Our Whole Society Conference tackles topic of fostering hope in a divided world

How can people today find hope to promote and sustain collective action? How do we tackle the challenges facing the world and work towards a more positive future? What role can diverse faith traditions play in helping us face the most pressing demands of our time? 

These were topics addressed at the June 15-17 Our Whole Society Conference by people such as former Minister of Global Affairs, Lloyd Axworthy, international human rights lawyer Payam Akhavan, and environmentalist Elin Kelsey, author of the book Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis. 

The theme of the conference, which is sponsored by the Canadian Interfaith Conversation (CIC), is Fostering Hope in a Divided World. It was held at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. 

Read an overview about the conference in the Free Press. 

Read about the presentation by Lloyd Axworthy in Canadian Affairs.

Read about the presentations by Akhavan and Kelsey in Canadian Affairs.

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation makes available first 140 Oblate priest's personnel files

 

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has released the names of the now-deceased Oblate priests who worked in residential schools in Quebec, Ontario and western Canada. 

“It’s a significant step forward,” said Raymond Frogner, head of archives and senior director of research at the centre, which released the scanned personnel files of 140 priests on May 29. “It gets us one step closer to a complete understanding of the residential school system.” 

The files were released in collaboration with OMI Lacombe Canada, formerly known as The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, or Oblates, who ran 48 residential schools. 

Father Ken Thorson, executive director for OMI Lacombe, is “deeply grateful” for the collaboration between the Oblates and the centre to make the files available. “We recognize that this is only one part of a long and painful journey,” he said. “And we remain committed to continuing this important work.” 

Read about the release of the files in Canadian Affairs. 

Photo above: Oblate priest Père Carriere with residential school students.

 

 

Our Whole Society conference to explore how to foster hope in a divided world

How can people today find hope to promote and sustain collective action? How do we tackle the challenges facing the world and work towards a more positive future? What role can diverse faith traditions play in helping us face the most pressing demands of our time? These are the topics to be addressed at the Our Whole Society Conference at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, June 15-17. 

The theme of the conference, which is sponsored by the Canadian Interfaith Conversation, is “fostering hope in a divided world.” 

Read more about the conference in the Free Press.

"God must like old people. He keeps creating more of them.” Thoughts about seniors and why so many are ignored by the church

 

“God must like old people. He keeps creating more of them.” So quipped Scott Tolhurst, a former pastor who, over the course of his 48 years in ministry, developed a heart for service to seniors. 

Current demographics prove him right. According to Statistics Canada, seniors are the fastest-growing group in Canada. But it’s not just society that’s greying; so are churches. 

According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, in 2024 there were more churchgoers older than 65 than younger than 35 in U.S. churches — and likely in Canada, too. 

Despite the rising number of older adults in congregations, many churches are still mainly focused on serving younger people and families. Some want to see that focus change. 

Read about it in my recent Free Press column.

Anglicans in Manitoba elect first Black bishop, Jewish women in Winnipeg wage peace, Muslims gather for Eid al-Adha prayers: Religion round-up

 

Anglicans in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario have selected the first Black person to be their bishop, Jewish women in Winnipeg want to “wage peace” between Israelis and Palestinians, and 15,000 local Muslims gather for prayer during Eid al-Adha—three of my recent stories about faith in Manitoba for a religion round-up.

 

Anglicans in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario have selected the first Black person to be their bishop—and the first who was born in Africa. Naboth Manzongo was elected to be the 14th bishop of the Diocese of Rupert’s Land May 31. 

“It’s a burden to be the first of anything,” he said about becoming the first Black and African bishop in the diocese, adding he can be an inspiration to Black youth and to youth from other marginalized communities. 

Read my story about Naboth in the Free Press.

 

Esther Blum doesn’t know how peace is going to happen between Israel and Palestine. But, she said, “We gave war a chance for 77 years. Maybe now is the time to give peace the same amount of time.”

Blum, a member of the Winnipeg chapter of Women Wage Peace, made that comment to a group of about 25 Jewish seniors at the Remis Luncheon at the Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre a week ago.

Read my story about Esther and Women Wage Peace in the Free Press.

 

And around 15,000 local Muslims converged on the convention centre Friday to mark Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice. 

The event remembers the story in the Qur’an of Ibrahim’s willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son, Ishmael. It was held in three sessions to accommodate everyone who came to pray and hear sermons from Islamic leaders. 

Ismael Mukhtar, an imam at the Grand Mosque, preached about the importance of being willing to follow God in life and to submit to him. 

“As Muslims, we are to follow the example of Ibrahim, to be willing to sacrifice what is most precious to us for God,” he told the gathering. 

That, he added, is the essence of Islam, that “we are willing to go to the furthest point of sacrifice in obedience to the creator.”

Read about the prayer service in the Free Press.

 

 

“So grateful that I am alive, even if I’m not well.” Seminary dean reflects on what it’s like to have Long Covid

 

In Canada, over two million people struggle with the effects of Long Covid. Arnold Neufeldt-Fast is one of them. The dean of Tyndale Seminary in Toronto has had it since 2023. Symptoms include extreme fatigue, brain fog, memory and concentration issues and pain. Any exertion, mental or physical, can incapacitate him for hours or even days. 

I asked Neufeldt-Fast how he is dealing with the condition from a faith perspective. Has it changed his view of God? What about prayer? How has it impacted his view of suffering? Read his thoughts in my recent Free Press column.

Image above from UConn Today.

 

 

 

Churches respond to affordable housing crisis: "We want to find new ways for our building to live."

 

One thing all federal party leaders agreed on during this election is that Canada faces an affordable housing crisis. And here in Winnipeg, the provincial and local governments are trying to address the challenge of homelessness. It’s a big challenge. What can be done? 

Earlier this year, I had a chance to talk with some Lutheran church leaders in Ontario who are taking the challenge into their own hands by turning their buildings into housing—including one that turned its education wing into affordable housing, and another that sold the entire building and land. 

Read about it in my column in the Free Press.