News from the Field

This week marked one of the most important moments of my year. No, it wasn’t the first day of spring, though that was a highlight. It was the unveiling of Canada's federal budget for 2017.

You may have heard that there are some changes afoot in the Office of Social Justice and the Office of Race Relations. We’re excited for the possibilities that these changes create. Have questions? Here are our responses.

In 1 Peter 2:9-10, and in Matthew 5:14-16, and in Philippians 2:14-15, we are told that, having received mercy, having been given the role of light (in a world that so desperately needs it), and having God at work within us—we are to see ourselves as royalty. But how should being royalty make us act?

The Internet has been abuzz lamenting some of the difficult events of 2016. But let’s take a moment to look in the rearview mirror and remember important strides forward that were made in 2016, before focusing on the hills ahead of us. Our Canada justice team staff were moved this look back. May it be encouraging to you too! 

Remember the Justice and Faith Project? Surveyors called people and organized conversations in CRC congregations across Canada to learn what justice means to Canadian CRC folk and what they’d like to do about it. We learned *a lot* together (find the results here). One of the key findings was that more than 85% of Canadian CRC members believe that doing justice is an essential part of Christian faith. Wow.

This month on Do Justice we are working to unlearn the Doctrine of Discovery together through our series "In 1492, Indigenous peoples discovered Columbus". Welcome to the series! To see other posts in the series and make sure you don't miss a post, visit this page.

I am heartbroken, scared, angry, and confused.

Did you know that 70% of all US agricultural workers are undocumented? 1 in 15 children have at least one parent without legal status. In total, there are 11 million undocumented people in the United States. Polls demonstrate that over 50% of white evangelicals believe that immigrants are an economic drain and threat to American values.

“Climate change is a global problem with grave implications:
environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods;
it represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”

~ Pope Francis

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the historic Paris Agreement, the Canadian government is set to announce a national Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.

This framework will determine how we, as a nation, respond to the climate crisis.