In May, he received a Frank Soden Lifetime Achievement Award from The Richmond Broadcasters Hall of Fame. In an acceptance speech at the ceremony, Ogle says he surprised some colleagues with the news about his religious goal.

But it’s nothing new for Ogle. “When I was young, I was going to go to seminary,” he says, “but I was young, and didn’t.”

Five years ago, Ogle dealt with his father’s serious illness, on top of his mother’s. “And I became very interested in the comfort that you find in Christ,” he says. He joined All Saint’s Episcopal Church near Parham and River roads and eventually began rethinking his decision to attend seminary.

Instead of pursuing the priesthood, though, Ogle decided he’d like to become a vocational deacon, a service-oriented role that focuses on pastoral ministries. It also takes three and a half years of training. There was a problem, though. The Diocese of Virginia had no formal ordination process. Now it is establishing one, and Ogle plans to formalize his training when that happens.

He’ll continue to anchor the news. And recently, he put his voice behind another microphone. He preached his first sermon at a church in the small Virginia town of Columbia. “I’m just praying and waiting to see what happens next,” he says.

— Jason Roop