In this annual Christmas episode of Rector’s Cupboard, the cupboard is opened for seasonal tasting, spirited conversation, and a few holy disagreements. Over glasses of wintery mead, the hosts reflect on Christmas songs they love and those they would happily never hear again, exploring how nostalgia, repetition, and theology shape the sounds of the season. What begins lightheartedly soon deepens into a conversation about nativity scenes, immigration, resistance, and why the Christmas story continues to unsettle cultural and political certainties.
Along the way, inflatables are stabbed, Randy Savage offers unexpected wisdom, and familiar carols are reframed through histories of abolition, protest, and hope. The episode closes by returning to the heart of Advent and Christmas alike: a reminder that comfort and joy are not sentimental escapes, but promises spoken into a dark and waiting world.
As a small gift to you this season, we offer a version of O Holy Night, produced and recorded by friends of the podcast, Mark Woodyard and Rick Colhoun, for the conclusion of the episode. Merry Christmas!
Our tasting today came from Golden Age Meadery, on Salt Spring Island.
Articles referenced
“Christmas display carnage in Scarborough caught on camera: ‘Dad, they’re popping the inflatables!’”, Toronto Star, December 11, 2025
“As anti-ICE Nativity scenes spark outrage, faith leaders grapple with politics at the pulpit”, CNN, December 15, 2025
Song List Least favourite
The Little Drummer Boy (Carol) Mary, Did You Know? (Michael English) Away in a Manger (Carol) All I Want For Christmas is You (Mariah Carey) Last Christmas (Wham!) Tomorrow Christ is Coming (Carol)
Favourite
A Charlie Brown Christmas Album (Vince Guaraldi Trio) What Child is This? (Carol) Star of Wonder (Sufjan Stevens) O Holy Night (Carol)
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