Sarah Bessey: Faith That Survives

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler

Everything Happens Studios

Health & Fitness, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

4.8 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What happens when the faith that once held you starts to unravel? When the certainty you clung to turns to dust? Sarah Bessey knows what it’s like to watch faith fall apart—and somehow find something more honest, more spacious, more real on the other side. In this Holy Week conversation, Kate and Sarah talk about what it means to sit in the wilderness of uncertainty, to be in the company of unanswered prayers, and to discover that faith was never about having it all figured out. If you’ve ever felt like you don’t belong in the faith you once knew, if you’ve ever wondered whether there’s still room for you here—this conversation is for you. In this conversation, Kate and Sarah discuss:

Why faith is meant to evolve–and why certainty was never the goal
The grief of spiritual disillusionment and what comes after
The beauty (and cost) of trying to be faithful together
Why God is not just in the light, but in the dark, too.

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, is this an okay time?
0:03.2	It's your girl Dylan Mulvaney, and I am inviting you to my weekly cocktail party and my brand new podcast, The Dylan Hour, brought to you by Lemonada Media.
0:12.3	Life is stressful and there is so much darkness in the world, I think we could all use a little bit of trans joy.
0:18.0	So join me every week as I interview some of my favorite A-list celebrity friends
0:22.4	and gurus and, of course, the dolls, while we sip and spill the scalding hot tea. So put your
0:28.4	worries aside and join me at the Dillon Hour. You can listen on Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get
0:33.2	your podcasts. Love you. Hi, everyone. I'm David DeCovny. Join me on my podcast, Fail Better, where we use failure
0:42.2	as a lens to reflect on the past and analyze the current moment. I speak with makers and
0:47.5	performers like Rob Lowe, Rosie O'Donnell, and Kenya Barris, as well as thinkers like
0:52.3	Kara Swisher and Nate Silver, to understand how both
0:55.6	personal setbacks and larger forces impact our world. Listen to fail better, wherever you get your
1:01.6	podcasts. Have you ever felt the sting of church hurt? How about the ache of disillusionment?
1:11.6	Or do you ever ask yourself,
1:14.6	Hey, is there even still room for me?
1:17.6	In a faith that I once held very dear?
1:21.6	If any of these things ring true, this conversation is just for you. My name is Kate Bowler, and this is Everything
1:30.7	Happens. I asked my friend and fellow Canadian Sarah Bessie to join me for this delicate topic
1:38.6	on this delicate week. Sarah, of course, is a writer and speaker, and by her own admission, a church lady at heart.
1:48.0	Sarah grew up in evangelical and charismatic churches, and if that sounds like just gibberish to you,
1:55.6	that is absolutely okay. Professor Kate is here reporting for duty.
2:04.1	Evangelicalism is not just a denomination. It's an umbrella term for a movement that is very Bible-focused, very conversion-focused, and very focused
2:12.3	on the death and resurrection of Jesus as salvation for your sins. And about 40% of Americans have found themselves in the
	...

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