Three months ago, I hit “upload” on the first episode of Chapel Probation. I had no idea if anyone would listen. I had no idea what I was doing. I threw way too much music into the first three or four episodes, trying to distinguish myself from all the great podcasts out there. I knew that as an Asian American man, I had to be extra unique, if anyone outside of family and friends was going to listen. The professor/teacher in me used the This American Life style of storytelling with me breaking in to provide background, context, or humor. Each episode was me learning by doing. Mic choice, mic placement, which plugins to use, how to mix and master to bring the often quiet interviews up to broadcast level, it was all just me listening, editing out rough patches, figuring out how to edit out Geri and Naomi screaming in the background, working on custom sound cues and fake advertisements, getting my son Ethan and his friends to scream at the top of their lungs for Episode 2…it was kind of awesome. I found something I really love doing.
Ultimately, I learned how to take a conversation and craft it into a narrative. The most common response from the guests is surprise at the build up of emotions because to them, they were just answering questions and telling stories. That is the product of listening closely and editing.
I feel like I’m just getting started, but here we are near the end of season 1. Just one more episode and then it’s back to concentrating on writing a book. And for you stat-minded folks, Episodes 1 and 2 of Chapel Probation have well over 500 listens with the rest jumping up into the high 300’s and growing steadily. Over 4100 total listens.
So this week’s episode is the final part of the Haven trilogy with next week going back to the first part. Glenda McDannel was a freshman in my Freshman Writing Seminar, and we kept in touch all through her time at APU. She even babysat for our kids. Once Liz Cirelli and her group of leaders left, Glenda and her friends took over just as Haven was emerging as a known entity at APU. And it got ugly.
Change is always hard, but fighting to change the cultural values in evangelical settings is basically impossible. But through activism, art, and hardball financial tactics (which, let’s be honest, is really the thing that got things moving) moved the needle enough to get things changed. It’s all in the episode.
But the progress came at great cost, both to Haven and Glenda herself. Haven would get what most of the LGBTQ christians wanted, an official APU student organization. But that meant the school controlled the group and made it a “discussion” group to “wrestle” with being gay and christian. Let’s face it, they could never get their small minds around anything trans or non-binary. And for Glenda, she would be expelled in the shadiest of circumstances.
One administrator felt guilty about how she was run out of town and reached out to her to come back and finish her degree, but Glenda, by then living an entirely different life, declined. To her credit. But nothing can take away the heroism of Glenda and so many others who fought APU’s bigotry head on. APU is what it is, but people like Glenda who dared to step up, will always be inspiring.
Keep up with Scott’s work at rscottokamoto.com and please spread the word about Chapel Probation. Ways you can help, directly: 1. Join the Patreon where there are already a couple of bonus episodes with more coming. 2. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
As always, thank you for your support and love. So much more to come.