Photo courtesy of Saint-Marguerite de Youville Church
Atlanta
By Natalia Duron, Staff Writer | Issued on May 29, 2024
LAWRENCEVILLE — Bishop Bernard E. Schlesinger III recently blessed the launch of a media website for deacons and parishioners, and the duo’s first digital project is a podcast that explores the intersection of the everyday and the spiritual.
Deacon Pete Ranft, who also serves as development and communications director for Catholic World Mission, and Dr. Grace Charles, parish life coordinator, are parishioners of St. Marguerite de Youville Church in Lawrenceville. They asked Bishop Schlesinger to bless the project after parish Mass on March 16, and the bishop said he has enjoyed some of the podcast episodes.
Charles and Deacon Ranft teamed up to start a nonprofit media company called Catholic Grace, Inc., in August of last year. After much deliberation, the co-founders decided to launch the company with a podcast that was different from most spiritual talk shows.
Titled “Pete Speaks with Grace,” the dynamic duo spends about an hour each episode exploring, with humor and thought, the rituals of everyday life intertwined with the journey of Catholic faith.
The first episode, “Spiritual Intelligence in an AI World,” was released in January on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. There are now 13 episodes available to stream.
The hosts said their podcast was designed to appeal to non-practicing Catholics who have lost their faith, or, in Charles’ words, “people who never attend Mass and abstain from meat on Fridays in Lent.”
“A lot of people who need to encounter Jesus aren’t in church right now, so we meet them where they are through our channels.” Deacon Ranft said.
A major focus of “Pete Speaks with Grace” is to present the Gospel to Catholics from two different perspectives — the secular Deacon Ranft and the mystical Charles, Deacon Ranft said. Different perspectives provide theological answers to everyday questions, piquing the interest of inquiring Catholics.
“I talk about everyday life ideas, and Grace brings the theological credibility we need,” Deacon Ranft said.
Episode topics are developed from normal conversation, Charles said. Deacon Ranft recalled a time when the two were driving past a restaurant and curiously asked Charles what he thought Jesus would eat. Charles responded with a biblical account of human consumption at the time. This structure, Deacon Ranft said, is “exactly how a podcast works.”
While the pair enjoy laughing and joking during the show, they also understand that their work is important to spreading the Gospel. Through social media and marketing, they’ve been able to reach beyond their parish and into the world. Though they hope to reach people who don’t attend Mass, the series is useful for all Catholics.
The two plan to grow Catholic Grace through new side projects, including creating formation programs, a digital channel for teens and inviting clergy and special guests on programming.
“Everyone has a different story and different reasons why they don’t practice their faith,” Charles says. “Most of them don’t realize how intertwined their faith and their lives are, which is why we keep doing this podcast.”
