‘The David and Craig Show’ with David and Craig

Local youth ministers connect to teenagers with weekly podcast

By Ambria Hammel | Oct. 1, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

David Lins can’t start his Monday without friend and fellow youth minister Craig Plenn by his side.

His computer, two microphones and a folding chair for his friend are also must-haves in his second-story Scottsdale bedroom.

“The Bunker,” as it’s known to its listeners, is where the pair records a Catholic podcast aptly named “The David and Craig Show.” The co-hosts started the “under an hour” show in May as a summer outreach to parish teenagers during their family travels, but it quickly began inspiring people of all ages with a down-to-earth Catholic perspective on news and pop culture, with subtle catechesis thrown in.

Their podcast is similar to a radio program, but it’s digital, portable and available for download from their Web site and the popular iPod software companion iTunes. The show had a good run in iTunes’ “new and notable” — a section for quality, popular shows with many listener reviews.

Back in the Bunker, Lins checks Yahoo.com’s “Odd News” page for show material while he waits for Plenn to arrive. A story from here will fit into either the “You Make Baby Jesus Cry” or “David’s Newshour in 10 Minutes or Less” segments. 

Plenn arrives and sits down, yellow highlighter in hand, to page through listener e-mail. They talk about their week and formulate an episode title.

“It rained! It rained! Thank you, Jesus, it rained!” they shout to each other to start off a recent show. “For like 10 minutes.”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Lins says.

“Now we’re a desert again,” Plenn says.

Local Catholics would know David Lins as youth ministry director at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Scottsdale, and Craig Plenn as coordinator of youth and young adult formation at St. Benedict Parish.

The pair, veterans in their field, each has 12-15 years of youth ministry under their belts. The podcast has only enhanced their ability to serve teenagers.

During the podcast, Plenn finds out that Lins’ girlfriend’s mother is coming to town.

“A week from Tuesday is the Mom Summit,” Lins says. “It’s myself, my ‘girlfriendio’ (as she’s known to regular listeners) and the two moms all having dinner together.”

“Can me and my mom come?” Plenn quips.

“No chance.”

This light-hearted banter continues, luring in listeners from several different countries.

“One of the things that keeps me coming back to the podcast is the quirky and hilarious segments that they have,” said Nathaniel Glenn, 16, a parishioner at St. Benedict.

Glenn, who is a teen in Plenn’s youth group, started listening to the show in June after a friend endorsed it on Facebook. He was addicted instantly and caught up on the podcasts in 24 hours. 

Each episode, of which there are 22, ends with a “What Matters Most” segment.

“What is the perfect antidote to stress and worry?” Lins says during the segment near back-to-school time. “That’s faith. That’s trust.”

He reflects and quotes from his favorite female character in a movie, Ivy Walker, played by Bryce Dallas Howard in M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village.”

At one point she says, “You are my father. I will listen to you in all things. I will trust your decision.”

“I can’t help but reflect on my own life when I get worried or stressed out and something ‘needs to happen’ and it just doesn’t happen,” Lins says. “In the crucial moments of life for us, I think that this is the perfect prayer.”

“There’s always something there that ties our faith into every day life,” said Lisa Harrington, a Scottsdale parent of a teen in Lins’ youth group and regular listener. “It brings a lot of humanity to Catholicism.”

It’s also brought people to prayer. Listeners, on their own accord, have e-mailed various requests. One teenager in Idaho e-mailed a prayer of thanksgiving for a youth minister’s job well done.

“The David and Craig Show” features segments like “Married Guy, Single Guy” that are just downright funny. Both in their 30s, Lins is single and Plenn is married with two young children. Recently, they discussed the idea of compromise from their perspectives.

“When you’re single and you’re an adult, you can just come home whenever, you eat wherever you want, whatever you want. I am starting to realize that that’s changing,” said Lins, who is dating “a beautiful woman of God.”

Lins asks Plenn if a series of other things changed once he got married. He affirms everything, including the type of milk he drinks, the temperature in the house and the length of his showers.

Compromise, Plenn says, happens when there’s an understanding for the sake of a shared agenda.

“It’s a shared agenda in that she let’s me know,” Plenn said. “She shares with me my agenda.”

“I can sit there and giggle all the way home,” said Megan Korthals, an Idaho Catholic who listens to the weekly podcast during her 45-minute commute.

“When we laugh at something, it’s insane. It’s insane because it’s so far away from God’s truth,” Lins said.

Besides random comments, listeners e-mail their votes for the winner of the popular “You Make Baby Jesus Cry” segment. During this whimsical portion of the show, the podcasting duo each offer commentary on a news story or topic, ranging from the ridiculous to the tragic, that in theory could be considered controversial or scandalous.

Through it all, Plenn said the idea is to remind listeners that “in the light of Christ, this is how ridiculous this looks.”

Listeners reflect on each news item throughout the week and weigh in with who they think did a better job of “making baby Jesus cry.”

For those keeping score at home, it’s Plenn: 10, Lins: 8.

In August, they were interviewed on “The Busted Halo Show” on Sirius Satellite Radio.

The podcast has helped them minister to former teens and in areas where there is little to no youth or young adult ministry, Lins said.

“While the Internet community is no substitute for an actual community, I’m really honored that Plenn and I get to be the next best thing,” Lins said. “At least they can borrow us for an hour or so.”