A Spiritual Covenant with Indigenous Peoples

By Jay Moore

 The idea of a spiritual covenant with Indigenous Peoples is being explored by churches in Canada who want to find a way to do their part for Reconciliation in a very tangible way. When I say “tangible,” I mean financial contributions.

I attended a service on Sunday, the 4th of May at Stirling Mennonite Church with a special speaker, Adrian Jacobs and led by the Spiritual Covenant Working Group from Stirling Church. It was also in honour of Red Dress Day, the 5th of May, that honours and remembers the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Adrian Jacobs is an Indigenous man who has been a pastor and a preacher in Christian churches for many years and who has also worked with secular Indigenous efforts to advance the cause of Indigenous people. His words were thoughtful and he reached his audience with passion and humour. His commitment was clear and his message of encouragement was inspiring.

He spoke of the covenant between some churches, particularly Stirling Mennonite and, in this case, Six Nations leaders. The heart of the covenant is an agreement with two parts. First, the church agrees to pay a token fee to the Six Nations annually for the use of the land that is part of the Haldimand Tract. The amount paid is 1% of their income per year. The second part is an agreement that, if the church closes and is there is no need to sell the church to buy another property, the ownership of the property is given to the Six Nations. The Canadian government has agreed to this proposition because, since churches do not pay property taxes and neither do Indigenous people, there would be no loss of property tax income for the government.

I think this is a substantial move on the part of settlers to contribute to real reconciliation with our Indigenous neighbours. What would it take for this idea to spread?

There is more to this story and I’m just beginning to hear about it. It’s my intention, however, to find out more and encourage others to consider ways that we all can contribute to Reconciliation. No matter who we are or where we have come from, we have a responsibility to our Indigenous neighbours while we reap the benefits of living on this land. I will write here again to report any news of progress in this work. Stand by.