirit of Laguna
Childhood memories of the great Laguna fires
Filling sandbags beside burned-out cars
The moment Bishop Samuelian first fell in love with this city
Fire not only as devastation—but as awakening to community
2. Growing Up Laguna
Moving from San Juan Capistrano to Laguna Beach
High school years at Laguna Beach High
The formative power of a diverse, creative, respectful town
Returning years later to raise his own children here
3. Faith Without Forcing
What it means to follow Christ without coercion
Loving others without needing to convert them
Discipleship defined by love, not argument
Respect across Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other traditions
4. Politics as a False Religion
The danger of political identity replacing spiritual identity
How fear is used to manipulate and divide
Why power cannot build the Kingdom of God
The only force that actually endures: trust
5. The Kingdom of God Is Already Here
Jesus as one who overturned empire, temple control, and violence
The Kingdom revealed through:
Individual care
Unfettered love
Presence with the suffering
The ocean as a living metaphor for the Kingdom—always here, rarely noticed
6. Judgment, Repentance, and Change
Repentance as daily transformation, not shame
Sacrament as renewal of love, not fear
Judgment not as punishment—but as awakening to truth and mercy
God as a God who says: “Do you now see? And can you still love—yourself and Me?”
7. LGBTQ+ Experience, Bullying, and Grace
Bishop Samuelian’s personal story of protecting his younger gay brother
Wrestling with faith, fear, and family
Discovering that God’s love is not rationed
Effort over perfection
Compassion as spiritual maturity
8. Curiosity as a Spiritual Discipline
Moving from convincing to listening
Creating non-anxious space for real conversation
Seeing the Holy Spirit reflected in the other
Letting go of...]]>3023false11full