Ep. 18 - How to Practice Discernment

On this episode, our guest is Cathy Stewart. She is the interim minister at Knox Presbyterian Church in Guelph and author of the book, A Goodness I Cannot Explain. Cathy describes her encounter with a difficult medical diagnosis and how she faced the unknown without fear by practicing discernment. We discuss how the three-step process of discernment can apply to any life decision, including those that many churches and congregations need to make in the face of an unknown future. 

  

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Produced by Peter Szabo and Ian Van Harten

Ep. 17 - Christian Spiritual Practices, Part Two

This is part two of a conversation with our pastor, Glen Soderholm, about church as a community of spiritual practices. In part one we discussed how practices help Christians sustain their beliefs. Now in part two, we look at our specific spiritual practices here at Two Rivers. 

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Produced by Peter Szabo and Ian Van Harten 

Ep. 15 - Royal City Mission

*Note: Our apologies for the sound quality on this episode, but some background noise made its way into the audio that we could not remove. 

On this episode, our guest is Kevin Coghill. He’s a pastor at Royal City Mission in downtown Guelph, a church devoted to making the invisible visible, including things that are uncomfortable to see. We discuss their extensive volunteer program that provides meals and support to the unhoused, the impact this has on the city, and what it looks like when a church keeps its doors open seven days a week. 

 

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Produced by Peter Szabo and Ian Van Harten 

Ep. 14 - Discovering the Christian Contemplative Tradition

On this episode, our guest is Phileena Nikole (formerly Phileena Heuertz). She is the author of ‘Mindful Silence,’ a book that explores the Christian contemplative tradition. We studied this book in a Learning Room at Two Rivers, so we were quite excited to talk with Phileena about how this contemplative tradition, with its invitation to experience God in silence, solitude, and stillness, can deepen the Christian practice today. 

 

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Produced by Peter Szabo and Ian Van Harten 

Ep. 13 - Circles of Support and Accountability

On this episode, we speak with Two Rivers member, Eileen Henderson, who shares about her experiences with various church communities supporting people coming out of the prison system, including those who committed sexual offences against children, and those affected by the crimes.

This work can be quite controversial. However, it can also demonstrate the influence a church community can have in support of stigmatized people who have no where else to go.

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Produced by Peter Szabo and Ian Van Harten

Ep. 12 - Love Your Bike

Ep. 12 – Love Your Bike

On this episode, our guest is Fred Ferwerda who’s here to tell us about Love Your Bike, an event happening here in Guelph on June 17. We’ll be talking about what happens at Love Your Bike, the various Guelph community partners that are part of it, and what loving your bike has to do with church.

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Produced by Peter Szabo and Ian Van Harten

Ep. 11 - The Rise and Fall of The Meeting House

On this episode, we’ll be discussing the rise and fall of The Meeting House, also known as the church for people who aren’t into church. A few of us at Two Rivers have been members of the Meeting House in the past. They had a number of their home churches in Guelph and throughout Ontario, until a sexual abuse scandal involving the lead pastor, Bruxy Cavey, rocked the church to its core.

Peter Schuurman is a writer, professor, Guelph resident and friend of Two Rivers Church. He’s written a book about The Meeting House, called The Subversive Evangelical, so we’ve invited him to discuss this story with us. What made The Meeting House so popular? Where did it go wrong? And what does it mean for the church today?

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Produced by Peter Szabo and Ian Van Harten

Ep. 2 - The Four L's: Learning Rooms

Welcome to Strays, Orphans, and Exiles, a podcast about Two Rivers Church in Guelph, ON.

We are beginning a series of episodes on what our church has called the Four L’s, which have become the foundation for what we do. These Four L's are Liturgy, Living Rooms, Learning Rooms, and Living Missionally.

On this episode we talk about Learning Rooms with help from our friend Jim Klaas. Jim is part of the leadership team and in particular helps to give structure and leadership to our Learning Rooms. We talk about what Learning Rooms are and how they work, and about the experience of learning itself, its importance for growing our spirituality, and for building community.

Connect with us:

-        Our website: www.tworiverschurch.ca

-        By email: podcast@tworiverschurch.ca

Music by Glen Soderholm

Produced by Peter Szabo and Ian Van Harten