Group photo of ecumenical KAIROS Atlantic contingent
About 10 days ago I was sitting in a theatre at the University of Waterloo listening with rapt attention to Sylvia Keesemat. We had just had an amazing worship led by the group from the Atlantic Provinces and with the musical support of Becca Whitla. Why was I in Waterloo? Who were the participants? Why were we all so fired up?
From June 18-20, 2009, I was honoured to attend the KAIROS National Gathering on behalf of Justice Ministries of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. KAIROS is an organization for “Faithful Action for Justice” which grew out of PLURA (Presbyterian, Lutheran, United, Roman Catholic, Anglican) and the anti-poverty movement when more faith-based groups sought membership. This three-day gathering of people from member churches and those touched by the issues of ecological justice, social justice, and human rights was the first national gathering of this organization.
The gathering was an amazing experience for me both as a Christian and as an advocate for justice. Our opening worship led by Dan and Mary Lou Smoke and Cheryl Curtis had us singing the Water Song as if we had always known it, and enabled us to focus on our solidarity not just with each other but with the creation of which we are a part. In plenary sessions we heard from Sheila Watt Cloutier on the melting of the polar ice cap, Sharon Ruiz Duremdes on Apocalypse, Ched Myers on the need for “insomnia theology”, Denise Couture on resistance, and Sylvia Keesemaat on our connection to the earth and how “in the end healing will come from creation.”
Workshop sessions were held in the afternoons on a wide variety of themes, which expanded on the plenary issues and brought things into more concrete terms. Some of the topics included how to work for justice in rural areas, the need to view issues as ‘ecological’ (includes humans) rather than ‘environmental’ (excludes humans), how to bring these issues into Bible study and preaching in our churches, and working for peace in Palestine.
Highlights for me included: the Sunrise Ceremony at 5:30 AM on the first day where we celebrated the Strawberry Moon and raised our prayers to the Grandfather of the East; all the worship events, but especially the one led by the Inshallah Lutheran Seminary Choir, which had the congregation/choir alive with the Spirit; the fiery words of Sharon Ruiz Duremdes; and all the people I met and connections I made.
Every conversation I had at the gathering was deeply engaging and challenging. It was a chance to meet with old friends and make new ones, to learn to understand the issues facing all our brothers and sisters. If we had arrived at the gathering unsure of the issues, we were not just aware of them when we left, but inspired to action!
Cathy Scott is a high school teacher, a member of KAIROS Atlantic, and the choir director at St James Presbyterian Church in Hanwell, New Brunswick.
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