"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation..."
(2 Cor. 5:18)
"Because He Lives We Can Face Tomorrow"
© IMCF
What is it?
Inspired by God's call to live as ministers of reconciliation, reForming Relationships is a cross-country art tour featuring Kisemanito Pakitinasuwin - 'The Creator's Sacrifice', a series of 17 paintings depicting the Easter story in Woodland artistic style. These paintings by Cree artist Ovide Bighetty were commissioned in 2002 by Indian Metis Christian Fellowship, a ministry of the Christian Reformed Church to Aboriginal people in Regina, SK.
The tour is underway! For tour news, a full schedule and an online gallery of the paintings, please visit the tour website:
www.reformingrelationships.ca
Why an art tour?
The title of this cross-country art tour - reForming Relationships - gets at the heart of what this tour is all about: forging and deepening relationships between Christian Reformed and Aboriginal communities. In some places this will mean building on the foundations of existing relationships. In other places it will mean learning about Aboriginal culture and current lived experience, perhaps for the first time, and providing opportunities for relationships to be built. But in all places, it will be living out Jesus’ ministry of restoring (re-forming) relationships broken by sin.
Where will the tour be?
reForming Relationships is a national art tour made up of a series of tour stops that are organized to fit the unique local context. We need your help to continue adding locations for the tour! We are looking for teams of committed people in communities across Canada to plan and implement these local tour stops. If you are interested, contact us by email or call 1-800-730-3490.
What can it look like?
Since each location is different, with a unique local context, there are no limits to what a reForming Relationships tour stop could look like in your area. You could host an Aboriginal speaker, an opening reception or workshop, a learning series about local Aboriginal culture, display the art in a local gallery, host the Blanket Exercise, use the art as the subject for a youth group or Sunday School study series...anything you think would reach rFR’s two main goals:
- Helping CRC members to learn about Aboriginal peoples and their cultures, and the history and current realities of relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada, and
- To be a catalyst for new and renewed relationships with Aboriginal people and communities.
Will you join us?
If you would like to learn more, or are interested in organizing a reForming Relationships tour stop in your community, contact Steve van de Hoef, or call 1-800-730-3490.
