User:Zacharysimons/Thirdcast

Thirdcast 2.0 and Thirdcast is a periodic podcast recorded and produced at Christ Church at Grove Farm in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. The show features conversations between hosts Brad Lebakken and Zach Simons, and the weekly guest or guests. The guests tend to be people involved in Christ Church at Grove Farm, and particularly involved in the Third Service aimed at young adults, a progressive-style service from which the podcast gets its name. Topics usually center around things at the church, but the hosts often go off on amusing tangents, covering topics in pop-culture and the world in general.

A frequent feature on the show is something called "Helsel Stories: Stories of Mark Helsel" which feature humorous stories regarding Third Service and Pastor of Young Adult Ministries Mark Helsel. Guests are encouraged to come on and tell stories, often embarrassing, regarding Mark. Mark is also a frequent guest, often stopping by the recording sessions unexpectedly to try to catch the hosts off-guard while telling their Helsel Stories. Mark has endorsed the segment on the show on several occasions.

Another feature of the show that appeared first on the 16th episode is a cold-open bad joke, read by Chris Wohlgemuth. This was also the first episode which featured the original theme song, composed from samples in Garage Band by host Zach Simons.

The original "Thirdcast" was a single episode podcast hosted by Mark Helsel when Third Service was originally slated to premiere. No other episodes were released until Zach and Brad took over in Spring of 2010.