We worship a God who hears cries of the suffering, attends to their welfare, and moves to save. In the Gospels, Jesus – the living example for the church – embodies God’s solidarity with those who are oppressed, ignored, rejected or treated as alien.   

We mourn for hundreds of Indigenous children in Canada who in decades past died and were buried – separated from their communities – at residential schools where they had been demeaned and abused instead of cared for and educated.  

We affirm Canadian Anabaptist leaders who declared*:  

“We regret that, at times, the Christian faith was used, wrongly, as an instrument of power, not as an invitation to see how God was already at work before we came. We repent of our denominational encounters with Indigenous Peoples that at times may have been motivated more by cultural biases than by the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. We repent of our failure to advocate for marginalized Indigenous Peoples as our faith would instruct us to.” 

As Mennonite World Conference, we commit to seek justice through challenging beliefs and systems of domination. We are grateful for and humbled by the witness of Anabaptist churches and agencies in Canada and elsewhere who are working with Indigenous groups toward restoration and reconciliation.  

—See also MWC Statement of solidarity with Indigenous Peoples. 

*Statement of Anabaptist church leaders, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Hearings, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, March 2014