A New Look at Bible Studies
Elaine Bishop writes: “The Bible Study at Canadian Yearly Meeting blew everyone away.” The five sessions were led by Steve Heinrichs, who is the staff person for Indigenous-Settler Relations in the Mennonite Church-Canada. Steve is also the editor and one of the 60 Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors of a just-released book — Unsettling the Word: Biblical Experiments in Decolonization.
From the book’s intro: “For generations, the Bible has been employed by settler colonial societies as a weapon to dispossess Indigenous and racialized peoples of their lands, cultures, and spiritualities. Given this devastating legacy, many want nothing to do with it. But is it possible for the exploited and their allies to reclaim the Bible from the dominant powers? … Created by Mennonite Church Canada’s Indigenous-Settler Relations program, Unsettling the Word is intended to nurture courageous conversations with the Bible, our current settler colonial contexts, and the Church’s call to costly peacemaking.” (Digital version available at Amazon.com; book also available at orbisbooks.com.)