An "intensely presbyterian" wave of podcasts
The PCA's young confessionalists are speaking out and talking to each other
We have entered the age of the Podsbyterian. Just this summer the number of podcasts devoted to the principles and doctrines of presbyterianism in general and the Presbyterian Church in America in particular has grown from a handful to an armload. This bloom is not in response to great controversy but seems to have grown from an encouraging groundswell of conviction among young churchmen.
Reformed Forum, the Heidelcast, and the more general-interest White Horse Inn and Mortification of Spin pioneered Reformed-focused audio content. Presbycast (now seven years old and approaching 500 shows) made the podverse safe for discussing specific and sometimes-controversial denominational issues and distinctives. The four newest intensely-presbyterian1 podcasts are:
Larger For Life - Five young PCA pastor scholars work through the Larger Catechism.
Polity Matters - Three PCA pastors geek out on presby polity and church order.
The Westminster Standard - Pastor Ryan Biese hosts for a grassroots group, Jude 3 and the PCA.
Presbyterian & Reformed Churchmen - Pastor George Sayour has already interviewed an impressive array of guests including several ruling elders—not just pastors.
Everyone involved with these podcasts has or will soon appear as guests on Presbycast and we count all the men involved as trusted friends. We suggest you subscribe to each one of them.
We should also salute the young queens of presbyterian podcasting, The Presbygirls (Sarah Morris and Zoe Miller) whose shows appear on the Presbycast feed. Their contribution to the presby podverse has been both significant and welcome.
One interesting thing to note: To date, the more progressive wing of the PCA has not been successful at establishing a similar array of podcasts. It’s hard to say why this is the case.
At any rate, the renewed interest in the standards and polity of the PCA is both appropriate and encouraging in this the denomination’s 50th year.
From Holy Scripture we unalterably affirm that in the Presbyterian system of church government the church is not merely a superintendent but an agent of mission work. "We wish to develop the idea that the congregation of believers, as visibly organized, is the very society or corporation which is divinely called to do the work of the Lord. From the session to the General Assembly we shall strive to enlist all of our courts, as courts, in this Christian effort of mission work in the United States. We are not ashamed to confess that we are intensely Presbyterian. We embrace all other denominations in the arms of Christian fellowship and love, but our own scheme of government we humbly believe to be according to the pattern shown in the Scripture, and by God's grace, we propose to put its efficiency to the test." - First PCA General Assembly, 1973 https://www.pcahistory.org/pca/digest/studies/2-429.html
The book of Job, the socratic method, Congress, parliamentarianism, and monitored group discussions all have in common an organized conversation that builds wisdom and abstraction. Fools have no use for these things and cannot develop them well.
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Proverbs 18:2
Maybe we don't see as many "progressives" doing podcasts because they are more interested in telling people the good news that Jesus saved them from their sin and the joy He provides in that, not wasting their time arguing about how to improve the modern mishnah.