St. Thomas’ Kingston Prays Through the Truth and Reconciliation 94 Calls to Action

One weekend this past June the Reverends’ Rod and Lisa BrantFrancis from All Saints’ Church, Tyendinaga, led two sessions at St. Thomas’ Church in Kingston during which they encouraged reflection on healing throughout our church and Indigenous communities. They led a Reconciliation Circle in the parish hall on the Saturday, and on Sunday Rod preached at our two services. During these gatherings Rod and Lisa reviewed their personal history as members of the Mi’kmaq (Rod) and Mohawk (Lisa) nations and then walked the parish through exercises with clay and with jigsaw puzzles (divided into complementary but incomplete parts) to illustrate the challenges of getting a complete picture of the work that needs doing and how to best do it together. The weekend was informative and moving, ending on the positive note emphasizing that even though the challenge ahead is difficult we mustn’t lose hope of its completion.

Reconciliation between Canada’s First Nations and all other Canadians is something that most people recognize as beneficial for us all. One take away from the weekend was that achieving reconciliation is not just the work of Canadian and First Nation governing bodies, but rather that each person in Canada should be involved in part of the healing.

With that challenge, the leadership of St. Thomas’ thought it important to bring some concrete activity to our church family and it was decided at the Parish Advisory Council to initiate a program to present the 94 Calls to Action policy recommendations from the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. We thought such a review would help make parishioners more aware of the calls and might perhaps stimulate further reading and reflection on the actions the commission considered so vital.

This program was timed to start the Sunday before National Truth and Reconciliation Day at the end of September and will run for 47 weeks with two actions reviewed during a prayer given immediately prior to each Sunday service. We trust the program will encourage some thought, reflection, and prayer and perhaps inspire parishioners to think on how they can participate in reconciliation in some way. It is one way St Thomas’ parish is working to complete Action 59, a call to all churches to ensure their congregations learn about the history and legacy of residential schools and to help in the healing needed.

A sample Sunday in our schedule:
Week 30: April 20, 2025

Let us pray: Dear brothers and sisters, as a community of faith committed to reconciliation, we are called to work towards healing the wounds of the past. Over these months we are embarking on a journey of learning and reflection, examining two of the 94 Action Items of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission each Sunday. By reflecting on these recommendations, we hope to discern how we can contribute to a more just and equitable future together. Jesus, help us today by guiding our reflection and action on these two calls of action:

• Action 59: Call upon church parties to the Settlement Agreement to develop ongoing education strategies to ensure that their respective congregations learn about their role in colonization and the history and legacy of residential schools.

• Action 60: Have leaders of the churches develop and teach curriculum for clergy and religious staff on respecting Indigenous spirituality, the history of residential schools, religious conflict, and the responsibility to mitigate such conflicts.

• Call to Action 5: Call the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally approriate parenting programs for Aboriginal families.

• Call to Action 6: Have the Government of Canada repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which allows for the physical punishment of children.