Truth, Reconciliation, and Exchanging Hearts

When Calvin Theological Seminary launched Truth, Reconciliation, and 
Exchanging Hearts: A Canadian Model, in 2023, the course was designed as an opportunity for pastors, ministry leaders, and students to engage deeply with the ongoing work of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.

The course grew out of a collaboration between Calvin Theological Seminary and the Christian Reformed Church’s Hearts Exchanged program, a learning journey designed to equip Reformed Christians to go beyond news headlines into deep work that wrestles with how our churches can become places of belonging and embrace God’s call to reconciliation with Indigenous neighbors. 

The course is led by Cindy Stover, Adrian Jacobs, and Mike Hogeterp. Stover serves as justice mobilizer for the Christian Reformed Church in Canada; Jacobs serves as the CRC in Canada’s senior leader for Indigenous justice and reconciliation; and Hogeterp, former director of the Centre for Public Dialogue, brings years of experience in public theology and justice ministry. All three have been part of the team that developed Hearts Exchanged with the Canadian Indigenous Ministry Committee.

Three years ago Calvin Seminary’s Canadian church relations liaison, Shawn Brix, approached the Hearts Exchanged team to ask if their curriculum could be adapted for a seminary context. Having participated in Hearts Exchanged himself, Brix saw how powerful the experience could be for people preparing for or already serving in ministry. 

Through Calvin’s Lifelong Learning program, which invites pastors and church leaders to take courses for ongoing professional development, the course first launched as a one-credit pilot. It has since expanded into a two-credit, four-week intensive course of study that combines online learning, assigned readings, live discussions, and a final project. While students typically take the course for credit, lifelong learners also have the option of simply auditing the course.

Stover describes the Calvin course as both faithful to the program’s spirit and academically strengthened. “The Calvin Seminary version of Hearts Exchanged is really valuable to church leaders,” Stover said. “It gives them the opportunity to go through all of the Hearts Exchanged materials that we use across the CRC, but in a format specifically designed for pastors and leaders. It challenges them to think about how they can lead their congregations and communities in the way of reconciliation.”

Participants in the course can expect roughly 10 hours of work per week, split between online learning and live sessions. The experience culminates in a project or paper exploring one of the course’s major themes and how it might shape the student’s ministry context. “It’s not just that they take the course and get a credit and move on,” Stover noted. “The hope is that their time with us will really transform their understanding of their relationship with Indigenous people and their communities. We want them to articulate what their next steps will be.”

Rebecca Hall, pastor at Woody Nook CRC in Lancombe, Alta., took the course in 2023. Hall said, "As a pastor new to the Canadian context, I felt it was my duty to get better educated about the important work that Canada and Canadian churches are doing toward reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. This duty comes partly as a call from the Canadian government to churches to do their part in educating the public and partly from our Christian duty to be God's ambassadors declaring that God has reconciled all things (including peoples) in Christ." 

Reconciliation is at the center of everything this course seeks to teach. “Since the publication of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report in 2015 and its 94 Calls to Action, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples has been the national conversation in Canada,” Brix said. “If we hope to be ambassadors of reconciliation in our nation, it’s essential for leaders to have an understanding of our own history, our colonial legacy, and the impact of residential schools.”

Jacobs describes the course as both challenging and hopeful. “Working together with Cindy and Mike has been important as we connect with the origins, development, and current iteration of the Hearts Exchanged curriculum and learning process,” Jacobs said. “The survivors of the Indian Residential Schools in Canada have called the church to hear their stories and to ensure that no other child would experience the violations of dignity that they did. Even though the church was the abuser, survivors are extending grace and saying, ‘Please join us in the healing journey.’ Every pastor can be part of this ministry of reconciliation and foster it with their congregation.”

Hall said, "One thing I learned from the course is that our role, in the Church, is not only to understand and make restitution for individual and corporate wrongs to the Indigenous community, but to move beyond this necessary step to a flourishing community life where we value each person and culture's contribution." She continued, "The course introduced some really beautiful ways the Indigenous peoples of Canada teach their children about their relationship with each other and with creation that I want to model in the church.  I want to celebrate that we share many Christian ethics in common. And I want to help the church to build healthy relationships with these commonalities as a starting place. Calvin's Truth, Reconciliation and Hearts Exchanged course helped me see and articulate that goal."

While the course is centered on the Canadian experience, its themes resonate broadly and could be appropriate for U.S. participants as well. “Although we cover Canada’s Indian Residential School history and colonization, the United States has a similar history, and Indigenous people there relate deeply to our story in Canada,” Jacobs said.

Brix said, “The course challenges participants to think deeply about their own preconceived notions and assumptions, and to face the truth of our colonial history and the injustices perpetrated against our First Nations peoples. Participants will also be challenged to consider ways in which they can work toward being ambassadors of reconciliation. How can we expose the lies and injustices still being perpetrated today, in order to allow the kingdom of God to more fully come in our midst?”

The intent of the course, as stated in its syllabus, “is for church leaders to embrace God’s call to reconciliation with Indigenous neighbours, and to consider how that will practically impact their local churches or ministry contexts.”

As Canada continues to grapple with the history and effects of colonization, Truth, Reconciliation, and Exchanging Hearts: A Canadian Model invites pastors and leaders to engage this work through a posture of humility, repentance, and faithful action. Registration for the next session closes January 30 through Calvin Theological Seminary’s Lifelong Learning program.