After 10 days, four cities, and lots of tears, the Remembering the Children tour has wrapped up. The Aboriginal and church leaders’ tour stopped in Ottawa, Vancouver, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg to promote the work of Canada’s upcoming Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools.
If you missed the tour, you can still view photos of the Ottawa, Vancouver, and Saskatoon events on the website. Church leaders have also written reflections on the tour and some audio clips are available.
In each of the city stops, people asked, “What can I do?” Often they were inspired by the churches’ apologies and wanted to help tell the truth about Aboriginals and churches in the past and present.
Once the federal government announces the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, individuals and churches will learn more about how to participate. In the meantime, the Anglican Church of Canada is working on ways that non-Aboriginals and Aboriginals can build relationships.
A New Agape is an extensive resource binder that explains the position of Aboriginal Anglicans and offers resources for communities to work and worship together. A list of books, videos, and media resources is included.
Your diocese may already have an Aboriginal ministries team to get involved with, or you can also pray for and follow the work of the national church:
- Indigenous Ministries works alongside the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples to help Aboriginal Anglicans move towards self-determination.
- The Anglican Healing Fund distributes grants to fund Aboriginal projects related to the legacy of residential schools.
- Indigenous Justice Working Group, a subcommittee of the Partners in Mission and Ecojustice Committee, takes on particular initiatives relating to Aboriginal justice.
- The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund works with Canadian Indigenous partners on issues such as youth empowerment and language revitalization.
- The Anglican Church of Canada also works through KAIROS on issues of Aboriginal rights.
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