Rector’s Cupboard Podcast

Faith and the Land, Part Two: Everything Can Be Transformed

You have likely noticed that hope is apparently in short supply these days. Talk of politics, rising authoritarianism, and political unrest reveals a present despair felt individually and collectively. Stories of effective hope can change the world.
Land of Dreams is changing the world for many people. Hearing the stories of this place might well inspire hope for you.
Because someone had hope, there is life in a place that was lacking life. If Rod and the crew at Land of Dreams can picture life and growth and transformation and community in a plot of land surrounded by major highways, then, perhaps, we can picture life and growth and community and transformation in the various desolations that surround and us.
At Rector’s Cupboard we are familiar with the question, “What can you say that might give me hope?” Well, there is a lot to say that is hopeful. One of the answers we can give is to invite you to listen to this episode. Enjoy.
Land of Dreams is located on Treaty 7 territory in Southeast Calgary. 

Faith and the Land, Part One: Winter is Coming

Rector’s Cupboard in Alberta, Canada.
We set out on a road trip to visit some regenerative farmers we first met three years ago. In this episode, Todd and Allison and Amanda speak about the trip and about a visit to the Pine Haven Hutterite colony.
It is the season of harvest, the autumn. Winter is coming. Looking at the skies and reading the news can bring about the feeling that an apocalypse is imminent. However, in the context of obvious challenge, without denying the real difficulties that are present, we found in people who tend the land and provide nourishment for the world, a faith and hope that is enlivening. We saw both the wonder of the earth and the gift of humanity.
In this mini-series, we’ll be speaking (again) with Marcus Reidner, a regenerative farmer from Happiness By the Acre and Rod Olson, an urban farmer and director of Land of Dreams.
Enjoy the episodes!
 
From our 2022 Alberta Road trip
Leaving the World a Less Shitty Place with Marcus and Sarah Reidner 
Soil as The Least of These with Rod Olson 
Yakety Yak, Depth and Breadth of Life with Jerremie Clyde (We unfortunately were not able to see Jerremie and his lovely yaks on this trip)
 
References:
Prairie Ranchers Beef, produced by Pine Haven Colony (also available at Two Rivers Meats in North Vancouver)
 

Charismatic Christianity and American Politics with Dr. André Gagné

Welcome to season 7 of Rector’s Cupboard!
Do you sometimes feel like all we do is talk about America? While many Canadians would see Canada as distinct from the States, we are influenced by our neighbours to the south. In Alberta, the provincial government is supporting the banning of books. Some of the political and religious currents in Canada look very similar to those in the United States.
In the first episode of our new season, we speak with a Canadian writer and professor who has described the relationship of the neo-charismatic Pentecostal movement and the rise of Donald Trump.
André Gagné is Chair of the Department of Theological Studies at Concordia University in Montreal. He is also a host of Spirit, State and Society, a podcast exploring how the global Pentecostal and charismatic movements intersect with politics, culture and society.
We speak with Gagné about his 2024 book, American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and End Times. Gagné’s book is enlightening if somewhat disturbing. His work speaks not only to the American context, it also brings to mind similarities and differences in Canada.
If you’d like to find Gagné’s work, such as his podcast and recent articles, you can check out his Concordia faculty page.
 
Definitions:
Expository Preaching – this style of preaching that seeks to detail the meaning and intent of a particular biblical passage.
 
Articles Discussed:
“A shadow war on libraries”, CBC The Fifth Estate, February 7, 2025
“New Alberta school books order bans explicit images of sexual acts”, CBC, September 8,2025
“Man arrested after driving child-size pink Barbie Jeep through Prince George, B.C.”, CBC, September 8, 2025
 
Tasting Notes:
We kicked off the season with two tastings. The first was a lovely 15-Year-Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whiskey from Balblair Distillery, in the North of Scotland.
For our second tasting we went a bit more local with Barrel-Aged Family Reserve Gin from Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery. This gin is not your typical gin. While we tasted it neat, if you wanted to mix this, Ken suggests trying a blueberry tea cocktail, with hot tea and an orange slice to bring out the citrus and oak notes in the gin.

Blessed are the Undone with Angela Reitsma Bick

In our final episode of season 6, we are pleased to speak with Angela Reitsma Bick, editor of Christian Courier and co-author of the newly released book Blessed Are the Undone, which explores faith deconstruction in the Canadian context.
Angela joined us while in Vancouver on the national tour for the book, and we talked about why so many people in Canada are stepping away from church—and how we might begin to understand, rather than fix, that reality. Blessed Are the Undone doesn’t rush to offer answers or prescriptions. Instead, it makes space for grief, honesty, and a deeper look at the fractures that often go unnamed in church life.
This conversation invites us to consider how listening—really listening—to those who’ve walked away can become a kind of faithfulness in itself. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next season!

Hope Instead of Fundamentalism with David Goa, Part 3

This is our third and final instalment of our series with Orthodox theologian and friend of the Cupboard, David Goa. This series has focused on the topic of fundamentalism, how it is expressed within the church, from several sides. If you haven’t listened to the first two episodes in this series, we’d encourage you to go back and take a listen to them before diving into this conversation.
In today’s episode, Todd and David speak of the challenge that encountering the living God presents to fundamentalism and how this challenge is hopeful for those professing Christian faith. Discussing the work of William Cavanaugh in his recent book, The Uses of Idolatry, we consider how encountering the living God is fundamentally unmanageable. This unmanageability can be experienced as distressing and fearful for people as it can be at odds with that which we assume is certain, is foundational, that which we may hold sacred. But in this place, we can come to understand the presence of God rather than our presumptions about God.
We hope that you have found challenge and encouragement, perhaps, hope in these conversations. Thanks for listening.
 
If you’d like to explore these ideas more, we invite you to read the books that these conversations have largely centred around.
Minds Wide Shut: How the New Fundamentalisms Divide Us, Gary Saul Morson and Morton Shapiro, 2021
Wonder Confronts Certainty: Russian Writers of the Timeless Questions and Why Their Answers Matter, Gary Saul Mortson, 2023
The Uses of Idolatry, Williams T. Cavanaugh, 2024

Hope Instead of Fundamentalism with David Goa, Part 2

This is the second of three conversations we had with friend of the Cupboard, David Goa, on the topic of fundamentalism. If you haven’t listened to part one, we’d encourage you to do so before diving into this conversation.
In this conversation, Todd and David consider the question, If not fundamentalism, than what? David observes that our capacity for conversation, particularly with those with whom we have profound disagreement, has shrunk, exacerbating the polarization that many feel.
How can we relearn this critical skill? How can we relearn to see the Other as human rather than issue or stance? How can we reach across the divide in love rather than push away in fear?
As David says, this is small, slow work, and it is always particular. But it is vitally important work.

Hope Instead of Fundamentalism with David Goa, Part 1

You have likely heard, and perhaps said, that we live in a world that is very polarized. Too often, communities of faith have contributed to this polarization rather than offered help or healing to a divided world.
David Goa has been, and continues to be, a formational voice for Rector’s Cupboard and for the work of Reflector Project.
David has been running Philosopher Cafés in his home province of Alberta, Canada around the topic of “The New Fundamentalisms and How They Divide Us.” He has drawn from the work of Gary Saul Morson and Morton Schapiro in describing how openness to the other person is a more hopeful and faithful way of living than being closed and fundamentalist.
Saul Morson refers to a notion that he calls the “congregation of the blessed.” This is the idea that anyone and anything outside of a particular group becomes seen as suspect or even evil, “Where people belonging to one faction (or faith, or denomination) feel that they are not just in a particular party, but are part of the congregation of the blessed, fighting demonic forces.”
David and I recently had three conversations about the new fundamentalisms and the possibility of finding a better way forward in faith, belief and worldview. Part one of this series considers how fundamentalism, rigidity and suspicion of others can be unfortunately understood as faithful when it is actually fearful.
David Goa is a thoughtful and helpful guide through a consideration of how our faith and worldview might grow up past a kind of spiritually adolescent fundamentalism.

Preaching In a New Key, a Conversation with Mark Glanville

Those in Christian circles have likely spent many a Sunday morning sitting in a pew (or, perhaps, a more comfortable seat) listening to someone preach. While the length of sermon or its place in a service may vary from denomination to denomination, or pastor to pastor, the act of hearing the Word of God preached regularly is part of the Christian tradition.
We were please to speak to Mark Glanville about this topic. Mark is a pro at sermons, quite literally. Having spent much of his career preaching sermons as well as teaching classes on the subject, he has decades of broad experience from which he draws.
Mark is an author, podcaster, Director of the Centre for Missional Leadership, and jazz pianist. We spoke to Mark about his latest book, Preaching in a New Key: Crafting Expository Sermons in Post-Christian Communities, which came out this spring. This book is a guide of sorts for those new to sermon writing as well as those who are wanting to find a fresh and new approach to the task. Our conversation touched on the holistic nature of sermon writing as well as how it can be approached in the post-Christian world many communities of faith find themselves in. It is hopeful and beautiful and worth reading, even if you don’t happen to be a pastor yourself.
You can check out Mark’s many projects on his website, which has links to his books, podcast, and social media. If you’re in the Vancouver area, we highly encourage you to check out Mark's book launch for Preach in a New Key, coming up May 23, at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church. This unique event includes art, storytelling, and Mark’s jazz trio.

Good Friday 2025

Today is Good Friday.In Christian faith, today and Easter Sunday are two of the most important days of observation.
We often, on Rector’s Cupboard, refer to what is happening in the world, the news, politics, culture.
In Christian faith, Good Friday is always more than news of the week. It is at the heart of the faith.With that in mind, we offer a Good Friday reflection.
The reflection is intended as an invitation to spiritual contemplation. What does it mean that Jesus was alone on Good Friday? What does “Christ Alone” entail?
Wherever you are at, in terms of faith and belief, may you know God’s presence and blessing and hope this Easter weekend.

Live Recording: An Evening of Conversation and Music with John Swinton

A special episode.Recorded live at the Rector’s Cupboard studio. John Swinton is Professor of Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen. Before becoming a mental health professional and then a writer (of at least four books) on faith and mental health, John wanted to be a rock star. He brought together his interests in recording an album called Beautiful Songs about Difficult Things.
We speak with John in studio, hear him reflect on some of his work and the personal nature of some of the songs. John also performs some of the songs for the assembled gathering.
Enjoy!
A quick note, the “this book” that Todd references toward the beginning of the episode is John’s 2016 book, Becoming Friend of Time: Disability, Timefullness, and Gentle Discipleship.