This is hilarious, true and therefore a bit sad, and definitely intriguing. Drew Marshall, a radio talk show host appeared on 100 Huntley Street; a staid and long standing religious TV show in Canada. (disclaimer: I worked for them a few months and found staff to be quite churched, kind and genuine. What you see is what you get. It’s not a show I watched after moving on.)

This first and last appearance by Marshall is so interesting on a couple of levels.  I’ve never heard of Drew Marshall. 
The discomfort of the hosts (David Mainse’ son and his wife) is awkwardly obvious. Marshall is not their typical guest. He didn’t follow the happy clappy script common to religious TV guests, and you can see the hosts wheels turning. 
I think live TV should be like this. 
He talked about his frustration with the tribal nuances of Christianity and ‘glory stories.’ That’s uncomfortable for the Canadian evangelical churched sub culture or a typical 100 Huntley Street fan.
“What has Jesus done in your life? The number on thing: He has never quit on me.”

You can see his appearance off YouTube at the Drew Marshall site.

100 Huntley Street received a high response from viewers: 60 percent in favour of his appearance and 40 percent strongly against it.

100 Huntley Street has chosen not to re-broadcast the interview with Marshall and removed it from their site. Out of site, sight, out of mind. They can’t afford to alienate and shake their donating base.
arr arrr arr!

Here is the January 29th appearance along with a web note from Marshall regarding the TV shows decision (Marshall has the most listened to Christian radio show in Canada), along with a sampling of some the the email he received. Marshall:

Just wanted to take this opportunity to clear up a few things as a result of the overwhelming response we’ve had to the 100 Huntley debut.

The hosts who interviewed me, Reynold & Kathy Mainse, I have great respect for. They are definitely not one of the many “Jesus Salesman” on TV who live lifestyles of opulence! I felt they handled the interview quite well considering the fact that I pretty much used that time to vent 25-years of frustration with “Victories Only - Jesus TV” which has left the rest of us “messy losers” a tad alienated and utterly bewildered at our spiritual ineptness. My “Ken & Barbie” comment was meant to only illustrate just how good looking they are - NOT how fake & plastic they are!

As for Norm’s comments at the end - “Get a life Drew. The Howard Stern of Christian Radio” - I’m pretty sure he felt a little flustered after my interview, having just assaulted many of his traditions and beliefs, and he tried to recover with “funny.” Hey, if anyone knows about trying to be funny and it not working… it’s me! As for being called the “Howard Stern Of Christian Radio”… if that means that I talk about things others are thinking but don’t have the guts to bring up… no worries. God knows, that if the Church had actually been talking about some of the stuff we talk about on our show, my spiritual life might have been a whole lot healthier along the way! 

I think the point we are different parts of the body, we all have our place and that cultural Christianity isn’t working, ruffled feathers.
“The North American church is narcissistic, insular and anemic. Every church should have a few things, freezers filled with food and staffed cell phones, because when I’m down and out, suicidal, homeless or desperate at 1 in the morning, an answering machine giving me office hours and service times isn’t going to help.”
The Drew Marshall show has the most eclectic line up of guests I’ve ever seen on a religious show. Like he said, if he wants to learn about Wicca, he is going to talk to a Wiccan.

Several blogs have picked this up: The Weary Pilgrim, achievable ends, Resonate Soapbox Canada, Darren Freisen, Briantology,  Internet Monk, The Mayberry Driven Church, Revolution 21’s Blog.