Former ‘Open Door Policy’ co-host passes microphone to new hosts; new podcast will offer ‘deeper dive’ for parish ministers, volunteers

DETROIT — Fr. Stephen Pullis and Beth Spizarny will co-host the Archdiocese of Detroit’s newest podcast, “Encounter, Grow, Witness,” bringing the archdiocese’s total number of podcasts to five.

The monthly show, which will debut Feb. 15, is geared toward “committed disciples,” including parish ministers, volunteers and leaders in the archdiocese’s Unleash the Gospel movement who want to grow deeper in their faith, Fr. Pullis said.

“This is meant to be a meatier podcast for those more mature disciples who are further along in their relationship with the Lord,” Fr. Pullis, director of evangelization and missionary discipleship for the archdiocese, told Detroit Catholic. “It’s going to be a great opportunity to better equip disciples to have missionary hearts and missionary skills, to bring more people to know and love Jesus.”

Fr. Pullis, who co-hosted the archdiocese’s inaugural podcast, “Open Door Policy,” moved on from the show after its fifth season concluded July 7, 2020. “Open Door Policy’s” sixth season is continuing with new co-hosts Fr. Patrick Gonyeau and Emily Mentock.

While “Open Door Policy” is meant to appeal to a wider audience, including those investigating the Catholic faith, “Encounter, Grow, Witness” is more specifically targeted toward those in parish ministry who want a “deeper dive” into theological and spiritual topics, Fr. Pullis said. 

The first episode, for instance, will focus on Scripture and its importance in the life of a missionary disciple.

“We talk all about Sacred Scripture, how we’ve come to love and know the word of God, how we’ve used it in our different ministries. We talk about our favorite Scripture passages, and we offer some advice, tips and suggestions on how Scripture can be used by those in ministry,” Fr. Pullis said.

Fr. Pullis said he’s excited to work with Spizarny, director of evangelization at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, on the project, which will solicit questions and input from those in ministry throughout the archdiocese.

Fr. Pullis said he and Danielle Center, the other “Open Door Policy” co-host, enjoyed their two-year run, but felt it was time to move on to new projects.

“Danielle and I talked about it, and we both agreed it was a good time to pass the baton,” Fr. Pullis said. “We were very grateful for the opportunity and for more than two years of getting to interview missionary disciples around the Archdiocese of Detroit, to see what God has been doing and continues to do in the archdiocese.”

Since “Open Door Policy” launched in November 2018, the archdiocese has added several new podcasts, including “Eyes on Jesus” with Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron; “Detroit Stories,” a storytelling and news podcast produced by Detroit Catholic; and “Men of the Hearts,” a vocations-themed podcast co-hosted by archdiocesan vocations director Fr. Craig Giera and Divine Child Parish’s Fr. David Pellican, debuting later this month. 

Mentock, associate director of strategy for the archdiocese’s communications department, said she’s excited to launch a new chapter of “Open Door Policy” with Fr. Gonyeau, administrator of Corpus Christi Parish in Detroit.

“Fr. Steve and Danielle were amazing hosts to launch ‘Open Door Policy’ and carry it through the first five seasons,” Mentock said. “Looking through the 60 episodes they hosted, you see an incredible mark of the Unleash the Gospel movement. When they discerned that it was time to ‘pass the mic,’ we wanted to keep that momentum going and continue to serve the thousands of listeners who tuned in to the podcast each episode.”

With 61 episodes so far, “Open Door Policy” has been the most popular of the archdiocese’s podcasts, with more than 134,000 downloads since its initial launch.

Fr. Gonyeau added the podcast has a “great heritage of beautiful spiritual principles being unfolded episode after episode.”

“As we have guests on who are witnessing, speaking about their encounter with the Lord Jesus, I think there’s all kinds of beautiful graces that will continue to be released that help us grow,” Fr. Gonyeau said during the transition episode.

Each of the archdiocese’s podcasts can be downloaded on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Fireside:

• “Encounter, Grow, Witness,” with Fr. Stephen Pullis and Beth Spizarny (monthly)
• “Eyes on Jesus,” with Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, Mary Wilkerson and Michael Chamberland (monthly)
• “Open Door Policy,” with Fr. Patrick Gonyeau and Emily Mentock (biweekly)
• “Detroit Stories,” narrated and produced by Detroit Catholic (biweekly)
• “Men of the Hearts,” with Fr. Craig Giera and Fr. David Pellican (monthly, launching February 2021)

Listeners interested in details about “Men of the Hearts” can sign up for the Detroit Priestly Vocations email newsletter to keep up to date on its launch. 

Sacred Heart Major Seminary also offers its “Heart for Mission” podcast geared toward students, faculty and alumni. The archdiocese previously offered “Inside CHSL,” which focused on athletics in the Catholic High School League, during the 2019-20 season.