Youth and Elders Fishbowl Discussion
Regional Councils of ARW, HF and WOW in partnership with The Hub and Trinity UC Kitchener-
Thursday November 28th, 2024, 6:30-8:30 (all participants are asked to arrive at 6:40).
Background: Post-pandemic, Youth leaders struggle to put together groups. A message often heard from youth in the church is that what’s being offered doesn’t work for them. Being an intercultural church includes finding ways to bridge communication between different age groups/generations.
Goal– To offer a forum that brings together youth and Elders in the church– a forum that allows the two groups to hear one another and be heard by one another, and to consider what might be the Spirit’s invitation to the church for youth ministry at this time.
FISHBOWL PROCESS:
8 Youth (teens to twenty-somethings) and 8 Elders (45+) from WOW, HF and ARW Regional Councils and facilitators will gather via Zoom.
- Discussion questions will invite each to share and listen to experiences of their own youth faith formation, and hopes and challenges for youth ministry then and now.
- On each question, using the Zoom spotlight feature to focus on one group of eight:
- Youth will invite one another to share, while the Elders listen.
- Places will be switched, and the Elders will invite one another to share while the Youth listen.
- For some questions, the order might be reversed, with Elders sharing first
- After two rounds of sharing in separate groups, Youth and Elders will have an opportunity to reflect together as one group.
Each group will be invited to reflect on what they have heard and consider possible next steps.
Participants will be given questions for reflection and feedback, to be submitted in writing following the session.
This is a cross-cultural listening event, and a pilot project. This session will not focus on problem solving or planning. The focus of this event is to listen and learn about one another as a first step of re-visioning youth ministry in ARW, HF and WOW in this post-pandemic time.
An HONORARIUM of $105 is available for participants who are not otherwise paid for their time in this discussion.
To apply, complete the Application Form :
Application deadline November 18, 2024
For more information contact
Thérèse Samuel tsamuel@united-church.ca
Kathy Douglas kdouglas@united-church.ca
Adam Cresswell – hubleadership@gmail.com
Aimee Belanger at youthevents@hubcommunity.ca
Supporting 2S-LGBTQIA+ People
Greetings Siblings in Christ,
It has come to our attention that across-Canada anti-2S-LGBTQIA+ protest marches are to be held on Friday, September 20, 2024. The organization responsible, Hands Off Our Kids (https://handsoffourkids.ca/) states their mission is to:“safeguard children from gender ideology teachings, sexual indoctrination, exposure to explicit sexual content, ensuring that parental consent remains paramount.” They also aim to “protect our children from thought control and will ensure their religious freedoms are protected.”
Their rhetoric has been strongly anti-2S-LGBTQIA+ and especially anti-Trans in the past. This group has worked to exert influence in school boards in Ontario and beyond, spreading harmful misinformation and opposing SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) education in schools, again with misinformation. For information about SOGI click HERE.
These marches are planned across Canada on September 20, including the following locations across our tri-regional councils:
WOW: Owen Sound, Meaford, Hanover, Orangeville and Kitchener
HF: Mississauga (2 locations), Oakville, Milton, Hamilton
ARW : London, Windsor
More details and updates can be found on their website: https://handsoffourkids.ca/resources/
A constantly updated list of in-person presence and counter-protests is available here. The private Facebook group 1 Million Voices for Inclusion, which also hosts community-specific chats and planning, is an excellent resource for ideas and support.
Christ calls us to be a peace-seeking, truth-speaking,
love-focused presence in the face of these movements.
How can you be active?
Faith-Filled Responses
- Send letters of encouragement to school staff and to any student group or individuals who need support;
- deliver homemade real church cookies to those groups/individuals;
- use your church signage and lawn to send PIE messaging;
- write letters to the editor;
- learn about SOGI and what it really is, as opposed to the myths spread about it;
- support school board candidates and members who are supportive of 2SLGBTQIA+ human rights.
- Offer support to transgender, Two Spirit, and gender-diverse people who are being targeted by this movement.
Faith-Focussed responses:
- Pray
- Re-read all the radical bible verses about God’s all- encompassing love.
- And be PIE— public, intentional, and explicit—about the fact that you’re people of faith supporting 2S-LGBTQIA+ people (using your best judgement about when and how, of course).
When we show up in a positive way, it is noticed!
When discussing with your congregation:
- Know that it is possible that well-meaning people in your congregation may be supporting these movements. Leading with language of “hate” in this instance can alienate the well-meaning people that you wish to connect with.
- While the “Hands Off Our Kids” and related movements are understood as hate movements, and that is an accurate description of the impact of these movements, not everyone who shows up in support of these marches is doing so out of hate.
- Name and honour how this harms people in 2S-LGBTQIA+ communities without conveying an assumption that this harm was intended. Intentions and impacts are often very different, but a well-meaning intention does not erase hurtful and harmful impacts.
- Offer grounded information to counteract harmful mis-information.
If you are making plans or have concerns, please contact me, Thérèse Samuel, Minister Right Relations and Social Justice, and my colleague John Egger, Minister, Social Justice.
Thanks to Northern Spirit Regional Council and clergy from Western Ontario Waterways Regional Council for sharing information that helped in the creation of parts of this resource.
Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre Learning Circle
Looking for continuing education that will grow your understanding of ministry from Indigenous perspectives? Join the Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre ministry training students in a learning circle.
October-21-25-2024-5-day-registration-form-Wisdom-and-Psalms
October-28-31-2024-4-day-registration-form-Prophets-and-Prophecy
For more information visit: sandysaulteaux.ca/events.
You can also contact your regional council Minister for Right Relations and Social Justice, Thérèse Samuel tsamuel@united-church.ca
SAVE THE DATES – ARW Regional Council Fall Meeting October 25 & 26th
Reporting Form for Incidents
As Pride season continues, hate incidents, assault, hostility and pushback in communities across the nation are on the rise, and some of these incidents go unreported and/or undocumented.
The United Church of Canada is beginning to collate information on these incidents, to map out patterns and also to encourage reporting, create awareness, and support advocacy initiatives.
Unfortunately many congregations and other ministries have already experienced anti-2SLGBTQIA+ pushback. The regional council has created a reporting form for such incidents. Should you experience any incidents, please fill out the form and help us work together to address the pushback against 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and wellness here:
Incident Form
And may you have a happy and safe summer.
Thérèse Samuel
Antler River Watershed, Western Ontario Waterways, Horseshoe Falls
