Truth & Reconciliation

Land Acknowledgement

The Road Church is located in the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) and the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Siksika, the Piikuni, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Iyaxe Nakoda First Nations, including Chiniki, Bearpaw, and Wesley First Nations. The City of Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3.

We acknowledge land because we are treaty people created and sustained by our covenant-keeping God. Our hope is that, where once there was a blindness to and the erasure of a people, there is now sight and witness and opportunity for a transformed relationship with those who are our neighbors.

The Journey of Truth and Reconciliation at The Road

We know that justice can mean different things to different people. For The Road, it means restoring Shalom (peace) or the relief from injustice. We talk about what this looks like in God's Kindom, in the bible, and why we need to engage with this issue and all its implications for our real lives in Calgary.

As we become acquainted with the injustice done to our Indigenous neighbours, and as understand how our unjust history affects people's lives today, we ask:

"As people reconciled to God, how do we reconcile with our neighbour? What do we do now?”

The longing for restoring Shalom is the longing for putting things to rights. Every human has this longing innately working within them – for ourselves and for others. What would happen if we continue to follow this longing? Where would that road lead us?

In His grace and peace, and only by the power of that grace and peace, we will walk down this road together.

Learn more:

Christian Reformed Church's Canadian Indigenous Ministries Committee. This information will give you a sense of our broader community’s engagement with the issues as well as worship/reflective resources that you can use.
Canadian magazine Faith Today Written by Ambrose university professor Mark Buchanon and Christian-Indigenous leader Cheryl Bear on what it means to be reconciled as Christians.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report Reading Group. If you are interested in reading the TRC Full report with other Christians, let Pastor Jacqui know.
The Blanket Exercise is a learning tool for non-indigenous Canadians to learn some of the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada. The Road participated in this exercise in 2018 and it continues to open us up to what God might do when we take one another stories seriously.