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Dear Friend,
I pray that this email finds you as well as can be, and that you find yourself enjoying the spiritual gifts of fall. My youngest child asked me last week what makes the leaves turn red and yellow. I remarked that the red and yellow pigments are there, underlying the green, and that as the green dies away other elements of the leaf’s nature are called forward and become visible. In these months of cooling temperatures and longer nights, I wonder which elements of our selves, our faith, and our ways of living will rest, and which will be called forward.
With the recent passing of the one-year anniversary of the ongoing conflict in Palestine on October 7th, I would love to draw your attention to the upcoming event hosted by the United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine. This in-person event called “Faith in a Time of Genocide” is being held in Toronto from November 1-2, asks the question: In light of our knowledge of the continuously unfolding and systematic atrocities in Palestine, what does our faith call us to now? This conference sponsored by UNJPPI invites you to wrestle together with these questions and find paths of effective action that bear witness to our faith. Our congregations, our United Church, our partners in Palestine Israel and our ecumenical friends need your faithful leadership now. A Palestine Land Exercise will precede the conference on October 31, information and registration for both events can be found in the newsletter below.
As well, there is news to share on a new communication and connection platform for Affirming Ministry called SQUID, the regional work for a Guaranteed Livable Income in Canada, and some exciting upcoming Affirming Ministry events.
I offer blessings for each one of you this month: blessings upon you and your loved ones, blessings on your work and ministry in our communities, and blessings that the golden hues of autumn uplift your spirit.
In solidarity,
Kendra Mitchell-Foster
Regional Minister: Justice, Pacific Mountain Regional Council
KMitchellFoster@united-church.ca
1-800-934-0434 (within BC) or +1-604-431-0434
Lheidli T’enneh Territory
Prince George, BC
PacificMountain.ca/Justice-Network
UNJPPI Events
“Faith in a Time of Genocide” is both an important conference to reflect on our faith and a call to faithfulness in solidarity with Palestinians. The choice to meet in Toronto makes for less complicated travel and it is more expensive than some of the retreat centres have been in the past. Registration is $350.
We cannot say we did not know ….
- that civilians are dying every day in massive bombing raids,
- that starvation is being used as a weapon of war,
- that 80% of schools and all universities have been destroyed,
- that hospitals have been ransacked and those struggling to operate lack reliable power or medical supplies to meet the needs of daily casualties let alone ongoing medical treatment.
We know all this and much more.
How do we understand the ingredients of genocide – the racism, the apartheid system of the state of Israel, the settler-colonial project of Zionism and the ways that we are tempted to be silent because of Canadian settler-colonialism, our own racism and the conflation of critique of the state of Israel with antisemitism?
The bigger question is “What does our faith call us to now?”
The conference sponsored by UNJPPI invites you to wrestle together with these questions and find paths of effective action that bear witness to our faith. Our congregations, our United Church, our partners in Palestine Israel and our ecumenical friends need your faithful leadership now.
Palestinian Land Exercise: Train the Trainer Event
Thursday, October 31, 2024
10:00 am – 3:30 pm
Trinity-St.Paul’s United Church in downtown Toronto
Join the United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel for this training and learning experience. The Palestine Land Exercise is an experiential group process to learn about what is happening to Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Developed by the Mennonite Church Palestine Israel Network and the Halifax Just Peace Working Group it has similarities to the Blanket Exercise that has helped many people understand the impacts of settler-colonialism on the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island/Canada.
SQUID Launch!
SQUID is an ecumenical project to provide online secular and spiritual communications support for queer and allied religious communities in the Pacific Northwest.
Development of the SQUID Discord server is sponsored by Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver. We are currently in open beta testing, providing space for coordination, event planning, and community building for programs and groups including Pacific Mountain Affirming Ministries, St Brigids, Sanctuary Dungeons & Dragons, and the Drag Communion project.
You may join the SQUID Discord at this link. (If you haven’t used Discord before, you may want to check out the following information first.)
Discord is a free application used by millions of people to connect and build community around shared interests. It is available for desktop, on mobile iOS and Android apps, and as a browser app.
If you are new to Discord, check out the following resources:
Download Discord
A Beginner’s Guide
Getting Started with Discord
Moderators are available on the SQUID Discord to answer your questions, or you can email ben@thecathedral.ca for personal assistance.
Guaranteed Livable Income
On September 25th, the legislation we have all been working for, Bill C-223 An Act to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income was presented for second reading in the House of Commons and, unfortunately, it was defeated. You can find the voting breakdown here.
The good news is that Senator Kim Pate’s Bill S-233, an identical piece of legislation to Leah’s Bill C-223, is still before the Senate. If this bill passes through the Senate, the House of Commons will have a chance to consider it again. Let’s not forget that we all have a role to play in the ministry of working to bring these anti-poverty measures to reality. We have the power to eradicate poverty in Canada, and working together is the best way to make that happen.
We are soon to face a provincial election, this work can be done at the municipal, provincial and national levels. Should you wish to engage with the candidates in your area on GLI work, you may find some background information on the party platforms here.
You can find more information about Guaranteed Livable Income in Canada at the following links:
Basic Income Network Canada
https://www.basicincomenow.ca/
Basic Income Youth Collective
https://www.basicincomeyouth.ca/contact
UBI Works
https://www.ubiworks.ca/takeaction
Affirming Ministry Events
Are you looking for ideas and tools to energize Affirming Ministry in your community of faith? PMR Affirming Ministry and Affirming Connections are partnering to offer an online workshop on how to host a short film screening and discussion on affirming topic in your community. The short film “What The Hell?” is produced by Affirming Connections and addresses the question: “What the hell is Hell all about?” What have we been taught about it, and how has it been used to enforce certain ways of thinking and acting? Why is hell often used to target 2SLGBTQ+ folks and others?
In this short film, 19 clergy members, faith leaders, queer folks, and allies answered these questions and delivered thought-provoking, poignant, funny, and life-giving answers. We will screen the short film together, go through the available discussion guide, and help to prepare you to host a screening of this film, or another film of your interest to welcome people into the work of Affirming Ministry.
Join our partner Affirming Connections for the inaugural Affirming Media Conference, a 2-day hybrid event!
Focused on providing accessible training in marketing, social media, communications, and media literacy for 2SLGBTQIA+ and allied leaders, 2SLGBTQIA+ serving organizations, Affirming leaders and faith communities, non-profits, equity seeking organizations, and people of all kinds who want to develop these skills to create positive change, tell compelling stories, and break through misinformation.
Speakers:
Our conference keynote is Kathryn LeBlanc! LeBlanc is a social impact communications expert and Principal Consultant at LeBlanc (& co.) Communications. Kathryn created LeBlanc (& co.) Communications to help organizations leverage strategic communications to power systemic change.
TYLER BABIY (he/they)
Babiy is a queer content creator and social media strategist with over a decade of experience in digital media. They are the owner and Creative Director of @tsquaredsocial
MEL WOODS (they/them)
Woods is a writer, editor and content creator, currently working as the Senior Editor of Audience Engagement at Xtra Magazine.