Page 36 - Presbyterian Connection Fall 2025

36 FALL 2025
An inspiring art installation from the
conference.
By Katy Sniderhan, St. Peter’s
Presbyterian Church in Madoc,
Ont., member of the Collective 2026
planning team
I attended ARW 2025—the Arts,
Recreation and Worship Confer-
ence—which took place May
5–10 in Montreat, North Carolina,
thanks to the support from The
Presbyterian Church in Canada
and my presbytery.
The theme of ARW 2025
was Intertwined: the Tangle of
Community, and what a year
for that—the Spirit was clearly
moving! The event started with
team-building exercises and ice
breakers. Throughout the week,
many different workshop options
supported the theme. You could
use your creative side and weave
string and fabric to produce a
piece of art, or learn a new skill
of knot-tying (macramé) and cre-
ate a practical hammock, or make
decorative objects from pottery or
stained glass.
Workshops were held on topics
of worship and ministry, where
discussions focused on the chal-
lenges of today’s context, culture,
and how to get out of tangled
conflicts and grow as a church.
Recreational classes provided
participants with the opportunity
to hike in the Appalachian Moun-
ConnectionP R E S B Y T E R I A N
presbyterian.ca
Connecting Across Borders
Chelsey MacLean, Jessica Foy, the Rev. Todd Tracey of the PC(USA), and Katy
Sniderhan and her service dog, Skye, at the annual ARW fundraising auction
Garden Party.
tains or develop leadership and
planning skills.
I was blessed to attend this
event in the North Carolinian
mountains. I challenged myself
and got over my inability to tie
complicated knots and created a
hammock! I am now planning a
hammock-making workshop in
my own community.
During the event, we learned
how to run recreational gather-
ings by developing skills to help
groups get to know one another,
make people laugh and feel at
ease, and mix strangers together
so they can gain new friends. We
learned how to know when an ac-
tivity has run its course and it’s
time to move on, so that the flow
of the events never falter.
Though there are no youth at
my church, I will take these skills
and use them with my local Girl
Guide unit, and I can support oth-
ers who may run similar events.
This also further equips me, as
the accessibility consultant for
Collective 2026, when develop-
ing accommodations for all to
participate. Collective is a spirit-
filled gathering for youth, young
adults and their leaders—a space
to grow in faith, build community
and reflect on shared experienc-
es. The Collective 2026 event will
take place at Brock University in
St. Catharine’s, Ont., from August
12 to 15, 2025.
Every morning at ARW, we had
worship with Beth Mueller, band
leading inspirational music and
the Rev. Jimmie Ray Hawkins
preaching powerful messages
about staying connected during
tough times. Though his mes-
sages were geared towards an
American context, there were
many parts that crossed the bor-
der to us in Canada.
Katy Sniderhan, Chelsey MacLean and Jessica Foy at the ARW conference.
The powerful music will stick
Jewish, Muslim and Christian
with me for a long time. There was
communities, to sing the song in
one song in particular, “One Day,”
English, Hebrew and Arabic, with
that had such a powerful mes-
the message that we hope for a
sage and backstory so relevant
peaceful future, without war, and
today. This version of the song
that all children will be able to play
was created by Koolulam, who
together… One Day.
took parts of Matisyahu’s song
Our worship hall had a beautiful
of the same name and created
art installation made from tissue
a choir of 3,000 strangers from
and string intertwined between
various backgrounds, including
rope. Each morning, leadership
added to this mural by tying pieces
of fabric together, which became
the trunk of a tree intertwined with
the rope and then messages and
prayers were printed onto leaves
that adorned the top of the tree.
Of course, every evening we
closed with a special event and
much fun was had with many
laughs. One night was spent en-
joying the chaos of a fundraising
auction. All funds raised will help
offset event costs and supply
scholarships, so more people can
attend this amazing experience.
I was blessed to benefit from
these scholarship funds myself
so I could attend, as well as re-
ceive a grant from The Presbyte-
rian Church in Canada, and my
local presbytery. I hope this will
become an annual event for me.