About the Course
On June 21, 2021, Canada’s federal parliament passed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. This legislation aims at aligning federal laws, institutions and practices with the Declaration as a step towards establishing right relations between Indigenous Peoples and Settler Canadians.
The four sessions outlined below will explore the Sermon on the Mount’s meaning in relation to the history of colonial relationships in Canada and Indigenous resistance to this; the origin, nature and teachings of the Declaration, where things are at in terms of implementing the Declaration in Canada, and how the Sermon on the Mount speaks to this.
While this series will focus on questions of reconciliation and Indigenous justice from a Canadian perspective, global and other national perspectives will be included and are encouraged to participate. All are most welcome to join this engaging conversation.
1) Nov. 5 – Where Do We Come From? – An overview of the Sermon on the Mount and the colonial history of Indigenous/settler relations in Canada.
2) Nov. 12 - Where Are We? Part 1 - An overview of the history of the Declaration, what it is, and how it came to be adopted by the Canadian federal government and others, with discussion on how the Declaration relates to the Sermon and vice versa.
3) Nov. 19 - Where Are We? Part 2 - A look at what has been done to implement the Declaration in Canada up to the present and what challenges have emerged, with discussion about how the Sermon on the Mount speaks to this.
4) Nov. 26 - Where Might We Go? – What the Sermon has to say about implementing the Declaration and how this might be done.
Suggested Preparatory Reading:
Amy-Jill Levine, Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner's Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven
(Abingdon Press, 2020)
This book is available McNally Robinson Booksellers and can be shipped
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Your Instructor
Rev. Mitchell Anderson and Rev. Dr. Don Schweitzer
Mitchell Anderson is lead minister at St. Paul’s United Church, Saskatoon and a Dene person from the English River First Nation.
Don Schweitzer is Professor Emerit of Theology at St. Andrew’s College, Saskatoon, ordained in The United Church of Canada and a settler Canadian.