This isn't an easy post to write, but the time has come. Echo Zoe Radio needs a change.
When Echo Zoe Radio started, back in 2008, it was one of the first Christian podcasts that WASN'T produced by a pastor, well-known parachurch ministry, or Christian radio host. At the time, it was relatively easy to reach out to well-known people for interviews. Requests often received “sure, let's do it” responses. And by not focusing on “big name” guests, it was rarely difficult to come up with the next episode. While Echo Zoe Ministries has developed many wonderful and valuable friendships over the past 16 years, the world of podcasting has changed a lot. There are countless other podcasts to choose from now, and many of them are fantastic!1 The challenge for Echo Zoe Radio has been that the many other shows out there doing similar things has made guest procurement much more difficult. Their time is valuable, and they often face the prospect of one good interview resulting in a bunch of requests from others for more. It has made the format much more difficult to keep up with.
When I first started, Echo Zoe Radio was a personal add-on to a personal blog. It wasn't until a few years later that Echo Zoe Ministries was incorporated and filed for tax-exempt status. (A move that I've recently been questioning, but that's another discussion.) The first few episodes were produced and published without any expectation that it would become a regular thing. Doing the show monthly, as opposed to more frequently, was always an intentional choice deliberately made to make things much easier to sustain on a regular and predictable basis.
Furthermore, the underlying motivations were always based on two particular goals. The first goal was always to glorify God. It was always meant to be grounded in the Scripture and solid doctrine. The second goal was to build a library of resources for my kids to access as they get older and have questions. My oldest was just a year old when the podcast started, and now has only a year of High School remaining. He's reaching the age I always had in mind for the library I would be building. If he were to have questions about Biblical doctrines that are challenged within the “Christian Community” and from outside, or wonder about what certain cultish groups believed and taught, I always wanted to be able to tell him “I interviewed someone about that, go listen to this…”
Over sixteen years after that first episode about Open Theism, I've built a library that I'm happy with. The goal of glorifying God has helped to ensure a timeless collection of resources that I can not only be comfortable pointing my kids to, but can also look forward to sharing with grandkids some day.
It's June, 2024. I've been doing episodes nearly every month since May, 2008. I missed a few in 2012 while on a family trip out of state so my son could receive cancer treatments. I've missed a handful of other episodes since then too. Just this year, there was no March or May episode, and it remains to be seen if there will be a June episode. Nevertheless, I think there have been about a half-dozen times that a month ended without a new podcast episode over that sixteen years.
I don't raise this to say that the podcast is going away. I haven't yet come to that decision. I raise it to say that it will be changing. I can't see how it can continue as it has thus far. I don't yet know how it will be changing though. I pray that the Lord will show me how I can continue to serve Him, to His glory, through Echo Zoe Ministries. There are some things that I've long wanted to do, but with a limited amount of time have not yet pursued. I may further consider some of those ideas. Things like short videos. The topics could range from theological concepts to church history, or something else entirely (I'm open to suggestions.)
Another idea I've been open to considering is more of a host/co-host format. Rather than finding a new guest every month, I'd be open to doing a show together with someone else on a consistent and regular basis. I don't know who that would be though. Or how often. Or what we'd discuss. I just know that it would be easier to connect with one person consistently than to try to find a different person every time. Of course the option of having a guest could always remain.
There's a lot more I could say, but I'll leave with a prayer request. Pray that the Lord would show me how I can continue using Echo Zoe Ministries to His glory. Maybe He can simply rejuvenate the podcast as it is, and continue to sustain it. Or maybe Has something else for me.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Andy
1 Seriously, go check out the Christian Podcast Community. Many of my best friends in ministry are fellow podcasters with shows on the CPC. The shows over there are every bit as good as (I think) Echo Zoe Radio is. In fact, most of them are better.
