March 8th is known as International Women’s Day (IWD) across the nations. It is a day of hope, a day of courage, of celebration for women who fought for equality, justice and peace. It is also a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities. United Nations (UN) has marked it as a day for Women’s Rights and International Peace since 1977.

We are thankful to the Regional Women’s Committee of the WSCF Asia Pacific for preparing this liturgy for International Women’s Day – Hospitality with the Strangers: Remembering and Standing in Solidarity with the Refugees.

Liturgy for International Women’s Day

The World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) is hosting a global Advocacy and Solidarity delegation of young women representing all the six WSCF regions. They will participate later this month in the 61st United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

If you are able to contribute financially or share the story, you can meet some of the women taking part and learn more here: Young Women Delegation to UNCSW61

Letter of Call and Application for Bible and Theology Chair

World Student Christian Federation-North America (WSCF-NA) Regional Committee and Board of Directors.

The World Student Christian Federation-North America Regional Committee, the highest decision body of the WSCF-North America in between Regional Assemblies and board of a non-profit organization registered in the State of New York, is looking for the Chair of Bible and Theology to join our leadership.

We are looking for an individual who is highly motivated, willing to work with a team and on their own, and detail oriented. Working with the regional leadership team, the Chair for Bible and Theology will have an opportunity to help enact social change, learn and lead with ecumenical partners, and assist in the development of Student Christian Movements.

The Bible and Theology (BT) Chair is responsible for the Bible, Theology and Innovative Liturgy Program of the World Student Christian Federation-North America and is in charge of the BT Working Group, with responsibilities to;

• Promote contextual biblical and theological reflection within the region
• Create tools and resources for WSCF-NA events and programs
• Promote the formation of students and young adults as public theologians for social justice and the transformation of the world
• Engage the North America region in its call to be God’s agents in addressing the world’s current challenges
• Link Biblical exegesis and theological thinking to WSCF Programs, such as Overcoming Violence, Eco-justice -economic, ecological and climate justice-, Higher Education, Interfaith Solidarity and Identity Diversity and Dialogue.

Position: Chair of Bible and Theology

Organization: The World Student Christian Federation-North American Region, Inc.

Qualifications:

• Knowledge of the Mission, Values, and History of the WSCF
• Experience/Affiliation with a Student Christian Movement (SCM) or Church Youth/Young Adult Organization
• Experience serving on an executive level team Collegiate level or above

Position Description:

The Chair of Bible and Theology of the World Student Christian Federation is a volunteer position and serves as a legal board member of the Corporation. The Chair of BT sits on the board together with three officers, two Global Executive Committee members, four other regional programmatic chairs, denominational at-large members and the Executive for North America as ex-officio. The Chair of Bible and Theology is elected for a two years’ term.

Duties and Expectations

• Responsible for chairing the WSCF-NA Bible and Theology Working Group and for helping implement the Bible, Theology and Innovative Liturgy Program.
• Responsible for production of theological and biblical material for WSCF-NA events and program
• Responsible for identifying intersectional working areas with other programmatic chairs
• Expected to attend all-conference calls and meetings of the board (in average online meetings every two months and one in-person meeting every 18 months)
• Expected to contribute to decision making of the board of the NARC.
• As a full member of the WSCF Regional Committee, the Secretary will be able to become involved in programmatic work of the WSCF, which includes Leadership Training Programs, Regional and Global events as well as regional and global thematic working groups (i.e Advocacy and Solidarity, Bible and Theology, Eco-justice, Interfaith Engagement, Racial Justice, Gender and LGBTQ rights, etc).
• Expected to contribute financially to the WSCF based on means.

Selection Process

The selection process will be handled by the WSCF-NA board, which will examine the applications and interview the shortlisted candidates. According to the NARC internal guidelines, members of the NARC should strive to reflect differing gender identities, sexualities, races/ ethnicities, denominational and geographic backgrounds and no more than two members of NARC may be 35 years or older and those over 35 must be part-time or full-time student at the time of their election.

Read the full Letter of Call and Application Form

SCM Edmonton held a storytelling event called Women in the Bible where four women of the Abrahamic faiths came together to talk about remarkable women from our histories.

• Autumn Reinhardt-Simpson shared the story of Sarah and Hagar’s tempestuous relationship;
• Dr Mona-Lee Feehan of St Joseph’s College told the Nativity story from the perspective of the midwife;
• Netta Philet, executive director of the Edmonton Interfaith Centre, talked about Rachel and Leah from a Jewish perspective;
• and Salima Versi, a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, told us of Zainab, granddaughter of the prophet Muhammed.

SCM Edmonton coordinator Wynne explained “telling these stories is important in reclaiming our value and contributions as women from the deeply patriarchal and misogynistic texts that teach us our religious heritage. They are women of strength, tenderness and resilience and their stories empower. While there was no intentional continuity, each story tied to the others with the thematic suggestion of holy blood.”

The January 24 event was a success, with a small but fascinated audience. We will be doing this again!

The Politics of Migration
Thursday, February 2, 7:00pm
Trinity Anglican Church
1230 Bank St, Ottawa

In the first week of November I was invited to come to Standing Rock, North Dakota, to pray.

The Elders of Oceti Sakowin and Sacred Stone camps asked for our prayers for the protection of their water and land from the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Construction began on treaty land without proper consultation; opening and desecrating burial sites. Pipelines are hazardous enterprises. A leak in DAPL could mean the poisoning of major water sources, including the Missouri River.

Since DAPL began their project last spring, the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies have been camping out on their land, in protection of their territory and treaty rights. The ‘water protectors’ have engaged in nonviolent and prayerful public witness, yet have been met by heavily militarized police wielding tear gas, riot gear, sound cannons, rubber bullets, and more. Just a few days before I arrived, their North Camp was raided by the police. I met dozens of Indigenous water protectors with terrifying stories of being pulled out of tepees where they were in ceremony, being beaten, arrested, strip searched, held under bright lights for over 24 hours, and then kept in dog kennels, as the jail cells were full.

When Bishop Mark MacDonald and Rev. Laurel Dykstra arrived in North Dakota and drove out to Oceti Sakowin camp, we passed by a dump truck disposing of items the police had seized from the North Camp. Elder’s sacred items had been taken and mistreated, along with many people’s personal belongings, including cellphones, tents, clothing, and purses.

At Oceti Sakowin I experienced the most radical generosity I have ever encountered. I was taken in by the Cheyenne River Sioux, whose water source is also the Missouri river, who have been at the camp since there were only seven tepees and have promised to be there as long as necessary to protect their water.

My hosts offered me a tepee to sleep in, and invited me into their rhythm of meals around an open fire. There was always a hot pot of coffee brewing over that flame, and a member of their family made us all hot buffalo stew at night (cooking with a broken arm from the police violence, as I later learned).

In the water protectors I witnessed such profound courage, kindness, hospitality, prayer, and resilience. I heard countless stories of police violence, but despite this I also heard: “we will stand like stones against whatever they bring, we must protect our water and lands for the future generations.”

Though snipers on hill tops and constant aero-surveillance overshadowed Oceti Sakowin, the camp was filled with the sound of singing around the big drums, round dances, and prayers around sacred fires. I was privileged to attend prayer walks around the area, a vigil at a local jail, and participate in many gatherings of prayer for the protection of the waters, land, and people.

The courage and faith of the people at Standing Rock in the face of such brutal, militarized, corporate, and racist violence, is a profound witness of the love that we are called to embody. There are many ways we can support the water protectors, from performing prayerful actions in institutions that have invested in DAPL to raising funds for legal aid- connect with others and join in the struggle to protect the waters and support land defenders against ongoing colonial violence.

The Rev. Leigh Kern is Assistant Curate at the Cathedral Church of St James in Toronto. Leigh is a friend of the SCM who was recently part of our Turning Tables retreat.

Read ‘Peace and Violence at Standing Rock’ in the Anglican Journal

Read about how SCMers responded in Toronto

Fill in the form here: Community Forum

Read the SCM Resolution on Gender Identity & Sexuality (2009)

October started out with a fantastic boost for SCM!

With 32 attendees, the national SCM Fall Retreat ‘Turning Tables’ was a great success! We cooked, ate, played music and sang, wrote liturgy to guide our worship, shared workshops on everything from campaign planning to Bible study, watershed reconciliation to cultural appropriation…

Our theme was ‘Think, Pray and Love’, which we lived in our gathering times, cycle of prayer, working together, learning, and commitments to enact at home in our communities.

One highlight was the opportunity to learn and sing the classic ‘Poisoning the Student Mind’, now with several new verses thanks to the creativity of Mike & Rebecca (Summer interns 2015 & 2016, respectively) and Esther (SCM Toronto coordinator).

You can see a scan of the lyrics – and you might notice that we continued to edit as we sang – Poisoning the Student Mind!

We didn’t do it alone

Thank you to our ecumenical partners in the United and Anglican Churches and the Ecumenical Chaplaincy of University of Toronto, KAIROS, and the SCM coordinators and friends who helped to plan, offer workshops, and bring people.

While our ecumenical planning group had been meeting for months to prepare and fund the event, the attendees were brought into it from the first evening, as we created a community covenant based on shared values and our need to build respect and create space for difference.

Everyone was assigned a ‘table group’ which would be responsible for preparing one meal for the rest of the group. We had a diverse group, with students and young people naming communities of faith that included Anglican, Ecumenical, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Reformed and United churches.

For bringing so many people together, thank you to the chaplains, priests, ministers, Senior Friends, best friends and distant relations who mentioned our retreat in announcements, emails, mic checks, Facebook and birthday cards!

By the look of the feedback it was a great success and something we hope to repeat to reach new friends and offer training and support for leaders in the ecumenical student justice movement!