Pass the Baton: Pastors launch podcast about authentic conversations

One September evening, during a Pathfinder camp out, Tom Kyser, pastor at the Manchester and Richmond Church in Kentucky, was hanging out with his Pathfinders when he mentioned that both he and Jon Remitera, pastor at the Somerset, Boonville and Grove Churches in Kentucky, were planning on starting a podcast. One of the pathfinders, Monique Mwasumbi, was very excited.

“You should totally call the podcast ‘Pass the Baton,’” she said.

Kyser and Remitera liked the idea and decided to go with the name, which they thought represented the mission of the podcast.

“We want to hear stories…valuable experiences, and knowledge that can be passed on to us and on to our listeners,” Remitera said.

Michelle Mwansumbi, another pathfinder at Manchester Mustangs and an active listener of “Pass the Baton,” described the podcast as authentic. She says that it is one quality she really enjoys and what makes the podcast stand out.

The podcast talks about current topics.

“We just have conversations about things that are relevant at the time,” Kyser said.

So far, only one season of the podcast has been released but the second is already in the works. The first episode was released May 9.

The podcast regularly brings on guests to discuss the topics, which, according to Kyser and Remitera, are picked depending on the issue they want to discuss. Some of the guests have been KYTN President Steve Haley, GC Ministerial Association Secretary Jerry Page, and pastor, author and music artist Bryant Herbert.

According to Remitera, while the podcast may seem more directed towards Christians, as it talks about struggles in a Christian life and how to approach life from a Christian perspective, anyone may enjoy the podcast.

Pass the Baton has listeners between the ages of 23 and 59, with the vast majority of listeners being young adults. 89% of the listeners are from the US, 8% are from the Philippines, 7% are from Germany and less than 1% listen from Canada. In total, Pass the Baton has received more than 140 streams.

“I just want the podcast to be [a place] where people can feel (like) themselves,” Kyser said. “... because the Christian walk is not easy, it is difficult.”

The podcast, Pass the Baton, can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, YouTube, and Facebook.