In our second reading for this Sunday, Galatians 3:23-29, the writer tells us that all those baptized in Christ have been ‘clothed’ with Christ. that is, ‘there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ.’ What a beautiful, powerful image!
Today, Thursday, June 21, participants in the national conventions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and Anglican Church in Canada are taking time to meet together to celebrate this unity, and to explore concrete ways of expressing it. For 6 years our two denominations have had full communion, as a joyful response to God’s gift to the world revealed in Jesus Christ.
As part of these joint sittings, our two churches are also marking National Aboriginal Day. Part of this will include a gathering with 10 Christian groups to challenge each other to show this unity in action. A ceremony will mark the 20th anniversary of the signing in 1987 of the document entitled ‘A New Covenant: Towards the Constitutional Recognition and Protection of Aboriginal Self-Government in Canada’. Following this, a news conference and the release of a commemorative poster and a statement calling on all Christians to work ecumenically and collaboratively with Aboriginal peoples will take place.
We have been given unity in Christ. God’s Spirit continues to show us the wonderful and challenging diversity of paths this unity takes us.
