Rector’s Cupboard Podcast

"Probably Not a Real Christian" with Curt Allison

Our guest Curt Allison has faced this accusation repeatedly in his life of faith. Curt is Minister of Outreach at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church in Vancouver. He directs the Gospel Choir and leads an LGBTQ spirituality discussion group called, The Word is OUT.
We loved speaking with Curt and continue to be compelled by his appreciation of a faith background that often told him he was unacceptable. In our current culture that can be so polarized, Curt demonstrates a love for all people. Curt tells us about his journey from Oklahoma to Vancouver, from “the fundamental fundamentalist” to a much more welcoming faith and a journey through the dark night of the soul to acceptance and hope.
 
Episode Terminology: 
Dark Night of the Soul - 16th Century Spanish Christian mystic John of the Cross used this term to describe the feeling of being cut off from God, from a sense of being alive, from prayers being heard. Dark Night of the Soul has come to refer to a part of the spiritual life that is experienced as barrenness. In more recent times it has been discussed alongside concepts such as depression. In theological terms, the Dark Night of the Soul spoke to the idea that God is unknowable and sovereign and may remove from us the sense of divine presence resulting in a feeling of lifelessness. Similar concepts can be found in the 14th Century work called “The Cloud of Unknowing”.
 
Exodus Ministry - Exodus ministry (using the metaphor of freedom from slavery in Egypt from the Biblical Book of Exodus) was one manifestation of “ministry” to people who did not fit the culturally and religiously accepted norms in regards to sexuality. These ministries often included a kind of conversion therapy that cast healing as either not being gay anymore or as being able to control and deny such an identity in terms of behaviour. In this episode Curt speaks of his experience in Exodus as actually contributing to his self-acceptance and even as contributing to the awareness that he was not alone in his experience. Many of the leaders of Exodus disavowed the programme including the president of the organization in 2012. The ministry closed in 2013.

Words Without Spin with Pádraig Ó Tuama

This episode was recorded in December 2020, before the events of early 2021 in the United States. Those events offer a clear example of the problem of spin and how words can be used to heal or to harm. All insurrections begin with words. All reconciliations start with the hopeful language of healing.
 
It was a tremendous privilege to speak with Pádraig Ó Tuama. We spoke about words and language and religion. Padraig read a couple of his poems for us and reminded us of the redemptive and reconciling possibility in words. Religious language can be edifying or destructive. Too often words within religious circles have divided people from one another rather than bringing them together. Hope can come in a poem. A small, but powerful refrain can change your day or your life.
 
Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet and theologian. He is the host of Poetry Unbound, part of the On Being Project, author of Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community.
 
If you're interested in starting to read poetry but don't know where to start Pádraig suggests beginning with the following anthologies from Bloodaxe Books: Being Alive, Staying Alive, and Staying Human. 
 
Episode Terminology:
Pedagogy – referring to method or means of teaching, communicating knowledge.

So Long 2020

Cupboard hosts review the year that was.
Did we learn anything about humanity this year?
The terrible news was obvious and everywhere in 2020. We talk about what was hopeful, about what was disappointing, about how to see the humanity of the other.
And, remember the priest in Italy who conducted a Facebook live service not knowing that the happy, silly face filters were on? We talk about that too. 
Goodbye 2020. Welcome 2021.
Happy New Year from Rector's Cupboard!
 
Books, articles, and links discussed in this episode:
Italian Priest on Facebook live, YouTube Video, March 25, 2020 
New Yorker Cover, December 7, 2020 
The Rise and Fall of Carl Lentz, New York Times, December 5, 2020 
Our Divided Times are an Opportunity for Empathy. Really. – The Washington Post, December 29, 2020 

Christmas Special 2020

Not really gathered and really very distanced.Our second annual Christmas Special.This year we look at the Rankin Bass Christmas TV Special called, “The Year Without a Santa Claus”.How could it be Christmas without Santa? What if Santa got sick and sniffly and could not deliver presents?How could it be Christmas if we can’t gather with friends and family?
 
We’re about to find out.
 
Cupboard Master Ken Bell makes a lovely “snowball” cocktail for the crew.
Merry Christmas to all!
 
Referenced in this episode:
Mall Santas – The Washington Post, November 25, 2020

Sunny Boy with David Goa

The Cupboard welcomes back David Goa (with a special appearance from his cat). From the context of a consideration of Fathers and Sons, we speak about parental and familial love, about power, about blessing.
 
You may have had a great relationship with your Dad, or maybe it was troubled, maybe both.
 
David reminds us that gender concepts such as masculine are not to keep us divided and apart, but rather to make us open to the other. Being open to the other calls us to a hopeful and loving engagement with people who are different than us in gender identity, sexuality and belief.
 
David also presents a powerful reading of what for many has been a terrible story – the story of Abraham and Isaac in the Bible. How are we tempted as parents to see our children through lenses of selfishness rather than through hopeful call of freedom of personality and identity?
 
We have been blessed, in this life, with the ability to pronounce blessing on others. This is a vocation of parents, also a vocation of each of us in this world.
 
Article referenced in this episode:
My Son, The Prince of Fashion - Michael Chabon, QC, September 2016 
 
This episode we enjoyed Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rare Cask Rum.

COVID Jumps the Shark

After Arthur Fonzarelli jumped the shark, there may have been significant episodes of Happy Days remaining, but the end was in sight. 
 
COVID 19 has been part of our world for a year now, but with the recent news of effective vaccines, there may actually be light at the end of the tunnel.
 
In the meantime, however it feels like we keep receiving the best news at the same time as the worst news. This will end, this pandemic, but before it does there will be a large number of deaths. Right now we are entering what appears to be another lockdown as case numbers spike around the world. 
 
In this episode of Rector’s Cupboard we gather to talk about if we are really, “all in this together”.  
 
This is how we treat each other? This is who we are? - Washington Post, November 2020
 

Listening Charitably with Lisa Ruddick

Does being human entail emotion, empathy and heart? How might we see the human in ourselves and in others? We speak with Lisa Ruddick (University of Chicago) about literary criticism as an example of the failure to see the human. Can we pay attention in order to see the deeper things? In listening beyond the hollering or viewpoint of the other, perhaps we can see their humanity.
 
Books and articles referenced in this episode:
When Nothing is Cool article – Lisa Ruddick, The Point Magazine, 2015
The Principle of Charity: Assume the Best Interpretation of People’s Arguments – Effectivology.com
The Tyranny of Merit – Michael Sandel, 2020
Wild Geese poem – Mary Oliver
 
Episode Terminology:
Bourgeoise – having to do with the middle class; and focused more on materialism, money and possessions
Post Criticism – the “critical mode” is one that has seemed to be the default mode of thinking and evaluating. Post-critical is an attempt to move past this way of understanding.
Post Humanist – sometimes thought of as “technocratic”, post-human means moving past a consideration of the human, the heart, the empathetic
Hyper-Moralism – “an error in moral reasoning in which you extend moral blame to a place that it does not belong.” There is a great deal of hyper-moralism in many fundamentalist movements and expressions

Republican Jesus with Dr. Anthony Keddie

SPECIAL BONUS EPISODEWarning: This episode is political in nature. Depending where you are on the political spectrum you may find this upsetting. We don’t think that we are better than anyone else and we know that not all people share our political viewpoint. If you think that you can’t be a Christian unless you are socially and fiscally conservative, you may want to skip this one.
Have you wondered how so many evangelical Christians have come to support Donald Trump? Good question. Maybe, just maybe they are following a different Jesus. Rector’s Cupboard gets political – kind of. Does the Jesus of the Republican Party look anything like the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus of history? Turns out, not really. Our guest, Dr. Anthony Keddie outlines how “Republican Jesus” came to be. The origins of this particular Jesus are not quite biblical. Have you wondered how Jesus got to be a gun toting, tax averse, anti-gay crusader? Good question.
 
Articles, Books, and References:
Republican Jesus - Anthony Keddie
The Politics of Evangelical Identity – Lydia Bean
American Prophets – Jack Jenkins
Inspiration Cube Ad
 
 
Episode Terminology:
 
Tea Party - a populist political movement in the United States that gained momentum during the administration of Barack Obama. It included distrust of elites and experts and got its name from a sense of identifying with the original American protest against British rule. The Tea Party paved the way for much of the populism that finds voice many followers of Donald Trump.
 
Dominionism (Dominion Theology) - A particular theological (sometimes philosophical) understanding which holds the view that God’s work in the world is expressed through adherents exercising power and control (dominion) in a given culture. Current advocates of dominionism include large parts of Hillsong (music and teaching) and much of the Christian nationalist movement (Franklin Graham, etc.) Dominion theology tends to many problems and excesses. The assumption is that God will work his mission through the exercise of power held by the right people (the dominionists themselves). These people begin to think that it is their call and mission to gain power in the nation and in the world (not exactly reminiscent of the way of Jesus).
 
William Barber II – Poor People’s CampaignA Pastor and political activist in the United States. Barber’s “Moral Monday” marches and much of his work focus on showing a more fulsome idea of the moral than the sometimes narrow view of right wing Christian understanding.

The Sacred/Secular Divide with Randy Hein

We speak with Randy Hein about the concept of the sacred and the secular. The division is one that has often proven to be judgmental at best and dangerous at worst. We talk about how this division is one that has been present in the upbringing of many people who had or have familiarity with church. What are some better ways forward?
Books and articles referenced in this episode:
A Secular Age – Charles Taylor
Letters and Papers from Prison – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
 
Episode Terminology:
 
Dualism - a philosophical consideration that there is a very strong distinction between mind and body. Dualism can lead to a sharp distinction between the physical and the spiritual.
 
Manichaeism - a form of dualism that draws sharp lines between elevated spirituality and what it considers fallen physical or material. A popular example of Manicaheistic understanding is arguably present in “The Force” from the Star Wars movies.
 
This episode we enjoyed a selection of donuts from Harmony Donut Shop in North Vancouver.
Coming Up; Friday Oct. 30 - Bonus Episode, Just in time for the American election. "Republican Jesus"

Seeing in the Darkness with Dr. Michael Boldt and Rosemary Hill

On this episode of the Rector’s Cupboard we welcome two medical professionals who are with patients and families in some of the most difficult and painful times in life.We speak with Michael Boldt and Rosemary Hill about what it is like to work with people in times of sorrow and loss. What can we learn in such times that we often fail to see in times of relative comfort or ease?
 
We can’t know for sure how we will respond and react at times of great uncertainty or loss in our own lives, but considering how we might see life and humanity and gratitude even in such times can help us in the tumult that comes in each of our lives.What might it meant to be grateful amidst pain and sorrow?
There's a Mississippi Mass Choir song from years ago;
“Teach me to sing at midnight, the same song I sing today.The same song that I sing in the daytime, is the same song I want to sing at night.”
If we can see life even in the darkness, we just might know more of what it means to be fully alive.
 
When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
 
This episode we enjoyed St.Vincent made with gin from Okanagan Spirits.
If you’d like to mix yourself a St. Vincent to sip along with us here’s the recipe:
¾ ounce gin¾ ounce light cream¾ ounce Galliano3 dashes grenadine
Shake all the ingredients together well, with ice, strain into your preferred drinking vessel.