Leaders Gather at Government House for Conversation and Learning

contributed by Pr. Zsófi Schmiedge

MNO was well represented among those who were invited to the Government House for a roundtable conversation with other religious and secular thought leaders and teachers to discuss the opening prayer read at each Legislative Assembly. The group from MNO included Pr. Ken Kuhn, Pr. Tyler Gingrich, Pr. Paul Gehrs, and Pr. Ron Long. The group was invited to talk with each other about whether to change it or get rid of it, whether to have one version or multiple versions. The discussion included listing what words participants thought should be included and which should be omitted – with their reasoning.

Many people spoke about attempting a version of prayer or invocation revision, and all spoke about: 1) how difficult language can be, and 2) the need to call the MLAs to attend to what they are about to do each time they gather on behalf of the people of Manitoba.

The Premier and the Lieutenant-Governor were both very engaged in active listening at each table. Premier Kinew said at the end of the afternoon that he was pleasantly surprised to see his expectations upended in ways he hadn’t anticipated. The Premier also invited the Leader of the Opposition to attend the meeting, which he did, because this change would need to be approved by the entire Assembly. Pr. Zsófi spoke with one of the Premier’s Assistants about the representation present and how people were invited to the conversation, and after explaining the prerequisites for invitation, she said they were generally pleased with the diverse representation at the meeting. The Premier also mentioned that they were thinking of engaging in a Public Query on the matter after compiling the responses and data from our conversation. People are encouraged to keep an eye out for that.