Church-y Conversations with People Who Know Things

Episode 4: National Day for TRC (Canada) and National Day of Remembrance (USA)

Church-y Conversations with People Who Know Things

Show Notes

On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada and National Day of Remembrance for Boarding Schools in the United States, Carmen Lansdowne (Heiltsuk) is joined by two dear friends, Chris Hoklotubbe (Choctaw) and Vance Blackfox (Cherokee) of the Indigenous Theological Circle (ITC). Together they talk about the emerging community of Indigenous scholars in biblical studies and theology, and about what it means for Indigenous Peoples and churches to name the harm done through m...

More from Church-y Conversations with People Who Know Things

Oct 21, 2026

My colleague and friend, the Rev. Mitchell Anderson, lead minister at St. Paul's United Church in Saskatoon, joined me to discuss the ways he holds governance, administration, leadership and ministry together. St. Paul's is one of the fastest growing congregations in the United Church. St. Paul's statement of welcome shares: Who do we welcome at St. Paul's Our church strives to be a place where every person is welcomed, valued, and loved. We believe that all people are created in the im...

Oct 14, 2026

This week, Carmen talks with Elisabeth Jones about her new book Midrashic Imagination: Texts and Textures for Pulpit and Pew (available from Fortress Press or your favourite local bookseller in the US, and from Chapters or by special order from your favourite local bookstore in Canada). Jones argues for an approach to preaching that facilitates holy inspiration, transformational discipleship, and faithful public witness. What she demonstrates in this book is a tested method of midrashic ...

Oct 7, 2026

This week, Carmen talks with Simon LeSieur about prayer: what it is, why it is so hard to explain, and how to start when it feels awkward or unfamiliar. Simon tells the story of how a desperate "Hail Mary" prayer as an angry teenager set the course of his faith. He describes what his doctoral work on the Holy Spirit taught him, and how weaving prayer into the life of West Vancouver United Church has changed the community. Carmen and Simon also look at the Holy Spirit in United Church theology...

Sep 23, 2026

This week I talk with the Rev. Dr. Andrew Richardson, Director Emerging Ministry Leadership and co-leader of the Office of Vocation of the The United Church of Canada. On his last sabbatical, Andrew spent some dedicated time looking at models of collaborative and cooperative ministry. We talked about the Shared Way, Shared Witness conference organized in partnership with Montreal Dio and the Anglican Church of Canada early 2026. Plans are underway to plan a follow up conference in ...

Sep 16, 2026

I talk with my colleague Emmanuel College, the Rev. Dr. Natalie Wigg-Stevenson, Associate Professor of Contextual Education about learning design. Design for learning is a passion of Natalie's and she has created resources for the church, including the website Transgressive Devotional (free) as well as a paid resource for asynchronous learning: Learning Design for Discipleship ($79 CAD). We talked about how to create transformative learning experiences in a congregational setting by des...

See all episodes →