Podcast
For People with Bishop Rob Wright
Hosted by Bishop Rob Wright · EN
For People is a conversation with Bishop Rob Wright, spiritual leader to the more than 50,000 people in the 117 worshipping communities of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. In this podcast, Bishop Wright meets listeners at the crossroads of faith and life to explore the challenges of an ever-changing world. Listen in to find out how he expands on For Faith, drawing inspiration from the life of Jesus to answer 21st-century questions.
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The Shape
5d ago00:19:01Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailUnconditional love gets talked about like it has no edges, but that kind of “anything goes” love can turn selfish and chaotic fast. Love has a shape. When we pay attention to Jesus’ words and actions, a pattern emerges that you can actually practice in real life, from conflict and apology to courage, sharing, forbearance, and justice. In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright have a conversation about Jesus’ teaching on love through John 14:15–21 and the Great Commandment. Together, they discuss what Christian maturity looks like when love is understood as a formative way of life rather than a mere sentiment or feeling. Listen in for the full conversation.Read For Faith, the companion devotional.Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
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The Headline is Jesus with Bishop Sarah K. Fisher
2w ago00:24:07Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThe loudest voices want you to believe the only way forward is to pick a side and dig in. Jesus shows us another way. In this episode, Bishop Wright has a conversation with Bishop Sarah Fisher, 9th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina, about a different kind of strength: the courage to stay centered on Jesus when everything around you begs for distraction. Bishop Sarah shares what it feels like to begin a brand-new bishop with 66 worshipping communities. They get honest about labels, social media noise, and why identity can be both something to honor and something that cannot be the headline. The headline, if we’re reading the bible right, is that Jesus is Lord and the Church is called to witness to good news in the 21st century.They dig into why church matters right now, when people feel worn down by division, war, and purposelessness, and start looking again for meaning and community. From Flannery O’Connor’s “truth makes you odd” to Walter Brueggemann’s “dangerously odd,” they explore how Christian leadership offers an alternative to the status quo without doing harm. They close with a shared anchor verse, Ephesians 3:20, and the invitation to stay astounded by what God can do “infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.” Listen in for the full conversation. In no particular order, Bishop Fisher loves Jesus, the Church, organization and congregational development, poetry, Holy Scripture, her family in all of its delightful and quirky forms, thrift stores, singing, practicing and teaching yoga, vegetables, laughter, playing in the kitchen and sharpie markers.She hopes to love, in as much as it is possible, the way that Jesus loves; to serve the Church with fierce compassion and care; to learn as long as it’s possible. She seeks to see and respond to the needs of the world, specifically with an eye to racial injustice; to love those who the world casts to the margins; to use her voice to heal and never harm.Bishop Fisher is a native of Athens, Georgia and has served parishes in the Diocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Atlanta. She and her spouse and best beloved, Mandy, who is an Episcopal priest, live in New Bern, where they frequently function as human tennis ball dispensers to their two black labs, Bayton and Maggie.Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
Transcribe →Three Kinds Of Sheep
3w ago00:19:56Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailJesus does not look at a hurting world and offer merely technical solutions. He sees the deeper wound, speaks to the heart of it, and sends ordinary people to carry hope into ordinary places. In Matthew 9:35–10:8, Jesus shows us three kinds of sheep: the harassed and helpless, the lost, and those sent among wolves. At every intersection of life, this passage asks us to decide who we will be.In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright have a conversation about Jesus’ image of three kinds of sheep as a way of understanding the spiritual crossroads many of us face. They discuss shepherdless sheep who feel harassed and helpless, and lost sheep who may be surrounded by faith language yet still feel untethered from meaning and the good news. From rising despair to uncertain truth, the conversation lands squarely in the realities many of us know well—especially when life seems to be moving faster than our spiritual resources can keep up. Together, they consider how Jesus meets people at the point of their deepest need and sends ordinary people to carry hope into a weary world.Then they turn toward the sent sheep. They reflect on what it means to be commissioned under Jesus’ authority, sent like sheep among wolves, and called to public witness that can carry real consequences. Bishop Wright offers a practical image of a “script” that works like jazz: a clear melody for discipleship with faithful improvisation shaped by the moment, your workplace, your family, and your community. Listen in for the full conversation. Read For Faith, the companion devotional.Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
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The Red Door Food Pantry with Ashley and Sean Davis
4w ago00:24:20Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailHunger rarely looks like the stereotype. Sometimes it looks like a parent who works full-time but cannot make childcare and groceries fit in the same month. Sometimes it looks like grandparents raising grandchildren, a family navigating a health crisis, or someone who just lost a job and needs help for a season. Loving like Jesus means serving those who are the most vulnerable in real and tangible ways. In this episode, Bishop Wright has a conversation with Ashley and Sean Davis about the real faces of food insecurity and why a food pantry can be a lifeline without ever stripping away dignity. Their story starts with a major health issue that forced Ashley to step back from a corporate banking career and ask a hard question: what kind of work actually helps people? This discerning question led them to sell their California home, move to Cartersville, Georgia, and search for a place where they could stop feeling anonymous and start building community. That search led them to The Episcopal Church of the Ascension, where everything “felt right,” and soon after to the Red Door Food Pantry, where Ashley became executive director in 2024. They dig into the measurable impact and the human impact and how The Red Door Food Pantry grew from a ministry of Ascension into a nonprofit while continuing distributions through the church, and serving thousands of households across Bartow County and beyond. They discuss improving access through technology, mobile pantry plans, and partnerships that bring mental health support, housing resources, health services, and recovery connections right to distribution days. Listen in for the full conversation. About the Red Door Food Pantry:For decades, the food pantry was an outreach ministry of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, and it distributed the same 8-10 items of food every week to about 30-50 people. Purchasing food at retail prices required the food pantry to use restricted funds to meet budgetary needs. Thus, the food pantry was “in the red,” with only about 10 months of operating expenses to fall back on. However, by joining the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) in 2013, the Red Door Food Pantry was able to buy food for about sixteen cents a pound– thus giving it greater buying power and by helping it attain solvency. In 2022, the Red Door Food Pantry was designated 501(c)(3) status as a public charity. Learn more and give here.From the archives: Read an article from our diocese about the Red Door Food Pantry and partnerships, including our own Episcopal Community Foundation.Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
Transcribe →Bishop Wright's Sermon at Bishop Sarah Fisher's Ordination and Consecration
May 2900:16:41Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis episode is Bishop Rob Wright’s sermon from the ordination and consecration of Bishop Sarah Fisher, ninth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina, given on May 23. In his sermon, Bishop Wright answers an important question: what is a bishop for? You’ll hear a clear, memorable vision of Episcopal leadership as itinerant service, scripture-shaped preaching, guarding the faith, and doing “balcony” work that spots patterns and faces the challenges we’d rather avoid. The hat doesn’t make the leader. The work does. Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
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Rediscovering Togetherness with Senator Jon Ossoff
May 2200:15:42Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailTogetherness is not a warm slogan, it’s the only way we meet the scale of what’s in front of us. From the start, we press on a simple question: how do you remember the past honestly without letting it turn into bitterness? In this episode, Bishop Wright has a conversation with Senator Jon Ossoff about faith, leadership, and what it takes to build a better world when the headlines feel like a steady stream of bad news. Ossoff traces his moral education through the legacy of Congressman John Lewis and the civil rights movement in Georgia, including the historic alliance between Black and Jewish communities in the South. He shares the powerful symbolism of being sworn into the US Senate on scripture belonging to Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, the Atlanta rabbi whose temple was bombed in 1958 for supporting Dr. King and the SCLC. They discuss what interfaith coalition building looks like when it’s real, not performative, and why serious faith traditions should pull us alongside each other when the stakes are high. Listen in for the full conversation. Born and raised in Georgia, Senator Jon Ossoff serves as our Senior United States Senator. Since his election, Sen. Ossoff has built bipartisanship in the Senate to achieve meaningful legislative results for Georgia — even in a divided Congress. In his first two years in office, Sen. Ossoff passed into law more standalone bills than any other freshman Senator. Sen. Ossoff’s legislative achievements include laws to protect children online; to strengthen public safety; to tackle the opioid epidemic and prevent fentanyl trafficking across the Southern Border; to investigate unsolved lynchings and Civil Rights murders; to strengthen mental health care services for veterans; and to fight corruption and improve security in U.S. prisons. Mentored by civil rights legend Congressman John Lewis, Sen. Ossoff previously led a small business that produced investigative journalism exposing war crimes, public corruption, human trafficking, and organized crime. Sen. Ossoff lives with his wife, Dr. Alisha Kramer, and two daughters in Atlanta.Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
Transcribe →Foretaste
May 1500:19:32Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailLove sounds simple until you try to practice it with someone who won’t return it, someone who betrays you, or someone whose decisions harm people you care about. That’s where Dorothy Day’s language hits with force: “God is love,” and love doesn’t just soothe fear, it casts fear out. In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright use Day’s quote as a doorway into a grounded conversation on Christian love, faith and leadership, and what it means to follow Jesus when the world feels tense, divided, and exhausted. They discuss the uncomfortable gap between sentimental love and what we actually deliver to each other. Bishop Wright names the cost of love that isn’t contingent on someone else’s goodness, gratitude, or agreement and why that kind of love often feels unrequited. They dig into the difference between belief and opinion: belief is rooted in being beloved by God, then living like it. That includes the hard questions, like how to hold dignity and respect for people you deeply disagree with while still working against policies and behaviors that harm others. Listen in for the full conversation.Read For Faith, the companion devotional.Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
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300th Special
May 800:21:40Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis week, we celebrate 300 episodes of For People! 300 episodes in, we’re still surprised by what happens when you pair a simple setup with a clear purpose: offer people a Jesus-shaped invitation that doesn’t rely on shame, fear, or gatekeeping. In this milestone episode, Bishop Wright sits down with producer and co-founder Easton Davis to share behind-the-scenes stories from the early days and reflect on how For People grew from a small investment into a podcast with 400,000 downloads, reaching listeners in thousands of cities across 184 countries.They discuss candidly why digital evangelism matters right now and how online spaces have become the new front door of the church. For many, a short-form video or a podcast is the first step toward faith, especially for those who have only heard harmful theology that says they are not enough. We dig into what it looks like to communicate the gospel with clarity, creativity, and consistency, and why we believe scripture can be shared in ways that respect questions, nuance, and real life. Listen in for the full conversation.Easton serves as Canon for Communications and Digital Evangelism for the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, where he has been a member of the Bishop’s Staff since 2015. Since 2020, in his current role, he has helped shape the diocese’s voice and presence across digital platforms. A passionate storyteller, Easton believes deeply in the power of the visual arts to connect, inspire, and share the Gospel.Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
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Go Therefore with The Rev. Joseph Yoo
May 100:37:46Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailWaiting for people to show up at church can feel polite, safe, and even faithful, but it may be the quickest way to lose real connection. In this episode, Bishop Rob Wright has a conversation with The Rev. Joseph Yoo, an Episcopal priest and creator known for talking about God with rare plainness, to explore what it looks like to take the Great Commission seriously as “come and see” and “go therefore” instead of “wait and welcome.”Joseph shares his journey as a Korean immigrant kid raised in a family where ministry is almost a birthright, and how seminary forced him to sort out what belonged to his parents’ expectations versus what belonged to his own call. They get practical: Joseph explains why he started posting on TikTok and Instagram, why he wears a collar out in public to normalize faith, and what mainline churches can learn about speaking to people who are not already insiders. The grounded takeaway is simple and demanding: get local, learn names, show up, and bless someone today by helping them breathe easier, even for a moment. Listen in for the full conversation.Joseph Yoo currently works as a Church Planter and Episcopalian priest at Mosaic Episcopal Church in Pearland, Texas. He has served as a member of the clergy in multiple states in the US, including Hawaii and California. Born in Korea in 1980, he immigrated to the United States in 1986 and has lived in multiple states throughout his childhood and adult life. He received his BA in Psychology from the University of Hawaii, Manoa in 2003 and his M.Div from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2006. He got his priesthood in 2021 from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. He currently lives with his wife and family in Pearland. Learn more about Joseph: https://josephyoo.com/Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
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Protecting our Vote with Janai Nelson
Apr 2400:24:13Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThreats to voting rights rarely announce themselves as “suppression.” In this episode, Bishop Wright has a conversation with Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. They discuss the SAVE Act and related proposals that would tighten voter registration. Janai explains why the US already has voter verification systems, why fraud is not the widespread problem it’s sold as, and how new rules can be engineered to shrink the electorate while sounding neutral on paper. This conversation goes deeper than policy. It wrestles with what it means to be a patriot in a country still learning how to be a multiracial democracy, and why naming white supremacy matters if we’re serious about building something better. Janai offers a framework that sticks with us: reckon with our past, reimagine what this country can be, and refound it by removing the harmful systems that still weigh us down. If the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a kind of “birth certificate” for modern American democracy, then the work of growing up is still unfinished and still possible. Listen in for the full conversation.Janai Nelson is President and Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. As the institutional thought-leader, she directs the organization’s programmatic strategy and operations. Throughout her career, she has played a pivotal role in numerous landmark legal cases, shaping the fight for civil rights.Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
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