Report from Parliamentary National Prayer Breakfast 2007

Many Canadians are unfamiliar with the annual national prayer breakfast held May 2-3, 2007 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. The event provides the opportunity for church and state to gather, interact and share their faith and beliefs in a neutral safe environment, encouraging participants to dialogue collectively on how faith and politics can work together for a better nation.

The non-denominational, non-political event, now in its 42nd year, received approximately 600 attendees comprising of political leaders, religious leaders, students and special invited guests.

The Aboriginal Ministries Council (AMC) of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada was invited to participate in various events related to the Parliamentary National Prayer Breakfast. The Council was receptive to being part of the breakfast and communicating their messages to the nation’s respected leaders and influencers.

AMC member Cheryl Bear-Barnetson wasn't really sure what to expect and was overwhelmed by the gracious welcome. “Some people were even crying, thanking us for being there stating that by us wearing our regalia we were walking in and extending reconciliation,” she explains.

The breakfast provided a platform to reveal and show the heart of a people whose spirit has been broken by generations of ignorance, hate, abandonment and exclusion. 

AMC chair Ray Aldred viewed it as an opportunity to give a voice to those who have not been given a voice.  “I felt like I was representing someone bigger than myself.  I must feel this way or I would be forgetting where I come from,” explains Aldred.  His expectations were not just progression for his people but also for newcomers and indigenous people so that in future generations newcomers will feel a sense of belonging to the land.

AMC member Larry Wilson of the First Nations Alliance Churches of Canada is hopeful that their personal presence communicates a positive image that results in erasure of Canada’s negative portrayal towards its First Nation’s people.  “I think that our message was heard not only through the things we said, but I feel that the spirit in which we said them had an impact,” confirms Wilson. 

Participants agree that the two days of meetings seemed to reach deeply into the hearts and minds of many people, from students to the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin, Canada's former Prime Minister. Martin himself openly expressed his own acknowledgement of misrepresentation about evangelical Christians before meeting with the group. His expectations of a negative meeting soon dissolved after he learned of the council’s desire to partner with him in serving the Aboriginal people in Canada. EFC Director of Public Policy Douglas Cryer arranged the meeting.

Keynoter and council member Terry LeBlanc of My People International touched the hearts of some of the youngest attendees at the dinner reception preceding the breakfast. A participant named Erica from the National Youth Forum at the Prayer Breakfast reported afterward: Hearing "Terry LeBlanc share his testimony, I found it very interesting that God opened the door for the First [Nations] to lead the way and bless the rest of us. They also sang two songs which seemed to shatter and break things, with each drum beat and cry.” 

AMC member Mavis Etienne participated in a panel that addressed questions from eager-to-learn youth from the National Student Forum held the day before the official breakfast.

Wilson explains: “It gives me hope that we can do more than we imagine and our purpose will serve future generations of Aboriginal People.” 

Aldred recognizes how pervasive institutional racism is to the struggle of his people but is unsure if those who attended truly understand this. It is this lack of understanding that Aldred would like to communicate so that change can be achieved. Aldred drew on his cultural roots of story telling to articulately detail this and address how to deal with it effectively through the The Ministry of Reconciliation.

“There are reasons why the situations exist in Canada between the First Peoples and new Euro-Canadians. We need to tell the truth to one another; listen to one another and together come up with a way to repair the damage. This is the way of reconciliation”.

-report by Nadine Agbedetse