Plenary Session Information

Joash Thomas

Thursday Morning: ‘You Are The Light Of The World’

A deeply pastoral devotional steeped in ancient Celtic Christian wisdom inviting us all to reconcile with the light of God present in our ancestors - both physical and spiritual. Fr. Joash invites us into this by giving a glimpse of his own lived experience practicing this as a Georgia Republican political consultant & lobbyist turned bestselling liberation theologian.

 

Thursday Afternoon: ‘Heretics of Empire’

Empires divide to conquer; but the Way of Jesus (the Way the Spirit is constantly making known in creation) unites to heal. The divisions across the US & Canadian Church on the LGBTQIA+ inclusion front are nothing new to those who pay attention to Church History - especially when we pay attention to the lost histories of ancient, creedal, unifying, precolonial Christianities like Fr. Joash’s St. Thomas Indian Christian ancestors in the East and Celtic Christians in the West. Jesus himself was crucified as a ‘heretic’ of the most powerful Empire of his day for his unifying theology; which is why we know this to be true: the ‘heretics of Empire’ are the beloved of God. This talk contextualizes themes of Fr. Joash’s bestselling book, The Justice of Jesus for today’s fractured Canadian Church context that Toward Canada is seeking to heal.

 

Thursday ⁠Evening: ‘Decolonizing The Great Commission’ 

Based on the themes of his recent bestselling Substack (Masala Chai Theology) series and upcoming online course at Institute for Christian Studies (ICS), this talk invites us to critically examine a key colonial era, Empire-shaped theological framework many of us were raised to see as ‘orthodoxy’ - ‘The Great Commission’. But more importantly, this talk also invites us to wrestle with and reimagine what ‘Decolonized Christian Mission’ rooted in the ancient, hospitable, and invitational way of Jesus could look like in our world today.

 

Karen Wilk & Jonathan Nicolai-deKoning 

Friday Morning: In this conversational session, Karen and Jonathan will discuss the challenges and opportunities of leadership and community-building in our current context. They will explore several questions in light of their own unique stories as a missional pastor/teacher/neighbourhood animator (Karen) and justice educator/organizer (Jonathan), and invite the audience to do the same. They’ll consider the following questions (and more): How can we cultivate belonging when belonging isn’t about believing the same things? How can we be leaders if leadership is about creating spaces where all are included and empowered to share their gifts? How can we attend to where the Spirit is already at work – in our communities, and outside them?

Aaron Helleman and Jonathan Mackereth

As congregations, ministries, and individuals discern whether to enter not simply into partnership, but into covenant with the new association, we need to explore what it truly means to belong, be welcomed, and share responsibility within a community. Join Jonathan Mackereth and Aaron Helleman as we unpack these foundational questions and how we can help shape a healthy covenant community.

Julia & Trevor Vanderveen

Friday Afternoon: Picking up on the Way Making theme of “See, I am doing a new thing” in Isaiah 43, we will explore Isaiah 44:1-5 and Ephesians 3:10-12 where we get a glimpse of a community who have a sense of God’s unfolding plan in the midst of their disorientation and fear. It’s in these places that God promises to refresh weary hearts and renew vision that can hold for generations to come. Trevor and Julia Vanderveen will speak from their context of being rooted in the First CRC Vancouver for more than 20 years. They will draw on Trevor’s studies of reimagining a Reformed faith in a world very different from the one handed down to us, and Julia’s studies in which she articulates a metaphor for resilience. 

Shiao Chong
Title: Signposts of the Jesus Way (Friday Evening)

If God is about to “do a new thing,” and to “make a way in the wilderness,” (Isa. 43:19) for our time in Canada, then it is likely centred on the way of Jesus. But what is the Jesus Way? Do we have competing versions of what it means? Drawing from the gospel of Luke, we will explore some snapshots or signposts of what the Jesus Way looked like, and what it might mean for our churches and ministries today.