Photos from Pepperdine Spiritual Life Blogcast website
The Office of the Chaplain started season two of the Spiritual Life Blogcast.
The blogcast — a combination of a podcast and a blog — features students, alumni, faculty and guests of Pepperdine who write or speak about the spiritual life at Pepperdine. Chaplain of Pepperdine Sara Barton has guests lined up for season two of the blogcast.
Leading contemporary artist Makoto Fujimura and founder of Homeboy Industries Father Gregory Boyle will be featured in season two of the blogcast, Barton said.
“The blogcast is an opportunity for people to listen and to read into what God is doing in the community, and how people are living out the Kingdom of God around the world,” Assistant Chaplain Lauren Begert said.
The Spiritual Life Blogcast was launched Jan. 1. The first guest on the show was President Emeritus Andrew K. Benton.
“Part of my job as the university chaplain is to connect the community university-wide,” Barton said. “I saw the need university-wide to come together around spiritual life topics.”
Hope Mueller graduated from Seaver College in 2019. She was the first woman to graduate from the Christopher Parking classical guitar program. Mueller talked about her academic journey as a woman and her spiritual journey on the episode of the blogcast she was featured on.
“It was a unique opportunity to share my story and reflect on my spiritual journey,” Mueller said. “It was a great way to honor everyone who has helped me along the way.”
The blogcast is not only for Seaver faculty, but for members of all areas of the Pepperdine community.
“The main audience for the blogcast is the Pepperdine community,” Barton said. “When I ask questions to guests on the podcast, I ask them to talk about what Pepperdine is doing for spiritual life.”
Season two began Sept. 4. The first episode of the podcast featured President Jim Gash and First Lady Joline Gash. They discussed their spiritual journal.
Guests on the shows are chosen in various ways. The Pepperdine Alumni Affairs Office can nominate people for the show, or Pepperdine faculty who work with writers can nominate the writers to create a blog post, Barton said.
“We have a lot of good writers in the Pepperdine community, and I saw this as an opportunity for them to write about spiritual life,” Barton said. “We featured more Seaver College writers in season one, but in season two, I want to make it a point to get more writers from Pepperdine School of Law, Graduate School of Education and Psychology and our other professional schools.”
Senior Olivia Robinson was featured on season one of the blogcast. In the episode, she spoke about her TEDx talk.
“I really enjoy how Sara and the guests on the podcast are really genuine,” Robinson said. “I hope the blogcast will continue to amplify the voices of people that associate with Pepperdine.”
The Spiritual Life Blogcast is available now on the Office of the Chaplain’s website, on Apple Podcasts, or on Spotify.
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Email Hadley Biggs: hadley.biggs@pepperdine.edu
