Daily Prayers and Reflections for Advent
from Alongside Hope

~ from a post on the Alongside Hope website

Truth, healing, reconciliation, right relationships. These are words we have heard a lot of in the 10 years since Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by Chief Justice Murray Sinclair, issued its final report containing 94 Calls to Action. But what do they mean for us individually, as communities of faith, and as a society? And what, specifically, does it mean to heal?

In this year’s Advent resource, the Rev. Dr. Ray Aldred (Cree, Swan River Band, Treaty 8), invites you to consider what it means to heal yourself, to heal others, and to heal God’s creation so we might live into right relationships. Through powerful and personal storytelling and theological reflection, he offers both challenge and hope for our Advent journey. And while “truth, healing, reconciliation, right relationships” can often seem like words and concepts too big to handle, Ray invites us to think about them in the everyday of our lives.

About the author

The Reverend Dr. Ray Aldred is an ordained priest in the Anglican Church of Canada and the director of the Indigenous Studies Program at the Vancouver School of Theology, whose mission is to partner with the Indigenous Church around theological education.

Ray and his wife, Elaine, are involved in ministry that trains people to lead support groups for survivors of abuse. Ray has had the privilege of addressing several college conferences and meetings and his passion is to help as many as possible hear the gospel in their heart language. Together with Matthew Anderson, he is the author of Our Home and Treaty Land: Walking our Creation Stories.

Register to receive the devotions

Throughout Advent, a daily message with a scripture reading, a reflection from Dr. Aldred, a prayer, and an Alongside Hope story will be emailed to participants.

Go here to register.

Launch webinar

On Thursday, November 20th at 10 am PT, there will be a webinar hosted on zoom in which you can meet Dr. Aldred and learn more about what inspired him as he wrote this year’s resource. We will also explore ways to use this resource, whether for your own personal Advent, or in a group setting.  To register for the webinar, go here.