Page 2 - Presbyterian Connection

2 FALL 2022
PRESBYTERIAN
Connection
MESSAGE FROM THE MODERATOR
presbyterian.ca
Hard Truth
By the Rev. Dr. Bob Faris, Moderator of the 2022 General Assembly
We learn from an early age that we should tell the truth. Telling lies is wrong,asisremainingsilentwhen the truth needs to be told. However, those childhood lessons become less clear as we grow and truth telling becomes more nuanced. We often say that we cannot han- dle the truth or that the truth would be too much for someone to bear. We understand that telling the truth often depends on our own place in a situation, how we perceive what is happening, and our relation- ships with others.
Yet, in most of our lives, we have experienced moments when we have had to own up to the hard truth, when the nuances and the carefully crafted explanations and the silences are no longer ad-
equate, and in fact exacerbate the lie that will not go away. We have to recognize the lie for what it is and accept the consequences of having hidden it, and face what- ever the future might bring with the exposure of that lie. We need to make a confession.
In our church, as in other churches, we are having to come to terms with some lies that we have been told, and that we have told, that have been at the root of the oppression and exclusion of many people and groups. At the General Assembly this year, a confession was offered to LG- BTQI people for the harm that has been done to them in the church, and for the theological justifica- tion that has been developed to enable that harm to continue. The church has lived with the lie that some people, because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, have not merited God’s love and grace in the same way as others and that they have been given, at best, a second place status within our communities of faith. We have had to name that lie and to recognize the harm that has been done, and continues to be done, because of it. We have also had to outline the steps that need to be taken to ensure the harm does not continue. For many, I know, telling this truth has been difficult and finding the way forward even more so.
We have also been coming to terms with the lie that God’s love and grace are not extended equally to people who do not identify as white or are not of European origin and have been thusly racialized. The long history of European co- lonialism, and its intimate connec- tion with Christian mission and evangelization, has in many ways normalized racism within our churches and has often made us blind to the ways in which racial- ized people have been marginal- ized and oppressed. The work of
the Special Committee (learn more on page 34) that is responding to the calls to address systemic racism in the church, and the longstanding work of the Life and Mission Agency and its call for the development of an anti-racism covenant, are signs that we are moving to address this evil and the harm that has been done and con- tinues to be done. We need to be reminded that racism and its theo- logical justification has a long his- tory in the church, which has been as much at work in Canada as it has in other parts of the world. It is deeply embedded in us, and in our attitudes and relationships, privileging some simply because of the colour of their skin, and dis- empowering others.
The truth about the relation- ship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples has also confronted us in recent years. We are finally addressing the under- lying doctrines that have enabled Indigenous peoples to be ignored, decimated, assimilated and for- gotten, particularly the so-called Doctrine of Discovery (learn more on page 8). Papal decrees in the fifteenth century gave justification to the conquest and exploitation of lands and peoples that were being reached by Europeans. Since the peoples of these lands were not Christian, it was deemed to be just to eliminate them, or convert them by force in order to Christianize the world. This was the beginning of five centuries of attack upon Indigenous peo- ples and the taking of their land. The Residential Schools were a
significant part of this attack and we have had to recognize as a de- nomination our role in supporting government policy and in giving the theological justification for this to happen. The denunciation of the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius by the General As- sembly on 2019 were important steps on this journey. The contin- uing refusal of the Roman Catho- lic Church to denounce these doctrines, even after the Pope’s historic confession this year, means that there is still a long way to go in addressing what lies at the root of the injustice perpe- trated against Indigenous peoples by both state and church.
Most often we do not want to address these hard truths. We want to get on with building up the body of Christ, giving life and purpose to our local congrega- tions and finding ways to be the church in the context in which we live. Yet, until we address these truths, and the lies that we have lived with for centuries, it will be impossible to build the church on a solid foundation. When we face these truths, the church will be dif- ferent from what we have known and that frightens us. However, it will be a place where we begin with the truth of God’s love for all and where all will be enabled to share gifts and to shape what it means to be communities of faith in the way of Jesus. Let us pray to have the courage to continue to recognize the hard truth and to continue to be transformed into the people and communities God calls us to be.
The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in downtown Montreal, celebrated for its music and hospitality, would like to welcome students or young adults moving or returning to Montreal for work or classes.
We will host a “Welcome to Montreal Dinner” in late September. We also have a variety of ongoing activities/meals throughout the semester that might be of interest to you.
Our Church is located between the McGill and Concordia University campuses on Sherbrooke Street next to the Musée des Beaux-Arts.
For more information or to refer someone from your congregation to this program, please contact Rev. Susan Brasier at
sbrasier@standrewstpaul.com or call (514) 842-3431