Should dating be an end in itself or a means to an end? A new podcast aims to help Christians navigate romance with a definite destination in mind ... the altar (even if every dating adventure doesn't result in vows).
Launching Thursday, March 12 (episodes premiere weekly, on Thursdays), Intentional Dating: Relationship Goals for Christians talks to faithful folks involved in helping with relationships, and/or theology.
The goal is to focus on keeping God at the center of your dating life (while still having one).
You can watch and listen on Family Theater Productions' YouTube channel, and stream audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music. You can find the official website here.
Hosts for the 10-episode first season are matchmaker Alessandra "Aly" Conti and Nick Vicinanzo, an actor/host who also works as a Ministry Consultant with The Couple to Couple League, which, among other things, is involved in aspects of marriage prep.
Take a look:
The young Family Theater Productions producers for the podcast, Alan Hewitt and Patrick Lehe, had this to say:
We had a blast producing this podcast. Aly and Nick are not just incredibly engaging, but relatable, especially for young Christians navigating this dating landscape.
Our guests bring real-world and practical insights, offering profound advice combined with levity and humor. We can't wait to share this new podcast with our listeners and hope we can inspire a culture of dating differently today.
The podcast launches with guests Emily Wilson-Hussem and her husband Daniel Hussem, creators of SacredSpark, a dating app for Christians, specifically Catholics.
Guests in future episodes include:
Marriage and family therapist Chris Meehan (seen, during his single days, in the FTP/Paulist Productions film The Dating Project)
Speaker and podcaster Jason Evert
Brendan McCauley of the Humanum Project.
Matchmaker Madigan Maere
Actor, author and speaker Tanner Kalina
Author, speaker and relationship coach Rose Sweet
Poet/TV host Clare McCallan (This Is the Day on CatholicTV)
Content creator Naomi Leanage
Director, producer, speaker, actor, and content creator Sean Afable
Therapist Michael Gasparro
Content creator Connor McLaughlin, founder of Practical Sainthood
Theologian, author, and University of Notre Dame professor Dr. Tim O'Malley
Vicinanzo was single himself only a few years ago, saying, "I just went through this a couple years ago, and of course dating is ongoing, date your spouse. So it's very fresh.
"It's this convergence of all these things, my faith, the skills necessary to conduct good, thoughtful interviews, and then being a family man who is kind of in the midst of the topic that we're engaging with.
"I think that was a unique perspective that the producers, Patrick and Alan, wanted for this show, because then on the other side, we have my co-host, Aly.
"This is her work, this is her life. She's been a professional matchmaker in LA for 14 years, and this is a tough market. It's a tough market because you have a ton of successful, attractive people with no idea what dating with intention actually means."
He describes the format in sports terms, saying, "I'm very much the play-by-play commentator, and Aly is very much the color commentator."
Conti discovered some things about herself, after her years in the dating trenches. That occasionally led to differences of opinion with the guests.
"It was just kind of shocking to me," she says, "how opinionated I really am, because I mean, I'm living in the matchmaking world. I've been in the matchmaking world now for almost 14 years.
"I lead a team of seven. So, a lot of my opinions are honed and then validated by the team of matchmakers that we work with. And I didn't really realize how kind of countercultural a lot of them are.
"And when the experts would come in, we definitely aligned on a lot of things, but I feel like I came in always with like, 'Hey, let's back up and talk about really the real-world stuff of what's actually going on, versus what ideally, theoretically speaking, is happening.'
"And then the experts were amazing, and we could just process everything and break it all down."
One divergence between Vicinanzo and Conti reflects a split of thought among many singles. Conti, despite being a matchmaker, supports using dating apps; but Vicinanzo, not so much.
Vicinanzo feels that, because rejection on the apps is so impersonal, users don't get the opportunity to learn what to perhaps do differently the next time.
Also, he says, "I just don't like the idea that you are a product, that it is a marketplace where people are shopped around for like commodities. So for that reason, it feels dehumanizing to me, and it feels ineffective."
Conti sees them as a way to get people acquainted, saying, "Au contraire, I think they're a wonderful way of meeting people. But, much like with the guests with Sacred Spark, dating apps are great, but they're great to make a quick introduction to another human being -- and then get off the app quickly."
As Conti points out, even if your dating life hasn't exactly aligned with Christian values so far, Christ's mercy means you can always start over.
"The beauty of our faith is that there is redemption," she says. "Even if somebody has been dating the way that culture has taught us all to date, there is redemption there if you repent and also really come into dating with a completely different mindset, a completely different set of boundaries, a completely different set of goals.
"You really are dating with intention."
Image: Family Theater Productions
'Hoppers': Pixar's Action-Comedy Runs on Laughs, Scares & Empathy
From Here to There: Oscar-Nominated Films That Began Somewhere Else
98th Academy Awards Animated-Feature-Film Nominees: A Catholic View
Faith & Family News: 'David' on Prime; Colin Farrell & Emma; Disney's 'Versa'
Keep up with Family Theater Productions our website, Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.