Beyond Sunday Episode 1 – Benjamin Chapin

In the very first episode of Beyond Sunday, I share my own story — the highs, lows, and lessons that shaped both my faith and my writing. From drifting away as a teenager, to a health crisis in 2012, to discovering the call to write over 65 Christian novels, this episode is about God’s faithfulness through seasons of loss, struggle, and restoration. You’ll hear how He carried me through family challenges, the grief of losing my father, and how He gave me purpose through storytelling.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• Growing up in church, getting saved at 12, and wrestling with “Sunday-only” faith.
• The 2012 health crisis that brought me face-to-face with my need for God.
• How writing — from self-help to Christian romance — became both ministry and calling.
• The challenges of raising family in crisis and the turning point in my walk with God.
• Grieving the sudden loss of my dad, and how God slowly brought healing.
• Returning to writing with renewed purpose and trust in God’s design.

Resources & Links:

• Learn more at benjaminchapin.net
• Check out his inspirational Christian romance novels at Amazon (view them here)

Call to Action:
If this story encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast with a friend. Your support helps others discover Beyond Sunday and hear stories of God’s faithfulness beyond the church walls.

Full Show Transcript

Welcome to the Beyond Sunday podcast with your host, Benjamin Chapin, and today is episode one. Super excited to get started. I am a storyteller. You may or may not know that I’ve been writing for 10 years under the pen name TK Chapin as a Christian romance author, and I love stories. I love getting to know characters and books and stuff. But that translates to life too. We need to get to know each other in the body of Christ, and not talking about Sunday morning, talking about beyond Sunday. And that’s why the podcast is called Beyond Sunday. It’s because it’s centered around getting to know other Christians, having the real talks, the real conversations around the hard things. People are messy, our lives are difficult and they’re full of trials and hardships, but there’s an underpinning faith that helps us overcome whatever life has to offer, and that’s what this podcast is about. Real conversations with real people. Today’s episode will not feature any guests, but instead, I wanted to reserve this time to share my story with you.

Alright… let’s jump into my backstory, life for Benjamin Chapin. I was your typical church boy. Grew up in the church. Loved the church, went every Sunday, Wednesday with my family when I was a child. I got saved at the age of 12. And then something happened in my teen years, which, as I get to know more and more people in my life, I realize it’s a very common thread, and that’s kind of fading away through the teen years, through the early part of the 20s, kind of doing my own thing. I kept going to church, but I kept God in this separate box. It was kind of like my Sunday box. I’d pull it down when it was time to go to church. I remember very distinctly, like I would find free time to read the Bible once in a while, and when I did, I loved the Word of God. I loved what was in it, but then I would try to make a habit of reading the Word and it just wouldn’t happen. It just wouldn’t happen. And I couldn’t figure that out, but I had a sense something wasn’t right.

And then in 2012, after taking some medication to quit smoking, I had a bad reaction. The medication was Chantix, so it was crazy. But anyways, during thi...