Justice for the earth and justice for First Nations is the focus of a four-evening series “Earth and Spirit” organized by St. Anselm's for October. “If we are serious about God's kingdom,” says Rev. Munn the Priest-in-charge, “that isn't just about our private lives. That's about God's whole world. In this series we team up with leaders from other communities. We've asked them to open our eyes, challenge, and encourage the church to prepare for the coming of God's kingdom. ”
The first speaker is Christine Boyle, who accompanied Naomo Klein on a recent trip to the Vatican. Christine is the director of Spirited Social Change, and a co-founder of Fossil Free Faith. Her talk is entitled, “Faith Responses to a World on Fire”. Andrew Weaver, the B.C. Green party MLA and a climate scientist, will speak about “The Political challenges and opportunities for mitigation of climate change.” Dr. Weaver was lead author for the United Nations panel on climate change, is a major international scholar on climate and is a member of the Order of British Columbia. Guy Dauncey is a Victoria-based activist, speaker and prolific author on scenarios about how we can live well in a future without endangering the planet. He will speak on “The Song of the Universe.” The final speaker is Melina Laboucan Massimo, a Cree from northern Alberta who is a long-time Indigenous and environmental activist. Since 2009 Melina has been working as a tar sands campaigner for Greenpeace Canada and more recently, since the tragic death of her sister, has been active in the issue of missing women.
“In the church we believe the Holy Spirit is alive and well and challenging us to care as God cares for our world and for those most in need,” says Rev. Munn. “That's why we called this series 'Earth and Spirit.'”
Each evening begins with a hymn related to the speaker's topic, the speaker will respond to questions following their talk, and the evening concludes with a social time when people can chat informally with the speaker. Wednesday evenings in October, 7.30 p.m. at St. Anselm's, 5210 University Blvd, across from the UBC golf club. Christine Boyle: October 7 Andrew Weaver: October 14 Guy Dauncey: October 21 Melina Laboucan Messina: October 28