In the weeks ahead, Albertans will be asked to make some significant decisions about our province, our relationships with one another, and our future together.
As communities of faith, we believe these questions deserve more than slogans and sound bites. Our faith calls us to engage thoughtfully with the issues that shape the lives of our neighbours, and places where community gathers (including our churches) have an important role to play in creating space for meaningful conversation, relationship, and mutual education.
Over three Sundays, we will gather after worship for approximately one hour to explore the questions appearing on the upcoming Alberta Referendum:
September 20 — Immigration Questions (1–5)
September 27 — Constitutional Questions (6–9)
October 4 — The Separation Question (10)
Discussions will take place at both the McDougall site, in the Hospitality Hall, and the Red Deer Lake site, in the sanctuary.
These gatherings are open to everyone from Ogden, McDougall, and Red Deer Lake, whether you attend one conversation or all three. Our hope is to create space to listen, ask questions, learn from one another, and consider how our faith and values inform the choices before us.
Because our time together will be limited, we encourage everyone to do a little reading, listening, or reflection before coming. The more familiar we are with the questions themselves and some of the issues surrounding them, the more time we can spend in genuine conversation rather than simply explaining the basics.
Two good places to begin are the Prepared to Drown referendum podcast series and the referendum resource package circulated to United Churches across southern Alberta by Chinook Winds Region . Over several weeks, Prepared to Drown has brought together a range of special guests to explore the referendum from different perspectives and areas of expertise, with the goal of digging beneath the individual questions and examining the larger stories, assumptions, relationships, and consequences at stake. The Chinook Winds resource package offers another useful starting point for understanding the questions and considering them through the lens of our faith and shared life.
There are consequential questions before us. Some concern policy and constitutional arrangements; others reach into deeper questions of identity, belonging, responsibility, and the relationships we choose to maintain with one another. We hope these gatherings can help us approach all of them with curiosity, care, courage, and a commitment to one another.
All are welcome.