“The fact that we have more people here tonight than we have chairs tells me Albertans are looking for a better conversation. So let’s have one. Welcome to Prepared to Drown.”

That became my words of welcome every Friday through August to a room full of people in our basement at McDougall United Church, Calgary.

We did not, in all honesty, see this coming …

In July, when we wrapped the second season of our amateur, live-recorded church podcast, Prepared to Drown, we decided to use the month before season three for an experiment: a stripped-down, four-part weekly series about Alberta’s referendum. The subject was already exhausting people, and we assumed it would be a quieter month for the podcast.

In the lead-up to the first Friday evening, registrations pushed us beyond the room’s capacity, and we began turning people away. On the first recording night, our local NDP MLA was at the table. Someone arrived at the door and asked, “Is this where I go for the separatist meeting?” Soon afterward, a UCP staffer took a seat near the front and spent the evening taking notes. That was when I realized I needed to say something before we began.

Before we hit record each week, we were direct with our audience about the convictions guiding the series. Our life in the United Church has formed our commitments to the common good, public responsibility, reconciliation, justice and human dignity. Those commitments shaped the questions we asked and led us to make a case for voting No on Questions 1 through 9 and remaining a province of Canada on Question 10. We had to be direct. We never really knew who was sitting in the audience, but we had no interest in manufacturing some fake sense of political balance just to keep everyone comfortable. Each week, after sharing our position and expectations, I ended the preamble with the same words: “Albertans are looking for a better conversation. So, let’s have one.”

We also tried to hold ourselves accountable for that better conversation at the podcast table: for our own biases, for the language we used about people whose opinions differed from ours, and for the temptation to turn political categories into fixed descriptions of whole groups of people. Because the podcast is live and unedited, that work sometimes happened as we paused, reconsidered and pulled one another back. It was difficult work, and you can hear those moments in the episodes. More than once, audience members told us that the combination of clear convictions and a willingness to examine our own language made the conversation safe enough for them to engage with it.

The audience remained varied through the rest of the recordings, including people with no previous connection to McDougall or the United Church. We had to remove the live-music setup to make room for more chairs. Eventually, we had to admit it: there was clearly something happening here.

Over four evenings, our regular panel was joined by ten guests: an elected representative, immigrants and newcomers, academics, labour and anti-poverty voices, ministers, and Indigenous guests speaking from their own experiences of land, Treaty and belonging. Together, we explored the stories Albertans tell about ourselves, the boundaries we draw around belonging, the concentration of provincial power, and the relationships that long predate Alberta itself.

People with different political commitments continued to show up in our growing audience. They listened, laughed, occasionally shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, and stayed with conversations that repeatedly demanded more of them and of us as podcasters. In our final episode, the conversation carried us past the planned intermission. When it ended, the audience rose, stretching stiff backs and looking genuinely surprised by how much time had passed. Nobody left early. Nobody checked their watch.

We believe the groundswell around this series reveals a real desire to understand what is happening. Underneath all the exhaustion, confusion and anger, Albertans are looking for places where difficult questions can be taken seriously. They want to hear from people who know these issues through research, public service, work, family and lived experience. They are willing to come down into our church basement and spend an evening listening to people they may not agree with.

For those of us in this United Church, I think that is worth noticing.

Through this podcast, we have been doing something I believe churches can do remarkably well: opening our doors, adding chairs, gathering neighbours around a table, naming our convictions honestly, and inviting people into a conversation with real human stakes. We built the series in our church basement with live microphones, generous guests and an audience willing to keep coming back.

Many of the people finding us online have no previous connection to Sunday worship. Through the podcast, they met us as people of the United Church trying to take our faith seriously in public. We brought the questions and commitments of our faith to the same table as guests describing what the referendum proposals could mean for their healthcare, income, safety, citizenship, rights and relationships. We listened for what happens when faith and lived experience speak to each other.

Perhaps that is what the extra chairs are telling us. The language and commitments of our faith still have something to offer Alberta’s public life. People are hungry for conversations that reach beneath partisan reflexes and attend to the lives affected by political choices. Some of them are finding that kind of space with us.

The complete referendum series is available at preparedtodrown.com/referendum or wherever you listen to podcasts. I’ll shamelessly encourage you to listen, because we believe something meaningful happened in those conversations. They were recorded here in Alberta, while the questions were very much alive around us, among people who will share whatever future our votes create.

More importantly, I hope congregations across Alberta will create their own spaces for this work in the month ahead. Gather people around a table. Listen to those who will carry the consequences most directly. Name the values shaping your community. Make room for disagreement and hold yourselves accountable for how you speak about those who see things differently.

The public conversation is already well underway, and the loudest voices in Alberta do not speak for all of us. Our communities have something worth contributing before the ballots are cast—and responsibilities that will continue afterward.

The fact that we had more people than chairs tells us Albertans are looking for a better conversation, O Church. So, let’s have one.

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“We are not simply waiting to see what happens to us.
We are participating in building the future we want to inhabit.”

As summer begins to give way to fall, I find myself returning to the rhythms of our life together: meetings and gatherings, programs beginning again, Communities of Faith planning for the months ahead, and all of us wondering, in one way or another, what this next season will bring in a world that feels particularly unsettled. 
 
Across the globe, we continue to witness war, violence, displacement and deepening division. The decisions and rhetoric coming from the Trump administration in the United States have implications well beyond its borders and contribute to an increasingly polarized public life. In Alberta, the referendum conversation is raising significant questions about identity, belonging and our life together as Canadians. Many of our communities continue to wrestle with affordability, climate change, loneliness and uncertainty about the future.

There is a lot of noise. 
 
This summer I had the privilege to spend several days at Taizé, an ecumenical Christian community in France where thousands of people, particularly young people, come from around the world to pray, worship, learn and live in community. The rhythm is simple. Three times each day, everything stops and the community gathers for prayer, scripture, silence and music. 
 
The music is intentionally repetitive. A few words, sung again and again, until somehow, you stop simply singing them and they settle into you. 
 
Weeks later, I find the music is still reverberating in my heart and mind. 
 
One of the songs I am resting with begins, “I will hear what God has to say,” and it sings of peace, love, truth and justice based on Psalm 85:8: I will hear what God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace. Yes, love and truth will meet, and justice and peace embrace. 

I have found myself returning to that opening line as a kind of spiritual practice. In the middle of a busy day, or when the news feels overwhelming, those words sometimes appear in my mind: I will hear what God has to say. 

And I find myself wondering: What is God saying to the world right now? What is God saying in the midst of polarization and fear? What is God saying when we are tempted to retreat into camps of people who think like us? What is God saying about the neighbour with whom we profoundly disagree? What is God saying about justice, peace and the kind of world we are creating together? 

And perhaps just as importantly: Are we quiet enough to hear?
Taizé reminded me that listening requires grounding. For me this summer, it has been music. For someone else it may be walking, prayer, scripture, time beside the ocean or in the mountains, gathering around a table, worshipping with a community of faith, or simply finding a few moments of silence.
I wonder what grounds you. What helps you move beneath the noise and remember who you are, whose you are, and the kind of person you want to be in the world?
Because grounding is not the same as withdrawing.
Our faith does not invite us to escape the realities around us. It grounds us so that we can enter them differently: with courage rather than fear, curiosity rather than certainty, compassion rather than contempt, and a willingness to seek justice and peace.
That is also how I am thinking about the work before us this fall.
Across Chinook Winds and Pacific Mountain Regions, there is a great deal happening. There will be opportunities for learning, worship, leadership development and connection. Communities of faith are exploring new ways of working together. We are experimenting with collaborative ministry, supporting lay and ministry personnel leadership, exploring what sustainable ministry might look like, and continuing the important conversations emerging through Toward 2035.
None of these things by themselves will determine the future of the church.
But together, they represent something important. We are not simply waiting to see what happens to us. We are participating in building the future we want to inhabit.
That means trying things. It means learning. It means sometimes letting go of ways of doing things that served us well in another time. It means noticing where life is emerging and investing our energy there. And it means remembering that we do this work together, not as isolated communities of faith, but as part of a wider church seeking to be faithful in a changing world.
So, as we ease into the fall, I hope you will take a look at the opportunities being offered across the Regions. Come to a gathering. Join a conversation. Try something new. Connect with people beyond your own community of faith. Bring your questions and your ideas. There is room for all of us to imagine and to work together for what comes next.
And amid all of the activity, I hope we will also make space to listen;
To listen to one another.
To listen to voices different from our own.
To listen to the communities around us.
And, beneath all the other voices competing for our attention, to listen for God.

I don’t pretend to know exactly what God is saying to the world in this moment. But I suspect it has something to do with refusing to give up on one another. With seeking justice without abandoning compassion. With choosing relationship over division. With making peace more than something we pray for, but something we practice.
Perhaps that is enough of a place to begin.
As we enter this new season together, may we find the practices that ground us, the courage to engage the world as it is, and the imagination to keep building toward the world God calls us to become.
I look forward to all that this fall will bring and to continuing this work together.

Blessings,
Treena Duncan
, Executive Minister
, Chinook Winds and Pacific Mountain Regional Councils

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This is an unprecedented moment in the history of Alberta as our province moves towards a 10-question referendum on Monday, October 19, 2026. It requires a faithful response that is nonpartisan and pastoral, and also prophetic. 

As promised, our referendum guide and resource kit, Called to Engage: A Faith-Based Guide for the Alberta Referendum, is now available for you. It is a compilation of faith-based and researched commentaries on the referendum questions as well as worship resources. The resource is designed as a starting point for faithful conversations within communities as we engage during this critical time for our province and country.  

You are encouraged to use this document as the basis of conversations in your congregations and communities and to share it with your congregations and with friends and neighbours. 

The guide is also informed by the community conversations that are happening across our region and province. Thank you to those who have participated so far, and you can find a list of other opportunities including our September 23, 2026  Chinook Winds Region Town Hall on the Chinook Winds Website.  

Referendum Resources 

• Called to Engage: A Faith-based Guide for the Alberta Referendum  

                     – Download Digital Version (4 MB)

                     – Download Printable Version (14 MB)

• Worship Resources – by Rev. Rob Shearer 

• Referendum Minutes – Rev. Erin Klassen 
• PowerPoint Slide with QR Code for downloading the Guide (for church worship announcements)
• Printable Poster with QR Code for downloading the Guide

May these resources support your faithful engagement and participation during the 2026 Alberta Referendum as Christian leaders in our province. 

With blessings and gratitude from the Staff and Executive of Chinook Winds Region. 

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Dear Family in Christ,  

Friends in Chinook Winds and Northern Spirit regional councils and communities of faith, you have been on my mind so much this year. As I listen to news stories about the drive for signatures and the resulting upcoming question about separatism on a referendum in Alberta, I know I can do little for you but offer comfort and encouragement.  

I know I am not alone in this. Faithful people in all the provinces and territories hold you, your communities and your province in prayer.  

While issues and facts get muddled in the debate around separatism, and while many people feel strongly for one side of the argument or the other, the nuance is lost in the rhetoric. But some things are plain and clear:

 As people of faith, we are called to challenge injustice and oppression so everyone can live life abundantly.  

I believe that God is at work in the lives of all humanity – immigrants, refugees, migrants, transgender persons and people of other faiths. As a church that was, and continues to be, involved in nation-building and uniting across differences, we have a sacred responsibility to love our neighbours, near and far. We do this by building respectful mutual relationships in our communities. By engaging in dialogue and action. And by calling out any form of racism.  

And therein lies perhaps the crux of the referendum: of the ten questions, five are about immigration and immigrants, a thinly veiled attempt to enshrine and justify a racist political agenda. Most of the remaining questions are crafted to raise Alberta’s provincial rights above the common, collective and national good.  

We uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples and the importance and requirement to consult with the Indigenous groups on the treaty land known as Alberta. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which Canada has endorsed, details the rights of Indigenous peoples in international law and policy, containing minimum standards for recognizing, protecting and promoting these rights.  

Importantly, UNDRIP also prohibits discrimination against Indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them.  

As people of The United Church of Canada, we have been consistent in our commitment to faithful work on justice, reconciliation, repair, building systems of equity and fairness and right relations with all peoples and the planet. We won’t stop now. Division and separation from those with whom we disagree has always been the easier road than walking the path of unity amidst diversity and difference.  

In a time of increasing division around the world, my hope and prayer are that, as followers of Jesus, we will work in our communities, provinces, country towards peace and understanding. As the old hymn goes “and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

Part of my heart will always be in Alberta; I so appreciate the uniqueness of this wild rose country. I pray for strength and clarity as you organize to educate and mobilize the community around you.  

I pray for courage as you lift up your commitment to the Common Good, where all can thrive and experience a sense of belonging.

I pray for you, for your own sense of belonging to a place you call “home,” where you can experience the fullness that life in community offers, and where your faith is the foundation of how you live in this community.  

We stand together with you as you discern your answers to the referenda questions. As you consider what a better community and a better Canada looks like for you,

I pray, as 1 Peter 3:8 says, “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.”

In solidarity and prayer,

The Right Rev. Dr. Kimberly Heath, Moderator, The United Church of Canada

The post Moderator: Words of Hope & Accompaniment appeared first on Chinook Winds Region.

By Chris Mah Poy
 Congregations across Chinook Winds Region are hosting discussions on the 2026 Alberta Referendum. From St. Andrew’s, Lacombe (above) and Ponoka, to Calgary and Campus Ministry, people are engaging in frank, civil and action-oriented discussions on the referendum, its implications and impact on communities and neighbors.

Please make use of the Chinook Winds Region’s Referendum Toolkit and Worship Resources: Called to Engage: A Faith-Based Guide to the Alberta Referendum. Please share with your communities, friends and neighbours.

The Region encourages people to get involved by hosting congregational discussion groups, inviting Chris to do small group workshops and encouraging people to vote on October 19, 2026 or by mail-in ballot.

Here is a snapshot of upcoming events you’re welcome to attend:

• Wednesday, September 23. A Chinook Winds Regional Town Hall on the Referendum and Get-Out-To Vote presentation at 2 pm. Register for the Online Town Hall
• Wednesday, September 23. Parkdale United Church, Calgary offers Making Sense of the Alberta Referendum with Professor Lori Williams, 7 pm. Making Sense Event
• Fourth Thursdays. Calgary Area Referendum Discussion Group held monthly at Scarboro United Church, Calgary, every fourth Thursday at 10:30 -11:45 am, next one on September 24 & October 22.
• October 6, 2026. Robert McClure United Church offers The Referendum is Coming! 6:30 pm. Robert McClure United Church, Calgary
• The Prepared to Drown Podcast has a four-part series on the Referendum. Find it on your podcast streaming service or via the Prepared to Drown website.

If you’re interested in hosting a civic academy on the referendum or would like more information, please contact Chris Mah Poy, Justice and Ministry Networks Coordinator.

The post Faith Communities Come Together for Referendum Conversations appeared first on Chinook Winds Region.

The Rural Ministry Conference returns this fall, October 2-4, 2026! Come experience rural hospitality, inspiring theme sessions and practical workshops tuned to today’s rural ministry contexts! It’s hosted by Knox United, Three Hills and St. Paul’s United Trochu and sponsored by LeaderShift and Chinook Winds Region.

Our Theme Speaker is Rev. Dr. Catherine Smith, initiator and host of the Maritimes’ Rural Routes through the Holy. 

You’ll find Conference & Accommodation information and can register on the LeaderShift Website

The post Register today for Rural Ministry Conference, October 2-4, 2026 appeared first on Chinook Winds Region.

You are invited to join Chinook Winds Indigenous Minister Tony Snow and others for the monthly Right Relations Circle. We gather for conversation, connection, and friendship as we learn how to live out the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

You can register to receive the Zoom Link HERE   If you have previously registered, you will receive the Zoom link on the day of the Circle.

Questions? Please email Tony Snow, Indigenous Minister, Chinook Winds Region.

The post Right Relations Circle Gathers on September 22, 2026 appeared first on Chinook Winds Region.

Hosted by Executive Minister Treena Duncan with Presiding Officer Rev. Taylor Croissant, our September Town Hall will include a time of worship, Regional Updates as well as conversations on the Alberta Referendum. Chris Mah Poy, Chinook Winds First Third and Justice Networks Coordinator, will share information and best practices on how you can engage in a prophetic, pastoral and non-partisan response with your communities of faith and wider networks during the referendum campaign and how the region will be engaging the referendum.

Please join us for these vital conversations. 

         Please mark your calendars to join us on September 23, 2026 at 2 pm MT. Register for the Chinook Winds September 23, 2026 Town Hall.

Regional representatives and ministry personnel will receive the Zoom link in their inbox and do not need to register.

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Get ready! First Third Ministry has launched registration for its YouthTrek 2026 aimed at 13-15 year olds in Chinook Winds and Northern Spirit Region. The cost is $350 with a variety of bursaries available.

Registration is limited, so register now — 28 spots available for Camrose! YouthTrek 2026 details & registration.  Reach out to FirstThirdministry@united-church.ca with any questions.

Calling all young adults (ages 18-30ish)! United Church folks & friends in Central & South Alberta, BC, the Yukon and beyond – we invite you to travel to the largest island in Howe Sound, surrounded by trees and water for a long weekend of rest, community and fun. We’ll have good food, meaningful conversations, late-night board games, great music and campfires (weather permitting!) It’s a weekend you’ll want to show up for. Register Now. Limited Spaces.

First Third Ministry’s Senior Youth Retreat (ages 16-17) is scheduled for February 12-16, 2027. Location to be announced. Check back for details.

The post First Third Events for 2026 -2027 appeared first on Chinook Winds Region.

Back in 2023, a partnership of Communities in Action, Oyen Family Community Support Services and the Handi-Bus Association applied for and received a grant from Healthy Aging Alberta to purchase a van and provide a much-needed service for seniors to support their aging in place. Since November 2023, the service has provided 753 rides to medical appointments both distant and local and 1,120 locally for basic needs and social outings.

The service encompasses 6000 square kilometres of rural and remote communities such as Oyen, Empress, Cereal, and Acadia Valley Big Stone, Youngstown, Chinook, Sedalia, New Brigden, Esther, and Sibbald.

The van’s exterior recognizes those who have contributed to the vital transportation program including the United Church.

The post Oyen United: Helping Rural Seniors Stay Connected and Independent appeared first on Chinook Winds Region.