Join us in this central practice of our community—worshipping together the God who makes all things new.
Morning worship is our intergenerational service with kids’ ministry. Meet us in the sanctuary.
Read more details here.
We continue to offer livestream of our worship, for those unable to join us at this time.
We hope to see you soon!
In our worship this day, we mark the beginning of Indigenous History month in a posture of lament before the God of Justice and Mercy. Our focus this day will be on our residential school history and historical injustices experienced by First Nations peoples.
As part of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, our church is involved in the pain and harm caused to Indigenous peoples in Canada through the residential school system, ways of colonization, and racist postures. In 1994, the Presbyterian Church in Canada issued a confession of its role in operating residential schools. Furthermore, it continues to affirm this confession in its healing and reconciliation ministry:
The Church’s relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada has been marked by colonization and the racist beliefs that underscored colonization (namely, the superiority of a Christianized, western European worldview). The Church has confessed its role in running residential schools, its complicity in the harms of colonization, and rejected the Doctrine of Discovery. The church is committed to walking toward reconciliation.
On June 4 at both 11am and 4:30pm services, our Service of Lament will affirm this confession and seek to pursue healing and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. This worship service will be a space to acknowledge our participation in injustices against Indigenous peoples of Canada, confess the ways that we have been complicit, and participate in building healing relationships with Indigenous peoples.
As part of our worship, we will hear a message of healing and reconciliation from a First Nations Pastor and mark our lament and reconciliation through the traditional practice of smudging (read more on smudging).
About our guests leaders
Rev. Levi Beardy
Rev. Levi Samson Beardy, is the Lead Pastor of Aboriginal Believers' Church in Toronto and President of North American Aboriginal Bible College. He has been married to wife Viola for over 49 years, and they have 4 children and 6 grandchildren.
Rev. Beardy was born into an Oji-Cree family on the trapline in Bearskin Lake, Northwestern Ontario. At the age of 5, his family moved to Tomahawk Centre in Red Lake, which had been built specifically for Indigenous families. The homes had no running water or electricity. He attended Red Lake District Indian School for grades 1 to 3 under the Rev. Ezra Peachy, a missionary of the Mennonite Church, who taught the children in Oji-Cree.
Levi’s grandparents, Elijah and Emma Stoney, were members and leaders of the First Nations people with the Mennonite church in Red Lake. In 1960, his family moved to Cochenour, a mining community 10 miles from Red Lake, where they entered the public school system and integrated further into non-native society, though segregated within the community.
While in Cochenour, Levi's father had a visitation in the night from Jesus and was born again. Mr. Beardy & his wife, Rhoda, began a revival among the First Nations people within the area that spread to at least 15 reserves in the north.
Rev. Beardy is a regularly invited to help denominations and
churches with indigenous-related matters.
Linda Lundström
Linda is an acclaimed designer, professional speaker and award-winning entrepreneur; Linda Lundström is one of Canadian fashion’s most respected names.
Lundström is the recipient of numerous awards, including three honorary PhDs. She was named to the Order of Ontario in 1995, and awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. She is recognized as a champion of Made in Canada, First Nations awareness, and ethical manufacturing practices.
The Sewing Circle Project is one of Lundström’s passions. The project is an expression of her desire to share her knowledge of design and manufacturing and to contribute to Economic Development in remote First Nations Communities. The site of the first Sewing Circle is Eabametoong, Ontario, a fly-in only town of 1300, located 400km north of Thunder Bay.
Lundström gave her life to the Lord in the 1990s and continues to advocate for the rights of Indigenous Peoples from a Christian faith perspective.