Indigenous Ministry

Indigenous Worship

Our next Indigenous Worship Service is set for Sunday, June 21, 2026.  Rev. Alex Campbell will be presiding.

Orange Shirt Day - September 30, 2026

We will be running our Orange Shirt Day program for elementary students again this year. Watch for details and how to register your child in early September.

Blanket Exercise

A blanket exercise was held on Saturday, December 16, 2023.  This was a participatory workshop that helps participants understand the historic and contemporary relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.

The Blanket Exercise teaches how the colonization of the land we now know as Canada impacted the people who lived here long before settlers arrived.  Through this exercise, participants explored the nation-to-nation relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada, how this relationship has been damaged over the years, and how they can work toward reconciliation. 

Check the poster HERE 

What is Orange Shirt Day?

Orange Shirt is a national movement in Canada for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to come together in the spirit of hope and reconciliation to honour former residential school students whose families and communities have been impacted by the policies and actions of the Government of Canada and the churches that operated the schools. 

Orange Shirt Day began in Williams Lake, BC, in 2013 at the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event and has since spread across the country. The name Orange Shirt Day honours survivor Phyllis Webstad's story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away from her by school officials on her first day of school at the Mission. 

The date of the annual event was chosen because it is the time of year that children were removed from their families and forced to attend residential schools. 

Orange Shirt Day inspires Canadians to initiate anti-racism and anti-bullying initiatives in schools and the workplace. 

The residential school era began in the early 1870’s, with the last school closing in 1996. More than 150,000 Indigenous, Métis and Inuit children attended these schools, with an estimated 80,000 survivors living today. 

In summary, ‘Orange Shirt Day’ is a day to raise awareness of Indian Residential Schools, their history, the impacts they’ve had on Indigenous (First Nations, Metis, and Inuit) children and the intergenerational trauma that has impacted and continues to impact survivors and their families. Though there is still a lot of work to be done, it is a small step towards reconciliation. I encourage you to wear an orange shirt, dress, or anything orange on September 30, 2022, to show your ongoing support and awareness of these events that affect our people. 

Blessings, Reverend Alexander Campbell

Remembering 215 Children

An Apology and a Prayer 

Orange Shirt Day - September 30, 2023

The children were off school for Orange Shirt day on October 2, 2023 - so we ran our one-day VBS then.  The children learned what Indigenous means, why we need truth and reconciliation, and what it means for us.  We made Bannock, and did a few crafts, including painting more rocks for our display at the front of our church - remembering those who didn't come home.

Orange Shirt Day - September 30, 2022     

Immanuel held a special program on September 30 for elementary school children.  The children were not in school, but many parents were still working that day.  Read all about our day at this LINK

Kairos Blanket Exercise - June 19, 2022

The Blanket Exercise was held at 11:30 at Campbell Collegiate High School (102 Massey Road), next door to the north of Immanuel church.  The Kairos Blanket Exercise is an interactive learning experience that teaches the Indigenous rights that is rarely taught. It was developed in response to the 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples as a highly recommended education method regarding Canadian Indigenous history as one of the key steps to reconciliation.  The Blanket Exercise covers 500 years of history in a one-and-a-half-hour participatory workshop. It is a very powerful workshop.

Treaties and the Land - March 17, 2022

Immanuel Regina's second Indigenous Learning and Awareness Event for 2022, Treaties and the Land, was held on the evening of Thursday, March 17, 2022.  Professor Leta Kingfisher from the First Nations University of Canada was the presenter. Dr. Leta Kingfisher, PhD is a Band member of the Sturgeon Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan.

The event took place via ZOOM and was recorded.  You can view it at this LINK to our YouTube channel.  Click HERE to view the first 25 pages of the document that formed the basis for Dr. Kingfisher's presentation, and HERE for the remainder of the document.

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Our first Indigenous Learning and Awareness Event for 2022, with Senator Sol Sanderson, was on the evening of Tuesday, January 18, 2022.  The event took place via ZOOM, and was recorded.  You can view it at this LINK to our YouTube channel.

This information was available prior to the event:  Doctrine of Discovery Learning and Awareness Event.pdf

 We also encourage you to visit Doctrine of Discovery:  Stolen lands, Strong Hearts. a film by the Anglican Church of Canada and available at this LINK.  It is a film about a devastating decision, made over 500 years ago, which continues to profoundly impact Indigenous and Settler people worldwide.