Episodes

Eric Gaudet has spent the last decade as Bashaw's local friendly pharmacist, getting to know families and individuals in this small town and becoming an indispensable part of the community as a primary care provider. In a rural community without a hospital and with family doctors in extremely short supply across Alberta, the role of a licensed prescribing pharmacist is super important. But that's not what makes Eric's story fascinating. It's not even the fact that Eric has recently been accepted...

Lorne Gushue is a member of the worship committee at Yellowknife United Church, an affirming church located in a large public building in downtown Yellowknife. In the aftermath of wildfires that threatened homes, health and livelihoods, the needs of the local community have been top of mind for Lorne and the rest of the leadership team of their church. A church that is currently without a full time minister. And yet, as you'll hear through Lorne's incredible story, there are some amazing things ...

It feels like we're all facing one kind of storm or another right now, whether it's the strain of increased living costs, interest rates and inflation, or the lack of affordable housing, or the pain of feeling isolated, lonely and disconnected. Debt, food insecurity and homelessness are on the rise and the number of Canadians who feel optimistic about the future is dropping. Humans are suffering. So I wanted to talk with someone this week who brings compassion to human suffering and specializes ...

Robin has a way of always presenting a new and refreshing perspective on an old story. Miracle stories, like the feeding of the 5,000 or the gospel story of Peter walking out to Jesus on the water, are stories that we've heard so many times we almost forget to "think" about them. So in this episode we're diving into some miracle stories and talking about how our common interpretations of them have maybe missed some of their deeper meaning for our lives today.

Donna Ross is a 33-year educator. She is a Cree-Métis from Saskatchewan and member of the One Arrow First Nation, Treaty Six territory. Donna began her teaching career as a classroom teacher with Tsuut’ina Nation and continued to support First Nations learners in subsequent positions with Siksika and Stoney Nakoda Nations, and is currently an Indigenous Designer of Learning with the Calgary Regional Consortium. Donna brings passion and a deep knowledge of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit his...

Shandi is a queer poet and organizer in Lethbridge. In this episode we discuss the origins of Shandi's incredible poetry, the genesis of her bold and impactful community project called the "Coming Out In Faith Monologues", and her own personal faith journey and coming out story. We also talk about violence against the LGBTQ2S+ community and the importance of going beyond celebrating during Pride Month and taking action, in order to create a society where all are safe and affirmed for who they ar...

Victoria Bucholtz (She/Her) holds a doctorate in History from the University of Calgary, with a cognate field in gender theory. Victoria is a LGBTQ+ facilitator and currently teaches at Mount Royal University. She is a transgender rights activist, entertainment producer, and drag queen. An avid mountaineer, skier, and dog mom, she lives in Calgary, Alberta in the Treaty 7 Region. You can also learn more about Victoria's work through the Queer Education Foundation, which offers diversity and inc...

Jason Clark has worked in youth ministry for many years and has recently moved to our little town of Bashaw, Alberta where he's now running the Bashaw Youth Foundation, working with youth at the Bashaw School and also getting involved as a leader in our Bashaw United Church. His energy and creativity seem to be endless, and already in the past few months of living in the community there has been a tremendous response from our youth in attending new events and programming that Jason has been crea...

The Christmas season is a time of giving, generosity and coming together as a community, no matter where you live. But there's something going on in the tiny little community of Bashaw that is unusual and almost inexplicably magical, and it is literally transforming lives. You could look at the Sugar Plum Ball event, or the Angels Among Us campaign, you could study the impacts of the Bashaw Food Bank and the annual Christmas hampers, or the Bashaw United Church's new care packages for seniors th...

"From The Wild" is a web film series that explores incredible journeys in wild food and beautiful, wild spaces. Its creator, Kevin Kossowan, is an award winning filmmaker and foodie who has worked with Michelin Star chefs and filmed on almost every continent on the planet. He's been a blogger since the days when you had to explain to people what a blog was, and his craft of storytelling combines with his craftsmanship with a camera and with wild food ingredients in the bush camp kitchen, at the ...

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 sh...

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 ...

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 an...

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...

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...

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...

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 o...

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 o...

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 o...

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, an...

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, an...

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, an...

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 ...

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 ...