Oct. 27, 2026

Still Room At The Table

Show Notes

🎙️ Still Room at the Table

CAPTAIN'S LOG | SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE

Guest: Sean McCoy

Captain's Log:

Some journeys aren't measured by the miles we've traveled, but by the people who continue walking beside us.

And sometimes, the greatest test of a friendship isn't distance.

It's difference.

My friendship with Sean McCoy began years ago in a podcasting community called Rocket. What started with a simple show swap, where Sean introduced listeners to his podcast Come to the Table, grew into something neither of us could have anticipated.

Phone calls. Text messages. FaceTime conversations. Years of staying connected across the miles.

But recently, something happened that invited a different kind of conversation.

Sean shared a Facebook post about deconstructing his Christian faith.

As his friend, and as someone whose own faith remains important to me, I found myself facing a question that felt much bigger than a difference in beliefs.

When someone you love begins questioning the faith you share, is there still room for them at your table?

James 1:19 reminds us:

“Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

Those words became a guiding principle for this encounter.

Not to convince. Not to correct. Not to win an argument.

But to listen.

So, in San Antonio, Texas, Sean drove roughly three hours to join me for something we'd never done before: meeting and recording together, face to face.

And this wasn't just any returning guest.

Sean holds the distinction of appearing on Other People's Shoes more times than any other individual guest.

For the first time, we also captured our conversation on video, scheduled for release on YouTube under the Mission Control playlist.

Two friends. Different perspectives. One table.

And perhaps one of the most important questions we've ever brought to the microphone:

Can we make room for someone's questions without making them feel they no longer belong?

🧭 Guest Encounter

Some guests appear on Other People's Shoes once and leave an impression.

Then there's Sean McCoy.

Sean holds a special place in the history of OPS as our most frequent returning guest. But his significance to me extends far beyond that distinction.

Our friendship began through Rocket, a podcasting community that introduced us to each other's work. A show swap brought Sean onto OPS to talk about his own podcast, Come to the Table.

What might have remained a professional connection became a lasting friendship.

Over the years, we've stayed in touch through phone calls, messages, FaceTime, and Marco Polo, sharing pieces of our lives despite the distance between us.

Yet through all those years, we had never met in person. Not once.

Following Sean's public reflections on deconstructing his Christian faith, I wanted to understand his journey more deeply—not simply as a podcast host, but as his friend.

Sean's story includes being baptized at 32 and, more recently, describing himself as a “seeker without portfolio.”

What do those different chapters mean to him today? How does he understand his earlier faith? And what does he need from friends whose beliefs may not be changing in the same way?

After years of connecting remotely, Sean made the roughly three-hour drive to meet me in San Antonio.

For the very first time, we were sitting across from each other.

And there was still room at the table.

🧭 The Mission Details

This special bonus episode begins with a friendship and opens into a conversation about faith, questions, belonging, and the importance of listening.

Among the questions guiding our encounter:

🚀 Where it all began Rocket: How a podcasting community, a show swap, and two microphones laid the foundation for an enduring friendship.

✝️ Remembering the man who was baptized at 32: When Sean looks back at that earlier chapter of his life, who does he remember being? What mattered to him then?

🧭 Deconstructing faith: What does it mean for Sean to revisit beliefs that once shaped his understanding of Christianity?

🪑 Still room at the table: What does Sean need from Christian friends like me to feel genuinely heard, respected, and loved?

🔎 A seeker without portfolio: What does seeking look like when someone is no longer certain how to describe their spiritual identity?

💬 Jesus and Christianity: Has Sean's understanding of Jesus Himself changed, or has his understanding of Christianity changed? And how does he distinguish between the two?

👂 Quick to hear, slow to speak: What might happen if we approached difficult conversations with more curiosity, patience, and willingness to listen?

🚗 Showing up matters: What it meant for Sean to drive roughly three hours so we could finally meet and share this conversation in person.

📹 Beyond the microphone: Our first face-to-face meeting and recording was captured on video for the OPS Mission Control playlist on YouTube.

These questions invite an honest conversation without requiring either person to have all the answers.

🧭 Footprint Moment

What happens when someone we care about begins seeing the world differently?

Do we become so concerned with defending what we believe that we stop listening to the person in front of us?

Do we confuse disagreement with rejection?

Or can we recognize that making room for someone's questions doesn't mean abandoning our own convictions?

My friendship with Sean began long before this conversation about faith. And my hope is that the willingness to listen can remain stronger than the pressure to agree.

James 1:19 doesn't ask us to have the perfect response.

It calls us first to hear.

Maybe the most meaningful thing we can offer someone who is questioning isn't an answer. Maybe it's the reassurance that they still have a seat at the table.

🧭 Open Channels | Sean McCoy

🔗 Connect with Sean McCoy on LinkedIn

🎙️ The Search for a Table — An earlier OPS conversation with Sean

🎧 That Is a Stupid Thing to Do — Another OPS conversation with Sean

📹 Watch Still Room at the Table on YouTube

For the very first time, Sean and I met and recorded together in person in San Antonio, Texas, capturing our conversation on video.

Scheduled YouTube release: Friday, October 23, 2026

Playlist: Mission Control

▶️ Watch Still Room at the Table — Full Video Conversation

The video will become available according to its scheduled YouTube visibility settings.

🧭 Stay in Orbit

Every conversation is another opportunity to walk in someone else's shoes.

At Other People's Shoes, we believe that empathy begins when we're willing to listen to stories that may challenge our assumptions, expand our understanding, and remind us of our shared humanity.

Stay connected and continue the journey with us.

🧭 Leave Your Footprint

Have you ever experienced a friendship being tested by differences in faith, beliefs, or perspective?

Have you ever needed someone to listen without trying to change your mind?

Or perhaps you've been the person learning how to make room for someone else's questions.

Your story matters, too.

⭐ Leave a Review

Your words help others discover meaningful conversations and remind us that no one should have to walk through life's difficult questions alone.

Captain's Log: Closed.

Thank you for walking in Other People's Shoes. 👟🩵