Living my land acknowledgement
I was nervous the first time I offered a land acknowledgement in church, wondering how people would respond. Afterwards, one person thanked me while another questioned whether a land acknowledgement had any place in a worship service. I took the question at face value and considered why I believe it has a place in a…
We gratefully acknowledge . . .
In recent years, whether attending church meetings or public or community gatherings, Canadians may have heard opening words similar to these: “We gratefully acknowledge that we are meeting today on the traditional, ancestral territory of [local Indigenous group].” Especially since the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) report and Calls to Action published in 2015,…
On a journey towards reconciliation
Twelve years ago, Conrad Grebel University College planted a black walnut tree and erected a sign marking the 200th anniversary of the arrival in 1805 of the first Mennonite settlers from Pennsylvania and the establishment of the “German Company Tract.” But time has a way of altering understandings of events and history. On Sept. 22,…
