Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
07:18 - John & Eddie Van Sloten ‘A Fayher & Son’s Story’
28:42 - Lisa Waites ‘Reimagining The Body Of Christ’
1:07:44 - Panel Discussion ‘A Q&A With Our Presenters’
1:27:06 - End Credits
1:27:42 - Bloopers & Stills
The Good News Event was a small gathering on Saturday April 12th, 2025, at Ambrose University to talk about Reigniting A Prophetic Imagination In Being Good News For And As Disabled People.
Walter Brueggemann writes that, “The prophetic imagination helps us connect the dots between the world as it is and the world as it might be. It also tends to emerge in moments of chaos and change.”
Today, Statistics Canada reports that 1in 4 Canadians consider themselves disabled either in visible physical ways or invisible ways not so easily socially perceived. For many of us who are disabled, it is also an extremely chaotic and a concerning time politically and in personal advocacy. All too often the disabled community is left to be siloed in a cloak of false invisibility and their voices muffled by the obscurity of the Churches cultural norms.
The Church at large deeply needs to be part of that social advocacy for the disabled community and oppressed today! Jesus himself said that it is in humanities weakness that God’s glory and strength would be revealed.
Our hope – Being The Well Community and our partners in the Deeper Communion – host this yearly gathering in the desire to foster relationships between the disabled and the Church. Together we can spread this Word to become real practices of inclusion within local congregations, bringing freedom and justice to the disabled who live with us as our neighbours.
By sharing these presentations and talks on the podcast, I hope it leads to a greater conversation in your community as to what it means to be Good News and advocates for the disabled. And I hope it helps us grow our yearly gathering next spring too, when we can all gather again to share about the amazing ways our churches and communities are changing.
This year we first hear a presentation from my friends John and Eddie Van Sloten. John was a pastor for many years until he recently became a full-time writer. His previous books include ‘Every Job A Parable’, ‘The Day Metallica Came To Church’, and ‘God Speaks Science’. And currently he is working on a book about his relationship with his son Edward.
I find myself greatly drawn to John and Eddie’s story. They both reveal incredible truths in stories of life’s simplicities. John also brilliantly shares about God’s love and the ways His love instills dignity, hope, and significance not just in his son Eddie, but in all of us.
We then hear from my friend Lisa Waites who spent several years as a worship leader and musician receiving many awards for her song writing and recordings. She speaks often as a guest in several congregations and is inspiring with the presentations she shares, including in todays episode!
In the Good News Event, I was inspired by Lisa’s articulation of wonder and how it touched every part of life and journeying with disability.
Both Lisa and John have been previous guests on The Well Dwellers Podcast and I encourage you to go back and listen to those episodes, too. I will leave links in the show notes.
Lastly in this episode there is a time where the three of us sit on a panel discussion while engaging questions from those at the event. And there might just be a secret blooper scene at the end with both of my Reverend friends. ;)
I’ve learned some new tricks in editing and producing these episodes for you and you might notice that this episode has chapter markers which you can jump to while sharing particular scenes with others. Please share these talks with friends and family. Or with your congregations, classes, and groups. After all… this is meant to reignite a prophetic imagination for and as disabled people everywhere!
And be sure to check out the resources in the show notes of this episode on my Substack: atthebottomofthewell.com. You can also subscribe to future publications and planned events along with commenting and rating the podcast.
Thank you for listening. I’ll see you next time at the bottom of the well.
Resources:
The Deeper Communion: https://adeepercommunion.org/
John Van Sloten’s Website: https://www.johnvansloten.com/about-me
Lisa Waites Music: https://www.reverbnation.com/lisawaites
Previous episodes on The Well Dwellers Podcast:
Lisa Waites: https://www.atthebottomofthewell.com/p/broken-open
John Van Sloten: https://www.atthebottomofthewell.com/p/every-job-a-parable
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