Emily Austin is joined by Sister Hannah Winkler, CSM, Prioress of the Community of St. Mary, Southern Province, for a thoughtful conversation about the resurgence of religious life and the enduring wisdom of Benedictine spirituality. Sister Hannah reflects on what she is seeing across Episcopal religious orders: genuine growth, renewed interest, and a deep longing for stability rooted in prayer.

Together, they explore why monastic practices—such as the Daily Office, Lectio Divina, and living by a Rule of Life—are resonating with people living far beyond convent walls. Sister Hannah describes how the Sisters of St. Mary’s expanding network of oblates and associates allows laypeople to commit to a rhythm of prayer and Benedictine values while remaining fully engaged in family life, work, and parish communities.

The conversation also examines the spiritual power of structure, not as restriction but as a trellis that creates space for growth. In a world shaped by speed, choice, and constant noise, the predictability of prayer offers a way to sanctify time and rest in God’s changelessness. Sister Hannah shares how monastic communities understand their vocation as holding the world in prayer—especially when others find themselves unable to pray.

This episode invites listeners to consider how ancient practices continue to shape faithful, grounded lives today.

Learn more about the Sisters of St. Mary:
https://www.communityofstmarysouth.org/

Watch Compline and other services on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-j3GU7enCfpY3hLGEvhT5g

Book mentioned: Convent Wisdom
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224004832-convent-wisdom

In the final installment of our Sacred Secular Syncopated series, Emily Austin and theologian-writer Femi Olutade dive deep into the sacred undercurrents of hip-hop — from The Message to To Pimp a Butterfly. Drawing on scripture, Orthodox theology, and the language of transformation, they explore how artists like Tupac Shakur and Kendrick Lamar turn lived struggle into spiritual reflection.

What begins as a discussion of protest music becomes an invitation to rethink repentance (metanoia) — not as punishment, but as change of mind, heart, and being. Through examples from good kid, m.A.A.d city, DAMN., and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Femi unpacks how Lamar’s art embodies an ongoing conversion — personal, communal, and divine.

Femi Olutade is a theologian, writer, and father whose work explores the intersection of faith, art, and culture through an Orthodox Christian lens. He is best known for authoring the script of Season 5 of the Dissect podcast, a 20-episode analysis of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. — winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Find Femi’s work:

• 🎧 Dissect: Season 5 — DAMN. on Spotify

• ✍️ Medium: @folutade

• 🌐 KnowThatYouAnointed.com

  
  

• 🎟 “Sacred, Secular, Syncopated” with Femi Olutade
  🗓 Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
  📍 Barth House Episcopal Center (Memphis, TN)
  Join us for the Barth House Theological Society Fall Lecture, where Femi expands on these themes — exploring the theology of Kendrick Lamar and the spirituality of hip-hop.
  Admission is free, but tickets are required. Get tickets here.

  
  

  Glad Tidings is a podcast from the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee exploring the rhythm of faith in unexpected places — where art, theology, and culture overlap in surprising harmony.

When we hear the word secular, it’s often framed as the opposite of sacred—a divide that can leave us assuming anything “secular” is somehow lesser, or even bad. But what if that assumption is more habit than truth?

In this episode, Emily Austin continues her conversation with theologian, writer, and podcaster Femi Olutade. Together, they trace how the church has historically understood the relationship between the sacred and the secular—from the desert mothers and fathers of early Christianity, to the Orthodox idea of synergia between faith and governance, to the way hip hop speaks to the heartbeat of a generation.

Highlights include:

• Why “secular” originally meant “of an age” rather than “against God”

• How the Protestant Reformation reshaped the sacred/secular divide

• Hip hop as the “CNN of the ghetto” and a prophetic art form telling the truth of its time

• Tupac’s Changes as a lens for repentance, transformation, and even echoes of Lent

Emily shares her own journey of unlearning the reflex that “secular = bad,” and together, Femi and Emily reflect on how music, art, and culture carry the Divine.

🎟️ Don’t miss Femi live in Memphis: Get tickets to his Barth House Theological Society lecture here