Rector’s Cupboard Podcast

Have you been feeling like things are a little precarious at the moment? If so, you are certainly not alone. For our first Host Only episode of season five, we gather to discuss some of the precarious nature of our current days. The conversation is not entirely serious, the facial expressions of cats and destructive nature of a local bear come up as well. Whatever you’re feeling at this point, we...

John Lennox is a mathematician and bioethicist at Oxford University, where he is a Professor of Mathematics. He has spoken internationally and written many books on the intersection of science and philosophy and religion. His latest book, 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity, came out in 2020. While most of us here at Rector’s Cupboard have had fraught relationship with what ha...

Around this time last year, we had the distinct pleasure of speaking to musician, author, theologian, and all around wonderful person, Julian Davis Reid. Next week, October 13 and 14 in Vancouver, BC, we are having an in-person conference around the theme of vocation and rest and Julian is our keynote speaker. In honour of that we thought we’d replay this episode from last season. If you’re in the...

In the United States and elsewhere, including Canada, large numbers of people are leaving church. A recent book, The Great Dechurching, points out that the movement is the largest religious cultural shift in American history. Many writers, professors, and observers have often used the word “decline” to talk about such a phenomenon. The truth is more nuanced. The church is not in decline in much of...

Rector’s Cupboard is pleased to welcome Brian Zahnd. Brian is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Brian has been somewhat of a trailblazer in contemporary expressions of hopeful theology. His books, including Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God and Beauty Will Save the World, outline a thoughtful, positive, and beautiful understanding of Christian faith a...

In some religious circles, dialogue or collaboration with people of other faiths is seen as dangerous. In some evangelical contexts, such interfaith consideration may even have been labelled as faithless. Hopeful Christian theology sees interfaith dialogue as faithful, not faithless. True interfaith dialogue is neither dangerous nor insipid. Rather, in building connections with people of other fai...

Ram Dass once famously said, “If you think you are enlightened, go spend a week with your family.” We came across this quote when David Hayward, known as NakedPastor, quoted it after seeing his own family. Arthur Boers , our guest on this episode of Rector’s Cupboard, delves deeper into the truth of family of origin than even a week together can afford. Boers’ faith matters a great deal to him. In...

The second part of our interview with Julia and Jeremiah, sex therapists and hosts of the podcast Sexvangelicals . If you haven’t listened to part one , we encourage you to go back and listen to that before this episode. In this episode, we spoke with Julia and Jeremiah about how we got to the place where conversations around sexuality are framed around morality and behaviours and some ways of dea...

In a previous episode of Rector’s Cupboard we were pleased to interview Linda Kay Klein , author of the book Pure on purity culture within the evangelical church. Through Linda, our guests for this episode found Rector’s Cupboard and connected with us. Julia and Jeremiah are sex therapists who work often with people who were raised in high control religious environments. They are also the hosts of...

Rector’s Cupboard is part of a larger non-profit that exists to articulate Hopeful Theology. A theologian whose work informs our perspective is Karl Barth.  This episode delves into the theology of Barth by way of the work of Dr. Marty Folsom. Barth’s writing is extensive, with his major work, “Church Dogmatics” consisting of over 9,000 pages over multiple volumes.   Many Christians have pushed aw...

If you have been raised in a religious context, you may assume that the way your church, your denomination, conceived of faith was and is the very definition of faith. Obviously, there is a lot that impacts what we believe and how we practice and express that belief. Dr. Mathew Guest helpfully describes how a particular way of seeing the world (neo-liberalism that defines much of politics and econ...

Rich or poor or somewhere in-between, our sense of security and identity can often have to do with money. Who we are, how we relate to others, and how we feel about our well-being is impacted, for good or ill, by whether we feel we have enough money.   Mark Petersen has lived much of his life in the world of money and philanthropy. He has also taken up multiple spiritual pilgrimages as a way of as...

We are pleased to be joined by Tim Dickau of CityGate and The Centre for Missional Leadership . He is also the author of Forming Christian Community in a Secular Age. Tim speaks with us about his vision for how faith and church should be blessing in the world. Tim was pastor of Grandview Calvary in Vancouver for many years and has helped facilitate numerous community projects addressing needs arou...

How do you remember Christmas? What traditions are essential to make it really feel like Christmas? So much of how we experience Christmas is based in nostalgia, an understanding and, often, idealization of the past. The Cupboard hosts gathered to enjoy a Christmas tasting (recipe below), share memories, and discuss the of role nostalgia at Christmastime. There’s a term we just discovered, “imagin...

Story is the universal human language. We learn who we are and how to make sense of the world through story. It can also be a means through which we can engage with and encounter others. Story can communicate truth in a way that other forms of communication cannot.   In this episode, we spoke with fellow podcaster, Jonathan Wright, from the podcast Hello Unknown . Jonathan is a former tax lawyer b...

In so many ways, we often feel ground down, in the words of this episode’s guest, “disintegrated.” Julian Davis Reid speaks to us about rest. This is more and better than simply disengagement or a break from the grind; rest is an essential part of what it means to be human, in the image of God.   Julian starts from a recognition of the profound restlessness that marks much of our lives and moves u...

We conclude our 3 part Calgary road trip with a visit to Jerremie Clyde from Alberta Yak Co and Little Loaves Farm (check out their Instagram page for some amazing yak photos @littleloavesfarm ).   Did you know that yaks purr? Or that they can survive at -64 degrees Celsius (for any American listeners that’s -83 Fahrenheit)? We certainly didn’t before visiting Jerremie. We got to take a tour of Je...

We continue our 3 part series of Rector’s Cupboard on the Road. In July several of us from Rector’s Cupboard headed to Alberta for a few days to speak with some farmers.   On this episode we spoke with Rod Olson. Rod works with several local organizations. He is a certified nutrition farmer with the organization Leaf and Lyre , planting and overseeing urban farms in people’s backyards. He also is...

Rector’s Cupboard, on the road! We travelled to Calgary this summer and met some amazing farmers. In this episode we talk to Marcus and Sarah Reidner from Happiness By the Acre , a regenerative farm in Didsbury, Alberta. Marcus and Sarah have cows, chicken, pigs, and ducks but they say what they really grow is grass, because that’s what the land wants to do.   Along with meeting some great animals...

Who are the people in your neighbourhood? For some this might be geographical, your literal neighbours, for others it might include the more expansive community in which you find care and support, or perhaps an online neighbourhood where you connect with others.   As we begin season 4, we take some time to consider those in our neighbourhood. For Rector’s Cupboard, this includes people we have spo...

For the first episode of season 4, the Cupboard is pleased to welcome Nelson Boschman to speak with us about his book, The Growing Season , and to lead us in an informative wine tasting. A pastor, teacher, and musician, Nelson considers himself a wine enthusiast rather than an expert. He sees in the vineyard and wine-making the stuff of life and spirit.   We hear some of Nelson’s story, about conc...

The Cupboard had intended to take a break over the summer to plan and prepare for season 4 in the fall, but some topics and stories are too timely to ignore. The recent decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade by the United States Supreme Court compelled us pause and discuss what it means to us. For this bonus summer episode, we’re pleased to welcome Rev. Michael Coren, an Anglican priest, author and col...

Two years ago Rector's Cupboard interviewed Katherine Stewart, an author and leading voice on the “Christian Nationalist” movement in the United States. At the time, we spoke about her book "The Power Worshippers".   This week, Stewart had an article in the New York Times that discussed the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. This week we're re-releasing that episode, as the conversation is as relevant n...

Our final episode of season 3 of Rector’s Cupboard. We were honoured to speak with James K. A. Smith, professor of philosophy at Calvin University and editor-in-chief of Image Journal. The conversation is centred largely around a fantastic book that Jamie has written and that will be available in September. Jamie’s work demonstrates a hopeful view of faith. He skillfully and insightfully looks to...

In 2021, a book by Canadian writer and broadcaster David Cayley was published. The book was a biography of Ivan Illich who, in the 1970’s, became quite well known for his criticism of the church, and for institutions of education and medicine.   We find Ivan Illich compelling because he speaks about faith and society in ways that can shape and inform hopeful theology. If you have pushed away from...