Body Image: Seeing Ourselves Through God’s Eyes

Posted on March 22, 2021 by administrator

As God-made, incarnate beings, we all live in bodies.

And because we all live in bodies, we all have a body image.

Body image is how we see our bodies when we look in the mirror, or conceive of our bodies in our minds.

It is what we  believe about our own appearance; how we feel about our bodies, including our height, shape, and weight; how we physically experience our bodies.

Beginning at a very young age, and continuing throughout our lives, many of us internalize messages that lead to either positive or negative body image.

Developing a positive, joyful body image—grounded in gratitude for the body as gift– is an important part of mental and spiritual well-being.

MILC and Soul Strong are excited to be joining forces to facilitate a two-part, interactive Zoom forum entitled Body Image: Seeing Ourselves Through God’s Eyes.

Inspired by the extraordinary stories of speakers Wendy Coates and Rita O’Link, participants will share and explore their own joys and struggles on the journey to body acceptance.

Tuesday, April 20th and 27th @ 6:30pm

Register for both Zoom sessions by clicking on Register below.

Register  – Body Image Event

Posted in Upcoming Events | Comments Off on Body Image: Seeing Ourselves Through God’s Eyes

Reconciliation: The renewal of a covenant – Very Rev. Stan McKay

Posted on March 14, 2021 by administrator

The Manitou Intentional Learning Community is excited to welcome the Very Reverend Stan McKay, former Moderator of the United Church of Canada, to lead a workshop entitled “Reconciliation: The renewal of a covenant” exploring the spirit and intent of treaties and an Indigenous philosophy of life – “All My Relations”.

Wednesday, April 7th @ 7pm

Register for the Zoom workshop by clicking on Register.

Registration closed

McKay was born on Fisher River First Nation, a Cree community in Northern Manitoba and attended Fisher River Indian Day School and Birtle Indian Residential School. After ordination he served in pastoral ministry in Norway House and Fisher River, as national co-ordinator of Native Ministry, as the Director of the Dr. Jessie Saulteaux Center and from 1992 to 1994 as Moderator of the United Church of Canada. He is presently working to build cross-cultural relations and participating in dialogue addressing injustices resulting from colonial history.

McKay featured in the 2017 documentary film Truly and Humbly: Memories of the first Apology directed by Dr. Hoi Cheu of Laurentian University that traces the memories of those present at the 1986 United Church Apology to First Nations People. In the film, McKay suggests that our relationships with each other and with creation are broken, and that non-Indigenous people have much to learn from Indigenous philosophies of life.

Posted in Past Events | Comments Off on Reconciliation: The renewal of a covenant – Very Rev. Stan McKay

Easter for Progressive Christians – a Study

Posted on February 22, 2021 by administrator

Easter for Progressive Christians by Donald Schmidt

The Manitou Intentional Learning Community invites you to participate in a three- week Easter study that explores the gospel accounts of the first Easter from a new perspective. Donald Schmidt’s guide “invites participants to engage with the biblical stories of Christ’s resurrection, to try to understand what the gospel writers meant to tell us, and what they wanted us to take from these stories [that] . . . had transformed their own lives, and the lives of many others at the time. . . Reading and exploring these stories can enhance our lives too. Ultimately, how we experience Christ today is what matters – not what might have happened 2,000 years ago.”

The study will take place via Zoom.

Monday, March 15th, 22nd and 29th.

From 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Leadership provided by Melody Duncanson Hales, Dave LeGrand and Gillian Schell.

Click on Register below to sign-up.

Registration closed

Print copies and ebooks can be obtained at Woodlake Books and from Amazon.ca.

Contact manitouintentionallearning@gmail.com with any questions.

Posted in Past Events, Upcoming Events | Comments Off on Easter for Progressive Christians – a Study

Singing for Our Lives

Posted on February 1, 2021 by administrator

Come sing with us!! Join the Manitou Intentional Learning Community on Friday, February 19th via Zoom where we will be “Singing for our Lives.” We are excited to invite you to this engaging and reflective affirmation of welcome, justice and hope. Presented by Wendy and Andrew Donaldson, church musicians with vast Canadian and international experience, this event is a mix of music and spoken word featuring on-line performance, video and audience participation and drawing on multi-faith and multi-cultural wit and wisdom.

Watch, listen and sing along as through words and music, we explore themes of truth, reconciliation, stewardship of the land, turning stranger into “neighbour”, and ways in which our hopes are threatened by power, the lure of profit, lies, and fear.

Friday, February 19th, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.

For further information, please contact manitouintentionallearning@gmail.com

________________________________________________________

Posted in Past Events, Upcoming Events | Comments Off on Singing for Our Lives

Hate, Racism and Islamophobia in Canada-Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going?

Posted on January 20, 2021 by administrator

**  EVENT POSTPONED

Please watch for further details about rescheduling.

Presentation  by Mr. Fareed Khan

January 29th marks the four year anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting when six people were killed and nineteen were injured. Deemed as one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history, the massacre that took place in the Quebec City mosque continues to prompt much-needed public debate and discussion around hate, racism, Islamophobia and the rise of right-wing terrorism in Canada. In collaboration with the Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Green from the Anglican Church of the Epiphany in Sudbury, the Manitou Intentional Learning Community will host a Zoom event that will address ongoing issues of hate, racism and Islamophobia in Canada. Joining us as our Guest Speaker is Mr. Fareed Khan, founder of the anti-racism group known as Canadians United Against Hate. Mr. Khan’s presentation entitled Hate, Racism and Islamophobia in Canada-Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going?  will enable participants to ask hard questions, and to raise our awareness for how we might each do our part to become more active in combating hate and racism in our lives and communities.

Biography of Fareed Khan

Fareed Khan is the founder of the anti-racism group Canadians United Against Hate.  He is also the Director of Advocacy and Media Relations, and the co-founder of the Rohingya Human Rights Network.  He has a professional background in strategic communications, advocacy, public policy development and media relations spanning more than three decades. During his career he has advanced public policy initiatives at all levels of government.  He has advised and consulted with federal and provincial cabinet ministers, senators, municipal, business and community leaders on broad spectrum of public policy and communications issues that have impacted the lives of Canadians.

Fareed is passionate about issues which impact human rights and civil liberties, combat racism, and support broader issues of social justice.  Because of his human rights and anti-racism work, he is regularly called upon by CBC, CTV, Global, Canadian Press, the Globe and Mail and others to provide media analysis and commentary.

He has held leadership positions on the boards of numerous national and community-based charitable, civic and business organizations in Ottawa, Toronto, and the US, and has led efforts which have raised more than $375,000 for various charitable causes.

Fareed graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in political science and history from Toronto’s York University and pursued graduate studies at Carleton University in the areas of foreign affairs, defence, national security, and communications studies.  He has also studied at the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi and Trois Rivières, as well as pursued professional development studies in communications and media at Ryerson University.

Posted in Upcoming Events | Comments Off on Hate, Racism and Islamophobia in Canada-Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going?

Lenten Inspirations

Posted on December 22, 2020 by administrator

So,… it’s January already… just in time for Lenten planning. Join Rev.
Stewart Walker and others for a time of reflection and discussion of the
Advent and Easter lectionary readings and how we might frame the Easter
message in this peculiar time we are all living through. As is usual for this
recurring Lent 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 Global Pandemic

Cost: $11.49.

Date: January 16, 2021 from 9:30am to noon.

Registration now closed.

Posted in Past Events | Comments Off on Lenten Inspirations

Book Study: Birth of Jesus for Progressive Christians

Posted on November 19, 2020 by administrator

Join us for a three week book study of

Birth of Jesus for Progressive Christians

by Donald Schmidt

Monday, November 30, December 7 & 14 @ 7pm

via Zoom

Publisher description:

“The Christmas story most people know comes from pageants, carols, or perhaps a television movie or two. But what we recall – and what many people seek to replicate each year – is an odd mixture of the two quite different stories contained in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, with certain pieces almost always present (even though they are not in the Bible at all) and with others sadly missing. The point of those versions of the story seems to be to nurture a warm, fuzzy feeling that leaves us cooing over a baby so we can then put the whole thing away as soon as possible after December 25 and get back to life as usual. But that’s not what the gospel writers had in mind.

To some extent, each of us fashions our own version of the “Christmas story.” Over time, as our associations and identification with that story grow, it can feel very uncomfortable and even disrespectful to disrupt or question that story. Any yet these reactions can be instructive, for they beg larger questions about what’s really important: the biblical narratives; or the traditions that have gathered around them, layered them, and at times obscured them; or the meaning all of this may have for your lives today?

Birth of Jesus for Progressive Christians is a five-session study guide that invites readers to explore the birth of Jesus with a new perspective. This will open up wonderful times of conversation within small groups, but also provides inspiration and guidance to how the birth story of Jesus is still relevant and important in the life of the church and its people today. ”

Click register below to sign up for the book study.

Registration now closed.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Ebooks can be obtained at Woodlake Books.

Contact manitouintentionallearning@gmail.com with any questions.

Posted in Past Events | Comments Off on Book Study: Birth of Jesus for Progressive Christians

MILC Annual General Meeting 2020

Posted on October 25, 2020 by administrator

MANITOU INTENTIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY

INVITES YOU TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING FOLLOWED BY

Lessons from Lockdown:

Creating community in the midst of the pandemic

Wednesday, November 18th, 2020

Via Zoom 6:30 to 8:00pm

If you have questions, please email Gillian at manitouintentionallearning@gmail.com.

Guest Speakers:

Lisa Blais, Trinity United Church, North Bay

Connecting Community through Song and Story

Christina Boggs, Trinity United Church, Capreol

Rendez-vous Reimagined: A virtual community of faith celebrating bold faith, brave space and brazen grace

Rev. Erin Todd, Grace United Church, Sudbury

Soul Strong: Body, Mind, Spirit – a unique approach to whole-person wellness

Stephanie Voyer, Director, Rainbow Camp

Rainbow Online Connection (ROC): Creating virtual community for 2SLGBTQ+.youth

Time for discussion and sharing: What have you learned about the meaning and nature of community during the pandemic?

Posted in Past Events | Comments Off on MILC Annual General Meeting 2020

Activist Alphabet: reflections on faithful environmental activism

Posted on October 6, 2020 by administrator

Activist Alphabet author Donna Sinclair will offer readings and conversation about why and how we might try to live out God’s call to live with respect in Creation. Webinar participants in Northern Ontario might be especially interested in some anecdotes described in this book —  many of the people involved will be familiar.  Faith communities can be far more influential that we sometimes think in the now-enormous struggle to care for our lovely and threatened planet. Questions, comments and opinions will be welcome.

Monday, October 19th, 6:30-8pm via Zoom

Register by contacting Gillian Schell at

manitouintentionallearning@gmail.com

Donna Sinclair

As a long-time senior writer with The United Church Observer, Donna won many national and international awards, among them news coverage and editorial courage. She is a recipient of the A.C. Forrest Memorial Award for excellence in religious journalism from the Canadian Church Press.

Donna is the author of more than a dozen non-fiction books, most recently Activist Alphabet (Wood Lake Books). She is a Fellow of Huntington College in Sudbury, and has an honourary doctorate from Queen’s University in Kingston.

Now retired, Donna continues to write occasionally for Broadview magazine and others. She is a long-time and active member of St. Andrew’s United in North Bay, and  also a committed member of the Indigenous Solidarity Team of the North Bay and Area Mission Cluster, United Church of Canada.

Activist Alphabet is available from Wood Lake Publishing or from the United Church Resource Distribution Centre.

Posted in Past Events | Comments Off on Activist Alphabet: reflections on faithful environmental activism

Advent in October

Posted on October 5, 2020 by administrator

Advent on October: A workshop for all those leading worship during Advent

So,… it’s October… the time when all good worship leaders start planning for Advent and Christmas. Join Rev. Stewart Walker for a time of reflection and discussion of the Advent and Christmas lectionary readings and how we might frame the Advent message in this peculiar time we are all living through. As is usual for this recurrent Advent event, we will look at the scriptures but we will also consider how we do Advent and Christmas in a time of Global Pandemic.

Join us for this workshop via Zoom.

Saturday, October 24th from 9:30 am to noon.

To register, please contact Gillian Schell manitouintentionallearning@gmail.com

Posted in Past Events | Comments Off on Advent in October