When the national shutdown that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic strained communications efforts, St. George Episcopal Church in The Villages sprang into action, developing a strategy to keep church members connected. To that end, the church launched the “Musings on Faith” podcast, which has quickly gained popularity, in the fall of 2020.

Marry Ann DeSantis & LaVerne Collins

The show, hosted by Mary Ann DeSantis and produced by LaVerne Collins, centers on a variety of subjects of interest to church members, including daily prayers, healing, Pentecost and the parables of Jesus.

Under the leadership of The Rev. John Kelly, who retired as rector this January, the communications team at St. George originally formed to discern ways for new means of connection. As they brainstormed the idea for a podcast, the team asked DeSantis if she would be interested in hosting.

“For some reason, they liked my voice, and I’m the only Southerner in the bunch,” she said.

Soon, DeSantis and Collins were on the fast track to creating what has become a lively and engaging series of shows. The two studied other church and mainstream podcasts to develop the best show they could.

“This is going to sound funny because I’m a senior citizen, but I’m not that tech savvy; everybody seems to think I am,” Collins said. “You’re never too old to learn something new.”

Beyond learning how to do the podcast, DeSantis said the podcasts inform her spiritually, and she continues to discover nuggets she never knew before. “Every time we do a podcast, I learn something new,” she said.

DeSantis, who has been an Episcopalian since her 20s, added that “there was a lot of history I didn’t know.”

The format of the shows, which average around 20 minutes in length to maintain listeners’ interest, has also evolved as more people have tuned in and ideas have formed.

“I think the first ones we did were on the parables,” DeSantis said. “That was more of a lecture because this started during COVID. We were trying to – since we couldn’t do Bible study – come up with ways we could fill in and enrich our parishioners’ spiritual lives.”

Since the early podcasts, the show has morphed into a more interactive interview-style format, frequently featuring The Rev. Ed Bartle, associate rector; The Rev. Beth Hall, assistant to the rector; and The Rev. Nancy Bryson, deacon.

Collins recently sat down with The Rt. Rev. Greg Brewer, the current bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, for more recordings. The series of episodes from that conversation began releasing the week of July 5. Click here to listen to the first “Musings on Faith” episode with Bishop Brewer. Click here for the second episode.

Another recent guest, The Rev. Marnie Silk Wright, took part in a discussion on Pentecost, which DeSantis called “one of my favorites.” DeSantis said it was particularly helpful for parishioners who came to The Episcopal Church from other faith traditions.

“We were able to get to go into ‘What does Pentecost mean?’” she said. “‘Why are the colors what they are?’ We have a lot of people at St. George who did not grow up in The Episcopal Church. We have a large number who are former Roman Catholics, so they understand that. But I think it’s very helpful to learn what’s going on and why, and to understand more deeply the spiritual connections to the things we do.”

“Musings on Faith,” although focused on St. George and the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, has reached listeners in more than 20 geographic locations, including Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, India, Belgium, New Zealand, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Malaysia, Anguilla, Switzerland, the Philippines, Spain, Ghana, Brazil and the Czech Republic. The church has tracked more than 16,527 plays of its podcast.

At first, Collins admits she was nervous of how the clergy would respond to “Musings on Faith.” Since it has grown in popularity, however, she’s noticed a growing excitement about it, with church leaders frequently offering assistance.

“Now they reach out to us with ideas,” DeSantis said. “Father will see me and after service say, ‘Let’s do a podcast on healing’ or ‘Let’s do a podcast on this subject.’”

The “Musings on Faith” podcast is available on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts and other podcast platforms.