National evangelical organization focuses on reconciliation

Renewed focus on long-held concerns

how might Christians be called to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada? The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), publisher of Faith Today, is developing strategies to prompt conversation and action on exactly those questions.

The EFC sponsors an Indigenous-Settler Relations Working Group comprised of leaders and influencers from a broad spectrum of evangelical communities and interchurch contexts. The group presented a set of strategies for Canadian evangelical ministries, organizations and churches as part of a larger discussion paper called Stewarding Sacred Seeds (www.TheEFC.ca/StewardingSacredSeeds) at the 2020 Symposium of NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community.

Stewarding Sacred Seeds also chronicles the history of the EFC’s engagement in reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, and identifies some of the barriers to meaningful and sustained evangelical engagement in reconciliation.

Stewarding Sacred Seeds included seven commitments the EFC is making to spark conversation and action around reconciliation. To follow through with these commitments, a new group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous members called the Seven Commitments Working Group has been formed.

One initiative already underway is Reconciliation Through Transformative Relationships. This is a partnership between the EFC and Reconciliation Thunder, a Canadian movement to help people who want to move forward on reconciliation but don’t know how to begin. The initiative pairs Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadian Christians to embark on a relationship-building journey. A series of videos featuring participants and a conversation guide are being produced to highlight the importance of friendship building in reconciliation.

The EFC’s Joel Gordon and Andrew Thunder, an Indigenous ministry leader peer, are also available to speak in churches about reconciliation and how churches can journey toward understanding reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.