Everywhere You Are

Everywhere You Are
by Rachel Langston

As we worked our way back to full, on-campus activities in 2021, Dawson's ministry teams were confronted with the reality of ministering in the midst of a pandemic that didn't seem to be going away any time soon. During that time, Kristen Torres, Dawson’s Minister to Women, met and prayed with members of the Women’s Ministry leadership teams to visualize what that might look like moving forward.

As the leaders continued to talk and brainstorm, Kristen knew she wanted to think of ways to develop a stronger online presence for women to provide a place to engage, equip, and encourage them to live freely in Christ. Before long, the idea of a podcast came up. In today’s online culture, it’s the perfect tool for meeting women of all ages, situations, and locations. From there, steps were taken to recruit a podcast production team—Becca Jenkins, Sarah Morlandt, and myself. As we began to pray and meet to discuss the content, goals emerged, as well as a podcast title, “Everywhere You Are.”

GOAL 1:
Meet women where they are.

There are many women on Dawson's campus regularly, but the reality is that busy schedules keep us from seeing everyone every week. How could we communicate with people who may not attend activities on campus all the time? A podcast is accessible to everyone, can be produced inexpensively, and has the potential to reach anyone with access to the internet or a smartphone. Our first goal is to meet women where they currently are and be in a place where women of all stages of life can easily find us and become engaged.

GOAL 2:
Establish connections between women.

In a large church like Dawson, it can be harder to meet other people outside of your own small group of women or other people you already know. Our second goal is for the podcast to provide opportunities for women to meet other women who they might not normally encounter. Younger listeners will have the chance to hear about life experiences from older women and vice versa. Perhaps, hearing about a certain set of circumstances will be helpful to someone else in those same situations. Let's establish these new connections with each other and keep them going.

GOAL 3:
Tell stories of God using ordinary women.

Too often, women believe that their own experiences or individual spiritual journeys are not interesting or worth sharing with others. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Another important goal for the podcast is to tell as many stories as there are to tell. And these stories, told by ordinary women just like you and me, will highlight each person's relationship with Jesus. Is God still at work changing hearts and lives through extraordinary circumstances? Absolutely! And right here at Dawson!

GOAL 4:
Cultivate a sense of community.

At the very least, our podcast will serve to provide its listeners with a sense of belonging. Women who follow Jesus should be actively encouraging one another in the Lord, and the podcast will provide encouragement on-demand for all who listen.

It’s one thing to have an idea, a name, and goals for a podcast but it’s quite another to create an actual product. We started by establishing an episode template that includes an opening, an introduction, main content, and a closing. Each episode is approximately 30 to 40 minutes long and includes a conversation between two hosts and two or three guests. Conversations have already been recorded with pairs of women from Dawson's staff and several wives of staff members. Those episodes are available to listen to now. Each episode will close with a thought to ponder from that episode’s conversation and a prayer, based on Colossians 3:15–17.

Going forward, guests for each new episode will include Dawson women who are willing to share gospel-centered stories and experiences. All of our interviews are conducted as round-table conversations and are based on a series of questions about how God is working in and through women throughout our community. New podcasts will be available each month on all major podcast platforms. We are excited about how God will use this new tool as we serve women everywhere they are.

If you have a gospel-centered story or experience, we would love to hear from you! For more information, please contact Kristen Torres at ktorres@dawsonchurch.org. Find our podcast here.

Rachel Langston serves as Dawson’s Social Media and Livestream Coordinator. When she’s not at work, she enjoys listening to true crime podcasts, traveling, and Mexican food. She and her husband, Kevin, have two children, Grant and Raines.