After leaving confusing and unhealthy megachurch environments, Rachel and Pastor Marsh Shamburger found 1517 while searching for clarity about what they believed. Through its clear teaching on law and gospel, they gained theological grounding and renewed confidence in Christ’s finished work
Meet Rachel and Marsh Shamburger: a pastor and musician who found clarity, comfort, and conviction through 1517.
When Rachel and Marsh Shamburger look back on the early days of their marriage, they remember confusion more than certainty. Having come out of large evangelical megachurches—places they now describe as spiritually unhealthy and even abusive—they found themselves untethered. Marsh had served as a worship leader in several of those churches, but as they stepped away, they realized something unsettling: they weren’t sure what they actually believed.
“We were just confused,” Marsh recalls. “We knew we needed to find a church, but we were also trying to figure out what we believed.”
Around that same time, they stumbled onto a podcast called The Thinking Fellows. It was one of several voices they began listening to, but it quickly stood out. Through those conversations—and alongside the guidance of a faithful local pastor—Rachel and Marsh began to encounter Lutheran theology for the first time.
They didn’t know much about it. In fact, as Marsh puts it, “I didn’t know anything about Lutheran theology. I didn’t even know what a Lutheran was.” But what they heard began to bring clarity, especially around one central distinction: law and gospel.
“For me, that was the biggest thing,” Marsh says. “Everything else started to fall into place from that.” The clear proclamation of what God commands and what Christ has accomplished untangled years of confusion. It wasn’t just theological fine-tuning; it was a new foundation.
Today, Marsh serves as pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Rockland, California. And 1517 has come full circle in his ministry. Many visitors now arrive at his church already familiar with the network. They’ve found a podcast, read an article, or watched a video that introduced them to the same questions he once had.
“They’re asking the same questions I was asking,” he says. And because of that, 1517 has become a regular tool in his pastoral work. He shares articles and links, uses videos in teaching, and has even brought 1517 speakers to his congregation. Dr. Adam Francisco has spoken on what it means to live in the world but belong to another kingdom. Erick Sorensen has addressed sharing one’s faith. Other pastors have taught on addiction, Christian identity, and daily life shaped by the gospel.
For Rachel, a violinist and professional bookkeeper, the impact has been deeply personal as well. She sees 1517 as a resource not only for pastors but for families, parents, and ordinary Christians trying to navigate daily life. “How does the gospel apply to everyday life?” she asks. “If we’re going to live in this world but not of it, what does that mean?”
That kind of practical clarity is what they hope to see continue—and grow. They especially long for resources that help wounded evangelicals find their footing again. “That’s where we were,” Marsh says. “Broken.”
1517 met them there. It helped them rebuild not just their theology, but their confidence in Christ’s finished work. What began as a search for answers has turned into a ministry partnership—one where they now pass along the same gospel clarity that once steadied them.
For the Shamburgers, 1517 is more than content. It’s a lifeline that led them home.
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