Podcast

Jonathan Nicolai-deKoning (is the director of the Micah Centre at King’s University, which helps students explore ways of seeking justice in today's local and global contexts. He joins Chris to talk about the lines of thought in two of his recent blogs on Do Justice which lent inspiration to the theme of this season.  

Joyce and Katie join us again to talk about what shaping worship justly has looked like in their contexts as well as practical suggestions for ways worship leaders can shape justice and worship in their own congregations.

September 30th 2022 is the second time Canada will mark a National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. It coincides with Orange Shirt Day, a grassroots commemoration marked by the wearing of Orange Shirts for children forced to leave their families and attend residential schools.

Claudio Carvalhaes has sat at tables with people around the world, listening to their communal expressions of joy, lament, and doubt in worship.  From these experiences he shares ways to lead worship in solidarity with communities experiencing suffering. Claudio is the author of “Liturgies from Below” and he has a PhD. in Liturgy and Theology.

Jacqui Mignault is one of the writers behind weekly Do Justice prayers. As a pastor, she talks about what it’s like to practice bringing current events before God. If you’ve ever wondered how to acknowledge current events in worship, this is the episode for you.

Songs about the end of the world and stuff.  [Actually] we have a great conversation about ways churches in North America can think about their relationship with creation in a new way through the music offered in the Climate Vigil Album created with The Porters Gate.  

Climate change can feel heavy and dark. The Climate Vigil is a project to bring prayer and light to the topic. Global participants met during COP21 in Glasgow to sing and pray for creation.  Isaac Wardell and Peter Fargo are guests.

In 1995, Jonathan Maracle, a Mohawk from Tyendinaga Territory in Ontario, Canada, decided not to sing Amazing Grace at the Sacred Assembly in Ottawa, as he had been asked. What he didn’t know was that listening to the Spirit in that moment would inspire a band and ministry that would shape the rest of his life [and the church.]

We welcome Dr. Kenny Wallace to the show.  Kenny is an African American Choctaw Pawnee from the United States living in Canada. He teaches nationally and internationally about multi-ethnic worship with his organization Kingdom Reflections Multi-Ethnic Worship Ministries and today he unpacks with us how multi-ethnic worship can shape our spiritual imaginations.  

In the final episode of Season 4, Edgar Aguilar, senior researcher with La Asociación para una Sociedad más Justa, or the Association for a More Just Society in Honduras joins us. Edgar shares how organizations and communities advocating for Covid-19 vaccine equity have resulted in increased vaccination rates in Honduras.

Dena Nicolai, chaplain and refugee support mobilizer with the Christian Reformed Churches of British Columbia, shares the simple starting place for much of her engagement with people who have been refugees: joining them for a cup of coffee and saying “tell me how you’re doing.” Dena and Chris also talk about the ministry of sharing in lament, the importance of advocating ‘with’ and rather than ‘for’, and how the advocacy of faith communities and sponsors alongside newcomers changed government policy to provide a more “full” welcome for refugees in Canada.