ICS Conferences: Edmonton 2005 Workshops & Activity Sessions

Domicide: Empire and the Murder of Home
Elie Wiesel once discovered the 20th century as the age of "the expatriate, the refugee, the stateless and the wanderer." Things don't look much better for the 21st century. In this workshop we will explore the various faces of homelessness - socio-economic, political, cultural, ecological and spiritual - and discern how the forces of empire are always the forces of displacement and homelessness.
Brian Walsh is a Christian Reformed campus minister at the University of Toronto. He is the co-author of The Transforming Vision and Truth is Stranger Than It Used To Be. His most recent book is Colossians Remixed.

Truth and Reconciliation
How do we deal with a violent and conflict-ridden past? What does it mean when former enemies are thrust together in common economic, political and cultural pursuits? What role can churches play when they themselves have a questionable past? South Africa's political transformation in 1994 was a model of cooperation and compromise. It also attempted to create a "third way" between negating the past on the one hand and Nuremberg-style trials on the other. We will examine this process especially from the perspective of the churches' key role.
Stephen Martin is Assistant Professor of Theology at The King's University College. His work in South Africa involved the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concerning the role of faith communities under Apartheid. He is co-editor of Facing the Truth: South African Faith Communities and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1998).

Babylon and Empire in Daniel and the New Testament
The stories of Daniel are richer than some Sunday School lessons or "Left Behind" books and movies. The message of Daniel is that all rule, even that of empire, is ultimately dependent on God, and must submit to God's purposes in history. Revelation uses Daniel's imagery of the Babylon empire to encourage Christians under attack by Rome. Empire is present through all history. Christians need to recognize it anew in each generation.
Tom Oosterhuis has been campus minister for the Christian Reformed Church at the University of Alberta since 1975. He also teaches courses on Images of Jesus and on Paul's letters at the UofA.

If you cut the trees, we'll die of thirst: subverting empires in Africa
A drought-prone community plans to tap a spring in a forest reserve for clean drinking water. Other communities, businesses, and even wildlife, are competing for the same water. Resource conflict, lawsuits, poisoned water; shady contractors and misleading politicians conspire against the community. Against these odds, justice and stewardship prevail in a Christian community in Kenya.
Harry Spaling, after seven years of development work in Sierra Leone, and ten years of teaching Geography & Environmental Studies at King's, has merged his passion for Micah 6:8 and Genesis 2:15 into research on sustainable resource-based livelihoods.

In Whose Shadow? Shaping an Alternative Imagination
Explore close-to-the-Word writers whose stewardly use of language in sharing their thoughts has shaped the cultural spaces in the Shadow of Empire.
Linda Siebenga has been experimenting with poetry since her children were the age that her grandchildren now are. Her third book of poetry, Earth Against Your Cheek, came out in March 2004.

Centering Prayer
Prayer of consent prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer. Drawn from ancient prayer practices of the Christian contemplative heritage, it consists in responding to the Spirit of Christ by consenting to God's presence and action within. Find out more about this attempt to present the teaching of earlier times in an updated form and to add a certain order and regularity into it.
Fr. Raymond Sevigny, a commissioned presenter is presently the Regional Coordinator of Centering Prayer for Contemplative Outreach International, a world-wide spiritual network committed to renewing the contemplative dimension of the Gospel in everyday life.

Not to be served but to serve: The Church in the Starbucks Era
One of the hazards of living peaceably in the empire is that Christians forget purpose. Instead of living out the mission given to followers of Christ, we start to form tidy, sociable, supportive, encouraging enclaves of good people who are slightly cranky with, but altogether part of, the empire. All the while, our credibility in the world erodes, as does our impact. Can Church clubs be transformed into Christian missions, or is a more radical approach necessary to renew our call as followers of Christ?
James Peters is an avid birdwatcher, latte addict, proud dad of three kids, Area Director for Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship in Edmonton, and has been passionate about the spiritual development of university students for almost two decades.

Afternoon and Evening Activities

Multimedia Happenings

• U2: Dismantling Atomic Bombs for Fun and Profit: So let's be totally honest here. U2 is the most eloquent and prophetic rock band in the world today, and Bono is one of our finest psalmists. This is a listening party!
  
• Bonhoeffer: Martin Doblmeier's compelling documentary retells the German theologian's dramatic life story.

Celebratory Evening Featuring: Reception, Dinner, plus…

• Devotions and ICS Update by Harry Fernhout
• Latin Groove Music by Bany Castellanos and Company
• Daniel VanHeyst leading Fine Arts Students in Artistic Response
• Closing Reflection by Sylvia Keesmaat