Bulletin – Service of Lament and Celebration Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Relations Sunday – Sunday, June 7, 2026
Sunday, June 7, 2026
Service of Lament and Celebration
Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Relations Sunday
We Gather as a People of Faith
Welcome
Land Acknowledgement
Windsor Park United Church is located on Treaty 1 Territory. Treaty 1 was signed in 1871 by 7 Anishnawbe Nations and the Swampy Cree and the Crown.
These are the traditional and ancestral lands of many Indigenous nations, including the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe/ Saulteaux), the Anishininewuk, Dakota Oyate, Denesuline and Nehethowuk Nations.
We acknowledge that Manitoba is located on the Homeland of the Red River Metis. We further acknowledge that northern Manitoba includes lands that are the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
We respect the spirit and intent of Treaties and Treaty Making and remain committed to working in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Metis people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation, and collaboration.
Treaties created relationships between Treaty partners and the agreements that they made were intended to be mutually beneficial. The Treaties are living documents that include all of us and so we are all Treaty People. We acknowledge that five Dakota communities in Manitoba are not signatory to any treaty with Canada.
As Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who call this land home, we know that the harm caused through colonization has caused deep and lasting generational and intergenerational harm.
We affirm that the Sovereignty and distinct Nationhood of Indigenous Peoples needs to be upheld and that the sustaining connection to traditional and ancestral lands must support in practical ways this Sovereignty and Nationhood. We commit ourselves to truth telling that needs to continue to happen as we seek reconciliation and healing and as we work together toward a better future.
Lighting the Christ Candle
One: Today we have two candles with us.
As we light both of these candles, we are reminded that ALL are welcome here.
Not just people who look or think like I do or you do.
But everyone.
All: The rainbow candle is a visual reminder,
That ALL means you and me and everyone else
All means you and me and the ones yet to be known.
Without judgement and with love, we come together here.
One: Diverse in cultures, genders, racial backgrounds, sexual orientations, and genders, histories, and so much more, we come unified in our value
Of love for the Creator, and our neighbors as ourselves.
All: This is the light of Christ who is the reminder
That all of Creation is sacred
All of God’s people are made in God’s image.
Minute Person
Announcements
Call to Worship
Today we honor Indigenous nations here and around the globe
Whose wisdom, teachings, ways of life, and spiritualities
Are a gift to the world
This is a special day the Creator has made
Let us rejoice and be glad in it
We gather as a people of God held in love invited to hospitality and kindness
Gracious that we have one another in all our diversities
We come with open hearts
To embrace the world in which the mystery of God’s abundance is
Revealed to us.
Prayer of Approach and Confession:
One We gather with gratitude and with openness
But we also come to lament the history of Christian colonization
As Christians we are called to follow the great commandment
To Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength
And to Love your neighbor as yourself.
All: The European settlers arrived on these shores and were welcomed as guests
With great hospitality Indigenous nations shared their resources, wisdom, spiritual teachings, and culture.
But the eyes and ears of the settlers were closed
The great mystery of God’s presence in all nations was lost
Many of the followers of Jesus, came with a false sense of superiority Guided by a notion of mission and discipleship which saw everyone as the other, they discriminated against their hosts.
One: We lament the history of forced assimilation
We ask for forgiveness for failing to see the gift of creation in the diversity of peoples and nations
We acknowledge the harm done through methods of forced segregation and assimilation
Through the reserve system and residential schools, European settlers tried to make those made in God’s image into their own.
All: Today is a new day
But we acknowledge that the harm done through these systems
has been passed down through generations
We commit ourselves to our own healing as Church
As followers of Jesus we ask for courage to live the Gospel truth of love
Jesus was one of the world’s great reconcilers
Rejoicing and celebrating God’s diversity poured out in all of humanity
We invite God to help us be reconcilers of broken relationships
We ask God to help us use our gifts to build new and healthy Relationships of respect and dignity among all peoples especially those we have caused harm.
Words of Assurance:
Creator God
We acknowledge and embrace the mystery of your
Presence in all of your glorious creation
And in all the nations of the world
We are grateful
You open our eyes to hear with wisdom
You attune our ears to hear with your understanding
You soften our hearts to love others as you love us. Amen.
Sung Response – “Kyrie Eleison”
Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison”
Time for All Ages: Circle of Love (Monique Gray Smith)
Please join in the singing of the hymn – “Let Us Build a House” (More Voices #1)
Let us build a house where love can dwell
And all can safely live
A place where saints and children tell
How hearts learn to forgive
Built of hopes and dreams and visions
Rock of faith and vault of grace
Here the love of Christ shall end divisions
All are welcome, all are welcome
All are welcome in this place
Let us build a house where prophets speak
And words are strong and true
Where all God’s children dare to seek
To dream God’s reign anew
Here, the cross shall stand as witness
And the symbol of God’s grace
Here as one we claim the faith of Jesus
All are welcome, all are welcome
All are welcome in this place
Let us build a house where love is found
In water, wine, and wheat
A banquet hall on holy ground
Where peace and justice meet
Here, the love of God through Jesus
Is revealed in time and space
As we share in Christ the feast that frees us
All are welcome, all are welcome
All are welcome in this place
Let us build a house where hands will reach
Beyond the wood and stone
To heal and strengthen, serve, and teach
And live the Word they’ve known
Here the outcast and the stranger
Bears the image of God’s face
Let us bring an end to fear and danger
All are welcome, all are welcome
All are welcome in this place
We Hear God’s Word
Scripture Reading:
The first reading is from the teachings of the late Elder Arthur Solomon A Nishnawbe Spiritual Teacher (Kesheyanakwan – Flying Cloud) Songs for the People: Teachings on the Natural Way, pgs. 31, 32, 33.
But how do you liberate yourself
From the trap you are in?
What is the key?
Well, I’ll tell you a secret
And this is how it goes:
A long time ago a man was lost at sea
He landed on the beautiful shore
Of this sacred Turtle Island,
But he said it was “India”
Then others followed after
And they had no eyes, and no ears
So those were the teachers we followed,
The ones who could not see and hear.
They said you have to count money,
You must not waste your time
Searching the ways of beauty,
Just be like us and it’ll be OK.
You must cut down the forests
Kill the birds and the fish
And the things that crawl, walk and run
Because beauty is money and the things it will buy.
So we tried to be like them
And forgot who we were
And our purpose on earth;
We followed blind leaders
To the mess we are in.
We know how we got here
And we know our way out;
The roses don’t say to the violets
You must be like us,
Because the roses are roses and the violets
They follow the way that’s for them.
You are an Indian
You belong to this land
And a way was once given
For “Nishnawbe” to follow.
But you can not find it
By following blind leaders,
You must look for the guides
Who know their own way
On this sacred land
The Nishnawbe way.
And you, the non – status Nishnawbe child
You don’t belong
Anywhere.
Not in the Indian world
Nor in the white one too;
Because your skin is too brown,
Your eyes are the wrong color,
Too many things wrong, you don’t fit in nowhere
So what’s to be done?
Well, it’s said
There’s no racism
In the spirit world.
But what’s to be done Nishnawbe child
Here in this world?
Well, I have to say this:
Every child of God needs to be loved
And accepted,
And nourished,
And affirmed,
And just as every flower needs sunshine
So you have a need to be loved.
Those who reject you and put you down
Because of who you are,
Are rejecting the God who made you.
They are distorted, deformed,
And in great danger
Of losing
Their humanity.
So Nishnawbe non-status child,
You are like a flower in the garden of God.
You have a right to be.
And you belong;
You are a child of God.
And being an Indian
Is not only a matter of birth,
It is also
a
State
of
Mind.
The second reading is from the Book of Mark 12:28-34
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!
Reflection – Krista Anderson, Clan Mother’s Healing Village
Anthem – “Seven Grandfather Teachings”
Anishinabbe Tradition; by Shawn Coughlin in Consultation with later Elder Dr. Dave Courchene, Sagkeeng First Nation
Niizhwaaso Omishoomisan Gikinaa’ammaagoowin
Niizhwaaso Omishoomisan Gikinaa’ammaagoowin
Seven Grandfather Teachings
Seven Grandfather Teachings
May we be respectful of all the life that we can see,
Respectful of our elders and of ev’ryone we meet.
May we act in love for the creator and the earth,
For all our human family, may we see each person’s worth.
May we be courageous stand for what we believe in.
Listen to our hearts and to do what’s right with conviction.
May we all be honest with ourselves and ev’ryone.
Do not to lie or gossip, but be true to our word.
Niizhwaaso Omishoomisan Gikinaa’ammaagoowin
Niizhwaaso Omishoomisan Gikinaa’ammaagoowin
Seven Grandfather Teachings
Seven Grandfather Teachings
May we all be wise and open to learn ev’ry day.
Share our gifts with others may we show a peaceful way.
May we all be humble and to think of others first.
We are all part of creation, everything has worth.
May we all be truthful, always seeking what is true.
Living what is true is living all the sacred laws.
Niizhwaaso Omishoomisan Gikinaa’ammaagoowin
Niizhwaaso Omishoomisan Gikinaa’ammaagoowin
Seven Grandfather Teachings
Seven Grandfather Teachings
We Respond to God’s Word
An Invitation to Share
I invite you to bring forward the gifts of the people.
Offering Sung Response – “Grant Us, God, The Grace” (Voices United #540)
Grant us God the grace of giving with a spirit large and free,
That ourselves and all our living we may offer faithfully
Offering Prayer
May the Creator bless these gifts
That we offer with open and generous hearts
That these may be used as bread to feed the hungry
And water of life for all
Amen.
Prayers of the People
Invitation to Passing of the Peace
Please offer one another the peace of Christ in a way that you feel comfortable and respects others’ space.
The Prayer that Jesus Taught
One: Please join me in praying the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: Our Creator who is like…
All: Our Mother and Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
We Go Into God’s World
Please join in the singing of the hymn – “For Everyone Born” (Then Let Us Sing #23)
For everyone born, a place at the table,
For everyone born, clean water and bread,
A shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,
For everyone born, a star overhead,
And God will delight when we are creators
Of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
Yes, God will delight when we are creators
Of justice, justice and joy.
For all who share life, a place at the table,
Revising the roles, deciding the share,
With wisdom and grace, dividing the power,
For all who share life, a system that’s fair,
And God will delight when we are creators
Of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
Yes, God will delight when we are creators
Of justice, justice and joy.
For those we neglect, a place at the table,
A voice to be heard, a part in the song,
The hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled,
For those we neglect, the right to belong,
And God will delight when we are creators
Of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
Yes, God will delight when we are creators
Of justice, justice and joy.
For all who have breath, a place at the table,
A covenant shared, a welcoming space,
A rainbow of race and gender and colour,
For all who have breath, the chalice of grace,
And God will delight when we are creators
Of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
Yes, God will delight when we are creators
Of justice, justice and joy.
Commissioning
One: Holy Love,
Beginning and End,
Beyond all Names:
Giver of food and Drink,
Clothing and warmth,
Love and hope,
Life in all its goodness—
All: Help us walk in your ways.
One: Jesus Christ,
Wisdom and Word:
Lover of outcasts,
Friend of the poor,
One of us, yet one with God,
Crucified and risen,
Life in the midst of death—
All: Help us walk in your ways.
One: Holy Spirit,
Storm and Breath:
Building bridges,
Breaking chains,
Waking the oppressed,
Making us one,
Unseen and unexpected,
Untameable energy of life—
All: Help us walk in your ways.
One: Holy Trinity, forever One,
Whose nature is community;
Sun bounded dance of love:
In whom we love, and grow,
And know our neighbour,
Life in all its fullness,
Making all things new—
All: Help us walk in your ways.
Benediction
Let us go out into the world
Committed to being God’s love in the world
With all we meet
Guided by the truth telling power of the Creator’s spirit
And the wisdom of the risen Christ
Let us pray with our feet building right relations
Of justice, equity and respect with all God’s people.
The Christ Candle is extinguished.
Sung Response – “May the Grace of Christ Attend Us” (VU #963)
May the grace of Christ attend us,
And the love of God surround us,
And the Holy Spirit keep us
Now and ever. Amen.
