Over the past few months, you’ve probably noticed that we haven’t posted much on our social media accounts.

In fact, we as Envision Canada haven’t posted anything since Blackout Tuesday back in early June of this year, which was a response to the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement protesting racism against Black people. The reason for that is because as a team, we felt that it was important to pause and bring to light issues of systemic racism, discrimination and injustice in the areas that we serve.

What began as a pause, has launched us into a series of hard conversations in our offices and with our wider Alliance family. And we believe what has emerged from these conversations are the beginnings of an important moment for us as Envision Canada and our denominational family.

We have committed ourselves to pursue the issues of racism, diversity and inclusion, alongside our roles with Envision, because it impacts all facets of our lives and ministries.

We desire Envision Canada to be a key resource for young leaders on how to engage in these difficult conversations. We see this as a high priority for this generation of emerging leaders and are responding by creating ways for healthy dialogue and growth aligned to kingdom values of equity and equality for all.

We recognize bringing change of any kind requires taking a series of difficult steps. Some of us are unaware that systemic racism even exists in Canada let alone in our churches, and walking through this will feel like we’re dealing with a problem that’s not even there.

So why even go there?

It’s true, many of us are only now becoming aware that systemic racism exists in Canada, we’re learning to overcome our biases in the ways we approach ministry or missions, and we’re recognizing that we need to a better job of embracing diversity, not just for the sake of diversity, but because we are believers of wholistic Gospel truth expressed fully in word and action.

While we know issues of systemic racism and ethnocentrism will not be solved overnight, we are hopeful that both we, and our wider denomination as the Alliance in Canada will evaluate and make progress on the areas where we can do better. In the next months, you will hear about some of our own learnings in this area as we move forward, as well as gain access to resources that have been created and curated to offer you and your church ways to begin or continue having these important conversations. In the weeks and months to come, you will hear stories, teaching, exercises and applications for your own self reflection, but also to discuss with those around you. We would invite you to express your thoughts, your learnings, your needs and ideas by commenting below as a way to engage with us.

And for those of you who are struggling to have these conversations at your churches, schools or workplaces, please know this:

you are not alone, and you are not without support.

We ask for your prayers as we serve our denominational family, and we are praying for you as you boldly and graciously invite others into this topic. If you’ve been trying to lead or deal with this issue for many years, and you’re feeling weary and frustrated at some of the inactions, we feel for you. This is a season where patience will be key as we enter into these discussions.