About the Podcast
The Podcast
Create Sacred Places started as This Is Your Sacred Place — a podcast about planting Sacred Place UCC in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Season 1 tells the origin story: the friendships, the faith, the justice work, and the deeply personal journey of building an intentionally inclusive church from the ground up.
After a pandemic gap, the podcast returned with a new name and a new focus. Instead of telling one church's story, Season 2 asks a broader question: what does it mean to create sacred spaces wherever we are? Friends join Matthew for honest conversations about faith, identity, survival, and finding the holy in the middle of a changed world.
The Host
Hey there, I'm Matthew — a church planter, father, husband, Disney aficionado, Apple fanboy, Anaheim Ducks diehard, and teller of stories. I'm a textbook ENFP and an Enneagram 7 (wing 8).
I founded Sacred Place United Church of Christ in Rancho Cucamonga, a congregation built from the beginning to be radically inclusive — an open table where everyone means everyone. As a gay Christian, I know what it feels like to be told you don't belong, and I know what it feels like to finally find a church where you do. That's the story behind everything I make.
These days you'll find me hanging out with my toddler and our puppy while trying to get some work done, and looking forward to an evening of unwinding with my husband.
Listen & Subscribe
The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and anywhere you get your podcasts.