Blog – Page 6 – Cahoots Festival

March 20, 2022March 21, 2022

Like a Tree Planted By Streams of Water: contemplative prayer in the forest (12+)

with Leanne Wild

This workshop will use the practice of silent attentiveness to/in the woods as well as practices and texts from various ancient forms of christian contemplative prayer to provide an opportunity for prayer (possibly unlike anything you’ve called prayer before!) in and among the community of the forest: our fellow created beings. It could be called ‘lectio natura’ (something like ‘lectio divina’, an ancient method of prayer through silent attentiveness to specific words of scripture): we will ‘read’ from the book of creation. As we slowly wander a path through the woods we will alternately listen (to short readings; questions or prompts), perceive, meditate, share observations, walk, stand and sit.

about the facilitator

Leanne has been a community development worker, trainer of camp leaders, writer, high school drama teacher, grief support facilitator, and theology student, and has been a lover of both the woods and Jesus since she can remember. Her recent experience of homeschooling led to new ways of seeing and being in the woods; and her experience of a Theology course in Contemplative Prayer led to new ways of knowing and understanding prayer. Together, these discoveries have opened a space for praying in a way that is instinctive, gentle and powerful, and she has been sharing it with others whenever she can.

March 20, 2022March 21, 2022

Drag as a Spiritual Practice: Theology and Performance Art

with King Julez

In this session we will look at the history of drag and very key figures in the development and popularization of the art. Participants will learn the different forms of drag, queer performance, theatre, and music. Participants will be guided through different skills and themes that artists have needed through the ages, and how drag can now fit into religious spheres as an expression of theology.

about the facilitator

Julian/ King Julez (they/them) is the chair of Affirm United/S’affirmer Ensemble, a national non-profit organization that works for full inclusion and affirmation of 2S-LGBTQ+ folks in religious spaces and in all of society, and a board member for Student Christian Movement. After getting a BA in Diversity and Equity, King Julez is studying their Masters of Divinity with the goal of becoming a drag clown reverend with their own congregation to serve. Drag as a spiritual practice embodies theology and works to express understandings of God’s word in new and exciting ways while paying homage to the queer artists that paved the way so we can exist freely in the world today.

March 20, 2022March 21, 2022

Wool Felt + Weaving (all ages)

with Jubilene + Kiki Wild-Brewster + Leanne Wild

Fibrearts are for everyone! Come play with wool and string and explore different ways of crafting with re-purposed materials. Make a pocket or little bag or bookmark…or an abstract art piece. Old wool sweaters and blankets can be recycled (shrunk!) into wool felt, which is a lovely, rich material that is easy to sew, even for beginners. Weaving is similarly accessible with a simple cardboard loom and pieces of yarn or string. You are welcome to bring your extra bits of yarn or that sweater you accidentally felted, or use the materials we will have available. We’ll also have various loom and wool crafting methods on hand for demonstration. *Note there will be needles and scissors, so smallish people may need a bigger buddy.

about the facilitators

Kiki, Jubilene and Leanne live in Toronto. Between them, they have fifteen years of experience learning and creating with wool felt and simple looms. Jubilene’s early sewing projects were all wool felt creations, and wool is still her preferred crafting material, especially in needlefelting. Kiki is currently smitten with weaving, and has been known to visit the Textile Museum of Canada just to access their table looms.

March 20, 2022March 21, 2022

Wet’suwet’en: An Indigenous Community’s Struggle For Justice

with Esther Kern

We begin with stories from Wet’suwet’en, a community taking action in opposition to Coastal Gas Link constructing a pipeline through their unceded territory, without consultation or prior consent. As a settler seeking to be in solidarity, Esther will share her experiences as part of a team offering on-the-ground support, and we will explore what solidarity can mean in each of our contexts.

about the facilitator

After a 34-year career as a Registered Nurse, Esther took early retirement and joined Christian Peacemaker Teams in 2004 as a “second career”. This commitment has taken her to Iraqi Kurdistan, Palestine, Colombia, the USA/Mexico Borderlands, and to many Indigenous communities on Turtle Island, to stand in solidarity with their struggle for justice. Social justice and activism have been an integral part of her life beginning in 1969, when she came to Canada with her War Resister fiance to seek asylum and to be able to live in freedom with one’s conscience. In addition, Esther has participated in humanitarian aid missions to Russia, Cuba, and has joined a Medical Team to Honduras on sixteen occasions.

March 20, 2022March 21, 2022

Gardening is for everyone: permaculture 101 (All ages)

with Alicia Good

This is an introduction to the idea of permaculture gardening with an emphasis on simplicity and accessibility. We will discuss how to feed and care for the soil, whether that’s a small pot on your porch, or a big yard you don’t know what to do with. We’ll talk about choosing suitable plants and how to care for them. This session will be well suited for beginning gardeners as well as those with more experience.

about the facilitator

Alicia Good has a full time job, a teen, and a toddler. She’s also a person who deeply loves the land. She has been gardening since she was a small child and has developed many tricks over the years that she’s eager to pass on to interested learners. She enjoys growing with whatever she’s got, whether that’s a tiny worm composter under the sink, a pot of sunflowers on her balcony in Toronto, or the large garden in the countryside where she grew up. She believes gardening is for everyone.

February 28, 2022March 21, 2022

Drag Story Sharing Time and Face Painting (all ages)

with King Julez

This session will be a sharing time of children’s stories, poems, and scriptures with optional face-painting! King Julez will answer questions about what it means to be a drag clown and how that works in their work as a student and future ordinand in the United Church of Canada.

about the facilitator

February 25, 2022March 21, 2022

Migrant Workers Exploitation: Learn and Act (16+)

with Leah Watkiss + Sabrina Chiefari + Varka Kalaydzhieva

For years, migrant workers coming to Canada have been subjected to exploitation by employers, landlords, supervisors. Many are underpaid, overworked, abused. This experiential exercise leads participants to experience the exploitation migrant workers face when they arrive in Canada. Through a role-play, participants are guided through some of the exploitation workers experience at various stages of their migration, such as recruitment debt, dangerous work conditions, unlawful pay deductions, and crowded and unsanitary living conditions. After a debrief, the participants are asked to engage in various forms of support, advocacy and reflection.

about the facilitators

Leah is Ministry Director of the Sisters of St Joseph of Toronto’s Ministry for Social Justice, Peace, and Creation Care. She has over 10 years of experience working for social justice with Christian non-profits. She holds an M.A. in Peace and Justice from the University of San Diego. Sabrina (she/her/elle) is a Catholic Environmental Educator from Tkaronto/Toronto. As Creation Care Animator for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, she’s a long time proponent of Deep Ecology and Integral Ecology. She holds a certificate in Community Arts Practice and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from York University. Varka is Project Manager in the Ministry for Social Justice, Peace, and Creation Care with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto. She has in interest and experience in various social justice issues, including migrant justice and human trafficking.

February 25, 2022March 21, 2022

Housing Justice and Multi-Tenant Co-operatives – Past and Future

with Tristan Laing

The Student Christian Movement (SCM) played a crucial role in the founding of the Student Co-operative movement in the 1930s. How did the values of SCM become central to this part of the Co-op movement? How has that movement evolved to become a means of providing affordable and community-oriented housing across the continent, to both students and non-students? In an age of $2000+ one bedroom rents in Toronto is it time for a return to multi-tenant co-operative housing – not just for students this time?

about the facilitator

Tristan (he/him) first attended a meeting of SCM after his research on Student Co-op History led him to discover the important role the SCM had played in starting the Student Co-op movement. Tristan’s main focus is on supporting and creating multi-tenant housing co-operatives that are organized democratically and contain elements of intentional community. He is involved with North American Students of Co-operation and he is a co-founder of HOUSE (Housing Ontario Students Equitably), a non-profit startup aiming to build co-operative housing for students and youth around Ontario Universities.

February 25, 2022March 21, 2022

JourneyDance of Manifestation-Dance Your Dreams into Being

with Sheilagh McGlynn

Are you seeking something different in your life? What change do you envision for yourself or the world? Spend some time in the JourneyDance flow to bring these dreams and intentions into your body and into your life. After our dance we will spend some time collaging your vision board of change. No dance or art experience is required. This workshop is open to all.

about the facilitator

Sheilagh works for the Anglican Church of Canada as the Animator for Youth Ministries. She is also a Registered Psychotherapist and JourneyDance Facilitator. She discovered dance and movement as a self care and healing tool and is excited to offer that tool to others.

February 25, 2022March 21, 2022

Watershed Moments – Learning about the Water Around Us (All ages welcome, though little ones will benefit from being with an older carer.)

with Sabrina Chiefari + Leah Watkiss

Incorporating the “Project: Wet – Blue River” activity, this active session will encourage participants to better understand how water moves around them and what lasting – often unseen – consequences (whether positive or negative) our activities can have. While respecting and being sensitive to different world-views, group discussion will include questions around the more intrinsic relationship Christians have with this essential element.

about the facilitators

Sabrina (she/her/elle) is a Catholic Environmental Educator from Tkaronto/Toronto. As Creation Care Animator for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, she’s a long time proponent of Deep Ecology and Integral Ecology. She holds a certificate in Community Arts Practice and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from York University. Leah is Ministry Director of the Sisters of St .Joseph of Toronto’s Ministry for Social Justice, Peace, and Creation Care. She has over 10 years of experience working for social justice with Christian non-profits. She holds an M.A. in Peace and Justice from the University of San Diego.