We’re thrilled to be seeking candidates to fill a new local coordinator positions and work to (re)build an SCM units in Saskatoon. This opportunities are also in partnership with local faith groups – St Paul’s United in Saskatoon – so it will come with lots of support on the ground as well as from SCM national.
Do you know a student or young person in Saskatoon who might be a great fit? Please feel free to share this postings!
NOTE: This post previously mentioned a Montréal posting as well – that position has been filled, and the post has therefore been removed to present confusion.
Are you or do you know someone who is longing for queer-affirming, anti-racist, justice-seeking Christian community in their city or on their campus?
If so, SCM wants to equip them (or you!) with tools, support, mentorship, and a fair hourly wage, to start and nurture a local SCM chapter. For more information, see the attached job posting, or reach out to us at info@scmcanada.org
SCM is looking for a UofO student excited about building community around radical faith in action to be our new Ottawa Coordinator! Sound like you or someone you know? Check out the attached job posting, email info@scmcanada.org for more info, and feel free to share widely!
The Student Christian Movement of Canada (SCM) is a progressive student movement on university campuses engaged in faith and social justice. Since 1921, students have led the SCM in exploring and challenging the Christian tradition and its meaning in society and culture. With members from all Christian denominations and places of spiritual seeking, SCM seeks to build communities where friendship, critical thinking and political action can flourish. The SCM strives to practice anti-oppression principles – queer affirming, anti-racist, and decolonizing – and to create an environment where all are welcomed and empowered.
This position is to create and develop an SCM community centered on faith and justice at York University – Keele or Glendon campus.
Qualifications – Passion for action on faith and social justice issues – Ability to articulate one’s faith and spirituality – Knowledge of Christian theology and ability to facilitate ecumenical conversations – Capacity to recruit and empower student leadership – Skills and experience in communication, organization and event facilitation – Current student status & familiarity with the university context – Ability to work independently and collaboratively – Commitment to creating LGBTQ+ affirming, anti-racist and decolonizing spaces
Responsibilities – Outreach, engagement, and relationship building with students on campus to build group membership – Network with other student groups on campus and supportive faith leaders – Plan, promote, and organize regular programs/events for the SCM in collaboration with membership – Maintain student club registration and club records to support leadership transition – Participate in York University Interfaith Council – Promote the SCM through email and social media – Work with the SCM Advisory Board to create regular fundraising mailings at end of semester – Collaborate with SCM Advisory Board to organize a yearly SCM alumni/supporter event in spring – Collaborate with other SCM coordinators (U of T and TMU) and the national SCM
Accountability: This position is accountable to the York SCM Advisory Board, by the circulation of a written report on program activities prior to meeting with the board.
Hours and remuneration: $23 per hour, 8 hours per week, from August 15, 2024 to April 30, 2025
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Applications will be accepted until August 6, 2024. Please email a cover letter and resume to yorkboard@scmcanada.org. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
The Student Christian Movement stands 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 we are committed to working towards just and sustainable peace in the Middle East.
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]
SCM’s new National Coordinator is Bailey Eastwood. They start work this week and will be at Cahoots Festival and the end of the month!
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
See cahootsfest.ca to learn about the festival, which began 10 years ago by calling together SCMers and their friends to create a space for social analysis, political action, community building, artistic experimentation, and spiritual growth. When you’re ready, you can register for Cahoots at this link!
This year, the Student Christian Movement of Canada is bringing together students who want to bring this work of transformation, challenge, and peacemaking to their campuses. We are offering a special program of leadership training which then leads into the Cahoots Festival. Learn more and register here!
Hear from Johannes, Sheilagh, and Esther about the Spring of Change!
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)
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!
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)
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!
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.
