Hi everybody. I hope 2025 is treting you kindly so far. I want to steal a few minutes of your time to share some news about my apostolate. This is important for both free and paid members to know, as it impacts my entire audience—my Catholic family circle.
I'm Done!
I'm not actually quitting. But I'm done running my apostolate as a business, even though it technically is (Fiat Media). I don't have the time or the energy to compete in an overcrowded podcasting market. And as I search my heart I have come to the conclusion that I really just don't want to anyway. But I don't want to stop evangelizing. I'm a Catholic communicator. That's who God made when he made me. I can't not do what I'm doing. So here's where I'm going.
No More Paid Memberships
First, I'm so thankful to the paid supporters of my Locals community. I'm thankful that you guys have helped to counter the costs of running my apostolate with your paid membership. It takes a lot to open your wallets (or purses) for a stranger. It's not "JUST 5 bucks" it's a much bigger deal than that, and I don't take it lightly that some of you have taken that dive. But it's time to do things differently.
I am bringing my expenses down to as close to zero as possible, and I have decided to just conver the remaining expenses myself without expectation of return on my investment.
So by the end of January I'll be canceling paid memberships on Locals and I will shift to a tips and donation model on my own website, CatholicAdventurer.com. If you want to "reward" me for my work and help cover some expenses, you can leave a tip, or commit to a regular donation of any amount. And I'll thank you for it. But if you don't that's okay, too. I'm here to serve. You can reward me with a few Hail Marys instead.
So without paid memberships, here's what I will be doing.
Membership is Free
I have a members-only section on my website called "Saint Foundry". It's free, but you have to register to join. I'll offer seasonal exclusive podcasts there, short-form videos and occasional blog posts, all intended to educate, inform, and move you further along in your journey to sainthood. That's why I started this apostolate in the first place, and I feel like I lost sight of that a little bit over the past year.
You'll be able to send a tip if you'd like, or sign up to a monthly donation. But everyone will get the same content in my members' area, whether you tip/donate or not.
I've been mulling this over for a couple of months and I feel strongly that this is the direction the Lord wants me to take.
What About Locals?
Locals will still have a purpose as a posting and streaming platform that's detached from YouTube and the rest of the social media giants. Right now Im able to stream to my website via Vimeo/Livestream, but once that subscription runs out I may decide to no longer pay for it, and just use Locals for private streams. I'm still working that out. But it's a bridge I don't have to cross yet. I still foresee Locals having a place at the table, but right now they take a very steep commission on memberships and tips, and the service/platform is very restrictive—30 minute max on live streams, 5GB/month on video/audio uploads...it chokes me every month and it's stress that I can do without.
I still plan on using Discord for Q&A and live chat sessions, and I plan on leveraging my website and memberships to build some kind of community. Not for me, but for you.
In short, my apostolate is going old school. I'll continue the public podcasts, but I'm going to use my website to offer a supplamental experience geared toward FORGING the saint-in-the-making. It'll be like boot camp for saints ;-) That's where my heart is. I'm done worrying about the return/reponse. To hell with it—literally.
You'll see a "Login" link in the top menu bar of my website. Start there and click on ""Create Account" in the login window that pops up. The foundry is a little bare right now, but it's going to be built out pretty quickly. It won't be the prettiest website in the world, but it'll be a saint-maker.
God bless you all! See you over at the foundry!