2023 Sawatsky Lecture
This year's lecture will be held in-person and live streamed.
Lecture
Music, Liturgy, and the Making of Medieval Scotland
Today, Scotland’s patron saint, Andrew the Apostle, anchors Scottish national identity in an annual holiday on his feast day. But in the century leading up to the Scottish declaration of independence, the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath, Saint Andrew’s significance expanded from that of a local saint to become the central figure in the foundation of Christianized Scotland. This lecture will feature the performance of medieval liturgical music made at the Cathedral of St Andrews to celebrate Saint Andrew’s relics, showing how liturgical music shaped history. The music will be performed by renowned counter-tenor, Daniel Cabena.
Reconstructing Linguistic History: What did Ontario's Earliest Amish Speak?
What language did Amish Mennonites speak when they began migrating to Southern Ontario from dialectally-diverse regions in German-speaking Central Europe?
Bangishimo is an IndigiQueer Anishinaabe photographer originally from Couchiching First Nations. They are a community organizer for Idle No More and co-founder of O:se Kenhionhata:tie, also known as Land Back Camp.
Bangishimo will be sharing their journey into the world of photography, how they created "On the Land" and some of the projects they are currently working on.
While a generation of changemakers and peacebuilders have set out to “Be the Change!” a thousand cautionary tales from the frontlines of social, economic, climate, and racial justice work suggest that deep ethical dilemmas don’t always have easily actionable answers. Join us for the book launch of Wicked Problems: The Ethics of Action for Peace, Rights, and Justice (Oxford University Press, 2022), where a panel of the books’ contributors discuss the trade-offs, dilemmas, and compromises they encounter in their daily work as conflict resolution practitioners, peacebuilders, advocates, organizers, and activists.
In the last two years, instructions to "shelter in place" became familiar around the globe as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This lecture considers what it means to shelter in place, not just in terms of emergency management, but as a deliberate practice with ethical and ecological effects. What do poets, walkers, and weather observers teach us about the value of dwelling in place? What does shelter look like for those who are forced to leave their homes? And when prevented from staying in place, how can a person dwell? Is it possible to shelter in time?
Composing Louis Riel's Dream: Exploring the history of the Red River Settlement through family stories and music
Three cookies baked by local Old Order Mennonite women in 1984 lie in a box at the Mennonite Archives of Ontario. How they came to be here involves a patent dispute, a famous cookbook author, and a series of events that inspired a stage production and screenplay. Perhaps this lighthearted tale holds some lessons for us today? Join Archivist Laureen Harder-Gissing to find out.
Blackness, Whiteness and the Anabaptist 'Imagined Community' in Print and Mission
This lecture will premiere via YouTube on March 11 at 7:00 PM and is viewable without registration.
A virtual Q&A will follow, and requires registration to participate. Please register here to participate in the Q&A.
Join the Grebel Community for a special virtual chapel service to celebrate the arrival of our new hymnal Voices Together. This special service is open to the public and will feature a homiletic reflection by Distinguished Alumni award winner Sarah Johnson. The service will include music and worship resources from Voices Together.