The 37th General Assembly of the World Student Christian Federation will be meeting in Berlin, June 4-11 2020, in the 125th year of the Federation. Will you be there?
Under the theme ‘Rejoice in Hope‘ (Romans 12:12), 108 member Movements from 94 countries, including SCM Canada, will gather with senior friends, partners and guests. As the highest decision-making representative body of the World Student Christian Federation, General Assembly will accomplish significant work and build joyful and meaningful connection between the many members of this global body, under the theme, ‘Rejoice in Hope‘ and sub-theme ‘Young People, Journeying Together Towards Justice and Peace‘.
SCM Canada is seeking a delegate to represent our Movement in Berlin in June 2020. To express interest, please complete the SCM Canada application using the notes at the bottom of this page. Applicants will be interviewed and invited to register by December 2019.
Senior Friends, guests and partner organizations
As well as delegates, many others will be travelling from around the world to take part in the networking, learning, and discussion of news of Student Christian Movements!
SCM Canada also warmly welcomes notifications from Senior Friends and other interested parties intending to participate as observers!
Support for global participation
As part of SCM Canada’s commitment towards building global solidarity and supporting our sibling movements, we invite donations to cover the participation costs of the Bangladesh delegation as well as our own participant. Please make your donation through SCM Canada, noting WSCF GA in the memo, using one of the following methods:
PayPal transfer to info@scmcanada.org
Interact transfer to info@scmcanada.org
Donation via CanadaHelps (Select WSCF General Assembly)
The theme speaks strongly of WSCF identity as one ecumenical movement composed of diverse traditions, background and contexts. Romans 12:12 reminds us that unity in Christ Jesus is our hope in times of challenges and difficulties. We are called to be one in our spirit, mind and action in the building of the Kingdom. We are called to prophesize and proclaim hope in the coming of the Kingdom. We are to be THE hope in today’s world. As young people, WSCF offers the message of hope in the context of the suffering of the world today. It is our reason for being.
The Student Christian Movement of Canada heartily and fully endorses the aims and objectives of the Global Climate Strike, Sept 20-27, 2019.
We call upon all people to participate in this interruption to our daily routine of life and work. Climate Change threatens to permanently disrupt ‘life as usual’, but students are being educated for a world that will not exist when they graduate. Climate Change is already interrupting life for people around the world. We must respond.
We first express gratitude to the Indigenous nations around the world, especially in Turtle Island where the Student Christian Movement of Canada does its work. We name the ways that Christianity has supported Imperialism and Capitalism to attack Indigenous nationhood with genocidal intent. We acknowledge that violence done against the land is also violence against the Indigenous Peoples of the land.
SCM Canada recognises the need for complete truth telling, restitution, and the return of land, as essential precursors to ‘reconciliation’. We recognise the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as one of the tools that international Indigenous communities have offered as a minimum expectation. We believe that decolonization is a process that will liberate Settler society from violence and lack of vision.
We are grateful to the Indigenous Peoples, to scientists, to prophets, mystics, and people who live on the land who have been warning us, calling us to our responsibilities. We reject the ways that your voices have been silenced, mocked, shamed or sidelined.
We are grateful for the people of all faiths and none who share this calling and offer their wisdom. Those of us who profess the Christian faith have many ways to express and explore our deep grief and culpability in the centuries of ecological violence that have brought us to this moment. We invite others to share in this necessary journey with us, building an ecosystem of spiritual resiliency for the times ahead.
We commend professors, lecturers, teachers, and other educational facilitators who work to make it possible for students to participate in this strike and in additional efforts to raise consciousness and empower the necessary actions.
We commend organizers, activists and land defenders who are thinking through what needs to be done, not just in the upcoming climate strike, but in the weeks and months to come.
We commend the migrants and refugees, the international community, the advocates for those most affected by Climate Change, and everyone who rejects the false solution of imposing violent, human-made borders to shut out these communities. We acknowledge that Climate Justice is also Migrant Justice.
One day of a strike is not enough to overturn the global society that has raised profit like a sword over our heads and over the value of all living systems and beings.
Yet every barrier that this strike overcomes is one less barrier to that change, that ‘great turning’, the way forward. We believe that this time of urgency is a time for careful, deliberate, passionate action.
May hearts and minds be transformed. May the society that imposes borders and categories on lands and peoples come to repentance. May economics that obscure truth and justice be abandoned.
This is our living prayer as followers of Jesus in this time and place, and we offer it as to the chorus of voices calling for change.
Facing deep grief and dying ecosystems, we come together to ask God: ‘What is emerging?’
Many of us are weighed down by despair, anxiety, and deep fear about our future in the face of the climate crisis. Join us for a contemplative retreat where we will seek God’s presence and call in the midst of an emergency. What are the sacred gifts that are being given during this time? What is mine to do? What is ours to do?
Who Should Attend? – This is an ‘all hands on deck’ moment – so all generations are invited, ages 17-70 and beyond! This is an ecumenical event, with content rooted in the Christian tradition. Everyone interested in engaging with these questions in the context of prayer, inclusive of any spiritual tradition, is welcomed.
What Can I Expect?
collective contemplative practice
times of silence
individual time in nature
opportunities to meet with a Spiritual Director
building community
a retreat structure based on insights from Joanna Macy.
What is the Cost? – we have a sliding scale of prices ($350-$100) to support a range of participants. If finances are a barrier to your participation, contact us as soon as possible.
Who is Putting This On? – this retreat is a collaboration between Pastors in Exile (PiE) and Student Christian Movement (SCM), two organizations seeking to build capacity for faith, contemplation and social justice activism, especially among young adults and those who have been pushed to the margins of faith communities. We believe that this retreat will benefit greatly from insights through inter-generational friendships. Please consider participating!
Growing a garden this summer has given me a lot of hope for in the fight against climate change. It’s a concrete action I can take. It helps address the issues our world is facing now, and it helps me build the skills to supplement my nutritional needs when climate change creates food shortages in the future. I’m helping to address poverty and exploitation as it intersects with climate change.
I know where my food came from. It was not shipped, flown, or trucked long distances to get to my table. It was walked over to my kitchen from the side yard. The seeds were bought from a store, coming from who knows where. But they were very small when they were shipped, and if I can save my seeds properly I won’t need to buy them again next year. I already did that with my sunflowers.
I know who grew my food. Mostly, my brother Phoenix and I have been doing the work. Phoenix’s scouting friends volunteered to help with the setup and planting. They were paid in hot dogs. There was no slave labour, or people making slave wages during any part of the process.
I know where the water is coming from. Mostly, we’ve been lucky this season and it’s been falling from the sky at regular intervals. Otherwise, it’s been coming out of the pump in the river. The river is on unceded unsurrendered Algonquin territory, but I like to think of my water use more of a borrowing, since the water is sinking into the ground, and ending up back in the water table that it came from. I didn’t ask permission from any Algonquin people though, so they might have a different opinion. At the very least, I know my water is not being stolen from a powerless community and piped hundreds of kilometers away while the community it originated from faces water advisories and/or drought.
I know what waste is being created and where it is going. My food is not being packaged. The weeds will be piled in the dirt/compost pile under the pine tree or sent away in the city’s yard waste pickup to compost elsewhere within the city. There are no chemicals or pesticides causing harm to wildlife or disrupting the ecosystem.
I know where the excess is going. If you’ve ever planted a garden before, you’ll know that there reaches a time in the season where your plants produce more food than you can actually eat. At the beginning of this process, Phoenix and I agreed that we would give our extra food to the Ottawa food bank. The Ottawa food bank takes fresh food donations at their warehouse. They will also pick up fresh food donations directly from your yard.
I am maintaining my health. I’m drinking lots of water, wearing a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen. I’m getting some physical exercise by weeding and watering. Studies even show that gardening is good for your mental health, because working in the dirt can increase your serotonin levels.
I think about my class in religion and ecology and my future career path. As a Christian, as someone hoping to become a pastor, some of my largest responsibilities are and will be to help the poor, feed the hungry, and stand with the marginalized. We know that the rich will ride out climate change on the backs of the poor. Gardening is one of those things that is not accessible to those who will benefit the most from it. People living in apartment buildings (who may be more likely to be low income) and people who are homeless do not have access to the land to grow things. People who work two or three jobs or who are single parents may not have the time to maintain a garden. What can we do about this?
Well, our churches sure have a lot of land.
Our libraries, our community centers, our parks – they sure have a lot of land too.
Some churches have community gardens. How can we expand this program? Can we offer volunteer hours to students for maintaining the garden? Can we hire students with a living wage, supplemented through the Canada summer works program? Can we hire students and other people with disabilities, especially intellectual disabilities, who may not be hired elsewhere? Can we ask teachers and retirees to volunteer for an hour or two each week in the summer? Can we request the city offer free garden plots to people living in apartment buildings or in houses without a yard where a garden is feasible?
I think about victory gardens in the world wars, where everyone, especially city dwellers, was encouraged to supplement their food consumption through personal gardens because mass produced food was being sent to soldiers overseas. Municipalities lent city-owned land to people living in urban areas. At the peak of its program, something like 50% of the food being consumed by urban dwellers in Canada was being produced in victory gardens. If we did it once, we sure as heck can do it again. Except this time, these gardens will be for victory against climate change.
Consume mindfully. Create wonderfully. Minister to the poor. Feed the hungry. Stand with the marginalized. Challenge the systems. Fight climate change, for the future of us all.
Jordan is an SCMer living in Ottawa. They are studying to become an Anglican priest. Like most people who happen to live on this planet, they are very concerned about climate change.
We are looking for a Festival and Resource Coordinator to work with our General Secretary on a variety of projects this summer.
Awesome job alert!
Submit your application to hiring@scmcanada.org by May 8, 2019 for first consideration!
Did you know that this year, the applications are not just for students? If you are aged 15-30, whether you are in school or not, you can apply for one of the many Canada Summer Jobs programs.
Who are we looking for?
Legally entitled to work in Canada, 18-30 years old
Available for 9 weeks of the summer, ideally beginning in May
Willing to work within a faith-based organization and bring their own perspective to the work.
Committed to social justice and anti-oppressive practices
BIPOC and LGBTQ2IA+ people encouraged to apply.
What’s in it for us?
When you come and work with SCM, we get the benefit of your skills, passions, attention, and presence on a variety of tasks. The core of the Festival & Resource Coordinator position focuses on three areas:
You will offer logistical support for the May 23-36 Cahoots Festival, an annual event with workshops on faith, justice, and DIY. This will include being a point person for facilitators and participants, assisting with tasks on site and off site, and supporting the creation of safer spaces. Following the festival you will collate and analyse feedback and help with wrap-up.
You will provide coordination and preparation support for the planned Indigenous Solidarity Delegation (Multifaith, with a special focus on Jewish and Christian responsibilities in decolonization). This will include booking spaces, use of online tools to coordinate, advertising/promotion, and communications. (If interest and schedules align you can participate in the Delegation, but this is not included in the position).
You will research and design a resource to support the faith-and-justice focus of the Student Christian Movement. This could be a book study, devotional, workshop design, online resource, activity-based learning, even a board game! We have plenty of ideas already and you can work on something that excites you or allows you to express and explore your own interests.
Other tasks as assigned – participation in events, research projects, writing or graphic design, some record keeping and other office tasks according to capacity and skills.
What’s in it for you?
$15 per hour, 20 hours per week, for 9 weeks of the summer
Flexible schedule
Fascinating work
Experience within the global ecumenical movement
Experience using communications, graphic design, database and social media
Teamwork and leadership skills development
A work place that is explicitly LGBTQ+ inclusive, anti-racist, feminist, and open to spiritual, religious, secular and cultural identities.
Mentoring from a leader (identified collaboratively)
If you’re interested in working with the SCM this summer, contact hiring@scmcanada.org with a copy of your CV including 2 references, and a letter of interest (3-5 paragraphs) identifying why you are a fit for this position and what excites you.
First-Round Deadline for Applications is May 8, 2019
The SCM especially encourages applications from those who are Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, and a range of gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability. If you are comfortable doing so, please identify this in your application letter.
About SCM
The Student Christian Movement is a progressive network engaged in social justice and faith. We are a non-dogmatic community of diverse belief systems where faith and radical political action flourish. SCM Canada was founded in 1921.
This position is made possible by funding through the Canada Summer Jobs program.
We believe that a ticket structure with a variety of options is a matter of justice. Some folks need to miss shifts to attend, some are sharing a skill that they’d usually earn wages with, and Cahoots participants who navigate systemic barriers every day have enough on their plate.
Every year the Cahoots Festival Planning Team budgets for ‘Special Rate tickets’, meant to support the participation of people with fixed incomes, who are single parents, or otherwise need support to attend. This is in concert with our intention to make ticket prices as low as possible, since most of our community are people without much access to resources (This isn’t the Fyre Festival!)
Currently, our ticket prices (from April 2 until the end of sales on May 15) Festival pass – Adult $150, Child $90, Family $450 Day ticket – Adult $80, Child $50 This includes all meals, accomodations, workshops and sessions, as well as support to get to the festival – carpooling or pickup from the bus. These fees cover the basic costs, and are very reasonable considering the festival’s scope.
I don’t know what this has to do with anything, I just love this picture – Peter
Our model works because all participants buy tickets. This includes all of the core organizers and workshop facilitators (unless an individual is attending only to do a workshop, and not to participate in the festival). We are all participants – and we are also all volunteers, and all organizers! We believe that everyone helps create the festival by being present, assisting one another, caring for children and taking the ever-popular kitchen shift.
We are deeply grateful to those who add a donation onto their ticket purchase! This act helps make our festival more accessible and more just. These donations are tax-receipted. You can make a donation earmarked to the festival directly through SCM Canada.
All participants, including workshop leaders participating in the festival, people on OSAP/ODSP/EI, families, singles, elders, people targeted by racism, colonialism, sexism – well – ALL PARTICIPANTS are welcomed to receive a ‘Discounted Ticket’. It’s a matter of justice.
Contact cahoots@scmcanada.org to apply.
Once you’ve submitted your details, you can register using this form.
March 6, 2019: A Day of Prayer & Fasting for Bill C-262: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has called Canada to adopt and implement the Declaration as “the framework for reconciliation” (Call to Action #43). Bill C-262 is in the Senate and needs to get to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples soon, or there won’t be enough time for it to achieve royal assent. We need your help. Would you join us in prayer and fasting as we ask the Creator to move hearts and minds? Would you invite your circle to join in?
Please sign up and let friends know that you are fasting on March 6 by posting a picture with the hashtags #fastfor262 #passbillC262 #SenCA
The United Church of Canada People in Partnership Unit invites young adult (18+) applicants to the following Pilgrimage experiences with global partners:
To invite a recently returned participant as a Speaker, view our speaker’s list.
To automatically receive notices of opportunities such as these, please subscribe to the UCC jobs and volunteer opportunities list.
To learn more about People in Partnership and how their support for people-to-people opportunities for you and your faith communities with Global partners, please be in touch, pip@united-church.ca
Editor Alydia studies an advance copy of ‘Everyday Skeptics’
Three Lenten Resources
Welcome to the SCM’s roundup of superb resources for your church, study group, or personal prayer this Lent. Let us know what Lenten practice you’re undertaking this year, and what you hope for, as you enter this wilderness time.
Praying Through the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
We hope that everyone is praying in support of the decades of work that have gone into Bill C-262, (and make sure to let your Senator know how important it is to you!) In any case, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is an important tool in ensuring that Indigenous nations can thrive and survive the historic and ongoing injustices of Settler-Colonialism.
“Pray for understanding, lament what is broken, and ask for wisdom and courage to change the systems that deny Indigenous rights—rights that are still out of reach.”
Read it here, and let us know what you think if you use it.
Everyday Skeptics – Devotions for Spiritual Growth
Full disclosure – this collection of daily reflections to take you through Lent includes a number written by SCMers – so we’re biased! But the focus on the prophets, from Isaiah and Jeremiah, to our Elders, to Jesus, really excites us.
Each day includes a reflection with questions, a prayer, and suggestions for songs. The book is available in print or as an ebook from UCRDstore.ca
Entering the Passion of Jesus – a Beginner’s Guide to Holy Week
Amy-Jill Levine, a Jewish professor of New Testament at Vanderbilt Divinity School, regards the Passion narratives as powerful literature that convey the beauty and wonder of the gospel. “Even though I am not a Christian,” she writes, “I have seen it work, over and over again, in my Christian friends, students, and churches worldwide.”
As well as the book, a DVD study series is available, six sessions each only eight minutes long, perfect for a group study in the lead up to Easter.
More than anything, this study is important because it explores the tumultuous days of Jesus’ time on earth from a learned Jewish perspective. Giving space to the inevitable and grace-filled challenge is an important way to undermine the centuries of anti-Jewish readings of the passion story – which persist in ways large and small across the denominations.
You can buy the book from Indiebound, although the DVD appears to be only available on Amazon.
