Patrick Conley is a familiar voice as host of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show, conversing with many and sharing stories of faith each week.
“Well, really it started out with people always coming up to me and telling me, ‘Hey, you’ve got a great radio voice’ and I would always joke back, ‘I’m just waiting for my big break,'” Conley told “Practicing Catholic” radio show producer Rachael McCallum during a recent interview. “But I wasn’t pursuing radio at all.”
His experience with radio began while he was overseas. Conley said that while he was in seminary for the Anglican Communion in England, “we had to do some placements, and I actually ended up doing a placement with BBC Radio Oxford, where I would just come in about once every other week or so, and I would talk a little about news headlines from a faith perspective — that’s how it all started.”
Conley returned to the United States and he and his wife, Kendra, became Catholic. Radio re-entered Conley’s life while he was working for the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
“They had me doing some ad spots for them, voicing some ad spots for big Masses that were coming up and inviting people on 1330 AM to come and be part of the Cathedral,” Conley said. This was how he got to know the team at Relevant Radio, ultimately leading him to his current roles as host of the “Practicing Catholic” and “The Inner Life” shows.
Conley said hosting “Practicing Catholic” for about eight years and “The Inner Life” for nearly two years is “not a huge amount of time, but I still look at all this as a tremendous gift, as a tremendous privilege.”
Although his role as Catholic radio show host offers unique ways to strengthen his faith, Conley also acknowledged times of struggle.
“There are times — like for all of us, I think — when prayer seems dry, when I’m struggling with a particular sin or temptation in my life. And that’s not easy, but I think it has challenged me personally every time to come back to that place where I have to acknowledge that God is still there … he still looks on me in love and he still has a calling in my life.”
To hear Conley share his faith journey as well as some of his favorite things, tune in when the show debuts at 9 p.m. Jan. 3 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Jan. 4 and 2 p.m. Jan. 5.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Lacy Apfelbeck, founder of Edge of the Red Sea Ministries, on fostering personal well-being during the holidays and with Kate Soucheray, a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus, about how to incorporate faith into New Year’s resolutions.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
