A Morton couple is exploring the diverse array of human experience by attending different religious services.
Ben and Kate VandenBerg are the co-hosts of the Branches of Faith podcast. Since beginning the project in January 2024, the couple have visited more than a dozen different faith communities and recorded around ten hours of podcasts.
The episodes range from a visit to a Hindu temple, to a Greek Orthodox service, to nondenominational Christian worship, to learning about the monotheistic Baha’i faith.
Both VandenBergs were raised in some form of a Christian denomination, though they don’t consider themselves practicing. Kate says she attended Catholic school and was exposed to diverse religious perspectives from an early age.
“You had to test into the school, so we had kids from a wide range of religious backgrounds,” she said. “We had a lot of Hindu students, some Jewish students, one Greek Orthodox student. So we weren’t all Catholic.”
Ben says he occasionally attended Catholic services growing up and found comfort in Buddhism throughout his life. Though overall he’d consider himself more “spiritual” than religious.
The podcast started with an idea from Kate: visit different faith communities every week and record her experiences in a blog. Ben proposed the format of a podcast.
“The tools are very accessible now to, you know, a common person,” he said. “They don’t need a whole luxurious studio. And I think it’s two things: it’s the ability for us to be able to record it and keepsake it for our own. I think it would be kind of neat to look back on these visits some 15 years in the future.”
Ben says the other advantage is convenience, with a podcast listeners can engage with their project whenever and however they want, driving in the car, or on a second screen at work.
“I know so many people from so many different faiths and walks of life and I’ve always been interested in what inspires them to practice that faith and what make them choose one church over another, or one religion over another, or what makes somebody leave a church and go somewhere else, or possibly sometimes even, I’ve seen a mass exodus of people leaving a church, going to a new church, and I’m kind of just fascinated by the sociology of it all,” said Kate.
Kate and Ben are both quick to clarify: the purpose of the podcast is not to challenge any of the faith systems they discuss. Though they adopted a policy of being as inconspicuous and unobtrusive as possible during their visits, they aren’t going “undercover.”
“When we started this, I think some people thought that,” said Kate. “In fact, they said: ‘hey, I’ll be watching so I can debate you.’ And I was like: ‘hold on, that’s not the purpose of this.’”
Kate says the idea, in part, was a challenge to herself: could she be brave enough to go into a new place, where she didn’t know anyone, where everyone had a different understanding of the world than she does and relate?
Kate and Ben accomplish this by setting out a list of guidelines, some methodology for how the visits are conducted: they participate as much as possible, including after service lunches and celebrations, they approach each visit with the mindset of being interested in attending longer-term, they prioritize respect and setting any judgement aside and they rarely let the community know they’re coming ahead of time.
“I wanted to go in with as little bias as possible, which admittedly is very, very difficult to do, because I have my own background and understanding and culture and things like that,” said Kate. “But it was important to set those guidelines, so that people who are listening, if they pick up on tones of a bias, they can understand that our intentions are pure.”
Ben, while listening back and editing an episode about a visit to a Hindu temple, decided it was important to add some context.
“The comparisons that we’re making are the only comparisons that we can make growing up in a predominantly Christian nation,” he said. “And obviously, people who are maybe listening to this are of Hindu background and Hindu faith, we would not want them to think I’m being insensitive by drawing a comparison. It’s the only place that I would have to draw from.”
The episodes generally follow a format. First, Ben and Kate give a primer on the history of the religion or denomination they visited. Sometimes, this section is assisted by ChatGPT. Sometimes it’s based on research the VandenBergs track in a master document.
Then, the couple recounts their experience. The retellings are often thorough, in-depth and detail rich. Kate says Ben takes notes during their visits, they try to record as soon as possible afterward and they always talk over the experience together off microphone before starting.
“We’re somewhat trying to stay as true to what we saw without having to hold up a microphone during the service and without running a camcorder in the background,” said Ben. “Because we feel like those would be, I feel like that’s unnecessary. That would be distracting.”
A few episodes include interviews with church leaders, particularly at locations that stick out to the hosts.
Over the last year of making the podcast, both have experienced meaningful, powerful moments. Kate recalls seeing people speak in tongues for the first time at North Parkway Assembly of God and experiencing the rituals at All Saints Greek Orthodox Church.
“Being raised Catholic, [Greek Orthodox] is not too far from it,” she said. “But it was just so many rituals and a sensory experience that was really, really, really neat with the incense and the singing and all the rituals they go through. It was really fascinating.”
Ben recalls an exercise with Peoria’s Baha’i community.
“We were sitting in a small room, probably ten people, and we’re all sitting facing the middle and going through something that was a high point and a low point in the day,” he said. “Everybody’s going through and talking about all these things that have brought them joy and grief, and everybody was taking turns. So it was a really intimate kind of setting. That was really cool.”
The VandenBergs were surprised by aspects of local churches beyond the services as well. They specifically mention Peoria’s United Methodist Church as a congregation focused on providing service to the community.
“They are doing so much good for our community,” said Kate. “I mean, just, the list went on and on.”
A year into the project, Kate and Ben have started to identify some commonalities amongst faith communities. One thing that surprised them is that the range represented in Central Illinois is broader than they initially thought.
“I think I didn’t really realize how many different branches of Christianity there are and how many nondenominational churches there are and it really just keeps going,” said Kate. “You can hardly drive a couple blocks without finding a church.”
Ben says these churches share a common drive to foster community.
“They all have a sense of what they feel like is the goal or the betterment of the community, or even the world for that matter,” he said. “They want to try and lend their hands at, you know, being part of that, no matter where we go.”
Kate noticed a recurring theme of shrinking church attendance. She recounts multiple examples of sanctuaries built for hundreds seating just a few dozen. She often wonders how these small congregations keep the lights on, pay their pastors and provide for their community.
“It’s amazing how many churches there are and they’re all trying and they’re all doing great things,” Kate said. “I just hope, I hope that they can continue. And hopefully, maybe through our podcast, people are listening and something stands out to them about a certain place.”
The VandenBergs believe anyone could benefit from getting out of their comfort zone and visiting a church that’s unfamiliar to them. They see it as an opportunity to see life from another perspective and make friends you never would have expected.
Ben says they made lasting friends from their visit to the Greek Orthodox church.
“It’s just helped me see what a rich diversity of life we have here in Central Illinois, which, sometimes it feels not so, especially over here in Tazewell County,” Kate said. “So, for me, it’s really helped expand my horizons.”
In the new year, the Vandenbergs are aiming for a release schedule of approximately an episode a month. Branches of Faith is available on all major podcast platforms and through their website.
