This reflection was featured in The Ecumenical Chaplaincy at the University of Toronto‘s Spring 2015/2016 Newsletter, and reproduced with permission.
For Matthew Morales, a U of T Mississauga student, finding the Student Christian Movement at U of T came at the perfect time: “I found out about the SCM in a time of uncertainty. I had been processing what it meant to hold together doubts about my faith, the misgivings of my, then, church congregation, and what it meant to live a life that sought out peace. I had been trying to do it alone.”
This winter Matthew started attending the weekly SCM contextual Bible study, “Scripture – Community – Meal”, facilitated by the ECUT chaplains. The questions and conversations around biblical text and its connection to our lives were deeply meaningful. For example, the discussion on Luke 8: 43-48, the story of the woman who was bleeding for 12 years and healed after touching Jesus’ cloak, focused on what healing and self-care means and the visibility/invisibility of pain and disability in our own lives and world. Even on the snowiest days, students travelled as far as Mississauga and Thornhill and as near as Kensington Market to attend – a testament to community and to spiritual growth! Supporting SCM is in ECUT’S mandate, and includes supporting rallies, pub nights, and Cahoots!, the SCM Festival.
As Matthew says, “The SCM has been and is a safe place for me in all the layers of my identity. It’s where I’ve met friends who listened to my grievings as I listened to theirs. And in the midst of it all, the SCM has helped me remember the heart of God rooted in love, peace and justice.”