Where is home for you? Alongside Hope values presence at Sacred Circle

“Where is home for you?” This was the second of two questions asked of the delegates to Sacred Circle during an adapted Mapping the Ground We Stand On workshop (aka the Mapping Exercise) presented by Alongside Hope staff and volunteers.

The first question, “Where do you live?” was relatively easy to answer as delegates stepped onto the large floor map of Turtle Island and stood in the appropriate location. The question about “home” proved to be more difficult to answer. Is it where one is from? Where one was born? Where one grew up? Where one’s heart is? And what if “home” is a place one’s ancestors were displaced to or from? Or that one had to leave not out of choice, but out of necessity? These questions emerged as delegates once again stepped onto the map and introduced themselves to those assembled.

Gathered at the University of Calgary from August 4 to 10, 2025, Sacred Circle brought together more than 150 representatives from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities from across Canada for worship and prayer, ceremony and teachings, relationship building, and for deliberation on the future governance structure of the self-determining Indigenous Anglican Church. Alongside Hope was invited to come alongside this gathering to offer logistical and program support. This included four staff and more than 20 volunteers, from the Diocese of Calgary as well as other parts of Canada, coordinated by Kim Umbach, Alongside Hope’s volunteer coordinator. 

One of those volunteers was Deb Clevett, Diocesan Representative for Brandon. As a retired nurse, she provided first aid during the week. Speaking to the gathering, Clevett expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to be present at Sacred Circle and spoke about the ways in which she has been able to be of service through Alongside Hope, including Fire Talk, a mental health initiative for Indigenous young people. She encouraged those interested in becoming involved with Alongside Hope to consider taking on the role of Parish Representative. 

Lois Reid, Diocesan Representative for Calgary, was another Alongside Hope volunteer. Reid did everything from coordinating the recruitment of volunteers from the Diocese of Calgary to picking up and delivering band instruments for Sacred Circle’s Gospel Jamborees. Other volunteers were involved in registration, note taking, assisting elders, and taping down or taping up maps on the floor, on the wall and on tables.  

Maps were a recurring theme and a visual aid for considering the ways in which Sacred Circle and the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples representatives have been chosen in the past (using the Anglican Church of Canada map of dioceses and ecclesiastical provinces) and how it might do so in the future.

As Public Engagement Program Coordinator, I led the group through the session about “home” using the ACC map as reference, with Mapping Exercise facilitator, Tom Mugford.

A second session considered a new map, one that created 12 “Spiritual Regions” for the country based on cultural/linguistic groupings, as well as land and watersheds. Like the question about “home”, the new map raised many questions about identity, place, representation, and who gets dealt in and dealt out when new lines are drawn.

Prayers, smudging and anointing followed these challenging sessions, and Sacred Circle leadership, including National Indigenous Archbishop Chris Harper, Indigenous Ministries staff and ACIP members provided counsel and support to those gathered. And through it all, we were all supported and upheld by the sacred fire that burned outside the meeting hall throughout the week, sending the prayers and dreams for this Sacred Circle heavenward.   

To learn more about Mapping the Ground We Stand On, or to book a workshop for your church or community, visit alongsidehope.org/mapping-exercise.