Dear friends in Indigenous churches in The United Church of Canada,
Over the past days, as I have sat with the bundle that I was given to carry as Moderator, I have found the medicines in it speaking to me, loudly. The tobacco and the sweetgrass, the cedar and the sage, have been telling me of the need for ceremony, and how important traditional ways are for grieving and strength. The eagle feather is calling me to be a witness to this time of truth. When I held the Bible bundle contains, it opened to the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea” (Is. 11:6‒9). Together, these medicines are speaking to me of all the different and powerful ways the Creator has taught people to bring healing and wholeness in the world. I am listening.
I have had my pen in my hand for days, trying to find words that might have some meaning to United Church congregations and people who are Indigenous, in this time. Everything that I write sounds patronizing or empty. Perhaps there aren’t any words that can say anything right now. So I come back to that place where I have been taught to start, with my prayers.
Every moment, I am praying for you, for your communities, for your families, for the Elders, for the Survivors of the residential schools, for the children, and the grandchildren, and the children yet to come. I am praying for the truths that you have spoken, and the grief that you have shared, and the calls for action and justice. I am praying for healing and for grace, for hope, and for good life. I am praying for the children, the ancestors who were taken by the residential school system never to come home, uncovered by the work of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation (Brandon), the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops), and Cowessess First Nation―and the children whose bodies are still to be found, still being searched for. I am praying for your strength, and your grief, and for your well-being and the well-being of your communities.
I am praying, too, that this confirmation of the truths spoken by the Survivors will move all of the churches, including the United Church, the governments of Canada, and the people of Canada, to walk in a good way to respond well to what you’ve told us, over and over again.
The settler part of the United Church is trying to figure out what it is supposed to do right now. I have been calling for times of standing in prayer and mourning with Indigenous communities (as called for by Chief Casimir and Chief Delorme), and then for careful listening, careful action, and careful walking with the Indigenous churches and the wider Indigenous communities, together, in a good way. I have been clear that it is vitally important that the United Church’s response to this time is firmly grounded in the principles of right relationship that we seek to live. The General Secretary and I, with the staff of Indigenous Ministries and Justice, are working on concrete responses, including further research and support to the communities impacted by the 15 schools we operated as they seek to honour the children. We are also working for the safety and well-being of Indigenous ministers and communities of faith. While our response starts in prayer, it cannot and will not stop there.
May the wings of the Holy Spirit cover us and carry us, protecting and leading, as tomorrow brings another day.
In peace,
Richard Bott (The Right Rev.)
Moderator/Modérateur
The United Church of Canada/L’Église Unie du Canada