Faith and (de)colonization: church education strategies in response to Call to Action 59 of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Abstract

The purpose of this research study was to explore whether local implementation of nationally developed congregational education strategies was occurring within Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian, and United churches in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Call to Action 59. Having operated Residential Schools, these churches are jointly responsible with Canada’s federal government for the schools’ assimilative contribution to Canada’s policies of Indigenous cultural genocide. Given Call to Action 59, this study aimed to answer the following research questions: (1) How are the educational strategies developed by the national church parties to the Settlement Agreement being implemented in local congregations? And (2) what is the perceived effectiveness of these strategies at ensuring that their respective congregations learn about a) their church’s role in colonization and b) the history and legacy of Residential Schools? To answer these questions, 18 semi-structured qualitative interviews were completed with current clergy and lay leaders from Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian, and United churches in Ontario. Quota, purposive, and snowball sampling methods were used to recruit these participants. Qualitative interview data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants identified a lack of nationally developed education strategies across all denominations, in part due to organizational dynamics within the churches. However, participants also indicated independent measures taken within their churches to engage congregants in the topic of Residential Schools or colonization along with barriers to effective education. The findings of this research pose potential implications for evaluating the completion of Call to Action 59, for policy considerations in truth commissions, for social work as a discipline, and for Settlement Agreement church leaders and communities.