In my own Lenten journeys over the years, I have learned conclusively that attempting to “give up” something like sweets over those forty days only truly results in feelings of failure. I have found that my time is much better spent engaging in new or different spiritual practices or learning.
As we continue our ongoing work of Truth and Reconciliation within our country and within our Anglican Church of Canada, I would suggest making plans to offer the Alongside Hope Mapping Exercise in your parish or region.
In the wake of the release of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015, Alongside Hope’s former Executive Director, Adele Finney, spoke with public engagement staffer, Suzanne Rumsey, about how Alongside Hope might create an education piece in response. Adele and Suzanne, together with Esther Wesley, former Coordinator of the Anglican Fund for Healing and Reconciliation, developed a narrative and a process called “Mapping the Ground We Stand On.” The resulting workshop explored Indigenous presence and Settler arrival on the map of Turtle Island/Canada. Piloted at Alongside Hope’s National Gathering in the fall of 2015, this “education for reconciliation” resource was further developed and delivered in parishes and other venues. In 2019, Alongside Hope launched a new five-year strategic plan. The fifth goal is “Mutual Reconciliation: We will accompany and support First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, guided by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the priorities of Indigenous communities and organizations in Canada.” In 2019, a decision was taken by Alongside Hope to train a national network of Mapping Exercise facilitators in Winnipeg. Filmmaker Tim Wilson joined the training to document that process and produced two videos, available on Alongside Hope’s YouTube channel.
It would be an excellent idea to show one or both videos to your vestry or perhaps at coffee hour after service some Sunday to generate interest. You might decide to host a special Alongside Hope Coffee Hour, including a small bake sale, pamphlets, special envelopes and displays—most of which are available from head office or your Diocesan Rep—and show the mapping video, too.
If your church, like mine, doesn’t have internet to watch YouTube, contact Janice Biehn at Alongside Hope to send you the videos to download onto a laptop. When you are ready, go to the Mapping Exercise page on our website, https://alongsidehope.org/mapping-exercise/, to request a booking. In Newfoundland and Labrador, we have our own mapping exercise facilitator, Canon Tom Mugford. It is strongly recommended that you ask at least one month before you hope to hold your event.
This is a powerful learning exercise and strongly recommended for all who take truth and reconciliation seriously, and perhaps especially for those of us who don’t yet!
In addition to the Mapping Exercise video, Alongside Hope has other short videos available on YouTube or otherwise to bring awareness to your Parish on such topics as “What Alongside Hope Means to Me” and Nurse Itelvina’s story about the huge difference having a solar suitcase means to a rural health clinic in Mozambique.
Since it is still just the first of March, it is not too late to register for the Alongside Hope Lenten Resource: Wild Paths of Peace, written by the Anglican Communion’s permanent representative at the United Nations, Martha Jarvis. In this season of global unrest and conflict, it will do well to consider paths of peace this Lent. Sign up via the Alongside Hope website:
https://alongsidehope.org
May your Lenten self-examination prepare you for a glorious Easter celebration!
