In this episode of Design and Religion – Look for the Helpers, Van and Pastor Nate welcome Dan McGarvey Esq., a criminal youth defense attorney in Colorado.

Dan works daily with children charged in the juvenile system—and sometimes prosecuted as adults. He explains the profound gap between how the legal system treats youth and what neuroscience tells us about adolescent brain development. The brain, he notes, is not fully formed until at least age 25, sometimes later. Yet teenagers often face adult consequences for decisions made in moments of immaturity, impulsivity, and fear.

The conversation leads beyond legal mechanics into moral tension. Dan describes the layered realities behind many juvenile cases: unstable homes, trauma, addiction, neglect, poverty, and mistrust of court-appointed attorneys. He pushes back against the “single story” narrative that flattens young defendants into nothing more than “the crime they committed.” Every child has context. Every case has a backstory.

Dan closes with what sustains him: small wins. Getting a case transferred back to juvenile court. Protecting constitutional rights. Recognizing colleagues’ victories. The work is heavy, but it matters.

This episode refuses easy answers. Instead, it asks listeners to see more clearly—and to stop flattening children into a single story.

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We envision a world where design and religion work together to spread love, empathy, and charity faster than divisiveness, selfishness, and hate. To achieve this, we aim to bring the stories of those driving this change—both big and small—into the spotlight, allowing ideas for positive transformation to spread quickly and reach those who need them most.

Nate is the Head Pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church https://rccpc.org/

Van is a Service Designer and Illustrator, and his work can be found at https://www.vansheacreative.com/

In this Look for the Helpers episode, Van and Pastor Nate sit down with researcher and social scientist Julie Krohner, who defines her work simply: helping people cultivate self- and other-empathy.

Julie’s premise is: Safety and attention can create transcendence. When order enters the nervous system, it frees cognitive bandwidth. That’s when people feel expansion, unity, and source-connection. It doesn’t require supernatural causation to be sacred. There is only one “you,” and yet you share an emotional life with billions of others. Humans are far more alike than different

And it requires the humility to admit: we are more similar than we pretend.

Send us a text message letting us know what you think of this episode!

We envision a world where design and religion work together to spread love, empathy, and charity faster than divisiveness, selfishness, and hate. To achieve this, we aim to bring the stories of those driving this change—both big and small—into the spotlight, allowing ideas for positive transformation to spread quickly and reach those who need them most.

Nate is the Head Pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church https://rccpc.org/

Van is a Service Designer and Illustrator, and his work can be found at https://www.vansheacreative.com/

In this episode of Design and Religion: Helpers, we sit with Jason Baxley, a police lieutenant, tactical flight officer, and paramedic whose work exists at the intersection of authority and compassion.

Baxley describes a nontraditional path into law enforcement, beginning in medicine rather than criminal justice. That decision shaped how he approaches crisis. Not as a problem to control, but as a human moment that demands judgment, restraint, and care under pressure. In the aviation unit, he often holds multiple roles at once: law enforcement officer, medical responder, teacher, and teammate. Sometimes all within minutes.

The conversation explores the moral tension of service. How do you act decisively without becoming detached? How do you care deeply without losing command? Baxley explains that real courage is rarely dramatic. It’s often procedural, quiet, and invisible. Training matters. Trust matters. And so does knowing when not to act.

We also discuss public misunderstanding of emergency work, the limits of certainty in high-stakes decisions, and the unseen cost of service borne by families. Baxley reframes heroism away from individual acts and toward systems of preparation, shared responsibility, and collective resilience.

This episode doesn’t resolve the tension between compassion and authority. It sits with it. And in doing so, it offers a clearer picture of what helping actually looks like when there’s no applause, no clarity, and no rewind button.

Send us a text message letting us know what you think of this episode!

We envision a world where design and religion work together to spread love, empathy, and charity faster than divisiveness, selfishness, and hate. To achieve this, we aim to bring the stories of those driving this change—both big and small—into the spotlight, allowing ideas for positive transformation to spread quickly and reach those who need them most.

Nate is the Head Pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church https://rccpc.org/

Van is a Service Designer and Illustrator, and his work can be found at https://www.vansheacreative.com/

In the first episode of Look for the Helpers, we talk with Jamie Moulthrop of Table of Plenty about what food insecurity actually looks like in suburban America. Jamie shares what he’s seeing on the ground, including how demand has grown since COVID, how housing costs have outpaced income for working families and seniors, and why dignity and relationships matter as much as food itself. This is a quiet, honest conversation about care, constraint, and the everyday work of helping where systems fall short.

Jamie begins by situating the work geographically. The area Table of Plenty serves is unincorporated and often overlooked, falling between Wilmington and Newark. That invisibility matters. It shapes how need is misunderstood and how few services exist nearby. Table of Plenty operates in what Jamie describes as a service desert, where people may appear stable from the outside yet are one financial shock away from crisis.

A key theme of the conversation is the shift from distribution to relationship. Early versions of the ministry focused on giving food. A pivotal change came when Table of Plenty partnered with Community of Christ Church, gaining space not just to distribute goods but to talk, listen, and build trust. Jamie frames this as a shift from “giving people things” to hospitality and relationship-building, influenced by his mentor, Bill Perkins, of Friendship House.

The episode offers clear qualitative and quantitative insight into post-COVID realities. Jamie confirms that Table of Plenty has seen nearly 30% year-over-year growth in demand since COVID, largely driven by housing costs. He explains that the people they serve are primarily the working poor—individuals with jobs, homes, and basic stability, but whose incomes no longer cover the costs of housing, food, healthcare, and transportation.

Jamie illustrates this with a stark housing example. Thirty years ago, a median-income household in Delaware could afford a starter home. Today, those same homes cost $350,000–$400,000 while starting incomes have barely moved. The math no longer works. As a result, food pantries function as gap fillers, allowing families to redirect grocery money toward rent, utilities, or medical bills.

The conversation expands to demographics. About 70% of Table of Plenty’s clients are Latino families, many with children and strong aspirations. At the same time, Jamie describes a sharp and growing increase in seniors on fixed incomes, whose rent, healthcare, and technology barriers are accelerating hardship. In some cases, Table of Plenty staff may be the only people who greet these seniors by name each week.

Dignity emerges as the central organizing principle. Table of Plenty intentionally minimizes paperwork, avoids gatekeeping, and prioritizes welcome over verification. Success is not measured by volume served, but by lives transformed. The episode closes with a reflection on meaning. What sustains the work is not efficiency metrics, but moments of recognition—when someone pauses to say the help mattered.

Send us a text message letting us know what you think of this episode!

We envision a world where design and religion work together to spread love, empathy, and charity faster than divisiveness, selfishness, and hate. To achieve this, we aim to bring the stories of those driving this change—both big and small—into the spotlight, allowing ideas for positive transformation to spread quickly and reach those who need them most.

Nate is the Head Pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church https://rccpc.org/

Van is a Service Designer and Illustrator, and his work can be found at https://www.vansheacreative.com/

This episode examines religious innovation through three distinct lenses.

Philip Jones, a retired Presbyterian pastor, brings institutional honesty. He names the anxiety beneath the language of innovation: declining membership, aging volunteers, and a shrinking financial runway. From inside the church, he explains how innovation often functions as a survival strategy, and why small groups, digital formats, and community service have become central attempts to rebuild connection—sometimes with mixed results.

Mark Friedman, a Jewish author and thinker, offers a textual and historical counterweight. He argues that innovation untethered from tradition weakens religion rather than saving it. Drawing on the Torah and Talmud, he demonstrates that Judaism has always allowed for change, but only when it is justified through a deep engagement with sacred texts, rather than cultural convenience.

Van moderates the conversation from a design and systems perspective, pressing on assumptions both traditions share. He reframes innovation as a question of delivery, relevance, and meaning-making, asking whether institutions are redesigning faith itself or merely repackaging it to keep people engaged.

Together, the episode challenges the idea that growth is the right metric—and asks whether religious innovation can preserve depth without resorting to pandering.

Send us a text message letting us know what you think of this episode!

We envision a world where design and religion work together to spread love, empathy, and charity faster than divisiveness, selfishness, and hate. To achieve this, we aim to bring the stories of those driving this change—both big and small—into the spotlight, allowing ideas for positive transformation to spread quickly and reach those who need them most.

Nate is the Head Pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church https://rccpc.org/

Van is a Service Designer and Illustrator, and his work can be found at https://www.vansheacreative.com/

Van invites Drew Marshall to explore the world of Islam through the lens of architecture as a living expression of belief, migration, conflict, humility, community behavior, and identity. Drew, an Islamic Studies expert and community advocate, guides us through the evolution of mosque design from Abraham and early Mecca to its global adaptations across the centuries.

The conversation delves into the lived experience of entering a mosque, exploring transitional spaces, ritual washing (wudu), light, pattern, sound, and spatial choreography that prepare a person emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually.

The episode then pivots into the “modern identity crisis” of Muslims in America. Drew speaks candidly about colonialism, wars in Muslim countries, the challenge of loving a land whose government harms your homeland, and the spiritual obligation to contribute positively anyway. He frames gratitude not as passivity, but as civic responsibility: promoting a better parking culture, cleaner roads, community contributions, and service as a form of worship.

The episode closes with a challenge: that contemporary Muslims, like all faith groups, must examine themselves through tradition without abandoning it — the concept of the mujaddid, someone who renews the faith for the times. Sacred design, in this frame, isn’t about buildings. It’s about behavior, belonging, and the everyday rituals that shape how a community is perceived and how it perceives itself.

Send us a text message letting us know what you think of this episode!

We envision a world where design and religion work together to spread love, empathy, and charity faster than divisiveness, selfishness, and hate. To achieve this, we aim to bring the stories of those driving this change—both big and small—into the spotlight, allowing ideas for positive transformation to spread quickly and reach those who need them most.

Nate is the Head Pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church https://rccpc.org/

Van is a Service Designer and Illustrator, and his work can be found at https://www.vansheacreative.com/

This episode brings together Rev. Dr. Pamela Adams, Van, and Pastor Nate for a deep, candid conversation about what actually happens at the intersection of mental health, spirituality, accountability, and human struggle. What emerges is a picture of healing that is warm and joyful, but also grounded, gritty, and human.

Pam begins by breaking down why therapy scares people: not because therapy is dramatic, but because sitting in a room and talking about yourself is uncomfortable. And she doesn’t sugarcoat it: real healing requires letting those doors open, doing the work, facing consequences instead of blaming “God’s will,” and refusing the fantasy of a one-and-done deliverance.

One of her strongest themes: spiritual healing without maintenance collapses. Biblical stories of Jesus healing people don’t include the “follow-up appointments” — the Tuesday-after-the-miracle part. Today, professionals fill that gap. Prayer and therapy don’t compete; they stabilize each other. She urges people to pray on Sunday and see their therapist on Tuesday.

The through-line:

Healing is work. Faith and therapy are partners. You must deal with yourself before you can deal with anyone else. And the people who look the healthiest are often the ones doing the most unseen work.

Send us a text message letting us know what you think of this episode!

We envision a world where design and religion work together to spread love, empathy, and charity faster than divisiveness, selfishness, and hate. To achieve this, we aim to bring the stories of those driving this change—both big and small—into the spotlight, allowing ideas for positive transformation to spread quickly and reach those who need them most.

Nate is the Head Pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church https://rccpc.org/

Van is a Service Designer and Illustrator, and his work can be found at https://www.vansheacreative.com/

In this thought-provoking episode, Van Sedita and retired Presbyterian pastor Phil Jones speak with Mark Friedman, author of Come Now, Let Us Reason Together. The conversation explores what authentic Judaism means beyond stereotypes of rigid law and ritual. Friedman recounts his journey from Reform Judaism through years among Chabad communities, describing how neither liberal editing nor strict orthodoxy fully capture Judaism’s heart.

He argues that after the Second Temple’s destruction, the rabbis “reinvented” Judaism—replacing sacrifice with study and prayer, grounding faith in debate and moral reasoning. The Talmud, he explains, reveals a religion built on adaptation: rabbis altered harsh or outdated laws as moral understanding evolved. Examples include nullifying ancient punishments and reinterpreting economic laws to preserve fairness and social stability.

Phil connects this to Christianity’s own struggle with scriptural authority, asking whether reformation means faithfulness or rebellion. Together, they wrestle with questions of permission, authority, and innovation: who decides when a law no longer serves its purpose? Van draws out the shared tension between divine command and human conscience—how both faiths hold space for doubt, reinterpretation, and renewal.

The episode closes on a hopeful note. Friedman insists that ritual matters only if it deepens ethical living. Jones adds that true innovation in religion comes from returning to the core covenant—to love God and neighbor. Across traditions, they agree: sacred texts endure not because they freeze time, but because they invite each generation to reason together.

(Summary by Chat GPT)

Send us a text message letting us know what you think of this episode!

We envision a world where design and religion work together to spread love, empathy, and charity faster than divisiveness, selfishness, and hate. To achieve this, we aim to bring the stories of those driving this change—both big and small—into the spotlight, allowing ideas for positive transformation to spread quickly and reach those who need them most.

Nate is the Head Pastor at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church https://rccpc.org/

Van is a Service Designer and Illustrator, and his work can be found at https://www.vansheacreative.com/