Catholic conversion, translated with warmth.
The Cordial Catholic is a warm, conversation-led guide through Catholic belief, especially for people arriving from evangelical or Protestant worlds. It pairs conversion stories with patient explanations of Scripture, tradition, the Mass, the Eucharist, and early church history.
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The Cordial Catholic is an interview-driven Catholic conversation show with a clear point of view: many people have absorbed secondhand ideas about Catholicism, and the better way in is to hear Catholics and converts explain the faith in their own terms. It is warm, verbal, and curious. The show often starts from an ordinary Protestant question and lets it widen into church history, Scripture, worship, and personal conversion. One recurring spark is the tension between the Bible and tradition. From there, episodes move into the canon of Scripture, the councils that recognized it, the early church fathers, bishops, the Reformation, and the assumptions that shape evangelical reading habits. The theological material can be serious, but the pace is conversational rather than academic. Stories matter here. Paul McCusker reflects on Anglicanism, church history, and the strange beauty of being nudged toward Catholicism over time. Fr. Matthew Hawkins brings a path through the African Methodist Episcopal Church, segregation, agnosticism, conversion, and later discernment. Dr. Jennifer Bryson’s story moves through East Germany, Polish Catholic students, anti-Catholic assumptions, and the search for people who seemed to know God. Peter Carter helps frame the Mass as sacred, beautiful, and evangelistic. Justin Hibbard’s path from Seventh-day Baptist ministry into early church reading gives the show one of its clearest lanes: former pastors discovering that history is harder to simplify than expected. The Cordial Catholic is at its strongest when it lets a guest’s biography carry doctrine without flattening either one. It is not slick. It is full, earnest, and explanatory. The show suits listeners who want Catholic teaching with context, especially those coming from Protestant backgrounds who need terms like canon, Eucharist, real presence, communion, and liturgy connected to lived experience. Its promise is not novelty for novelty’s sake. It is the steady work of making Catholic claims intelligible, personal, and harder to dismiss.
Made for: Suited to Protestants, non-Catholics, new Catholics, and spiritually curious listeners who want Catholic ideas explained through stories rather than slogans. It also fits church-history listeners who like conversion narratives with real theological substance.
What sets it apart: The show stands apart by treating Catholic doctrine and conversion testimony as one conversation, not separate lanes. Guests bring personal history, while the format keeps returning to Scripture, tradition, the early church, the Mass, and the Eucharist.
A podcast for non-Catholics, new Catholics, or anyone interested in digging deeper into the Catholic faith. Hosted by Keith Little, a non-denominational Evangelical convert to Catholicism.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Keith Little makes Catholic reasoning legible by pressing guests on the scriptural, historical, and personal connections behind belief and practice.
The Cordial Catholic turns Catholic apologetics into guest conversations anchored in places where Protestant and Catholic accounts diverge. Keith Little asks patient, cumulative questions about the biblical canon, church authority, sacraments, devotion, and conversion.
Keith Little turns Bible-versus-tradition questions into conversations that may rearrange your bookshelf.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A layered conversion conversation that uses Anglicanism and church history to frame the road into Catholicism.
Keith Little's conversation with Paul McCusker charts a conversion path from Adventures in Odyssey toward Catholicism, with Scripture, tradition, and church history carrying most of the weight.
A conversion story shaped by East Germany, friendship, and the slow pull of faith.
This conversation with Dr. Jennifer Bryson traces a conversion story through East Germany, anti-Catholic assumptions, and the pressure that made trust hard to build.
A canon debate that opens onto Bible, tradition, and the early church.
The discussion begins with Keith Little's question of whether Bible or tradition carries more weight, then moves through the canon, the early church, the Reformation, and the place of councils and bishops.
A clear, patient Catholic explanation of Anointing of the Sick.
The Cordial Catholic gives Anointing of the Sick a calm, careful treatment, moving from James's call to summon the elders to the harder question of what Catholics expect when healing does not come right away. Dr.
A Catholic devotion is presented as a sign of grace, not a shortcut around it.
The episode treats the scapular as a Catholic devotion with a practical purpose, not as a magic object. It also takes on the familiar worry that the practice can slide into superstition. The point is simple: the scapular does not save anyone on its own.
Two Bible translators unpack Scripture's hardest passages, from Revelation's 666 to the Witch of Endor.
Live sermons with Easter-shaped urgency.
On The Cordial Catholic, Rob McGrath explains why people consider becoming Catholic and describes the Church’s “fullness” as a gift, not a trophy.
Keith Whittle interviews TJ Simpson, raised in the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) in Southern Illinois and later a licensed minister, who entered the Catholic Church at the 2026 Easter Vigil.
This episode features an interview with Meg Hunter-Kilmer discussing and dispelling the myths that Catholics don't read their Bibles and don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, exploring the nuanced differences between Catholic and evangelical perspectives.
The Cordial Catholic episode 341 features Paul McCusker, the Peabody award-winning writer behind Adventures in Odyssey and Focus on the Family Radio Theater, recounting his unlikely conversion from evangelical Baptist culture to Catholicism.
This episode features an interview with Father Matthew Hawkins, a Catholic priest who converted from a long line of Methodist ministers, discussing his faith journey from the African Methodist Episcopal Church to Catholicism.
Keith Little welcomes Dr.
This episode features a conversation with Peter Carter exploring the Catholic Mass as an experience of truth, beauty, and evangelism, particularly from the perspective of a Protestant convert to Catholicism.
Host Keith Little interviews former Protestant pastor Justin Hibbard about his journey from Seventh-day Baptist ministry to Catholicism through studying early church history and Scripture.
Keith opens with the old Protestant question about Bible and tradition.
Host Keith Little discusses the Eucharist with Dr.
Host Keith Little introduces the podcast's mission to clarify Catholic beliefs and interviews a guest about his conversion journey.
Host Keith Little interviews Barbara Heil about her remarkable conversion from being a Protestant pastor and missionary to Catholicism, exploring how someone deeply committed to evangelical work found faith in the Catholic Church.
The Cordial Catholic episode 316 features Dr.
The Cordial Catholic episode 314 features host Keith Little, an evangelical convert, and guest Steve Kerekes, founder of Scapulars.com, unpacking the history and theology of the Catholic brown scapular devotion.
Keith Little interviews Dr.
This episode features a conversation with Dr.
Keith Little interviews a Catholic convert about her journey from charismatic Christianity to Catholicism.
Host Keith Little interviews Carla Lynch about her conversion to Catholicism, exploring how she was drawn to the beauty of the Church and overcame misconceptions.
Keith Little interviews Dr.
Keith Little discusses the stigmata and Catholic miracles with John Clark, addressing evangelical skepticism.
Host Keith Little interviews Dr.
Host Keith Little introduces the podcast's mission to clarify Catholic teachings and interviews Father Donald Hagerty about crises in the church and world.
This episode explores the point, purpose, and importance of Catholic liturgy through a conversation with Chris Carstens, examining how Catholics worship and why it matters.
This special episode features an interview with Father Haig Chahinian, discussing the importance of the papacy in Eastern Catholic Churches, the Armenian Catholic Church's relationship with the global Catholic Church, and insights on the conclave following Pope Francis's passing.