Page 27 - Presbyterian Connection

Connection
Standing Together Against Hate
presbyterian.ca
FALL 2024
By the Communications Office
The Canadian Interfaith Conversa- tion has issued a statement on be- half of over 60 signatory faith tra- ditions and institutions, including The Presbyterian Church in Can- ada, to present a common public position adopted by Canada’s faith communities on combatting hate against and between our country’s religious communities.
The Statement, “Standing To- gether Against Hate Based on Reli- gious Identity,” addresses:
• the imperative for different faiths to work together to pro- vide medical and humanitar- ian aid to victims of interna- tional conflicts;
• the need to create safety and security for all places of wor- ship;
• a call for public authorities to protect people of all faiths from hate and violence.
Full Statement
Canada is home to a vast diver- sity of people of different national origins, ethnicities, religions and heritage.
But today, we see fear, division, hurt and grief. Even more alarm- ing, we have also seen violence.
At times, these conditions seem to overwhelm or even subsume our common bonds of citizenship, friendship and love for one another.
Yet, there is more that unites than divides us.
Love unites; hate divides. Re- spect unites; bigotry divides. Di- alogue unites; ignorance divides. Listening unites; harassment divides.
None can deny the pain of these days. Yet, we see our common humanity.
Rather than viewing religion as a source of conflict and contention, we know that faith traditions can be the basis for deeper conversa-
tions and increased cooperation, greater understanding and shared activity for a common good.
This is why...
We, representatives of Canada’s diverse faith communities, sol- emnly commit to:
• Work for understanding, for justice and for peace.
• Stand against hate of any kind in Canada. No one should be subject to racism, violence, silencing or retaliation be- cause of religion, indigeneity, ethnic origin, sexual orienta- tion, gender or nationality.
• Reject any glorification of the perpetrators of violence and those who sow discrimina- tion and hatred, especially in our own communities.
• Urge our adherents never to allow their faith to become a cause for hatred of another human being.
We call on the Government of Canada to:
• Support Canadian interfaith effor ts to provide non-sec- tarian medical and humani- tarian aid to victims—es- pecially child victims—of international conflicts through reputable and trustwor thy organizations as a means of advancing peace-building abroad and social solidarity in Canada.
• Ensure that faith communities have the proper resources for the security of their houses of worship, educational institu- tions—including schools, daycare centres, colleges or universities—community centres and cemeteries.
• Introduce a comprehensive strategy to foster understand- ing about online hate based on religious identity.
• Ensure, in collaboration with
other levels of government, that hate crime units are in- formed about hate based on religious identity in every law enforcement service, so that targeted groups can feel safe, heard and respected. To this end we stand ready to offer our assistance.
This Statement of Faith Com- munities Standing Against Hate Based on Religious Identity has been prepared by the Canadian Interfaith Conversation and is endorsed by its Executive Com- mittee members. It has also been endorsed and signed by 57 ad- ditional communities and institu- tion, including the Rev. Dr. Patricia Dutcher-Walls, Moderator of the 2024 General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
PRESBYTERIAN
27
Supporting Church Leaders through the Ministry Forum
By the Rev. John Borthwick, Director of Lifelong Learning at Knox College in Toronto, Ont.
The Ministry Forum from the Cen- tre for Lifelong Learning at Knox College in Toronto, Ont., is on a mission to ensure that ministry leaders today thrive in their call- ings. We are passionate about re- minding leaders, like you, that you are not alone as you serve in the place where God has planted you. One way that we seek to fulfill our mission is by providing timely and meaningful content that you have told us you’d appreciate. Enter CHURCHx.ca!
When I started as the director just over a year ago, I was told that the task group of the Board of Governors of Knox College wanted to see the lifelong learn- ing program enlivened through a learning management platform. It was hoped that the College’s for- ay into this world would become a sought-after space for a variety of interested ecumenical and de- nominational ministry leaders.
In my first week at the college, in the spirit of collaboration, I reached out to the Rev. Tay Moss
who, at the time, I knew only as a name on the list of executive mem- bers of the Association of Leaders in Lifelong Learning for Ministry and that he was based in Toronto (as ALLLM is a Nor th American professional association). I would quickly discover that Tay’s enthu- siastic response to my outreach was because he and a team of people from mostly the United Church of Canada had been work- ing on creating a robust and pow- erful learning management system for the UCC and had a vision for sharing this community ecumeni- cally. The platform was called CHURCHx.ca and had a growing learning community that now has 7,000 registered users.
The United Church of Canada delivers all their continuing edu- cation and mandatory training through this platform. Other ecu- menical partners, including the Canadian Council of Churches, are joining this amazing space designed specifically with the church in mind. I knew that CHURCHx was the future home of the Ministry Forum’s eLearning offerings.
As part of my contract with
Knox College, I was required to do some lifelong learning of my own. In September of last year, I started the Professional Certifi- cate in Learning and Development from Western Continuing Studies. Every week since, with a one- week break in between courses, I have been expanding my knowl- edge in adult learning theories, in- structional design, online course development, and so much more. By the time of this publication, I expect to have competed my certificate and will enjoy a new rhythm of work-life balance that doesn’t include homework.
What I’ve learned is that it takes a long time to create on- line learning content, especially when you have such a small, but certainly mighty, team work- ing on these kinds of projects on top of everything else we do to connect with ministry leaders to- day. With dogged determination, we launched Ministry Forum’s CHURCHx offerings during Gen- eral Assembly in June. As we’d hoped, we have been able to con- nect with the CHURCHx audience, immediately seeing enrolment from various ecumenical ministry
leaders interested in our offer- ings. Through Ministry Forum, Knox College has become one of the first theological seminaries to join this growing community. We are delighted to see many Pres- byterians, including some Knox College alumni, registering with CHURCHx and joining some of our initial offerings. While we will endeavour to keep our offerings free of charge, those who register for CHURCHx will find a wealth of relevant content offered by other partners (both free and paid) by accessing their searchable cata- log. With over 300+ courses already on the platform, we were excited that our own Ministry Fo- rum audience could take advan- tage of such collective wisdom immediately.
We encourage you, as a min- istry leader (remembering that
at Ministry Forum a ministry leader is anyone who is follow- ing Jesus and seeking to grow in their own faith and connect with others along the way) to check out the e-learning opportunities of CHURCHx.ca. We have cre- ated two social media basics courses hosted by the amazing Tim Campell-Smith; and Knox College’s own the Rev. Dr. Sa- rah Travis hosts a course on lay worship. We’ve also created a space for those who love books: “It’s Raining Books, Hallelujah!” We are looking forward to shar- ing two new courses this fall: Self-Leadership led by the Rev. Dr. Peter Coutts and one on Lay Preaching. You can find them at CHURCHx.ca and by searching “Ministry Forum.”
Remember, you are not alone in ministry.