Episodes

  • The Gifts of Belonging, Solitude, and Rest

    The Gifts of Belonging, Solitude, and Rest
    Jun 26 2025

    The extending piece of being a person of welcome… offers a more substantial sense of belonging than if we were to only consume. - Sarah Westfall

    My humanity needs space for nothingness. It needs to become settled once again… so that sometime in the future again, I can exhale and give again. - Sarah Westfall

    In this episode, Matt has a conversation with Sarah Westfall. Sarah is a full-time writer, speaker, and podcast host whose work delves into the complexities of communal life. She is the author of The Way of Belonging: Reimagining Who You Are and How We Relate and writes regularly on her Substack, Human Together. Her podcast has the same name and the amazing tagline: a podcast for people who agree it is not good to be alone (but secretly wonder whether it might be easier).

    We have a great conversation about why humans long to belong, how helping others belong is a creative act, and also a great discussion about all things writing!

    Books & Links

    Sarah’s Website

    Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation by Cindy S. Lee

    The Way of Belonging



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Courage, Wonder, and Naming the Animals

    Courage, Wonder, and Naming the Animals
    Jun 12 2025

    “To live a creative life, we do have to make a choice to live in courage, to be willing to be vulnerable and to put ourselves out there.”

    In this episode Matt has a conversation with Stephen Roach. Stephen is host of the Makers and Mystics podcast and founder of The Breath and The Clay creative arts organization. Stephen travels as a keynote speaker and event curator conducting workshops and events centred on the exploration of creativity and the spiritual life. He has penned five volumes of poetry, an illustrated children’s book, and 2 other books including Naming The Animals: An Invitation To Creativity.

    Stephen is a multi-instrumentalist with a background in ethnomusicology and film composition. His musical group, Songs of Water composes for film and television including the award-winning Australian animated short, Teacups. Stephen has contributed to the works of recording artists Ricky Skaggs, Josh Garrels, Jonathan and Melissa Helser, John Mark McMillan and others.

    Matt and Stephen talk about:

    * Courage and Vulnerability in the Creative Life

    * Co-creative partnership between God and humanity, where God leaves room for human contribution and delight.

    * The importance of sabbath, rest, and the place of contemplation and wonder.

    * Embracing the process rather than obsessing over outcomes

    Selected Links/Books

    * Makers & Mystic Podcast

    * Breath & the Clay

    * On Writing by Stephen King

    * The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel

    * Naming the Animals: An Invitation to Creativity by Stephen Roach



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com
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    58 mins
  • Story and the Music of Resilience and Hope

    Story and the Music of Resilience and Hope
    May 15 2025

    "If we believe we're made in the image of God, a creator God, then that image in us is creative. It's a way of engaging with that divine spark."

    In this episode, Matt has a conversation with Shari Green. Shari writes fiction and poetry for children and young adults. Her latest book, SONG OF FREEDOM, SONG OF DREAMS, is a 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award finalist. Her other novels in verse include GAME FACE, MISSING MIKE, Schneider Family Book Award winner MACY McMILLAN AND THE RAINBOW GODDESS, and ROOT BEER CANDY AND OTHER MIRACLES. Shari’s books have been included on international “best of” lists and selected for numerous provincial and state readers’-choice programs.

    Much of the conversation centres on Shari’s latest, Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams which has strong themes connected to music and faith and centres around a young pianist in East Germany trying to make sense of love, duty, and the pursuit of dreams during the unsettled months of protest that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

    Shari and Matt talk about:

    * Music/art as a way of processing difficult emotions, connecting with God, and also a vehicle and catalyst in supporting social change.

    * Art and faith as a means of finding normalcy, hope, and purpose in challenging times.

    * How both faith and creativity are about an openness to awe, wonder, and mystery.

    Links / Books

    * Shari Green’s Website

    * Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com
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    52 mins
  • Jazz, Preaching, and Creativity as Church

    Jazz, Preaching, and Creativity as Church
    Apr 24 2025

    "The church doesn’t need to be full of professional artists to be creative. Creativity is about engaging our neighbourhoods with imagination and love."

    In this episode, Matt has a conversation with Dr. Mark Glanville. He currently works as the Director of the Centre for Missional Leadership at St. Andrew’s Hall at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and is the author of 5 books. He has pastored in creative, justice-seeking churches for 14 years in both Canada and Australia and has played jazz piano professionally for 30 years. Through a variety of lenses, Mark shows how the Bible is forming churches that extend the tenderness of Jesus in their particular neighbourhood.

    Matt and Mark talk about:

    * The parallel between artists and Christ followers, seeing both as seekers of truth.

    * The role of beauty, creativity, experimentation, and discernment in the Church.

    * Preaching as an artistic craft.

    Links / Books

    * Mark Glanville’s website

    * Centre for Missional Leadership

    * Preaching in a New Key: Crafting Expository Sermons in Post-Christian Communities

    * Improvising Church: Scripture as the Source of Harmony, Rhythm, and Soul



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com
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    1 hr and 20 mins
  • Writing, Resistance, and Whole Self Creativity

    Writing, Resistance, and Whole Self Creativity
    Mar 13 2025

    “Creativity is a response to being loved. Whether through poetry, music, or even gardening, it’s how we express our connection to the sacred.”—Kaitlin Curtice

    In this episode, Matt has a conversation with Kaitlin Curtice. Kaitlin is an award-winning author, poet-storyteller, and public speaker. As a citizen of the Potawatomi nation, Kaitlin writes on the intersections of spirituality and identity and how that shifts throughout our lives.

    Her books include, Native: Identity, Belonging and Rediscovering God and Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day. She also has a series titled An Indigenous Celebration of Nature — four children’s books on the seasons, the latest, Spring’s Miracles, released on March 4, 2025.

    Besides her books, Kaitlin has written online for Sojourners, Religion News Service, On Being, SELF Magazine, Oprah Daily, and has been featured on CBS and in USA Today. She writes essays and poetry for The Liminality Journal found on Substack.

    Matt and Kaitlin talk about:

    * Creativity as an Act of Healing & Resistance

    * Embodiment as integral to both Spirituality and Creativity

    * The need for both decolonization (breaking away from colonial structures and mindsets) and Indigenization (infusing Indigenous wisdom and practices back into daily life).

    * The role of representation in art and how artists, particularly writers, might sensitively approach representing diverse cultures.

    Links/Books

    * Kaitlin’s Author Website, where you can find details about most of her writing, including Living Resistance and Native.

    * The Liminality Journal on Substack

    * Definitely, check out Kaitlin’s latest book, Spring’s Miracles!



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Creativity, Wonder, and Play

    Creativity, Wonder, and Play
    Mar 7 2025

    In this episode, Matt talks with Laura Alary. Laura is the author of over 20 books (a few are on their way to publication). On her website, she claims to “write stories that make us bigger on the inside” and explains that “…means my books make you think. Wonder. Ask big questions. Maybe understand other people a bit better. Some of them are serious. Some are funny. Most are a bit of both. But they all aim to stretch minds and hearts.”

    This conversation was so rich and full of wonder as we spoke about:

    * Creativity as intrinsic to being human, reflecting the image of the Creator.

    * The hopeful orientation of Christian artistic expression

    * Having a more broad view of vocation as not just an unexpected calling but as something that “lights you up” and aligns with natural gifts and passions.

    * The power of Children’s Books especially in rediscovering a sense of wonder and connection to faith

    * The role and importance of curiosity

    * Laura’s approach to writing

    Links / Books

    * Laura Alary’s Website

    * Rise: A Child’s Guide to Eastertide

    * The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Joy in Creating

    Joy in Creating
    Feb 27 2025

    In this inaugural episode of the newly minted Faithfully Creative Podcast, Matt has a conversation with Merideth Hite Estevez. She is a Juilliard-trained oboist, Doctor of Musical Arts, author, coach, and speaker who helps self-identified artists and the creatively curious recover the joy of making. Merideth is host of the Artists for Joy podcast and author of The Artist’s Joy: a guide to Getting Unstuck, embracing imperfection, and loving your creative life.

    We talk about:

    * Her journey from experiencing burnout as a musician and academic to supporting artists in rediscovering joy in creativity.

    * Creativity as a spiritual practice, and what it might mean to reframe creative practice as “devotion.”

    * Having a portfolio life and making room for regular creativity even when you are busy.

    * What a writing coach or creative coach does.

    Resources / Books Mentioned

    * Merideth’s website, where you can find her podcast “Artists for Joy” and details about her excellent book.

    * Merideth’s Substack

    * Ann Kroeker’s website (Ann was Merideth’s writing coach)

    * The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

    * The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

    Faithfully Creative is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattbrough.substack.com
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    53 mins
  • From Reluctantly to Faithfully Creative

    From Reluctantly to Faithfully Creative
    Nov 27 2024
    Note: The personal essay below is most of this podcast episode. You may either listen or read. Your choice!As I’ve attempted to move toward a more regular pattern of writing, I’ve decided to change the name of this Substack newsletter and also change the name and essentially re-launch my podcast. Both will now be called “Faithfully Creative.”My aim is to stay on the same trajectory that I’ve been on—writing and speaking about creativity, imagination, faith, spirituality, theology, God. The banner of “Faithfully Creative” is broad enough to encompass all of this, but hopefully it will provide a bit of focus as well. Before I lay out some specifics, I have a small confession, and then a bit of a personal story.First, the confession… As I look back on my life, a lot of the time I have been reluctantly creative. It may not seem like that to the outsider looking in. But the outsider can’t really see fully in, can they? They can’t see my hesitancy, fear, my almost-devotion to second-guessing. I’ve been in this world long enough to know know that imposter syndrome is real and won’t ever fully go away. I also know that I do better when I lean into creativity. I am more fully alive when I engage in creative practice. I am most myself when I have regular occasions to explore something new.This confession is reason enough to call this newsletter and associated podcast “Faithfully Creative.” The name is aspirational for me. I want to be less reluctant and more faithful toward the creative call.I promised you a story…I was a very shy kid and teenager. I certainly never would have wanted to be on a stage and yet when I look back I am surprised by the stages I ended up on.My entire grade nine english class had to be in the play. Our teacher, Ms. Peterson, wrote it with some help from William Shakespeare. It was called “The Shakespearean Spell,” and it had two modern-day narrators who provided the thread that strung together scenes from various Bard plays that featured the supernatural. We, of course, had the witches from Macbeth and Hamlet’s ghost. A Midsummer Night’s Dream provided comic relief. I can still remember my friend having to play the part of Bottom and kind of loving it, especially the scene where he got affectionate attention from Titania. I ended up having two roles from different plays. Other than my horror at having to perform in front of actual people, I was basically okay being Hamlet. I wasn’t as thrilled to play Oberon who is dubbed “king of the fairies.” I was shocked that my fellow mid-1990s teen thespians didn’t make more innapropriate jokes than they did.After the rousing success of the grade nine play, a few of my friends got the acting bug. At least I think they did ,because in grade ten and eleven they went about pressuring the same english teacher to let us do more. We did a read through of “The Lady’s Not for Burning” by Tom Stoppard but I can’t remember putting it on. We did end up performing scenes from “The Princess Bride.” We chose the part where the man in black bests the swordsman, the giant, and the so-called smart one. I got to play the “smart one” who lost to the man in black in the battle of wits to the death, a role played in the movie by a short bald guy. Perfect for my lanky fifteen-year-old almost 6 foot 3 frame. Still, this one was fun.In grade eleven, we put on “As You like It.” More Shakespeare! Anyone in the school could audition for “As You like It,” but the cast was mostly my friends. I perhaps should mention here that I never saw myself as the centre of my friend group. I was by far the most reserved out of all of them. But, I was also the only one out of all of them who sang. I’d always been in the school choir, I had sung in church, and my family sang together, The Beatles and “The Sound of Music” on long road trips most memorable.I had sung some solos before with school choir and I hadn’t yet died on the spot, so I put my name in for the part of Amiens, the singer. He had barely any lines besides two songs. That suited me just fine. A very minor part was perfect for me. Two people who were not part of my friend group were cast as Orlando, the lead. They would act in the role on two nights each of a four night run. At least that was the plan. A number of weeks into rehearsals and the two male leads had only shown up a handful of times. Something about hockey practices and prior commitment to the team. Ms. Peterson (still the same teacher) came to me and asked if I would take on the role of Orlando. Every fibre of my being said no. But somehow my mouth didn’t translate what the fibre of my being was screaming. In fact, my mouth didn’t say much of anything while the gracious and ever-encouraging Ms. Peterson went on to tell me that she thought I would do an excellent job. Somehow, at the end of our conversation, I was the new lead, and with no understudy that I can remember. I would go...
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    31 mins