Manitou Intentional Learning Community Presents
LISTENING FOR THE SPIRIT : Reflections on Lent and Easter scripture from an Indigenous perspective
with guest speaker
THE RT. REV. DR. CARMEN LANSDOWNE, Moderator, The United Church of Canada
Join us 29 March 2023 @ 6:30 pm on Zoom
Registration Fee — by Donation
“Queer identity may be discerned in relative isolation, but it comes to life in community.” Elizabeth M. Edman, Queer Virtue: What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and How It Can Revitalize Christianity
Join the Manitou Intentional Learning Community in a-three session study of the book Queer Virtue led by Peter Haddow, Canadian Shield Regional Council Affirm Team.
February 27th, March 6th and March 13th at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.
Participants are cordially invited to make a donation (suggestion $10) by etransfer to [email protected].
Please note, the text is not available in Chapters stores. It can be purchased from Chapters online and from Amazon.ca. It is also available as an ebook. We recommend that you purchase the text promptly to be sure to get a copy on time.
More about the book:
Arguing from the heart of scripture, Edman reveals how queering Christianity—that is, disrupting simplistic ways of thinking about self and other—can illuminate contemporary Christian faith. Pushing well past the notion that “Christian love = tolerance,” Edman offers a bold alternative: he recognition that queer people can help Christians better understand their fundamental calling and the creation of sacred space where LGBTQ Christians are seen as gifts to the church.
Weekly readings:
Week One: February 27th Chapters 1-3
Week Two: March 6th Chapters 4-6
Week Three: March 13th Chapters 7-10
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ In Matthew 25:40, God call us to be of service to others and to end poverty in our communities. The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown meant that many Church programs stopped running… and many did not start up again. This could be a time to lament what we have lost but it is also an opportunity to start again and build even better projects. Join MILC on February 6th for a panel discussion about anti-poverty work in our communities. The panel presentations offer a chance to hear about Christian responsibility to work to end poverty, root causes of poverty in our communities and how Churches can get involved in practical projects. This panel of speakers will help participants bring new life to projects to address poverty in our communities.
Panel speakers:
Rev. Glen Eagle, United Church of Canada
Rev. Pam Cullen, London Community Chaplaincy
Rev. Michael Blair, General Secretary, United Church of Canada
February 6th, 2023 @ 6:30pm via Zoom
Contact Gillian if you have any questions at [email protected].
So, . . . it’s that time of the year again, . . . time for Lenten planning. Join Rev. Stewart Walker and others for a time of reflection and discussion of the Lent and Easter lectionary readings and how we might frame the Easter message in this particular time. As is usual for this recurring Lenten event, we will look at the scriptures but we will also share how we do/did Lent, Holy Week and Easter in a time of uncertainty.
The Manitou Intentional Learning Community invites you to attend a workshop designed for all those who are responsible for preparing worship during Lent and Easter.
The event will take place via Zoom.
Date: Saturday, January 21st from 9:30 to noon.
For more information, contact Gillian at [email protected].
Presenter: Sylvia Keesmaat
Wednesday, December 7, 2022 @ 7pm via Zoom
Description:
Please join MILC for a advent season workshop. As Sylvia Keesmaat notes of the women in the Christmas story… some are named, some are hidden. Some are unexpectedly front and centre, others are obscure. This workshop will explore the women of the Christmas story, those seeking to birth hope in a world where the powerful seem to control the lives of women.
Biography:
Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat is a biblical scholar, activist and farmer. She obtained her doctorate from Oxford University, studying with NT Wright, and has most recently taught as an Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies at Trinity College, Toronto School of Theology, as well as for the Creation Care Studies program in Belize.
Sylvia founded Bible Remixed in 2021 to help nurture a community of Jesus followers who are deeply rooted in the biblical story, and who are becoming a community of welcome, healing and nurture for those people and creatures who suffer most from the violence of our world.
More information is available about her work at Bible Remixed.
The Manitou Intentional Learning Community invites you to our Annual General Meeting, followed by:
Encounters with Jesus: Different Points of View
Wednesday, November 9th, 2022 Via Zoom 6:30 to 8:00pm
Guest Speakers
Torrin Maag, Master’s Student, Atlantic School of Theology:
Neurodiversity in the Church
Jeffrey Dale, Minister, Justice and Faith Formation, Canadian Shield and Shining Waters Regional Councils:
Faith Formation
Faye Moffatt, Church Musician and LLWL, Trinity United Church, Capreol:
Music: One Step on our Journey to Becoming an Anti-racist Church
October, the time when all good worship leaders start planning for Advent and Christmas!
This workshop will provide opportunities for reflection and discussion of some of the Advent and Christmas lectionary readings and of ways in which we might frame the Advent message in these challenging times. There will be opportunities for group wide and small group work.
Leadership provided by Rev. Stewart Walker
Saturday, October 29th, 2022, 9:30am to noon via Zoom
with Rev. Dr. Jessica Hetherington
Following up on her first talk on “Discipleship in a Burning World: Christian Faith and Ecological Crisis,” this presentation will explore the ways in which the church, as a worshipping community, can explore its call to Earth healing. Questions such as the following will be explored: What does a collective discipleship of Earth healing look like? How can we support,encourage and challenge one another as a community in our discipleship? How can our commitment to Earth healing be reflected in all aspects of church life, including liturgy, Christian education, the sacraments, and more?
Wednesday, October 26th, 2022, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom
Presenter’s Bio:
The Rev. Dr. Jessica Hetherington, ecotheologian and ordained minister, is a preacher, speaker and teacher who inspires people of faith to transform their lives and actions in response to the ecological crisis. She holds a PhD in Theology from Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, and serves in the United Church of Canada.
Wednesday, September 14th, 2022, 1:30 to 3:30, St Peter’s United Church, York Street, Sudbury.
Workshop Facilitator: Rev. Kathy Dahmer, Chaplain RP
Special Guests: Dr. Jessica Jackson, MAID provider and Mary Huska, Clinical Bioethicist/Manager Spiritual and Religious Care
This workshop offers:
1) Education about MAID- (in institutions and in the community) and the importance of spiritual care for spiritual patients, facilitating MAID and last wishes.
2) Unique issues that can surface regarding death and/or grief for patients- and family members. (Sharing our experiences)
3) Equipping Clergy with tools- communication and ministry of presence in order to best serve patients and families.
Cost – Kindly consider making a donation at the event.
by the Labyrinth Sub-Committee of MILC (Manitou Intentional Learning Community
This is our eighth celebration of World Labyrinth Day in Sudbury and our first in person one after two years of virtual! We are glad that you can be with us in spirit using this script! Try to walk with us “as one at 1:00” on Saturday, May 7.
If you don’t have a finger labyrinth, here’s a link to instructions on how to make one:
You could use the same design concept on your lawn and use spray paint to draw it for a temporary labyrinth the way this person did: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=226534064976841
Our theme this year includes readings and songs about peace and the natural world. We hope that you can access the links to these before or during your walk. There are three original pieces that are printed here. Enjoy, and may you embody the peace we all want to see in the world.
Spirals and Labyrinths – Rev. Dawn Vaneyk
A labyrinth is designed to work the way a spiral works – there is one path and one path only. It leads you to the centre. If you watch someone prepare a soft serve ice cream cone, you will notice at the end, they do a swirl with the ice cream, like a spiral, round and round, one round on top of the other till it makes a little peak. Some labyrinths are complex spirals. You seem to be on the outside, and getting closer to the centre and then you are on the outside again. But even a complex spiral is a spiral and you will not find a dead end or get lost. That very path will take you to the centre and also out again where you began.
When we walk the labyrinth spiral, we can feel a connection to other spirals in the universe. Our universe itself is called a spiral universe.
You can see other spirals in nature: In the spring, the ferns aren’t big broad leaves. They begin their journey to BE big broad leaves by first being a “fiddlehead” – a small plant all curled into a spiral shape. You can look for those at this time of year.
Look at the house of a snail, the cross section of an ammonite fossil from 66 million years ago – there are spirals!
We carry spirals inside our bodies: our fingerprint is like a spiral, the cochlea in our ear is a spiral. Our DNA is a spiral. Even our bones, especially when young, grow in a spiral form.
When we walk the labyrinth, we are connected, not only to ancestors who, long ago built labyrinths for walking, but we are connected to the earth and her creatures, to our own bodies, and so, because we are human, to all the other people walking the labyrinth with us, the people we may be thinking of or praying for, and the people walking labyrinths all throughout the world today.
Before walking the labyrinth with your feet or your fingers today, find a picture of DNA. Find a picture of a fiddlehead, a snail, an ammonite, a spiral galaxy.
Marvel at how connected we are to creation and one another, past and present.
Directions For Labyrinth Walking – Rev. Dawn Vaneyk
At the entrance: Perhaps invite the guidance of the Spirit in your walk; Some people like to offer a concrete prayer for guidance or help; some simply ‘set their intention’ – to intend to be open to whatever gift the walk will give.
The walk in: don’t “force” anything ; walk with awareness – of your feet, of sounds and sights, of feelings – you don’t need to follow those things and get involved with them, or lost in the story they might tell ; just notice and let go. Be here.
At the Centre: Rest for a time in God’s Presence/ in the gift of having reached the Centre; you may wish to face the four directions; to be still; to be grateful; to listen. When the time is right, begin the path out.
On the way out: again, enjoy the walk; if a thought or guidance comes to you, be grateful. If this is just the first time this week you have slowed down to do nothing but be and walk – just be, and walk. It’s a sacred gift.
At the end: take a moment to give thanks for the walk, for the gift of it, for the fruit of it that may not come today, but at some moment when you need it.
If peace comes by Hakim Karwan, 21. Afghanistan.
The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Barry
Peace on Earth – by Marilyn Boileau
As we have gathered here at the labyrinth, in this natural setting, hearing the birds, surrounded by evergreen trees and feeling the wind, sun or rain on our faces. I’m reminded we are all part of something so much greater than ourselves. It is heartwarming to realize we are gathered together with others around the world in our desire for peace in the world.
I’m going to set my intention for my walk with the words from the song “Let there be Peace on Earth” written by Sy Miller and Jill Jackson Miller.