Whether you’re a long-time SCMer, an occasional user of SCM resources, or someone who simply found this by googling “social justice Advent”, we hope you find it fruitful.

Two versions of the Advent Companion are found below: a full-colour version and a version with all-white page backgrounds to save ink if you’d like to print the resource, or if you simply prefer a higher-contrast reading experience.

We urge institutions of higher learning to take seriously and engage with students’ calls for divestment from companies contributing to and profiting from the Israel-Hamas war. We believe that students have a right to know that their tuition money is not being used to fuel war and to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Palestine. Furthermore, we believe it is the responsibility of all institutions and individuals to refrain from endangering the human rights of others, directly or indirectly.

SCM stands with student protestors, and with all those working and praying for peace in the Middle East and around the globe.

An important reminder: SCM opposes prejudice and oppression in all its forms, including Antisemitism and Islamophobia. We reject any discourse that tries to wield hatred in the service of justice.

We encourage individuals who want to show solidarity with the student encampments at institutions with which they are connected to write to those institutions’ governing bodies to express your solidarity. A template letter adapted from SCM’s solidarity statement is available below:

Dear [Institution Governing Body]

As a(n) [alumni/student/employee/community member] of [institution] and a [member/friend] of The Student Christian Movement, I stand with students on Campuses across Canada who are peacefully and unwaveringly advocating for their institutions to divest from military and arms concerns engaged in the occupation and bombardment of Gaza and the West Bank. As an organization centred on social justice, community in diversity and radical faith in action, the SCM is committed to working towards just and sustainable peace in the Middle East. 

I  urge [institution] to take seriously and engage with students’ calls for [divestment from companies contributing to and profiting from the Israel-Hamas war/ insert specific demands] We believe that students have a right to know that their tuition money is not being used to fuel war and to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Palestine. Furthermore, we believe it is the responsibility of all institutions and individuals to refrain from endangering the human rights of others, directly or indirectly.

I stand with student protestors at [institution], and with all those working and praying for peace in the Middle East and around the globe.

Yours Sincerely,
[Name and Affiliation, if applicable]

One of the easiest ways to boost the profile of the SCM is through the creative and humourous aesthetic of our ‘swag’. Each year we create buttons, stickers, booklets and distribute them at tables on campus, via chaplains, and mailed out to friends across the country.

It’s also one of the ways that we support the artistic and theological gifts of students, giving them the satisfaction of seeing their work in print in the various devotionals.

To get copies of our buttons, simply contact info@scmcanada.org or send a message through the SCM Facebook Page. Let us know what you’d like and how you’ll use them, and we’ll send you a package from our stock!

This year we have a bumper launch of three new collections of button designs!

The #Ecumenerd cluster explores the gifts and joys of the ecumenical movement, and particularly the ways we can understand God and the work of the people of God though our diversity and unity.

• God Can’t Be Locked In A Human-Made Box
• I Need to Compare Bible Translations From Different Denominations
• Jesus Didn’t Belong to Any Denomination (Because He’s Jewish!)
• Diversity Makes Christianity Beautiful.
• Good Things Happen When Christians Work Together
• High Church? Low Church? No Church? No Problem.

Social Justice [Warrior] buttons. In recent years the dismissive phrase ‘Social Justice Warrior’ has been used online to disparage anyone expressing concern for the impoverished and oppressed. But of course, no movement succeeds with only Warriors – we need Bards, Clerics, Rogues and Rangers to make a well-rounded party of allies. Celebrating both the diversity and the sense of fun of anti-racist, feminist, decolonization-minded communities, we created these buttons.

Designs available: “Social Justice…”

• Bard
• Barbarian
• Cleric
• Dragon
• Fighter
• Paladin
• Pirate
• Ranger
• Rogue
• Sorcerer
• Wizard

Finally, we created a set of buttons to honour SCMers who have taken on leadership roles or have overcome obstacles in their time with the Movement. We can now award The SCM Badge for Excellence in everything from Public Speaking, and Poster Making, to Leading a Service, or Interfaithing, and of course, the ever-important Surviving Church Politics.

Contact us to nominate a recipient or propose a new award!

October 1, 2018, 9:30–11 a.m. ET. Register here

For more information, click here

Presenters, clockwise, from top left:
Carol Duncan, Coordinator, Women & Gender Studies Program, Professor, Department of Religion and Culture,
Wilfrid Laurier University
Kofi Hope, former Executive Director of the CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals in Toronto
Peter Noteboom, General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches
Néstor Medina, Latino-Canadian theologian, Visiting Scholar at the Emmanuel College Centre for Research in Religion

The panel will be facilitated by Semegnish Asfaw Grosjean, Program Executive, Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, WCC; and moderated by Adele Halliday, Team Leader, Discipleship and Witness, United Church.

The webinar is free of charge, and no advance registration is required, although you are advised to sign up early to get information on how to join, by clicking here.

Unsettling the Word: Biblical Experiments in Decolonization

ed. Steve Heinrichs, illust. Jonathan Dyck

For generations, the Bible has been employed by settler colonial societies as a weapon to dispossess Indigenous and racialized peoples of their lands, cultures, and spiritualities. Given this devastating legacy, many want nothing to do with it. But is it possible for the exploited and their allies to reclaim the Bible from the dominant powers? Can we make it an instrument for justice in the cause of the oppressed? Even a nonviolent weapon toward decolonization?

In Unsettling the Word, over 60 Indigenous and Settler authors come together to wrestle with the Scriptures, re-reading and re-imagining the ancient text for the sake of reparative futures.

Created by Mennonite Church Canada’s Indigenous-Settler Relations program, Unsettling the Word is intended to nurture courageous conversations with the Bible, our current settler colonial contexts, and the Church’s call to costly peacemaking.

The Student Christian Movement of Canada has created a Study Guide which is available for free (download PDF).

Read an article about the book by John Longhurst.

To order a copy of the book, with shipping free for more than 1 copy, go to CommonWord.ca