60. Faith groups to develop and teach curriculum for all student clergy and staff who work in Aboriginal communities

We call upon leaders of the church parties to the Settlement Agreement and all other faiths, in collaboration with Indigenous spiritual leaders, Survivors, schools of theology, seminaries and other religious training centres, to develop and teach curriculum for all student clergy and staff who work in Aboriginal communities, on the need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own right, the history and legacy of residential schools and the roles of the church parties in that system, the history and legacy of religious conflict in Aboriginal families and communities, and the responsibility that churches have to mitigate such conflicts and prevent spiritual violence.

Each of the church parties to the Settlement Agreement has implemented this Call to Action, albeit to varying degrees.

In the Anglican Church of Canada, most of its theology schools offer modules or entire courses on Indigenous history within the church.

In a January 2018 written statement to CBC News, Melanie Delva, the reconciliation animator for the Anglican Church of Canada, noted that “Anglican seminaries, schools of theology and ministry are all independent entities for which the Anglican Church of Canada has no direct oversight.”

But Delva, who is creating a reconciliation database to monitor the work/progress of reconciliation projects at all parish levels across the country, stated that of the seminaries that provided input for the database, “all were aware of Call to Action #60 and are engaged at one level or another in educating their students in the history and effects of colonization, Indigenous Spirituality and the mitigation of spiritual violence in communities.”

In a March 2016 response to the TRC Calls to Action, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops appealed to “laity, members of institutes of consecrated life and of societies of apostolic life, deacons, priests and Bishops” to “work with centres of pastoral and clergy formation to promote a culture of encounter by including the study of the history of Canadian missions … which encompasses the history of the Indian Residential Schools.”

It also suggested that Indigenous teachers be recruited to educate clergy and pastoral workers.

The CCCB also appealed to Bishops and their dioceses, in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, to develop “programs of education on Indigenous experience and culture.”

In the Presbyterian Church in Canada, information about the residential school experience is available, but education of this kind is self-directed and not embedded in its formal training programs.

In a 2017 statement to CBC News, the Presbyterian Church in Canada says “any clergy in the church may use and invite training opportunities from the Healing and Reconciliation Program.”

The church’s Healing and Reconciliation Liturgy Kit includes sermons for clergy who want to talk about residential schools and the treatment of Indigenous Peoples.

In 2015, the United Church of Canada, through the Ecumenical Working Group on Residential Schools, “contributed to the creation of a theological reflection paper identifying questions and learnings arising from our role in the residential school system, in order to foster discussion and discernment in theological colleges and learning centres,” according to its official response to the TRC’s Calls to Action statement.

In the December 2016 statement, the church “identified the need to educate student clergy, clergy already in paid accountable ministry, and clergy from other denominations and countries being admitted to ordered ministry, as well as all clergy and staff working in Aboriginal communities, particularly non-Aboriginal clergy.”

“This will require the work of the whole church as well as the theological education centres.”