Stories for Community-building featuring Matt Gorkos Artwork

Everyday Thin Places

In each episode of Everyday Thin Places, birth doula Elizabeth Varaso and interfaith hospice chaplain Rachael Gallagher draw from their experiences supporting birthing people and dying people to explore with honesty, authenticity and humor how we can all become more truly-living people. Although birth and death are two of the only truly universal human experiences, we often think of them as painful, frightening and best kept behind closed doors. But behind those closed doors Rachael and Elizabeth have experienced the wonder and delight of “thin places” - those points in space and time where the line between known and unknown, between temporal and eternal, between the ordinary and the transcendent become beautifully blurred. No matter if you are the kind of person who finds the topics of birth and death thrilling, terrifying or just not all that interesting Rachael and Elizabeth’s conversations with each other and with guests from all walks of life will draw you in and keep you coming back for more. No topic is off-limits and every episode will have you seeking and savoring the everyday opportunities to visit life’s thin places.

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Everyday Thin Places

Stories for Community-building featuring Matt Gorkos

January 17, 2022 • Rachael Gallagher and Elizabeth Varaso • Episode 72

Today on the podcast, hosts Rachael Gallagher and Elizabeth Varaso talk with Philadelphia-area-based pastor and author, Matt Gorkos. Matt has built Storied Church Ministry Consulting , focused on cultivating connections through stories. One of his latest efforts: The Storied Church: A Strategy for Congregational Renewal explores the power of a good story and how harnessing that power can be impactful in the church and beyond.

Matt mentions a children’s book series written by Kobi Yamada with beautiful illustrations by Mae Besom. The titles are “What Do You Do With a Problem?” “What Do You Do With An Idea?” And “What Do You Do With A Chance?”

Matt would love to point listeners to the Human Library Project.

Also mentioned in this episode: What is God Like? by Rachel Held Evans and Matthew Paul Turner.