November 10th, 2026Creaturely Gratitude
The Art of Being Creatures
“The Art of Being Creatures: A Gathering for Peace, Climate and Advocacy” took place Oct 31-Nov 1 at CMU. The vision for this binational, Anabaptist-led gathering grew out of a desire to connect wisdom, creativity and experience across generations of faith and climate leaders in our collective faithful response to the Climate Crisis. The event emerged out of creative collaboration between Mennonite Church Canada Creation Care and partners including CMU, MCC (Canada, US and Manitoba), A Rocha Manitoba, Anabaptist Climate Collaborative, Faith In Place and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary.
This was an intergenerational gathering with participants from Canada and the US, with a focus on 2 cohorts of people; 1. Young Adults and 2. Folks who work in faith based (Anabaptist) organizations - all of whom are passionate about living and working at the intersection of their faith with peace, climate and advocacy.
Of note: 48 of the 69 participants this weekend were under 35 years old. Almost all of those young adults were sponsored to attend by the above listed collaborators. 21 participants came from the United States. 14 were Canadians from outside of Manitoba. 18 faith-based organizations and groups were represented in our midst.
An energetic and spirited tone, set by inspired worship, deep discussion and creative workshops, permeated the whole event. In one workshop participants practiced “creatureliness” by imagining themselves as part of the more than human world; embodying and speaking for everything from moose to “dump bears” to bogs and riverbanks, prairie grasses and the soil itself. Other workshops included learning about the Manitoba Sturgeon, biking advocacy, song writing as advocacy and peeling back the layers on climate and militarism.
Saturday night featured a public evening of Ecological Storytelling with Bob Haverluck and Kakeka Thundersky, with musical leadership provided by CMU and local band, T Y P - Ø . Brightly coloured sturgeon danced along the hall walls, reminding us of the creatures around us with whom we are interconnected. The weekend ended with worship and communion under an unseasonably warm November sky, launching participants back into the contexts of work and home with fresh energy, sparks of creativity and joy for the journey.
Much gratitude to CMU, MCM and MC Canada for weaving together the warm and welcoming community that held this event with care; from billets to snacks, offering space and resource people and funds(!) All of these gifts and more helped us to create a weekend that felt welcome, nurtured and needed! Thank you!
And thank you, people of MC Canada, for your prayers in advance of the weekend, and for your ongoing prayers for young leaders to gain strength and courage, for vision to see where their ideas can take root and for collaborative souls continue to find each other as they work and live at the intersection of their faith with peace, climate and advocacy.