‘Today’: Nancy Guthrie’s Pastor Says She’s a ‘Strong Woman’ in Interview With Hoda Kotb

As the search for Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, continues, Hoda Kotb sat down with the family’s pastor to discuss his relationship with the Guthries and share a message of hope.

Kotb, who has been filling in for Savannah amid her hiatus from the Today show, spoke with Michael Rudzena, the pastor of Good Shepherd New York, the church that Savannah introduced Nancy to about ten years ago.

Rudzena revealed that Nancy has attended several services while visiting her daughter in New York and regularly watches the church’s services online from her home in Tucson, Arizona.

“Nancy is a strong woman, and she is fiercely loving,” he said, per Today.com. “Over the years, we’ve gotten to know what makes her tick, in some ways, from a faith perspective — the songs that mean something to her, the scriptures that are meaningful for her, which she shares through notes from time to time.

Pima County authorities believe Nancy may have been abducted or kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on January 31. When deputies arrived at the residence, they discovered what they described as “concerning evidence,” and they are treating the home as a potential crime scene.

Savannah and her siblings have released several videos addressing Nancy’s disappearance, with the Today co-host asking friends and fans to send their prayers.

“Prayer opens up possibility in our own hearts and imaginations, and I think it also is in our story, in the Bible, in our faith tradition,” Rudzena noted. “Prayer is that dynamic connection with God that introduces new possibilities.”

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Rudzena, who hosted a vigil last week to pray for Nancy’s safe return, told Kotb that “leaving the door open for hope is a way to fight against that sense of fatality or fatalism.”

He continued, “It’s the sense that we all feel when bad things are happening. A sense of despair or gloom can sort of cloud our minds and hearts. [Prayer has] a way of channeling that feeling toward God with the hope that God will meet us in it and get us through to the other side.”

Rudzena stated that “our heart goes out to Nancy,” adding, “We don’t know what we don’t know. And yet, we know that light shines in dark circumstances, and it’s light that gets us out of them. It’s light that brightens our mood and gives us a sense of security.”