Living Real Radio

If you visit St. Philip Church in Franklin during the week, you occasionally might overhear snippets of friendly banter and music interspersed with lively discussions about faith. It’s where St. Philip staffers Greg Walton, John Angotti, and Julianne Staley, along with Holy Family parishioner Robert Feduccia, record their Living Real radio show. The show, which has been running on the Hippie Radio 94.5 channel since August 2018, seeks to provide a space where Catholics can share their everyday faith life with audiences who otherwise might not listen to religious radio programming. Hence the title “Living Real.”

            Living Real originally was not the hosts’ idea. This past summer, St. Philip parishioners Tony and Leann Didier, who own the Hippie Radio 94.5 network, a secular channel, approached St. Philip Music Director Angotti and asked him if he’d be interested in broadcasting an hour-long radio show on Sunday mornings. He agreed and in turn got Walton, Staley, and Feduccia involved. “John told me, ‘I’ve got something exciting for you and you’ll thank me,”’ said Greg Walton, Electronic Evangelization Coordinator at St. Philip. He and Angotti, both musicians, decided to bring St. Philip Youth Catechesis Coordinator Staley and renowned Catholic speaker Feduccia onboard to share their unique perspectives on faith. The first episode aired August 19, 2018.

Walton and Angotti were especially interested in the idea of sharing the Gospel message with a widespread audience. “For the most part, the only people listening to exclusively Catholic radio are Catholics,” Walton explained. “John and I often talk about ways to build a bridge between the Catholic Church and non-church people. The Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes emphasizes that the mission of Jesus in the world belongs to the lay people and stresses the importance of having dialogue with the modern world. We saw this as a prime opportunity to bust out of the Catholic bubble and live that mission in a unique way.” To Walton’s knowledge, Living Real is the only Catholic-themed radio show that airs on a secular station.

The show, which airs 8-9 am every Sunday, features a guest and discussion topic, along with music, in a laid-back, conversational atmosphere. Past guests have included St. Philip pastors Frs. Gervan Menezes and Bala Marneni, Bishop Mark Spalding, and musicians Steve Angrisano, the Annie Moses Band, and Clay Walker. Sometimes the show covers hot-button issues in the Church, such as the sex abuse crisis and the loss of faith among young adults. But most often, Living Real showcases the guests’ personal experiences with faith and belief. The most popular episode so far, for example, was centered on the Annie Moses Band’s family conversion story from the Church of Christ to Catholicism. In the future, Living Real’s hosts hope to feature musician Matt Maher and Catholic author Matthew Kelly.

All the show’s guests are acquainted with the hosts in some way, shape or form. “We get most of our guests from our own encounters,” Walton explained. “Half our guests attend St. Philip. John, Robert and I all travel quite a bit doing itinerant ministry. We meet a lot of interesting people.”

The St. Philip parish community has been very supportive of the Living Real show. “People stop me regularly at St. Philip to thank us for doing the show and share what they enjoyed about it. I’ve never received any negative feedback,” Walton said. “Franklin is the central residence for a lot of musical artists, so the parish has been a great source for some our guests: Clay Walker, Jared Weeks of Saving Abel, Tyler Chiarelli of Florida Georgia Line and Cimorelli. I’ve rigged our system so remote guests can connect over Skype. It takes financial support as well. Airtime costs money. The show was initially underwritten by World Library Publications. Currently, St. Philip parishioner owned Closets by Design of Nashville is our sponsor.”

So far, Living Real has been promoted through radio, through word of mouth and on social media, with plans to expand that in the future. “Hippie Radio creates liners for each upcoming episode. They begin airing them on Thursday up to the broadcast on Sunday morning,” Walton said. “We have our own link on the St. Philip website that goes to the Living Real section of our Media Page, StPhilipFranklin.com/living/. The page features our SoundCloud playlist with the latest episode on top. We do weekly updates about the newest podcast and upcoming broadcast on the St. Philip Facebook Page, Twitter, the Living Real Facebook page and FlockNote. We run a regular cycling promotion through the St. Philip hall TV’s and do a weekend announcement and parish bulletin post when there is room. We plan to get the word out to our neighboring parishes in the diocese, including a weekly blurb for the Diocesan E Register.”

            Walton’s favorite part of co-hosting the show is getting to know guests and learning about their diverse backgrounds. “I’m inspired by the perspectives of our guests, most of whom are in our own backyard,” he said. “It reflects the variety in the Body of Christ: Tolkien experts, working musicians, seminarians, youth, former shock jocks. I’m amazed at how their progress in faith has shaped their lives in the mainstream.”

He strongly encourages all who are interested to listen the show on Sunday mornings. “To quote our parish’s patron saint, ‘Come and see!’” Walton said. “Join us on Living Real Radio as we focus on faith, real life and real issues, featuring special guests, thought provoking topics and inspiring music.”

Those wanting to listen can tune into 94.5 FM from 8-9 am on Sunday mornings. Those wanting to listen to past episodes can find them through Apple Podcasts, on SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/stphilipfranklin/sets/living-real-radio, or St. Philip’s media website at  https://stphilipfranklin.com/media/.