Six Ways From Sunday

Finding our place where we feel a sense of belonging, purpose, security and happiness is what all of us hope for in life, and Mandy seems to have found all of it right here on Main Street, in Daysland, Alberta. But like all great rewards it hasn't come without great risk and hard work. This is the story of Mandy's giant leaps of faith that led her into the world of business and have helped to revitalize her small corner of rural Alberta in Flagstaff County. If you know Mandy, you already know she's a great storyteller and she's a force to be reckoned with when she gets an idea in her head. And if you haven't met her yet then you better get out to the Rusty Daisy Gift Co. in Daysland. She won't let you leave town a stranger.

You can also check out Mandy's shop on Facebook @therustydaisy and on Instagram @rustydaisyco

Vik Maraj is the co-founder of Unstoppable Conversations in Edmonton, AB. He helped create and lead an international high-growth education company, developed curriculum and taught hostage negotiation for Canada's National Police, resolved international disputes within the UN, and galvanized an almost unthinkable billion-dollar collaboration between some of the world's largest energy companies, academics, and local stakeholders.

To sit in conversation with Vik is to be truly seen and heard, and his unique ability to create space for generative conversation with any group of humans has taken him to some wild and inspiring places that we talk about in this episode of the podcast. It all started with the day Vik "woke up".

What is this, a podcast studio, a community theatre stage, or a church? The answer is yes, it is all three. And on any other given day it's also a movie theatre, a space for worship, for grief support groups to meet, for a baptism, communion, funeral or a wedding. In other words, it's a space for creating community. Here in Bashaw we've found that community theatre productions are an amazing way of building community, but rather than simply making use of our church "facility", theatre is just another part of our church identify and how we live in community together. It's a concept that Jesus seemed pretty big on, so rather than pretend that this giant set piece (Moana's traditional Polynesian canoe, called a "wa'a kaulua") isn't parked in the middle of our Sunday morning worship space, Robin has created a 5 week theme called "Set Sail With Jesus". There are also some great biblical dramas (stories) about the early disciples setting sail on a new journey of discovery, adventure and relationship building, and stories of miracles and faith. They align so perfectly with our journey of building community here in Bashaw, and also with the story of Moana, that we just had to sit down for coffee right beside the boat and talk about it all.

Ary Vreeken is the Alberta regional representative for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, a partnership of 15 Canadian churches and church-based agencies working together to end global hunger. It is estimated that up to 828 million people on our planet currently do not have "food security", meaning they do not have regular access to enough nutritious food to live healthy and active lives. Here in Canada, farmers are combatting hunger all around the world by donating the value of crops to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Some of these collaborative projects have been going on for 40 years, and bring together land owners, seed and fertilizer supply companies and dozens of neighbours and volunteers from nearby rural communities. Our local Bashaw and Ponoka faith community is involved as well, through our support of the United Church of Canada's Mission and Service Fund, and also through some of our congregation members who are grain farmers and actively involved in growing projects that donate proceeds of their harvest to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. There are many ways you can get involved, too. Check out their website to learn more about how the Canadian Foodgrains Bank partners with the United Church of Canada and how you can support this important work.

https://foodgrainsbank.ca/ucc/

Holy Moses! is the name of this year's summer church program for kids, happening right now at the Ponoka United Church and starting up on Monday at the Bashaw United Church. It's the first in-person summer day camp that we've been able to run in three years, but it's a program that Robin King and Lori Miller have been planning and delivering for about 12 years now. This summer we've also been really busy recruiting volunteers as it's the first summer in three years that we've been able to take on fundraising contracts at large in-person events in other communities.

Today, Robin talks about the challenges of getting things going again after "the great chasm of emptiness" that has left community nonprofits, events, fundraisers and churches all grappling with how to re-engage the people they are seeking to serve and the people they rely on for volunteering, participating and supporting their important work in the community. As Robin says, it's not about "getting back to normal", it's about building something new. In many ways, it's a lot like the story of Moses that the children are learning about this summer. There are plenty of challenges facing us, and also many opportunities to create something new together.

Affirming Connections is an organization that's placing itself at the intersection of faith communities in southern rural Alberta communities and the LGBTQ2S+ community, making valuable connections among churches interested in becoming an "Affirming" ministry. As part of their work, Affirming Connections created a series of videos called "Small Town, Big Impact: Stories and Strategies from the Affirming Journey". Miranda interviewed Rev. Robin King and Ben Wilson as part of the video project, and I think we learned as much from her as she learned from our story here in Bashaw, Alberta where our United Church has been walking the path toward officially being an Affirming church. Those videos, as well as information about the other work of Affirming Connections, are available at their website, www.affirmingconnections.com

I love stories about big and impactful things emerging from small, unlikely places. So the story of Rainbow Camp popping up from the tiny, remote Northern Ontario community of Thessalon - a camp that is changing and saving lives - was one I really wanted to learn about and share with you! Ten years ago Harry and Chris founded Rainbow Camp for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, creating a safe space where teens from all across Canada (and some from outside Canada) can have a fun summer camp experience and simply be who they are. This conversation dives into the origins of Rainbow Camp, the personal "why" that drove Harry and Chris to create the program, and the incredible impact that it's now having on hundreds of teens every summer.

To learn more about Rainbow Camp, to register for an upcoming camp or send a donation, check out RainbowCamp.ca.

Harry and Chris also talked about their new online family support program called Rainbow Online Connection (ROC) that you can learn more about and register for at WelcomeFriend.ca.

I was recently sitting in a movie theatre, half way through watching Dr Strange - Multiverse of Madness, when things started getting pretty deep and existential! Thinking about my own life, the concept of other potential parallel realities and universes, it occurred to me that the Marvel universe and the enormous world of comic book superheroes in general, is so incredibly rich in stories that offer us spiritual wisdom and deep introspection about life. Personally I didn't grow up reading a lot of comic books. I've always been a big Star Wars fan, but never considered myself a Marvel or DC super-fan. Since my superhero history and trivia knowledge is pretty pathetic I knew exactly who I needed to invite as my next guest on the podcast, my wife's cousin Daniel Schneider who is a full time professional comic book artist!

One of the many organizations Lewis is involved with is the Parliament of the World's Religions. As a trustee and member for many years, Lewis has shared his Indigenous culture and spirituality at global tables and conversations that he describes as being like "the Olympics of world religions", in that they gather in a different city once every four years to bring together leaders from many nations and spiritual traditions. Lewis also works with the Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action, and when he speaks about his family's experience as survivors of Canada's residential schools Lewis emphasizes just how important education and action are in the journey of reconciliation. Lewis is also project manager at the Indigenous Knowledge & Wisdom Centre, and he tells us about a new Indigenous cultural centre being constructed in Edmonton's river valley, called Kihciy Askiy (pronounced key-chee-ask-ee for "sacred land").

With all of the great stories about his work and the wisdom that Lewis has to share, it was difficult to wrap up our conversation after only 55 minutes. There's way too much packed into this podcast to try to describe in just a short paragraph, so you'll have to listen to the full conversation and hopefully we will have Lewis on as a guest again in the near future!

Working as a freelance writer for the the United Church Observer 20 years ago, Jocelyn realized she had a passion for journalism and for sharing stories that inspire, inform and challenge her readers. Over the last two decades she has seen journalism evolve into the digital realm, the rise of social media, and also the transformation of the Observer to what is now Broadview. The magazine and website's tagline is "Spirituality, Justice and Ethical Living", and as their website's About page says, "With Broadview, Editor and Publisher Jocelyn Bell aims to create an inclusive magazine and digital platforms for thoughtful readers interested in exploring and living out progressive Christianity’s core values. “We understand that this means being both introspective and outward-looking,” she says. “We are required to examine our beliefs and values, and to live and act accordingly. We are called to engage deeply with the justice issues of our day — and to believe that hope lies in caring profoundly for one another and for our planet.”

In this episode of the podcast, one of Broadview's online stories that Jocelyn talks about is an article written by Emily Standfield that you will definitely want to read for yourself after hearing why Jocelyn loves it so much (and so do we!), so here is the direct link to that story:

https://broadview.org/medically-assisted-death-church/

To subscribe to Broadview, make a donation, or follow their social media, visit broadview.org or their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/BroadviewMag