Vocare : Stories of Call From the edges of the inside of the Church

For this episode, we turn the microphone around and explore the call of one of our co-hosts, Amy Haynes - who reveals the call of a reluctant prophet growing up as a 'brown girl' in mostly white Catholic school, Bob Marley - and about the mystical call to ministry on the edges of the institutional church - and the fact that the Christian Story saved her life.  

Amy is an artist, former bartender, mother and academic who is a candidate for ministry in The United Church of Canada.  

Amy  has worked in congregational ministry, and as a leader with the national church on the new strategic plan and in various national anti-racist initiatives and conversations.  

She's a co-host of Vocare, and lives in Calgary.


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vocarecall/message

Today we hang out with Rev. Tony Snow who shares his experience of being a 'missionary to white folk' .  

Tony is a member of the Stoney Nakoda First Nation and grew up on Treaty No. 7 land at Morley, Alberta, where his father Dr. Rev. Chief John Snow Sr. attended the Morley Indian Residential School. Tony is a Day School Survivor who now works as the Indigenous Minister of the United Church of Canada’s Chinook Winds Region, and is part of the ministry team at Hillhurst United in Calgary. 

As a Traditional Knowledge Keeper, minister and consultant, Tony has worked for decades in public engagement and government relations, bringing awareness and healing to communities of faith and Indigenous peoples, as a continuation of his father’s work and his grandfather’s work.


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vocarecall/message

We chat with Rev. Michael Blair, the first United Church General Secretary of African descent, as well as  the first gay black General Secretary about his journey through various Christian traditions (Anglican, Baptist and into the UCC), the experience of being mentored, of racism and homophobia, then of his own mentoring and support of leaders - as well as his radical vision for the future of the Church.

Here's more on Michael: The Rev. Michael Blair serves the General Council of The United Church of Canada as the General Secretary, a role he began in November, 2020. He is the first person of African descent to serve this role in the United Church. In his time at the General Council Office, he has served in a number of capacities, including as Executive Minister for Ethnic Ministry and Executive Minister, Church in Mission.

Before joining the General Council staff, Michael served as the Executive Director of the Toronto Christian Resource Center (CRC) in Regent Park, Toronto. Michael previously served as a congregational minister of a number of Baptist churches in Toronto and St. Catharine’s, Ontario; a staff member with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at the University of Toronto, and as a community chaplain with the Ontario Multifaith Council’s Reintegration Program.

Michael serves as Chair for the Mission from the Margins working group of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. In 2021, Michael delivered the Gandier Lecture at Emmanuel College, on the theme of Becoming the Beloved Community. He also recently contributed the Afterword to For the Sake of the Common Good, a collection of essays in honour of Lois Wilson, one of his mentors.

Born in Jamaica, Michael is a graduate of Ontario Bible College (Tyndale), University of Waterloo and Wycliffe College, Toronto School of Theology, University of Toronto. He is the father of two adult sons. Michael enjoys photography in his spare time.


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vocarecall/message

Amy and Rob chat with Rev. Aaron Miller, who is the heart behind Foxes and Fowl at the University of British Columbia (UBC) as well as minister at Uhill United.  Join us as we chat through Aaron's story which touches on the polarities of the church, a call to faith through Alpha and his ministry... 



See more about Aaron here: https://www.foxesandfowl.ca/about

and you can find one of his sermons here: https://uhillcongregation.squarespace.com/sermons






---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vocarecall/message

For episode 2, Amy and Rob hear Catherine Pate's story of call.  Catherine is a lifelong Christian sojourner who has spoken and written eloquently on issues of justice, spirituality and racism.  She's a former church planter at St. Benedict's Table in Winnipeg and a communications specialist. Catherine is currently part of the leadership team with The AbbeyChurch (United/Anglican) in Victoria BC.


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vocarecall/message

For our first episode, Amy and Rob talk to Nik - who is a youth leader at the Refugia Community out of McDougall United Church in Calgary. 

Nik has sensed a draw to pastoral ministry since he was in his early teens back in the small town of Barrhead, Alberta. First studying Chemical Engineering, he eventually ended up moving to Calgary to study theology at Ambrose University. During that time in between, Nik worked in several different types of jobs, from retail at Williams Sonoma, to sales at Coca-Cola, as well as various labour positions. Through all of these jobs, he learned the hard way not to ignore it when God calls you to ministry. His driving force in ministry is to work with youth, guiding them into the mystery and love of Christ and teaching them practical life skills to help them thrive in their lives. Nik is the father of two incredible yet chaotic kids: Asher (5) and Jude (3). Minoring in theatre, Nik loves the performing arts, and tries to see live, local plays at least three times every year. He is also an avid reader, so if you are looking for a recommendation on topics such as racism, patriarchy, colonialism, queer theology, biblical scholarship, or autism, Nik would love to recommend a good book for you to read. He doesn't really read fiction though, so you'll be disappointed if you ask for that. Nik is looking forward to building meaningful community and relationships at McDougall.


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vocarecall/message