South Carolina Advocate Illustration
South Carolina Advocate | January 23, 2026
Jesus preached to thousands on hillsides and by the sea. John the Baptist took to the Jordan River and the wilderness. John Wesley’s open-air preaching once found him standing atop his father’s tombstone to reach the crowds.
Today, thanks to the internet’s capacity to draw audiences from around the world, blogs, YouTube videos and TikTok testimonies are transforming hearts and lives.
Now, some pastors in South Carolina are using the popularity and widespread reach of podcasts to widen the net.
Two Greenwood pastors—the Revs. Jason Wilson and Robby Lybrand—have started a Two Pastors podcast to explore conversations about life, faith and everything in between. And one Columbia pastor, the Rev. Jeri-Katherine Warden Sipes, is launching a short kids’ Lent Podcast to help elementary-aged children strengthen and explore their spirituality.
“We spend so much time in the car—why not use this time to be productive and have this moment in a world of chaos?” Sipes said.
She often listens to short podcasts with her three elementary-aged sons and knows firsthand how impactful that time can be, and she wants other families to have that same opportunity.
Lybrand says podcasts are relatively simple and extremely flexible.
“It is easier as far as the equipment and setup needs as well as editing requirements, and it gives the listener a chance to listen when it works for them instead of having to be in a certain location at a certain time,” he said. “It also gives us the ability to reach people further off. We have listeners not only in South Carolina, but also North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Minnesota and New York, based off of Spotify analytics. Those are all people that we would otherwise probably not reach.”
Two Pastors: Wrestling with Real Questions
Wilson serves as senior pastor and Lybrand as associate pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church, a two-campus large church in Greenwood. But they have a deep friendship that goes beyond serving their church.
“We’re buddies,” Lybrand said; they and their wives spend time hanging out and doing life together.
Once a quarter, their church brings both campuses and all four worship services together for one big combined service, and Wilson and Lybrand preach that service together. Wilson said they discovered they have a unique, helpful way of counterbalancing each other that leads to a deeper, more thought-provoking message. The congregation noticed that, too.
“People were like, ‘Y’all mesh so well and feed off each other so well—y’all should think about doing a podcast,’” Wilson said.
Wilson, who is decidedly not tech-savvy, looked to Lybrand, who he calls their “tech guy.”
“Holy cow, do not ever give that boy an idea you don’t want him to take serious.” Wilson laughed. “Within a week, that joker sent me an email: ‘This is what we need to do, the equipment we need to have, and the good news is we have all the equipment and I can get us set up on Spotify.’”
Their first episode dropped Jan. 7, with a new episode every Wednesday at noon.
“I thought it was a cool opportunity,” Lybrand said. “It fired me up to have an opportunity to let people hear us talk about life and our faith and how we navigate this stuff.”
Wilson and Lybrand say the podcast gives them the chance to talk about faith matters that go beyond what they normally discuss in sermons.
Their Jan. 14 topic discussed the Buddhist monks’ Walk for Peace that took them from Texas through South Carolina en route to Washington, D.C. Another explored the ways we talk to one another and how our words can both help and hurt. Future episodes will tackle everything from whether our pets will be in heaven to finding the sacred in the secular.
Wilson said the feedback has been positive. “We’ve kind of been surprised people are actually listening to this,” he said. “We thought maybe our moms would, but it’s heartening to know other people seem to appreciate it.”
They’re heeding any constructive criticism they receive and trying to grow and create as best as they can.
“It really is fun to sit at one end of the table and talk about our lives and talk about how life and faith collide,” Wilson said.
Lybrand agreed. He thinks it’s helpful for people to understand that even pastors explore faith matters and are not perfectly enlightened and wise on all matters of theology, and exploring new perspectives is something all of us should do.
“Sometimes people get this idea that pastors have it all together, have it all figured out, have an answer to everything, and hopefully if they hear us wrestle with ideas, they’ll realize they’re not the only ones who don’t have it all figured out,” Lybrand said.
“We want people to know everyone has questions and everyone has doubts,” Wilson added. “None of us are exempt from the stuff of life. Maybe we can offer a word of encouragement—this is something we’ve experienced, we’ve been through. We’re not sure it’s right, but we’re all working through life trying to follow after Jesus.”
They plan to do one podcast a week for the year, then assess where they are. They’re actively recruiting topics to discuss. People can either email them with topic ideas at 2pastorspodcast@gmail.com or fill out this form at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9TWSNW6.
To find their podcast, go to “Two Pastors” on Spotify, iHeart Radio or Amazon Music or “Two Pastors Robby Lybrand Jason Wilson” on Apple Podcasts.
Kids’ Lent Podcast: A Short Sabbath Moment
Sipes, a United Methodist elder, is currently serving as the director of children and family ministries at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, and she has a heart for reaching children in new ways beyond what we do on Sundays.
After all, she said, “We only get families for one hour a week, and you can only do so much faith formation in one hour.”
As the mom of three boys ages 6, 9 and 11, she also understands how important it is that parents find creative ways to make time for faith exploration in everyday life.
She said she often listens to short storytelling podcasts with her kids when driving to practices and going to and from school.
“We spend an obscene amount of time in the car, but we can use that time,” Sipes said, noting the time is a sabbath moment in a world of constant rushing. “It’s just a small moment, and you have a captive audience in the car. They’re not going anywhere, you’re not going anywhere, and you can listen to this story and have a five minute conversation.”
She felt like a Lent podcast would help kids understand the real reason behind the season and its culmination on Easter. Just five minutes in length, the podcast would help pique their curiosity and nurture spiritual growth.
“Eighty percent make up their minds about faith before age 12,” Sipes said. “The stage of spiritual development parallels the academic and physical. By third grade, you kind of know where you are on this. So we have to take these years very seriously—how do we as parents use the space we are in?”
She said her kids like it, and the fact that it’s short makes it palatable.
“Kids have so many questions about the serpent, and Adam and Eve, and were they the only ones, and you don’t have to have all the answers and come at it factually. It’s really just sitting with wonder and curiosity. It’s just this moment in our world of chaos where we can come back to the truth of these stories and see how God is there through it all, from the very beginning.”
Sipes likes to use a calm voice in her podcasts, which makes it a little different from other kids’ ministry outreach efforts.
“Sometimes we try with kids curriculum to make it flashy and cool. Let’s just sit with a story without all the flashing lights, with calmer storytelling and calm music,” she said.
She also has an Advent podcast, “From the Stars to the Stable,” in the same vein. She’s planning a companion series to help parents dive deeper and connect with their children in better ways, along with Advent companion books.
Find both of Sipes' podcasts on Spotify. The Lent podcast will be on Spotify beginning Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18; search for “From Dust to Dawn.” For the Advent podcast, From the Stars to the Stable, go here.
Jessica Brodie
Jessica Brodie is editor of the South Carolina Advocate, news publication of the South Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.