Welcome Harvest Prude!!!
We are so glad to have Harvest Prude joining the team as our new Director of Special Projects!
Harvest Prude is Director of Special Projects for Future of Faith. Before that, she worked as a writer and journalist for just shy of a decade, covering Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White House. She has bylines in Christianity Today, The Dispatch, and WORLD, among others.
As national political correspondent for Christianity Today, her reporting focused on the connection between faith and the public square, whether in shaping immigration and refugee policy, child care and family issues, or voter behavior. Some of her most interesting interviews have been with refugees from North Korea, Afghanistan, China, and Iraq. Her feature reporting won the Zenger Prize in 2024, and in 2026, she was a fellow with the Center for Christianity and Public Life.
She was also a contributing writer for How to Lent, a 40-Day Devotional Journey (Penguin Random House UK, 2027.)
Outside of work, she moonlights as a poet (look for her debut poetry collection, WITH LOVE FROM SPACE, coming spring 2026), and can otherwise be found brewing tea, devouring her latest read, or scoping out the diverse and delicious food scene in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, where she's based.
She'll be working on some cool things with us at Future of Faith within the next year but in the meantime let's get to know her more!
What’s a small but meaningful way you show others they’re truly heard?
It's tempting to follow someone's answer or story with a story/anecdote of your own. There's a time and a place for that, but I think my training as a journalist honed my instinct for instead spotting threads to tug. I like follow up questions that probe not just the bald facts (who, why, what, where, when, how) but also those that help put me in someone else's shoes (sensory questions are great for this.)
What advice would you give to others who want to build stronger connections within their faith communities?
When I'm new to a particular church/parish/faith community, volunteering for a ministry or a one-time event has been a great way to get to know others. Or for a baby step, staying for fifteen minutes longer after service sends the message I'm eager for more connection. I also find it's a good idea to introduce myself to someone else who may be feeling shy.
What is one book that shaped your approach to ministry?
Watership Down by Richard Adams is a bildungsroman, a heroes journey, and an epic arguably in the Homeric tradition. It's also about rabbits. But from those rabbits, I've learned much about the importance of home, finding the courage to pursue a more just society, and how friendships can form in the unlikeliest of places. It's a book that, even on a reread, never fails to moves me. That's the power of fantastic storytelling: It reenchants the world, and allows us to look at things with more depth, compassion, and insight.
What is one podcast you’d recommend?
Articles of Interest by Avery Trufleman has some of the best storytelling around fashion journalism on offer. The show is about what we wear, but don't dismiss it if you don't think of yourself as a clotheshorse. Even if you've never been curious about the significance of clerical attire, the creation of the zipper, or the surprising overlap between the U.S. military and the outdoor industry, Trufleman is sure to draw you in and ignite your interest.
Would you rather read minds or control your own dreams?
I've experienced lucid dreaming before, and while the degree of influence is not exactly world-building a la Christopher Nolan's "Inception", I've been able to exert a degree of control over what I do or say in a dream. It's usually nothing to write home about. However, the thought of being able to read minds makes me feel physically ill, so I'd pass on both.
Connect with Harvest on socials below!
Substack Link: https://substack.com/@harvestprude
