Season 4 of ‘Around the Table’ captures wisdom from the next generation of church leaders

When young Presbyterians gathered at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium in July, they brought more than their energy and enthusiasm — they brought wisdom that church leaders needed to hear. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s “Around the Table” podcast captured these voices in a special recording booth at the event, creating its fourth season that puts youth perspectives front and center.

Image

The podcast, hosted by the Rev. Cliff Haddox and the Rev. Michelle Thomas-Bush, took an innovative approach for this shorter season. As project coordinator of the Around the Table initiative, the Rev. Neema Cyrus-Franklin heard that the podcast hosts could not attend the Triennium due to their schedules as pastors. Determined not to miss the opportunity to speak to the thousands of Presbyterian youth gathered for the first time in six years, she stepped in to make it happen.

The season’s episodes explore themes from Triennium, which centered on the idea of dreaming. Young voices speak to both personal aspirations and hopes for their communities, addressing everything from cultural flexibility in worship to global justice concerns.

As Haddox noted in the opening episode, hearing from young people has been essential to the vision of the podcast. “We couldn't do a podcast on forming faith in families, or forming faith with the young people, without hearing from them.”

Creating the recording booth required months of intensive work. Cyrus-Franklin figured out how to set up a podcast in the middle of an exhibition hall during free time, finding a solution using a drum booth to record. She designed the decorations herself, combing the streets of the garment district in downtown Los Angeles for fabrics, balloons, décor and lights that made the booth a hit with youth. She and her daughter cut 30 clouds for the backdrop and created a handmade spinner with the event theme. She crafted questions that connected to the Sabbath practices she teaches coaches to use for Around the Table cohorts and resources and met with Media Pros Productions to plan the three-day podcasting event.

Image

“I worked extremely hard and tirelessly from April until the podcast aired to bring this to life,” Cyrus-Franklin said. The effort paid off. Cyrus-Franklin set up the recording booth where high schoolers, college-age students, and a few older people could share their dreams, hopes and advice for the church.

“I wasn’t able to speak to everyone, but I’m just grateful for the voices and the young people who did stop by the booth,” Cyrus-Franklin explained in the season’s opening episode. The diverse group of participants brought perspectives that Cyrus-Franklin described as “incredible and thoughtful and very applicable.”

Cyrus-Franklin said that “the youth I met at Triennium reminded me that the Holy Spirit is alive and moving among them — they are compassionate bridge-builders, already helping to shape the beloved community Jesus envisioned.”

The recording project aligned perfectly with the PC(USA)’s vision for young people, which Thomas-Bush highlighted in the season’s opening episode. “We accept that the church may be changed and even remade through the power of the Spirit and by youth, energy, freshness and vitality.”

Throughout the season’s episodes, young voices address a central question Cyrus-Franklin posed: “What hope do you have, or what advice would you give to church leaders of today?” The responses revealed a generation thoughtful about their faith, their communities and the future of the church.

One participant shared dreams of flexibility for their congregation. “I think flexibility is good because it can invite other people who are different from us culturally and not from the same places that we are, to also be invited to a relationship with God and with the church,” the participant said.

The advice these young people offered was both practical and profound. When asked what congregations need to understand about young people, one participant emphasized communication. “Voices being heard is the best way. It’s a relationship. If you want a relationship to sustain and to be healthy and to be continuous and to be flourishing, you have to communicate to the other person.”

Participants also shared personal dreams that connected faith with vocation. From aspiring pediatric nurses who love working with children to future architects defining success on their own terms, these young people demonstrated how faith shapes their life goals. One participant beautifully connected their passion for animals with ministry, while others spoke about pursuing justice and self-growth.

Image

Episodes from Season 4 are available here.

The season captures the spirit of one participant’s vision for the world: "I just want everyone to be free. I just want everyone to have the freedom to do what they want. You know, be good to other people.”

The “Around the Table” podcast this season amplifies youth voices and bridges generations through honest, faith-filled storytelling.

“It reflects the vision lifted up by the 219th General Assembly's Vision Statement for Youth in the PC(USA),” said Cyrus-Franklin, calling the church to “express God’s boundless love by embracing young people as they are, where they are, and where they could be,” and to “celebrate youth as the keepers of God’s world, capable of serving as agents of healing, friends to the friendless and leaders along the path of Jesus.”