Strays, Orphans, and Exiles Two Rivers Church

This is part two of a conversation with our paster, 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.

On this episode, our guest is Glen Soderholm. He’s our pastor here at Two Rivers Church, and was the first guest on the podcast when we started two years ago. He’s returned to talk about an uncommon way of thinking about church as a community of spiritual practices. In this episode, we discuss the relationship between practices and beliefs, how to think about our beliefs in a post-Christendom age, and how maintaining our spiritual practices can support us when our beliefs fall short. In part two, we will talk about how Two Rivers Church applies these concepts to our spiritual practices. 

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.

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.

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.

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 18. 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.