Shepherds in the Storm: When Courage Is Required with Pastor Rich Blum
The Heidi St. John Podcast
Heidi St. John
4.8 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 23 January 2026
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Pastor Rich Blum joins me for an unfiltered conversation about what happens when cultural hostility no longer stays outside the church doors. We unpack the disruption of a Minnesota church service and why moments like that demand courage and real shepherding—not silence. From COVID and government overreach to education, freedom, and biblical authority, this episode is a clear call for pastors and believers to stop playing defense and start leading. This is no time to shrink back—it’s time for faithful leadership to rise.
Prime Sponsor: No matter where you live, visit the Functional Medical Institute online today to connect with Drs Mark and Michele Sherwood. Go to homeschoolhealth.com to get connected and see some of my favorites items. Use coupon code HEIDI for 20% off!
Show mentions: http://heidistjohn.com/mentions
Website | heidistjohn.com
Support the show! | donorbox.org/donation-827
Rumble | rumble.com/user/HeidiStJohn
Youtube | youtube.com/@HeidiStJohnPodcast
Instagram | @heidistjohn
Facebook | Heidi St. John
X | @heidistjohn
Faith That Speaks Online Community
Submit your questions for Fan Mail Friday | heidistjohn.net/fanmailfriday
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey everybody, this is Heidi St. John. Welcome to the Heidi St. John podcast. I'm glad you guys |
| 0:04.6 | have joined me today. I have been doing a series for a little while that I have been calling the |
| 0:09.6 | bold pastor series and asking pastors locally and internationally and even around the United |
| 0:16.5 | States, what does it mean to be a bold pastor and really shepherd people through the storms that we see |
| 0:24.2 | coming at us in the culture? And today, I'm really glad to have a local pastor on my podcast. |
| 0:30.5 | Rich Blum is joining me today. He is the senior pastor at Bethel Community Church in Washingel, |
| 0:36.0 | Washington Gateway to the Gorge. If you've never been there, you should come. It's beautiful. I have a lot of respect for Pastor Rich, and I'm glad he's here. We're going to have a really honest conversation between friends today about what it means to be a shepherd in the cultural storms we're facing today as Christians. It's going to be a great episode. I'm glad you guys are here. |
| 0:54.6 | Stick around. |
| 0:55.4 | I think you're going to be encouraged. |
| 1:04.7 | Thank you guys for tuning in today. |
| 1:06.4 | Before I jump into, today's show is being sponsored in part by my friends at the Functional Medical Institute, |
| 1:11.5 | and you can find out more by checking them out at homeschoolhealth.com. All right, lots of things going on |
| 1:17.8 | in the news, and Pastor Rich and I are going to dive into some of them today. But I want to encourage you, |
| 1:23.1 | as I jump into this topic, it is my belief that 99.9% of the issues that we vote on in this |
| 1:30.7 | nation are not political, but rather biblical and moral at their root, which is why I believe |
| 1:36.0 | that Christians need to be involved. And we absolutely need to show up at the intersection of |
| 1:40.6 | faith and culture. And so it's my prayer and my hope that you guys will be encouraged by this. Some of you are going to be challenged. Maybe you might have your toes stepped on a |
| 1:48.2 | little bit. I've had my toe stepped on. So, you know, what comes around goes around. But I hope |
| 1:53.9 | you guys will share this episode that we can have more conversations as people of faith around issues of culture, and that includes politics. |
| 2:04.2 | And so with that, Pastor Rich, my goodness, your first time to the studio. |
| 2:07.7 | Welcome. |
| 2:08.2 | It is. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Heidi St. John, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Heidi St. John and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.