A Statement of Inclusion
At Trinity Mennonite Church, we welcome all people—regardless of age, race, ethnic background, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, income, education and other factors that give rise to discrimination and marginalization. Participation in the life of TMC is open to all. Membership and ministry leadership roles are based on factors such as faith in Jesus Christ, spiritual maturity, and the discernment of the church community. We believe that God’s love is for everyone, and we seek to embody that love through hospitality, justice, and grace.
Our Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) spent six years travelling to all parts of Canada to hear from the Aboriginal people who had been taken from their families as children, forcibly if necessary, and placed for much of their childhoods in residential schools. The stories told by over 6,000 witnesses described experiences of suffering and cruelty. Children were abused, physically and sexually, and they died in numbers that would not have been tolerated in any school system anywhere in the country, or in the world.
We acknowledge the Mennonite church’s past involvement with residential schools. We accept the resolution passed by the Mennonite Church of Canada in 2010, confessing complicity in “the failing of the Christian Church and its role in the tragic physical, emotional, mental, and sexual abuse, denial of culture, language, and peoplehood of Aboriginal peoples in Canada.”
In 2015 the TRC Final Report (read a summary here) called upon churches and faith groups to take actions that lead to hearing the truth so that reconciliation can happen between Indigenous peoples and Canada. In particular, we commit ourselves to TRC Calls to Action 48, 49, 58 – 61.
Our Actions
Reconciliation is the healing of broken relationship. We are followers of Jesus Christ, the great reconciler. We are aware that words without actions are not only ineffective but may also be harmful. In humility, recognizing that reconciliation is a shared journey, we commit ourselves to:
- Educating ourselves about Indigenous history, the TRC’s findings, and the ongoing impacts of colonialism.
- Seeking to build relationships with Indigenous individuals and communities, fostering dialogue, and continuing to learn from their experiences.
- Advocating for the implementation of the TRC’s Calls to Action and for the rights of Indigenous peoples, recognizing that reconciliation requires justice to address the systemic inequalities that continue to affect Indigenous communities.
- Encouraging our members to participate in the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th, reflecting on the past and committing to reconciliation.
- Acknowledging that our church property is situated on Treaty 7 territory, the traditional land of the Blackfoot Confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Aamskapi-Piikani along with Tsuut’ina Nation and the Iyarhe Nakoda Nations: Chiniki, Bearspaw, Goodstoney. We also acknowledge that this territory is home to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government of the Métis Nation within Alberta Districts 5 and 6.