Sunday August 12: unity worship at Ebenezer United Church

Unity Continues to Prevail: Partners from Dump Site 41 experience invited to worship  

Email from Rev. David Smith July 15 2012

I am pleased to invite you to join us for a special worship focus on Sunday August 12, 2012 during our regular hour of worship, 9:30 a.m, at  Tay Township: “Unity Continues To Prevail”.

As you know, a national Truth And Reconciliation Commission has been established to ascertain facts and promote healing with regard to abuses within the Residential Schools Program  mandated by the federal government and operated by various Churches across Canada during the century ending in 1969.  The United Church of Canada was a key player in this sad and sordid blemish on Canadian history that did so much damage to individuals and deprived so many of healthy relationships and the opportunity to make significant and lasting public contributions to the growth and development of our country.  Since 1986 – the year of our first Native Apology — The United Church of Canada  ]has provided leadership in working toward reconciliation and establishing right relationships with First Nations peoples.

We at Ebenezer United Church were privileged to gain some unique insights into some aspects of First Nations culture and history during our experiences shared during the resistance to the proposed development of Dump Site 41 in the summer of 2009.  At that time we committed to furthering our support to help remedy historic and outstanding inequities and injustices.  Learning about Residential Schools issues and supporting healing and reconciliation initiatives is one important way that we can demonstrate that our “unity continues to prevail”.

Accordingly we invite you to join us for our worship on August 12, 2012 as we have invited our Annishinabbi friends and partners from the Dump Site 41 experience, area politicians and residents, and all who seek to redress painful and abusive history and work to foster appropriate right relationships, now and in the future.