If you’ve been following CBA’s journey for a while, you’ll know radio is our bread and butter. It’s where our mission started back in the late ‘60s, riding on the coattails of the Hauraki pirates, and it remains at the heart of what we do.
That’s why we feel such delight as we prepare to launch Sunday Sanctuary, a brand-new show going to air every weekend on New Zealand’s newest talk radio network, Today FM.
Hosted by much-loved media personality Petra Bagust, and produced by CBA’s award-winning team led by Grace Bucknell, the two-hour show will air every Sunday morning from 7-9am and create “a space for conversations, reflections and practices that feed the soul”.
Sunday Sanctuary takes on a very different form to most mainstream radio shows, as it follows the pattern of a traditional liturgical church service - but reimagined for a contemporary secular audience.
“It’s a delightful, surprising and intriguing opportunity to create a spiritual space on commercial radio,” says Petra. “It will be an invitation to reflect, to be still and know, to draw an audience into a safe space to wonder.”
“We’ll look at what we lean on, what we believe, how we believe, and really embrace the mystery of life and the depth of love that’s available to us.”
“It’s not a pep talk. It’s not some space where your questions are answered, it’s a space where your questions are welcome. And if you want to find some answers, you’ll probably have to do some mahi!”
Above: The weekly show is a team effort led by producer Grace Bucknell (bottom right) •
The show is exciting for us at CBA, as we see our mission of sharing the heart of the Christian faith expand once again.
We already have two weekly shows on Newstalk ZB, but Sunday Sanctuary sees us breaking new ground on a network we’ve never been on before, enabling us to reach an entirely new national audience.
“Petra has a national platform and people trust her and want to listen to her. She can lead people into thinking about faith in God in a really honest but fun and interesting way,” producer Grace says.
“We have an opportunity to talk more consistently about faith and God than we have before, because it’s called ‘Sunday Sanctuary’. For CBA supporters, it’s exciting because it’s what we’ve always been doing but just another step up.”
Sunday Sanctuary will premiere on Today FM in early 2023 on Sundays at 7am. (For programme details and frequencies, visit todayfm.co.nz) •