Deadline Extended! Accepting Applications until February 28th. If you have any questions or barriers that are preventing you from applying, please reach out to bailey@scmcanada.org!

This May, SCM is sponsoring a delegation of students/young adults to travel to the West Bank in collaboration with Community Peacemaker Teams Canada/Palestine. Participants will spend ten days meeting and learning from local community makers, experiencing the reality of life in occupied Palestine, and participating in non-violent solidarity actions. CPT has extensive experience in running these delegations in a meaningful and safe way.

This is what participants can expect from our specific trip:

Every year in May, Palestinians around the world remember the Nakba, or Catastrophe, marking the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948; in 2026, this will be its 78th anniversary. This delegation offers a unique opportunity to connect deeply with the origins, land, and heritage of the Palestinian people. Participants will visit historic Jerusalem, hear stories from several refugee camps in the West Bank, and then travel to al-Khalil/Hebron to accompany the CPT team in providing a protective presence for the community. Along the way, you will build relationships with local community members, share meals, and engage in conversations about undoing oppression, solidarity, peace, justice, and the vision of a free Palestine. No matter your background or experience, this delegation invites you to witness firsthand the joy, resilience, and daily life of Palestinians living under occupation. You will stand alongside local communities, contribute to their resilience efforts, and participate in meaningful activities such as olive harvesting, sharing solidarity, laughter, and hope. This visit offers a rich learning experience grounded in presence, shared humanity, and the transformative power of working together in solidarity.

Participants will be expected to and supported in bringing their learning and experiences to their wider community in the year following their trip, in collaboration with their local SCM unit. Potential participants do not have to already be involved with an SCM unit (although it is great if they are!), but they are expected to connect and work with their local unit (if applicable) in the time leading up to and after the trip.

When Is it?

4th to 14th May 2026.

What Does it Cost?

The ‘real’ total cost per participant is approximately $4000. Participants are expected to fund-raise 1000$ towards their trip costs, using tools and resources that will be provided by SCM. The rest of the funding will be provided by SCM Canada through grants, fundraising, and our own funds.

Who Can Participate?

This delegation is geared towards post-secondary students(any level) and young adults in Canada who are involved with SCM Canada and/or are aligned with the values of SCM and open to collaborating with us. Practically, participants must be 19 years of age or older. 

This delegation should not be approached as a trip in isolation, but as a commitment to advocacy and solidarity. We are looking for participants who are eager to commit to sharing their learning and experiences with those in their home community, including their local SCM unit and/or SCM national.

How to Apply?

You can apply online at https://cpt.org/delegations/apply, selecting ‘Palestine: SCM Special Delegation May 2026’ from the drop-down. 

Please also prepare a 500-1000 word response to the question “Why do you want to participate in this delegation?” touching on the following points:

•What is your experience with/interest in peacemaking and non-violent resistance

•How do you hope to make use of the experience?

•What is your connection to SCM Canada? If none, why are you interested in participating in this delegation with SCM?

The maximum number of participants for this delegation is twelve, so we expect that the selection process will be competitive. 

The deadline for applications to be received through the CPT website is February 18th at 11:59 PM PST. This is to give us ample time for the interview/selection process, and for delegates to get their paperwork in order for the trip, once selected.

For More Information:
Reach out for more information to bailey@scmcanada.org
Virtual Q&A/Info-session for prospective participants: February 9th at 8 PM EST

To Support:
If you would like to support this project, we are accepting donations to subsidize the trip and make it accessible to students regardless of socio-economic background at: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/student-christian-movement-of-canada-scm-canada/campaign/palestine-solidarity-delegation/

This season, we invite you to join us in a simple but profound Lenten practice of engaging the with the difficult themes of the season – and our world – through poetry and community. Every week we will gather to read and reflect on poems around a shared theme. All are welcome! Come once or every week, bring a poem or two or bring just yourself. However you come, we hope to see you there.

SCM’s Lent Poetry club will meet on Wednesdays on Zoom at
9 PM – Newfoundland
8:30 PM – Atlantic
7:30 PM – Eastern
6:30 PM – Central
5:30 PM – Mountain
4:30 – Pacific

Dear SCM community,
Hello! My name is Bailey, and I’m delighted to be starting as SCM’s new national coordinator. I’ve respected and admired the SCM for many years, and so it felt like the work of the Spirit when the organization was looking for a new National Coordinator with my gifts and skills at the same time as I was seeking a new position. I’m humbled & grateful to have been entrusted with this work, and am looking forward to helping SCM thrive and continue to be a voice for justice and love in the world. I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming weeks, virtually, at Cahoots, or elsewhere and hearing all your SCM stories, dreams, and ideas.
Yours in faith, hope, and love,
Bailey Eastwood

Bailey is an almost-ordained United Church of Canada minister with a passion for social justice and intentional communities. They have been formed and shaped by summer camping ministries, the Ontario Youth Parliament, the ecumenical Montreal School of Theology, and an undergraduate education in biochemistry. A long-time admirer of the SCM, Bailey is excited to be bringing their gifts and skills to work for the SCM community. Bailey grew up in Ontario with roots in Ottawa and the Peterborough area, but has called Montreal home for over a decade, where they live with their fiance and the best calico cat in the world. They can be reached at bailey@scmcanada.org

The Student Christian Movement of Canada (SCM) is now searching for a new staff person to serve as the National Coordinator for a one year contract with the intention of extension. This is anticipated to be a full-time position; however, a part-time position may be considered, depending on candidate skills and availability.

Deadline for Applications: March 21, 2024 (applications received until position is filled)

Start Date: Target Start Date: early to mid-May 2024 (it is desired that the successful candidate will attend the Cahoots festival in person (May 23-26, 2024) in southern Ontario)

Work location: SCM National Office is in Toronto; remote work possible, open to applications from anywhere in Canada

Contract: 40 hr/week, 1 year contract, with intention of renewal, subject to performance

Salary: Living wage on an hourly basis based on location (Toronto $25.05/hour – to be confirmed based on rate at time of hiring)

>>> About the Position (download pdf) <<<

What is most important to us is to find someone who will bring their passion and energy to encourage, support and facilitate the growth of the movement; responsibly manage the organization; work well with others in building relationships; sustainably give of their time and energy to be a force for change in this world; to bring hope and purpose to students, especially to those who may feel rejected and disenfranchised; to work to enrich and change lives, as the SCM has done for the past 100 years in Canada and around the world. You can be that person and we will support you! If this sounds like you, please apply today. We look forward to hearing from you!

How to Apply: Send your Cover Letter and resume to hiring@scmcanada.org

In your letter, please indicate how you meet the qualifications, experience, and skills criteria, and the contribution you feel you can make toward the goals of SCM. Also, please indicate if you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.

The Student Christian Movement of Canada (SCM) is now searching for a new staff person to serve as the National Coordinator for a one year contract with the intention of extension. This is anticipated to be a full-time position; however, a part-time position may be considered, depending on candidate skills and availability.

Deadline for Applications: March 21, 2024 (applications received until position is filled)

Start Date: Target Start Date: early to mid-May 2024 (it is desired that the successful candidate will attend the Cahoots festival in person (May 23-26, 2024) in southern Ontario)

Work location: SCM National Office is in Toronto; remote work possible, open to applications from anywhere in Canada

Contract: 40 hr/week, 1 year contract, with intention of renewal, subject to performance

Salary: Living wage on an hourly basis based on location (Toronto $25.05/hour – to be confirmed based on rate at time of hiring)

>>> About the Position (download pdf) <<<

What is most important to us is to find someone who will bring their passion and energy to encourage, support and facilitate the growth of the movement; responsibly manage the organization; work well with others in building relationships; sustainably give of their time and energy to be a force for change in this world; to bring hope and purpose to students, especially to those who may feel rejected and disenfranchised; to work to enrich and change lives, as the SCM has done for the past 100 years in Canada and around the world. You can be that person and we will support you! If this sounds like you, please apply today. We look forward to hearing from you!

How to Apply: Send your Cover Letter and resume to hiring@scmcanada.org

In your letter, please indicate how you meet the qualifications, experience, and skills criteria, and the contribution you feel you can make toward the goals of SCM. Also, please indicate if you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.

Deborah Huntsinger describes a “lifeline” as “a line (such as a rope) used for saving or preserving life: such as a line along the outer edge of the deck of a boat or ship.” In thinking about my queer identity in relation to my call to ordained ministry and what it means to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with” the Divine, I have come to realize that one way to queer or queer-y Scripture is in reclaiming the stories and songs that were ours all along. 

The photograph I have attached is entitled “Earth Awakens at Stiles Cove,” taken in St, John’s, Newfoundland. It harkens to the idea of simultaneously dying and being reborn, regardless of our ever-changing context. It also speaks to the rebirth of possibilities, of new creation and being mindful of new ways of being in relation to one’s neighbours. As I was taking this photo, I was struck at how the jagged edges of the ice hanging over the cliffs were slowly melting away, allowing for the cliff to simply be in the changing season.

In a similar vein, when I think about my own relationship with Scripture over the course of my life, it is complex. At times, it has been quite rocky, as in the image where harmful interpretat’ions have cemented beliefs about my identity which made me feel less than. It has also been about the dying of my former self, my closeted self which prevented me from being authentic in my relationship with God and with others and becoming new again, as the ice in the image melting away and drifting back into the sea. Paul in his letter to the Romans states that one’s life of discipleship with Christ is interwoven through baptism: when one is baptized in Jesus’ name, they are also baptized into Jesus’ death on the cross. This same dying and being brought back to life in right relationship with the Divine is a bit like coming out and coming in to oneself, to be authentically queer and set free.

Queer[y]ing scripture is my lifeline in that I am always looking for what the Divine is doing in the text, what ways has Scripture been used or has the potential to harm my neighbours; and asking myself in what ways have I been complicit and what harmful concepts do I myself need to unlearn. What is the Divine calling me to do to better love the broken pieces of myself and my neighbour and to discover what work still needs to be done within myself? The shifting in the season and the melting of the ice leaves room for possibility and for new voices to emerge as the old, dead, crystallized water melts away and becomes fluid.

As I reflected while standing on the icy, slippery rock beneath my feet as I took the photograph, queer[y]ing scripture has at times been uncertain and shaky. However, I am driven by both calling the things (in this case, harmful interpretations and naming them as such) for what they are and meeting the Divine in the broken places and spaces. In the Lutheran faith, this is known as the “theology of the cross.” That slippery ground is sacred ground because it is a lot like one’s life in faith: uncertain, at times terrifying but also filled with the possibility and hope of continuously becoming new alongside others. In my own experience of coming out, the ground was definitely shaky. I questioned whether I would be accepted in my authentic self. 

As the water dripped and flowed down to my feet, I found a quiet comfort in simultaneously dying and being revived through baptism and the ethical responsibility of queer[y]ing scripture as a result. When worship spaces and places are not welcoming to my friends and my community, it is important for me to create disruptive spaces for their stories to be heard as there is no asterisk or exception in one’s baptism. The walls around me like the ice beneath my feet on that winter’s day may shake, the wind that pressed against my back like the prevalence of harmful attitudes may roar, but the foundation that has kept me grounded even when I was lamenting the presence of the Divine, that foundation is unshakable.

Victoria Featherston is the Intern Pastor at First Evangelical Lutheran Church. Victoria has used her passion for social justice in their prison ministry while volunteering at the John Howard Society of Newfoundland and Labrador. Victoria enjoys spending her spare time reading, knitting, hiking, nature photography and singing. 

Job Description

This year, SCM Canada will be hiring 2 Student Coordinators to cultivate and empower student communities on their campus, in a virtual, in-person, or hybrid model.

Student Coordinators must have student status at a Canadian post-secondary institution.

The goal of the campus coordinator is to mobilize a group of 5-10 core students who are organizing as a faith-based, social justice oriented community. The goal of this community is to enrich lives spiritually, while making real world impact through social justice organizing on relevant issues such as Indigenous sovereignty, climate justice, migrant rights, 2SLGBTQIA+ issues, etc.

The Student Coordinator will run weekly, or bi-weekly meetings with the community that may take any shape. The SCM will provide the materials necessary to run this club, including a Contextual Bible Study program and other devotional resources.

With the support of the National office, and mentoring by the General Secretary, Student Coordinators will have the opportunities to network with other young leaders, and hone their own leadership skills within a 100 year old organization that is constantly transforming, and at the heart remains the same. That is, to be a prophetic voice for justice in our world.

Responsibilities

1. One of the primary objectives of the Student Coordinator is outreach. Through postering, social media, tabling, emailing, and whatever way the Student Coordinator sees fit for their campus, the Coordinator will do outreach to have participants engage in Student Coordinator run programming. Outreach will also be important in acquiring more dedicated members who will help be core organizers of this chapter.

2. The Student Coordinator will facilitate programming that can be independently created under the supervision of the General Secretary, or created in collaboration with the General Secretary depending on the needs of the Student Coordinator.

3. For student communities that grow at a faster rate, fundraising will become a cornerstone skill for chapters to participate in. If the chapter wishes to take on fundraising initiatives which have been done in the past as part of their faith in action, the General Secretary will provide support where necessary. For example, in the past a local chapter organized a fundraiser for environmental disaster recovery in the Philippines in partnership with SCM Philippines.

4. Networking and collaborating with other clubs on campus will be helpful in building the local movement. Providing SCM support to other social justice oriented clubs on campus, and working with an interfaith framework will not only help build our local units, but will help elevate social justice issues as a whole.

5. Having meetings with the General Secretary regularly to give chapter updates, receive guidance, and get national updates will be more essential in the beginning of the school year. As the school year moves on, depending on the needs of the Student Coordinator, meetings with the General Secretary may become less frequent.

6. Give a report back at the end of each semester about your experiences, challenges, and insights as an SCM Student Coordinator.

Accountability
This position is accountable to the General Secretary.

Hours and Remuneration

The position is paid at $20 / hour for 10 hours per week.

The position is in line with the school year, from September 2022 to April 2023, with a holiday break in between. The total duration of the position is 28 weeks, at 14 weeks per semester.

Application Deadline:

Please submit a resume and cover letter, indicating something in the position posting that motivates you to apply, as well as your current student involvement, to divy@scmcanada.org by August 27th 2022.