From here:
From March 27 to 30, several thousand Indigenous and non-Indigenous people will gather in Edmonton, Alberta for the seventh and final national Truth and Reconciliation Commission event.
The Anglican delegation will include Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald, the Venerable Michael Thompson, General Secretary, and Archbishop Terry Finlay, Primate’s Envoy on Residential Schools.
Bishops, clergy, and parishioners from the dioceses of Edmonton, Athabasca, and Calgary will also be present for TRC events including the lighting of the sacred fire, statement giving by residential school survivors, church listening circles, and a public Anglican expression of reconciliation.
The purpose of the Sacred Fire is:
The Lighting of the Sacred Fire happens before we begin each National Event to ensure that the Spirits and the Teachings guide and protect us while the Commission does its work.
And:
The fire is generally started during the first part of opening ceremony after sacred space has been set. The Fire Keeper quietly calls in the powers of the directions as well as the fire powers when the Sacred Fire is first lit.
The most curious thing that strikes me about the Church’s attempts to atone for thrusting Western religion and cultural values on Indigenous North Americans is its eagerness to now do the opposite: displace Christianity with Indigenous Animist practices. The Church seems to be saying: “we were wrong all along and to prove it we will adopt your religious beliefs in favour of our own.”
I have a suspicion that this would not be happening if the church did not secretly think that any belief system is just about as good as any other. If Anglican Church of Canada clergy truly wanted to provide compensation for those their predecessors abused, they could sell their church buildings – many of which are almost empty – and donate the proceeds to the ex-inmates of the much loathed Residential Schools. A lot more practical than a “full-colour historical timeline of evolving relations between Indigenous peoples and the Anglican Church of Canada.”
David
Three comments and/or questions:
1. The Anglican church of Canada is repenting for its sins of the past. Isn’t this what you have been calling them to do in your blogs? Your post above seems to mock them even though this is a step in the right direction.
2. Can you please cite where you get the following quote from:
“we were wrong all along and to prove it we will adopt your religious beliefs in favour of our own.”
Is this a real quote or are you putting words in the ACoC mouth’s again?
3. Since most ANIC members were originally part of the ACoC churches that participated in these sins to aboriginals, will ANIC be participating in this repentance ceremony as well? If not, why not?
Point 1.
I think repentance for, as you put it, “its sins of the past” isn’t real repentance since you can’t repent of someone else’s sins. As C. S. Lewis put it in relation to national repentance:
Point 2.
I said: “The Church seems to be saying”
Point 3.
I sincerely hope not.
See my response to your first point.
Incredibly easy questions to respond to. Nothing wrong with group repentance though, IMO, provided it does not displace that required of the individual.
Surely “truth and reconciliation” ought to be about hearing from the offended parties, admitting wrong, and making restitution. Full stop. No one should be expected / required to embrace the rituals of a belief system that doesn’t honour the tenets of their own faith.
The actions of the leaders of the ACoC are confusing. Are they participating because they do not want to offend? Is this a political gesture rather than a spiritual one? Or is their own faith closer to Universalism than orthodox Christianity ? I would have preferred they found some way to decline participating while maintaining the high ideals of the reconciliation process.
A dozen or so years ago a group of clergy were invited to a First Nations event. on Manitoulin Island. I was among them. A smudging bowl was passed around to the different Christian clergy. Myself and another clergy touched the bowl to symbolize our respect for the faith of our hosts, but we did not smudge. It was a tricky decision, but a necessary one from our point of view.
All of which leads me to this conclusion. Regardless of what one does in a situation like this, someone will be offended by what do or do not do. Let’s all hope that our choices do not offend Our Lord.
I’m pretty sure that Our Lord isn’t quite that petty.
It is extraordinary (and rather diverting) the things that will get people here self-righteously upset.
If the ACoC is genuinely interested in repentance it – the Primate and the House of Bishops – need to return properties they have legally stolen from genuine believers – property which was paid for entirely by many congregations. Said seizures were solely based on the fact that clergy and congregations would not bow to the apostasy of so-called bishops and the actions of these so-called bishops were supported fully by the apostate Primate. Until I can see some genuine indication of repentance I find this nothing more than a political statement designed to “take people in”.
The primary property brazenly purloined has been a faithful proclamation by The WORD of GOD Sola of The Gospel of Jesus Christ: supplanted by other gospels.+ II Cors. 11:4.
This overdue exercise in contrition, therefore, is not inclusive enough;for the very cosseted sins that gave rise to these long unconfessed behaviours towards our Nation’s most helpless because invisible and thus voiceless…, they now seek to sanctify at the altar of a Holy GOD! No true Gospel, no Holy Spirit fire! + Acts 2; v. 38.