Six Ways From Sunday

Heather Buelow has been the owner of Dancer's Edge Studio for 19 years. Like many business owners she is no stranger to change, but nothing compares to the wild ride she's been on these last two years where she's had to pivot, pivot, and pivot again. The pandemic has been especially challenging for kids activities, and there were many moments when it looked like dance classes, competitions and rec...

Robin shares a lot of stories with our community of faith. Not only through his weekly blog posts and weekly Sunday morning sermons, but also in the form of children's plays and even books that he's written and self published. I know, right? We're pretty lucky! Well, for the last 3 months Robin has been "on sabbatical", meaning that he's been working probably even harder than before but has taken...

Kyle Simmers graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a Bachelor of Design in illustration, and has been building a colourful portfolio of mural art over the last several years with their brother Derek Simmers, including 4 new projects right here in their hometown of Bashaw, Alberta. These are projects of epic proportions, from restoring a 40ft wide mural on the side of the Bashaw Cu...

Carrie is one of those people in our community who make you realize that having "a church family" is about so much more than who you see sitting in the pews on a Sunday morning or who's involved in the committees, meetings, fundraisers or lay leadership. She's the perfect example of "BEING the church" and putting the words of the Bashaw United Church's vision statement into practice - "Living God'...

Zoe Raemer has seen massive transformation over the past 30+ years in LGBTQ rights and social justice in the North West Territories. Earlier this week she joined Ben over zoom from her home in Victoria, to share some incredible stories about the LGBTQ rights movement in Yellowknife and her involvement over the years. Here is a timeline of significant events that Zoe recently shared to social media...

Tony Snow is a member of the Stoney Nakoda First Nation and grew up on Treaty No. 7 land at Morley, Alberta, where his father Dr. Rev. Chief John Snow Sr. attended the Morley Indian Residential School. Tony is a Day School Survivor who now works as the Indigenous Minister of the United Church of Canada’s Chinook Winds Region, and is part of the ministry team at Hillhurst United in Calgary. As a Tr...

We are observing and celebrating some really important things this month. June is Pride Month and also National Indigenous History Month, and there is a lot of work to do (as a Church, as communities and as a county) to bring about the healing, reconciliation, inclusivity and equality that is needed. That hard work doesn't happen just at the systems level, in government buildings, church meetings...

Joyia has been on an inward journey the last several years, letting go of external expectations and back toward herself.  She's dedicating herself to the practice of being authentic, empowered, fulfilled and free, and is now helping others to do the same in their own lives.  In this conversation Joyia joins us from her home in the Yukon, sharing her personal insights, beliefs and some stories of t...

"Ubuntu" is an African proverb that means "I am, because we are", and it's the driving force and organizational purpose of the not-for-profit organization Ubuntu - Mobilizing Central Alberta, cofounded by Dieulita Datus in Lacombe, Alberta. Dieulita, cofounder Sadia and their team, are committed to a deep sense of interconnectedness and mutuality that changes attitudes and behaviours. They work to...

We're still in the tide of Easter, a season of grappling with what it means to come face to face with a living Jesus. I know, lately it's easy to look around and feel like it's more like we're still in the season of Good Friday. But no matter what's going on in the world, He is risen. But as Robin shared in our conversation today, "It's not just 'Jesus is alive in you', it's 'Jesus is alive in you...

My uncle, Brady Wilson, has been one of my role models in life and in my own spiritual journey for just about 40 years.  Today, we're exploring Brady's own human spirituality journey, and he shares a recent epiphany that he experienced which brought him closer to a sense of oneness with all humanity and creation, and to "the Jesus in his belly".  As Brady put it, "I am one 'with', and I am one 'in...

In March, 2020, we began an important and difficult journey. That journey has included isolation, loss, and a lot of reflection about what's really important. When we've allowed it to be, it's been a time filled with deeply meaningful soul work, relationship building, and some much needed self examination. And then the 40 day season of Lent, ended. Except it didn't, did it? We've kind of carried o...

David Hayward is the NakedPastor! After 30 years in the church, he left the ministry to pursue his passion for art. His work challenges the status quo, deconstructs dogma, and promotes critical thinking. Remind you of anyone? It should, because David's art, his books, his blog, and his rabble rousing, norm defying, inclusive, safe and uplifting online community, are all a lot like the teachings of...

What are the ways that love gets out into the world from within us? First, you have to find it, and that reconnecting with source - with the universe, with God - is where we remember we are loved and we ARE love. That is what the season of Lent is supposed to be about. Not in a way that has us "going through the motions" of religious tradition, but in a way that has us authentically diving into se...

Our community has recently been struck with numerous tragedies, and in the midst of a global health crisis that has caused enough loss, stress, isolation and pain on its own, we're left fumbling to find ways to grieve the deaths of loved ones. We may not be able to gather in person, but we can gather in spirit. We may not be able to hold large funerals in our churches and community halls, but we c...

Welcome back to the Six Ways From Sunday Podcast! This first episode of the 4th season of the show explores two well known stories and how they both relate to the current state of our world and recent events. As always, we hope your own spiritual journey is enriched by this conversation, and that it creates an opening for something new to be heard, a new beginning or calling, or the seeds of growt...

Heather, Justin and their two young children have been in lockdown mode since the middle of March. This is their 10th month of isolation as a family, because Justin is severely immunocompromised and would likely not survive a case of COVID-19. Heather shares what this journey has been like for her family, how they've coped with the challenges, how she's dealt with her own personal mental health st...

Most of us are fortunate to know war, conflict and violence not as our own personal memories, but as a historical concept or as a present day far away reality. Still, we know the importance of pausing to reflect and appreciate, and remember, what other have lost in order that we have the current freedoms that we enjoy. In this episode, Ben and Rev. Robin King talk about how this Remembrance Day, i...

Church - that safe space where all are welcome, a sanctuary from the rest of the world where we come to find that quiet centre, connect with others, with God and with our deeper self, where we are spiritually nourished and recharged. And just when we need that more than ever, our churches are closed. But the doors are gradually starting to open back up now and we're figuring out "how to do church"...

Our world is really struggling with authority right now. The word "authority" often makes us think of control, power, governance and rule. Jesus wasn't really about any of those things though, and yet we certainly think of Jesus as having had "authority" in his ability to perform miracles, heal the sick and pour God's love into the world. Where does that kind of authority come from? And is that so...

Each summer, the incredible leadership team of Robin, Lori and Brielle (with the support of many other helping hands) put on an incredible summer camp program at the Bashaw United Church and Ponoka United Church. Picture dozens and dozens of kids singing, laughing, learning and crafting! So what do you do when a global pandemic shuts down the building and all these kids in the community are sittin...

The clock is ticking closer and closer to "midnight". The Doomsday Clock is a symbol first developed in 1947 that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe. In 1953 when the US tested its first hydrogen bomb they moved the hands of the clock to 2 minutes to midnight. It's moved closer to or further away from midnight with every major global conflict, war, peace accord or political...

The rules have changed again, and many churches are reopening their doors and resuming in-person worship services after 3 months of empty sanctuaries. Robin recently asked, in this week's "mid-week reflection" Facebook video , why we come to church. Seriously, why do you go to church? What do you love and value about church and what have you been missing during this pandemic while church buildings...

The Dene Nation has existed for over 30,000 years in Canada, with one language and many dialects. Paul Andrew, a Dene elder in Yellowknife, who describes himself as "a student of Dene spirituality" shared this Dene greeting with me: Nakale, negha dagot'e? (Good morning, how are you?) Response: Nezu (good) if things are well. With an open heart and mind, Paul invited me into dialogue that explored...

Pam is super passionate about LGBTQ2S+ equality, faith, love, and laughter, and she uses her art and gifts as a musician, writer, playwright and speaker to educate, advocate and inspire. Recently, Pam has been part of a movement in Calgary to ban conversion therapy, and her story about that work and their recent victory, will move you. I promise!