Moderator’s Orange Shirt Day Reflection 2026
Friends in Christ,
Last year I had the opportunity to be present on Parliament Hill for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation ceremony. I was asked to be one of many holding up the sacred Memorial Cloth.
The cloth is 60 meters in length and on it is written the names of thousands of children who did not return home from residential school. By a "God-incidence" I ended up carrying a portion of the cloth of names of children who attended a United Church-run residential school.
Seeing the names of real children makes the reality of the loss visible and tangible. It was overwhelming. Carrying those names in procession as the spiritual head of a Church that participated in and perpetrated crimes and sins of abuse, neglect and the stripping away of the God-given gifts and identity of children is a heavy weight. This is a weight that stays with me to this day.
Every year on September 30th, we wear an Orange Shirt to remember children like Phyllis Webstad whose beautiful and special orange shirt was taken from her when she entered residential school. We remember children who didn’t return home, we remember survivors and those who suffer with intergenerational trauma stemming from this system.
As a church, we recommit to reconciliation and to justice for First Nations, Inuit and Metis people in Canada. I hope you are able to commemorate this day in a meaningful way in your community.
We know that the journey of reconciliation, though long, is worth every step. May our faith and our relationships be strengthened and deepened on the journey. May God bring lasting healing and transformed relationships between Indigenous and settler peoples from coast to coast to coast.