The Manitou Intentional Learning Community invites you to participate in a three-week Lenten book study, The Death of Jesus for Progressive Christians published in 2019. Donald Schmidt’s study guides participants through the Biblical stories about the death of Jesus “invit[ing] us to ask the larger question hanging in the background. Why did Jesus die?” Schmidt suggests that “Jesus’ theme of God’s involvement in the world on behalf of the marginalized . . . was a major challenge to the religious order of the day. It had to be stopped.” The ideas explored in this text resonate with people of faith in the modern world. In the introduction, Schmidt writes: “The point of this study is to help you . . . analyze, celebrate, incarnate, and try to live out the powerful story of the events leading up to Jesus’ death and burial.”

Leadership will be provided by Rev. Dave LeGrand, Rev. Erin Todd, and Rev. Dawn Vaneyk.

Sessions will take place via Zoom from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m:

Monday, March 21, March 28 and April 4

Getting a Copy of the Book:

• The study guide can be purchased through Woodlake Publishing and is also available in an ebook or kindle edition.
• If you are in Sudbury and would like a print book, we will be placing an order with Grand River on Friday, March 4th and these will be available for pick up from St. Peter’s. Please email your request to [email protected].
• The book can also be purchased online from Amazon.
• Chapters in Sudbury will order the book for pick up.

 For more information contact Gillian at [email protected].

Registration is now closed.

Black Lives Matter-Sudbury, a Black led coalition of educators, students, activists, artists, and others working in solidarity with Indigenous communities, present their second annual Intersectional Caucus on Saturday, February 26th and Sunday, February 27th, 2022 starting at 12 PM EST. This free online conference titled “Amplifying voices on Turtle Island” will once again centre and uplift the voices of Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) and 2SLGBTQ+ activists, leaders, educators, and change-makers from across Turtle Island. 

This event features a total of six culturally responsive panels and one key-note presentation — each followed by engaging Q&As with panelists. Audiences will be able to learn about the on-going journey towards dismantling oppressive systems of power, combating inequality, and imagining new futures for marginalized communities. 

Manitou Intentional Learning Community recognizes the importance of centring the voices of Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) in our learning and engagement in decolonization. Please consider joining our leadership team in attending “Amplifying Voices On Turtle Island.” Following the Intersectional Caucus, MILC will host an online “Coffee Talk” on Tuesday, March 1 at 6:30 pm. Join us in open conversation to share our discoveries, questions and learning: What did we learn? How can we integrate this learning into our lives as individuals, as members of faith communities and as Canadians? What more do we need to learn to become anti-racist and how can we best do this? 

Go to Amplifying Voices on Turtle Island, for more information and to register for the event.

Check out the promotional and social media material for “Amplifying Voices on Turtle Island” on their Facebook page.

Read more about the event from Sudbury.com.

Registration for MILC’s ‘Coffee Talk’ on Tuesday March 1 is now closed.

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 we are all living through. 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.

Saturday, February 5^th from 9:30 to noon via Zoom.

For more information, contact Gillian at [email protected]

Do you hear what I hear? Do you see what I see?

A three-part journey exploring the Christmas story through different lenses

December 1st, 8th and 15th – 6:30 to 8:30pm via Zoom

Session 1: Hearing 2SLGBTQ+ Voices Wednesday, December 1^st

Guests: 

~Aidan Legault, M.Div. student, Emmanuel College, Toronto

~Rev. June Joplin, Associate Pastor, Metropolitan Community Church, Toronto

~Peter Haddow, North Bay, LLWL and Team Lead of CSRC Affirming Resource Team

~Poetry and music with Natalie Wilson and Ralph Johnston, St. Andrew’s United Church, North Bay.

Session 2: Hearing Black Voices Wednesday, December 8^th

Guests:  

~Rev. Alydia Smith, Identity and Mission Network Coordinator, UCC General Council

~Joy Kalu, Chair, Congregational Care Community, St. Peter’s United Church, Sudbury

Session 3: Sharing Our Reflections Wednesday, December 15^th

An opportunity to reflect in how our learnings are relevant and important to people of faith and their communities.

For further information, contact Gillian at [email protected].

MILC Invites you to the Annual General Meeting followed by

Inside / Outside: New Ways of Being Church

Wednesday, November 10^th, 2021

Via Zoom 6:30 to 8:00pm

Guest Speakers

Faye Moffatt, Trinity United Church, Capreol – No-one to Preach: Sermon Share Might be for You

Rev. Cory Vermeer Cuthbert, Holy Trinity United Church, Elliot Lake  – Not Your Usual Yard Sale

Susie Henderson, Shining Waters Regional Council Staff Team – Restoring the Great Conversation: The Wild Church Movement

Hymns with Faye Moffatt

There will be time for discussion and sharing: How have you and your faith community been thinking outside the box and finding new ways to be church in response to the pandemic?

For further information, contact Gillian at  [email protected]

Moderated by Lisa Blais and Susan Lindquist

Saturday, October 23, 2021, 9:30 to 12:00

Via Zoom

On June 21, 2021, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDRIP) received Royal Assent and immediately came into force. Honouring the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as mandated in the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), continues to be of critical concern. The recent heartbreaking discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves on Residential School grounds and the struggle of the Wet’suwet’en peoples in British Columbia are current examples of how the UN Declaration has particular application.

In the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report (2015), Calls to Action were issued to federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, as well as all church parties to the Settlement Agreement such as The United Church of Canada, and other faith groups, to fully adopt and implement UNDRIP.

This workshop will support persons of faith in their understanding so that they can endorse it in action. The goals of the workshop are to DECODE what UNDRIP is; to DISCOVER why it is, or should be, important to people of faith, and to DETERMINE steps to implement it, in church and society.

Note: As some churches are open, some groups may wish to gather in person to participate in the Zoom sessions and form in person break out rooms. If you would like to do this, please:

1. Have all participants register individually;
2. Contact Gillian at [email protected] to discuss the technical requirements and other arrangements so that we can make sure that things run smoothly;
3. Ensure that you abide by the Covid-19 guidelines for the space in which you plan to meet.

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.

Our workshop facilitator this year will be Reverend Doctor Ted Harrison, a Minister of Word, Sacrament, and Pastoral Care. He was ordained in the year 2000, when he began serving churches in northern Ontario. Ted has a passion for Christian worship, with a focus on accessible storytelling that draws on scripture, humour, storybooks, and music. Ted reads a lot—particularly in the areas of theology, world religions, philosophy, history, poetry… and comic books. Ted is married to Caroline, who is a hospital physiotherapist and a part-time sermon critic. Ted and Caroline have two daughters (Eve and Erin) and a dog named Ginny.

Please join us for this workshop via Zoom on Saturday, October 2^nd from 9:30 am to noon.

For more information and to register, please contact Gillian Schell [email protected]

The Manitou Intentional Learning Community (MILC) invites you to Pandemic Resiliency: Coping emotionally, spiritually and mentally through the challenges of the Pandemic on Wednesday, September 22^nd from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. via Zoom.

This workshop, presented by Susan Browning, will explore ways in which the Pandemic has impacted our mental and spiritual health, share practical coping strategies, and look to the future exploring hope and faith in the resilient spirit God has given us.

Susan, a Registered Psychotherapist, a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist and a clinical supervisor for interns, is also an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada currently serving two congregations in the London area.

For more information and to register and receive the Zoom link, please email [email protected] or contact Gillian Schell 705 671 0185.

A hymn by Shirley Erena Murray begins, “For everyone born, there’s a place at the table.” Most churches claim to be welcoming. Some churches are officially affirming. However, we are reminded that “often, people who are trans, non-binary, gender queer, queer, Two-Spirit, intersex, and many more identities are made invisible in worship. We become part of a generic welcome to everyone, or are cast as being welcome ‘regardless’ or ‘despite’ our diversity, not because of it. This is especially true for many racialized and Indigenous LGBTQIA+ people, as well as LGBTQIA+ and Two Spirit people with disabilities.” (Enfleshed: Worship Service and Communion Liturgy for Affirming PIE Day -United Church of Canada)

With this in mind, Trinity United Church, Capreol, invites you to join their hymn sing on Thursday, June 3. It will feature songs with, for, about, and by people from the LGBTQ+ community celebrating the rich diversities of our genders, orientations, identities and expressions. We will share words of inspiration and challenge and sing from Voices United, More Voices, Songs for the Holy Other, and other sources as we seek to foster authentic welcome, community, justice and joy.

 

For more information, contact Faye Moffatt [email protected] or

Gillian Schell [email protected]