Speakers « The Churches' Council on Theological Education in Canada

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AETC

Can You Hear the Drum?
Aboriginal Spiritualities and Theological Education

Speakers

Carmen Lansdowne – Keynote Speaker

Carmen Lansdowne

The Rev. Carmen Lansdowne is a Heiltsuk woman from the central coast of British Columbia and an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. She is currently enrolled in the doctoral program in Interdisciplinary Studies at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) where her focus areas are indigenous epistemologies and Christian theologies of mission. Her primary research interests lie in decolonizing indigenous histories, alternative pedagogies, and urging the prophetic witness of churches to address the continuing injustices facing native peoples in the Americas. She is currently serving as adjunct faculty at the Starr King School for the Ministry as well as being the co-recipient of a GTU Newhall Teaching Fellowship through which she co-teaches at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. Carmen serves on the Central and Executive Committees of the World Council of Churches (Switzerland) as well as on the Executive, General Council of the United Church of Canada. She currently lives in Oakland, CA with her husband Mauricio and their infant son.

Richard Twiss – Keynote Speaker

Richard Twiss

Richard Twiss is an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate from the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Richard has been married to Katherine since 1976 and they have raised four sons and live near Portland, Oregon. He is Co-founder and President of Wiconi International. Richard brings a lifetime of experience as a bridge builder, author, educator, and activist, nationally and internationally to his speaking and work. He holds a doctorate in Inter-cultural studies, is the author of numerous published works and serves as a board member for the North American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studies and Bakke Graduate University. As a popular and respected communicator his passion is to develop understanding, respect, and mutual appreciation among people of diverse communities, especially with Native American/First Nations and indigenous people in the Spirit of Jesus.

Workshop Leaders

Denise Nadeau

Denise Nadeau is of mixed French, Scottish, Irish and English ancestry from Quebec. Her father’s family intermarried with and colonized the territory of the Mi’kmaq in Gespeg. After twenty years working as a popular educator, in the late 90’s she began to incorporate expressive art therapies and Indigenous ways of knowing into her teaching. She has co-designed numerous curricula, conferences and community workshops that address racial justice, Aboriginal cultural awareness, and truth and reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and settlers. She is Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Religion at Concordia and Research Associate at Concordia’s Simone De Beauvoir Institute as well as a Visiting Scholar at RAGA. From 2006 to 2010 she was Director of the Interfaith Summer Institute for Justice, Peace and Social Movements at Simon Fraser University.

Eva Solomon

S. Eva Solomon, CSJ, B.A., B.Ed., D. Min. in Cross-cultural ministry, is Anishinaabe (Henvey Inlet First Nation, ON). A Roman Catholic Sister of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie for fifty years, she is director of “Building Bridges Project” for the Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. Eva has a strong commitment to the development of a truly Aboriginal Catholic Church. She has worked for many years with her own people and many other Aboriginal peoples of Canada, USA and Mexico. She is dedicated to helping all people to recognize their own dignity, beauty and goodness and thus to live out of the sacred power the Creator has given us.

In her traditional way Sister Eva is a Sacred Pipe Carrier and Sweat Lodge leader and conducts various other ceremonies. In her work, she focuses on interculturation of faith – the bringing together of Catholic faith and Aboriginal traditional ways. Her vision of Aboriginal Church incorporates her dream for a religious community of FN people. She seeks to heighten awareness and understanding of interculturation of faith and assists Aboriginal Peoples to recognize and take more ownership and responsibility for the faith life of their communities.

She has worked with various Christian denominations across the country as they look at the question of Interculturation of Faith. She has experience in teaching all levels of Education.

S. Eva received the “Christian Culture Award Gold Medal” from Assumption University in Windsor, ON, for her work in reconciling Anishinaabe spiritual traditions and Christianity.

Marion Jenkins and Paul Sodtke

Marion Jenkins and Rev. Paul Sodtke are joint Coordinators of Henry Budd College for Ministry in The Pas, Manitoba, a theological school of the Diocese of Brandon (Anglican) that prepares aboriginal people of the area for both lay and ordained ministry. Paul is also a tutor in the Native Ministries Program at Vancouver School of Theology.

Both Marion and Paul were born in southern Ontario, but have lived, studied and worked in Saskatchewan and Alberta as well as Ontario and, most recently, Manitoba. Paul is a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. His passion is teaching and his favourite topic is the Bible. Marion, an Anglican licensed lay professional, describes herself as a “church bureaucrat”. Her current ministry is managing the operation of Henry Budd College. She has worked for the Dioceses of Toronto and Huron in the areas of adult education, volunteer management, stewardship and congregational development.

Paul and Marion are married to each other, and have two adult daughters and one granddaughter.

Margaret Mullin

Rev Margaret Mullin B.Sc.N, M.Div., is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. She is of Ojibway and Irish/Scottish origins. She follows both Christian and Aboriginal Traditional Spiritual ways. The rich teachings and Spiritual ceremonies of her ancestors, European Christian and First Nations, have informed her theology and they shape her way of being.

Margaret was given her Aboriginal Spirit name – ‘Thundering Eagle Woman’ – by her maternal great Uncle Dan, the last hereditary Chief of Sand Point First Nations in Northern Ontario.

After eight years of instruction with her Aboriginal Elders Margaret was presented with her own Eagle Staff, [a sign of traditional Aboriginal Spiritual leadership], by Audrey Bone and Stella Blackbird in 2008.

Margaret is currently the Executive Director of Winnipeg Inner City Missions, The Presbyterian Church in Canada Inc. [WICM]. She received a YMCA-YWCA Woman of Distinction award for her ground breaking work in the inner city of Winnipeg in 2007.

While working in an inner city mission for the past 11 years Margaret has developed a passion for the plight of the poor, and for the plight of Canada’s First Nations People.

Audrey Bone – Morningstar Woman

Audrey Bone - Morningstar Woman

Ojibway Woman from the Keeseekoowenin First Nation. Provide Cultural and Traditional Teachings, practice sacred ceremonies & medicine teachings of the Anishinabe people. Residential School Survivor. Graduated from U of M with a Diploma in First Nations Community Wellness, 2 yrs. U of M Certificate of Family & Children Services, Aboriginal Focus Programs, Social Work, U of M, CEOD, 2 yrs. Management Studies, Certificate in Community Health Services, Keewatin Community College, The Pas, MB. Life Skills Coach Certificate, Level II, Toronto Women’s YWCA. Certificates in many other areas, Community Justice Forums Facilitator, Cross Cultural Suicide Intervention, RCMP. Critical Incident Stress Management, Arthritis Management Facilitator, Relaxation & Massage Therapy, ACC, Brandon, Manitoba Corrections/Healing Lodge Training. Received Awards of Recognition for providing Healing Programs, Cultural & Spiritual guidance to my Community. Award of Recognition for support of youth Canadian Rangers Patrol, Constance Lake, Ont., Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Award of Contributions and Valiant efforts to serving F.N. people.

Andrew Wesley

Rev. Andrew Wesley was born on the First Nation community of Fort Albany, which is located on the West coast of James Bay in north-eastern Ontario and belongs to the Omushkagowuk Nation. He speaks, writes, and reads the Omushkegowuk language. He learned his peoples’ creation story at a very early age. Andrew attended residential school for 12 years. He graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from Wycliffe College in Toronto.

Currently, he is a member of the World Council on Justice, Dignity and Reconciliation of Rome. Andrew teaches First Peoples’ Spirituality in various Aboriginal Theological Centers in Ontario and Manitoba as well as in churches, Aborginal organizations, etc. He provides Chaplaincy services to the Aboriginal community of Toronto and works as an Aboriginal priest for the Anglican Diocese of Toronto.

Stephen Andrews

The Right Rev. Dr. Stephen Andrews has been the Bishop of the Diocese of Algoma since 2009. He was President and Provost of Thorneloe University College from 2001 to 2009, during which time he was the Director of the Thorneloe School of Theology, and taught in the Joint Department of Religious Studies at Laurentian University. Prior to his arrival in Ontario, he was the Rector of St Alban’s Cathedral and Dean of the Diocese of Saskatchewan, in Prince Albert, and the Principal of the James Settee College for Ministry (1994-2001). He was ordained in 1986 and holds degrees from Regent College, Wycliffe College and Cambridge University. He has served parishes in Vancouver and Halifax.

Bishop Andrews has been active in the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada since 1997, where he was Prolocutor from 2007-2009. He has served on the Council of General Synod and the Faith Worship and Ministry Committee, and is a former member of the Primate’s Theological Commission. He is a member of the Anglican Consultative Council.

Dr. Andrews is married to Fawna, and they have two children.

Cecil Chabot

Cecil Chabot is a research affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan’s International Centre for Northern Governance and Development and a SSHRC Scholar and doctoral candidate in the University of Ottawa’s Department of History. His formative years in the James Bay Cree (Omushkego) community of Moose Factory have been the foundation for his various engagements in indigenous issues. He has worked with or for Moose Cree First Nation, Mocreebec Council of the Cree Nation, the Office of the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, the Indian Claims Commission, the Inter-Agency Secretariat and Panel on Research Ethics, Gathering Nations International, and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. His research examines historical and contemporary manifestations of – and challenges to – leadership, governance, and traditional cultures of personal responsibility, especially in Cree contexts and contexts of cross-cultural conflict. His PhD research, for example, uses Cree windigo stories to reveal, much like photographic negatives, the spiritual and ethical foundations of Cree culture, with its emphasis on personal relationship and responsibility.

Cheryl Bear

Cheryl Bear is Nadleh Whut’en from the Carrier Nation in northern British Columbia. Cheryl is an ordained pastor in the Foursquare Church and is an accomplished recording artist. Her awards include several Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Awards in 2007 as well as Native American Music Awards and a Covenant Awards in 2008. She has 2 CD’s out. Cheryl received a Doctor of Ministry degree from The King’s Seminary in Van Nuys, California. She has a Master of Divinity from Regent College, and a Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Ministry from Pacific Life Bible College in Surrey, BC.She travels with her husband Randy Barnetson (also an ordained pastor), who has great experience of Native ministry in several communities as well as their three teen-aged sons: Paul, Randall and Justice. They hope to reach every reserve in Canada and have also travelled extensively internationally.