EthicsDaily.com will release in early 2020 a multi-episode, narrative podcast on the life and work of Molly T. Marshall.
The as yet untitled project will span the length of Marshall’s professional and personal life and be story-driven.
Marshall, who was named in 2004 as president of Central Seminary in Shawnee, Kansas, has announced her retirement in 2020.
“Being the subject of a well-crafted podcast is not something I could have imagined; however, it has been an exhilarating experience as I have reflected on the arc of my vocation,” Marshall said. “I am grateful for colleagues, friends and former students who have generously participated under the thoughtful guidance of Cliff Vaughn of EthicsDaily.”
Vaughn, media producer at EthicsDaily.com, is producing. Erica Whitaker, senior pastor of Buechel Park Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, will be the narrator.
“The documentary podcast highlights the life of Molly T. Marshall – a bold pastor, a brilliant professor and an extraordinary Baptist seminary president,” said Whitaker, also an opinion writer at Baptist News Global. “The contributions of this one woman’s work in our world is a mirror of divine grace, human courage and never-ceasing creativity by means of timeless scholarly influence, global ecclesial leadership and faithful witness to God’s love. It is my honor to narrate this biographical piece about a servant of God who continues to impact thousands of lives for the better, including my own.”
The production is based on extensive interviews with Marshall herself; interviews with dozens of colleagues, students and friends; and archival research and material.
The production will reflect Marshall’s considerable presence abroad, her significant interest in Benedictine spirituality and her Southern Baptist roots in Oklahoma.
EthicsDaily.com has been producing the podcast in numerous locations with Marshall, including at the 2019 Baptist World Alliance annual gathering in Nassau, The Bahamas; at Conception Abbey in Conception, Missouri; and on the campus of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where Marshall earned two degrees and later taught as the first female faculty member in the School of Theology.
Her forced resignation from Southern in 1994 – amid upheaval in the Southern Baptist Convention, including debate about women’s roles – was a storyline in the 1997 PBS documentary, “Battle for the Minds.”
“Molly Marshall is one of the most important and influential leaders in Christianity over the last three decades,” said Mitch Randall, executive director of EthicsDaily.com and initiator of the project. “Her remarkable career, inspirational life and formative ministry will shape emerging scholars and ministers for generations to come. EthicsDaily.com is tremendously honored to bring her story to life though a multi-episode podcast.”
Interviewees include Babs Baugh, longtime friend and fellow Baptist; Pam Durso, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry; Mark Medley, Marshall’s former doctoral student at Southern and now professor of theology at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky; Helen Moore Montgomery, whose friendship with Marshall began at Oklahoma Baptist University in the late 1960s; Abbot Benedict T. Neenan, OSB, of Conception Abbey; and dozens of others.
The entire multi-episode production will be released all at once, likely in March 2020. It is the first in a planned series of narrative podcasts from EthicsDaily.com.
Limited sponsorship ads for the podcast are available. For more information, contact Mitch Randall at 405-761-2662 or mitch@testing.goodfaithmedia.net.
