On June 9, 1994, the 120th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada adopted The Confession, acknowledging the role of the Presbyterian Church not only with the physical and psychological harm done through residential schools, but also with the general attitudes of colonialism and the attempts to assimilate Indigenous languages, culture, spiritual practices and beliefs.
St. Andrew’s is committed to continuing to learn about residential schools, the devastation and harm that these schools have caused to generations of Indigenous families, and the role of the church in causing the many layers of injury. We also are committed to establishing positive, meaningful relationships with our Indigenous neighbours and continuing towards reconciliation.
We invite everyone to explore the content on this web page with the hopes of:
- Furthering our understanding of Indigenous history and culture;
- Expanding our understanding of the impact of colonialism and the church’s role with Residential Schools and the harms caused to generations of Indigenous peoples;
- Moving towards establishing and strengthening relationships with our Indigenous neighbours.
Our intention is to plan various activities throughout the year to learn about local Indigenous culture and practices, as will be advertised on our website “Events” page. In the past, St. Andrew’s has hosted events such as the Blanket Exercise, a Friendship Day, and an evening to hear testimonials from three Indigenous Elders about their experiences with residential schools. We plan to have a Sharing Circle in 2022 to deepen our understanding of the experiences we heard about from these Elders and to further work towards reconciliation.
We also support and encourage people who wish to take the Indigenous Canada online course from the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. This is a free, 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that explores Indigenous history and contemporary issues in Canada.
(CLICK HERE) To Continue on to "Our Confession".