September 19, 2026
Friends in Christ,
Peace and Grace to all of you in the name of the God who is made known as Creator, Christ and Spirit.
As I sit down to write today the words of Jeremiah 29:7-8 come to mind “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you...”. In chapter 29 Jeremiah is speaking to people in exile who have a faint hope that they will go home immediately. He is telling them what to do while they wait (and it will be a long wait). But it is an instruction that holds true wherever and whenever we find ourselves. We are to work for the welfare, the best possibility, of the place where we find ourselves living, we are to pray on behalf of the people and community around us.
Exactly one month from today (as I write these words) the people of Alberta will be going to the polls. We will be voting on a series of 10 referendum questions [you can read them here: https://www.elections.ab.ca/elections/referendum/]. Questions 1-5 have to do with immigration-related issues, Questions 5-10 are constitutional in in nature (10 being the question related to separation). As we prepare to vote on October 19th (or earlier by mail, or at the advance polls as I intend to do) what does it mean to work for the welfare of the community, what prayers do we raise up in the community’s behalf?
All summer I have been pondering how I, as a leader of a faith community, should respond to this referendum. Not so much how I will vote, I decided that months ago, but believing strongly that the church needs to speak to how we live together as a society what is the appropriate response in this situation. Most certainly it is not appropriate to say “vote this way” but it is also not appropriate to say nothing. Some of these questions, the ones dealing with immigration, touch on some very theological issues in my opinion. So I think the best route is to name what I see as the theological questions and ask all of you to weigh those considerations into your decision making.
I begin with the proposition that as Christians our first loyalty lies with the Reign of God, not to Canada, not to Alberta, but to something bigger and different. That colours how I interpret what it means to follow the instructions Jeremiah gives to the exiles in Babylon. After all, as followers of Christ, followers of The Way of Jesus we are called to love our neighbours, friends, families, enemies and strangers. How do we live out that love when we answer those 5 questions about immigration?
Over and over again in Scripture, both Jewish and Christian, we are told to care for the stranger and newcomer in our midst. Over and over again we are called to ensure that the most vulnerable among us is protected, fed, housed, and clothed. Arguably our society has, at best, a mixed record when it comes to living into that calling. Sometimes we have been insular, worrying about ourselves first and ‘them’ later. If we take seriously my proposition that our first loyalty is to the Reign of God I think that changes the math, it means we worry about what is good for all of us at the same time. As I said last Sunday, we are all in this together. We need to vote as if that is true.
There are a lot of voices out there claiming to have a claim to the truth. Some of them we will agree with, some of them we will think are out of touch with reality. And that door really swings both ways. I think we need to pay attention to what they say but not stop there. God has given each and every one of us the ability to listen, to reason, and discern for ourselves where we hear God calling us to go. We listen to our neighbours but also tot he words of Scripture. We look for the path that lives out love for all of God’s Beloved Children. We seek and pray for the welfare of the community in which we find ourselves both in the present and in the future.
I know how and why I am voting on these referendum questions. I am open to talking about them, but I can’t, won’t, and shouldn’t tell you how to vote. I trust all of you to vote with your hearts and minds and hopes on all 10 questions. Every time we help shape the way our society works, both in our faith lives and in our civic lives, we have a chance to move the world toward God’ vision of God’s Reign. May God give us the wisdom to listen, to pray, and to act accordingly.
I close this letter with one more request. In the lead up to this referendum many harsh words have been said. Many people have felt attacked, injured, threatened, and dismissed by those words. That will still be a reality on the days following October 20th, no matter what the results of the referendum is. My hope is that we can choose to be voices of healing, not doing more damage. My hope is that those of us who feel overwhelmed or scared by all this will find ways to regain our footing. My expectation is that as a community of faith we will help that to happen. After all, in the big picture, we are all in this together and there are lots of other issues we need to work on as we live into the Reign of God.
May God be with us as we head into October 19th. May we find wisdom and hope and love as we lean into God’s presence in our midst.
Shalom/Salaam/Peace/Paix,
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