Faith Curious
with Trinity Church
What can faith offer when life gets complicated? Trinity Church NYC's Summerlee Staten brings together theologians, ministers, our congregation, and other people putting faith into practice to explore friendship, loneliness, grief, belonging, and what makes life meaningful.
Seeking spiritual community or exploring life’s big questions? Faith Curious with Trinity Church NYC is for anyone exploring faith, wrestling with doubt, or somewhere in between.
Join Trinity Church’s Summerlee Staten for deep conversations that invite us to consider what faith can offer when life asks more of us. Each episode blends theology and spirituality with honest stories about God, faith, and the sometimes messy work of life. Faith Curious extends a wide welcome to all, inviting you to join other imperfect people doing our best.
About the Host
Summerlee Staten leads Faith Formation and Education at Trinity. She holds a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Master of Sacred Theology from Yale Divinity School, with a focus on biblical studies and faith formation. On Faith Curious, she brings that background into candid, practical conversation about how faith meets everyday life.
On Living a Meaningful Life with Barbara Becker
Can facing death teach us how to live? Host Summerlee Staten talks with interfaith minister Barbara Becker, author of Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind, about death as a portal to meaning, grief practices across faiths, and the surprising freedom that can come with accepting our mortality and limitations. Together, they consider how joy and sorrow coexist, why anger and frustration deserve space, and how keeping the end in mind can bring what matters now into sharper focus.
Keep Listening
On Friendship with Lisa Benenson
What makes friendship a spiritual practice? Lisa Benenson, Chief Communications Officer and a parishioner at Trinity Church, joins Summerlee to consider the vulnerability of holding out a hand. Their conversation reveals how spiritual friendship—rooted in time, forgiveness, and common ground—can draw us closer to one another and to God.
On Loneliness with the Rev. Carl Adair
Amid a loneliness epidemic, can church lead us toward deeper connection? The Rev. Carl Adair, a 2022 Trinity Leadership Fellow and the priest gathering the new Episcopal Mission in Sunnyside, shares what it takes to create a community where people feel seen and known. From the joy and challenge of starting a new church to the ways parenthood reshapes our relationships, he and Summerlee consider how faith communities can carry us through times of transition.
On Grief with the Rev. Kristin Kaulbach Miles
What does it mean to truly show up for someone in grief? Summerlee talks with the Rev. Kristin Kaulbach Miles, Trinity Church’s Director of Parish Life and an experienced hospital chaplain, about what not to say—and what truly helps people navigate grief. At the heart of their conversation is how compassion, presence, faith, and community can help us carry what can’t be fixed when life brings deep loss.
Listen Your Way
Watch or follow Faith Curious with Trinity Church NYC wherever you get your podcasts—and never miss a conversation.
Go Deeper with Faith Education Classes
Discovery
Seek answers about scripture and spirituality that challenge us to put faith into practice
Into the Word
Dig deep into the Bible, its history, and what it means for us today
Foundations
A series for anyone wanting to learn more about Christianity and The Episcopal Church