One Year On and More to Come
What to expect in 2026
The first episode of A Fire Is Lit dropped just over a year ago.
Launch days are always, somehow, both anxiety-inducing and anticlimactic. January 28, 2025 was no exception. I was in Kenya at the time, sitting in on a training event hosted by our friends at City to City Africa. Several thousand miles from home and several hours ahead in a different timezone, I sat in the back of the room knowing that the thing we’d been cultivating in private was about to make its debut.
Now that it was too late to change it, I hoped it wasn’t terrible.
I hoped people would enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.
I hoped it would matter.
Soon enough, we started hearing affirmation that it wasn’t terrible and that people did enjoy it. It even seemed to matter to a wide range of people.
Church planters who had been part of the Redeemer City to City network for years said the story helped them feel connected to something bigger than their own church and city.
Pastors shared it with their leadership teams and incorporated it into leadership training.
Donors were encouraged to hear good news for a change and recommitted their support.
Perfect strangers found the story compelling and wanted to know more.
Several people told me they were sorry the series was over. I was too. But I have good news: there’s more on the way!
New Episodes
Beginning very soon, we’ll start releasing bonus episodes. These are lightly edited versions of the extended interviews that made up our research for season one. As you know, the City to City story is chock full of great characters. I’m eager for you to hear more of their stories.
New Season
I’m also thrilled/terrified to announce that season two is in the works. Season 2 will be special. Each episode will feature and be produced by a different regional affiliate from within City to City’s global network. Eight regions, eight episodes. (Maybe nine. We’ll see.) As we speak, a crack team of creatives around the world is conducting interviews, crafting narratives, and developing soundscapes. I can’t wait to share it with you.
New Collaborations
Our team here at Redeemer City to City is launching a sister publication called City to City on Substack. If you click over there, you’ll see this podcast listed in the navigation bar. This channel will remain dedicated solely to A Fire Is Lit, so be sure to subscribe to City to City in order to follow the goings-on there. We’re planning some collaborations between the two platforms in the near future.
We’re grateful to be on this ride with you.
Brandon O’Brien