A few weeks ago, Spirit of Life Lutheran Church on Vancouver hosted a classroom of students and their professor from York University in Toronto. Professor Lisa Davidson, a friend of one of the members of the congregation contacted me to see if we’d provide a learning location for her Anthropology class entitled “From Settler Colonialism to Multiculturalism”. I was as curious as to how an ELCIC Lutheran Church could inform their study, as I was worried that we’d be an example of how Canadian Multiculturalism misses the mark.
I was worried because despite my affiliation and love for the Lutheran church, and despite being made to feel welcome and included to the point of ordination, congregation and wider church leadership, and candidacy in doctoral studies, I am one of only a few ordained People of Colour serving in our synod. Note that I didn’t use the acronym “BIPOC” simply because there are no Black or Indigenous ordained pastors actively serving on our roster. Yet.
Not only do we Lutherans acknowledge a growing edge in embodying the Canadian image of Multiculturalism, it can be argued when considering ethnically diverse populations like Vancouver, that we are also missing the mark in embodying the fullness of the Body of Christ whom we profess as central to our faith.
Thankfully, this was the point of the student’s visit. Canadian Multiculturalism is a global gift, a challenge, and a unique marker of our rich Canadian identity, one where many sectors of society still have growing edges.
Professor Davidson explained, “the students were in Vancouver to draw upon the work of scholars, community leaders, activist organizations, and church groups that allow us as Canadians to move beyond celebratory perspectives of multiculturalism and to identify emerging forms of knowledges and practices that question multicultural values of recognition, tolerance, and welcome.
Through field visits and by speaking with people in community, the students are thinking about how we can live and engage each other, in spite of our differences, and to develop strategies to transform “stranger interactions” into more intimate and meaningful connections.”
We worshipped together and broke bread together in church potluck around tables on the tree lined patio of our church on 10th Avenue. We were challenged by their questions about harms done to Queer Christians, about paternal imagery and language for God, and of course, the whitening of Jesus. We served bagged lunches side by side later in the week at our Community Lunch Project, sharing in hospitality with neighbours.
We enacted what it means to be “relational”, not just with each other, but together among others - a practice that Canadians engage in the ideals of Multiculturalism and Christians, in the full diversity of the Body of Christ. God who is the embodiment of all things relational, who entered into the world with all the vulnerabilities of the human experience, yet still fully God, came to offer new life in the Divine fullness of Christ.
Perhaps it isn’t unreasonable to understand that to miss the mark on occasion is inevitable as we persist in good and right relationship with one another. Perhaps it isn’t unreasonable to take stock of how things are going as we do – gratefully committed to the freedom and grace God offers us as we embody God’s fulsome image of love for us.
Professor Davidson, extended her thanks and expressed gratitude from the students in their encounters of studies “abroad”. We made plans to do this again next year, and I for one, am looking forward to being with our friends from York again.
The Rev. Aneeta Devi Saroop (she/her) is the pastor at Spirit of Life Lutheran Church in Vancouver, BC. She is an Ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking at https://www.timescolonist.com/blogs/spiritually-speaking
* This article was published in the print edition of the Times Colonist on Saturday, August 24th 2024
