Shari Russell

NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community

2024-25: Flourishing Urban Indigenous Ministries. This proposed planning project would gather Indigenous ministers/leaders to develop an Urban Indigenous Ministry Hub commencing with support and mentoring. This will require relationship building and identifying the areas of support that are needed by those participating in this hub. Due to the inter-generational trauma, cultural genocide, and spiritual violence that Indigenous peoples have experienced, the primary focus of this hub will be to facilitate informal and formal supports embracing Indigenous healing strategies such as sharing circles, ceremony, feasts and even humour. This hub would then identify and develop a strategic plan to dream, develop and design additional hubs for Indigenous ministers across North America in key cities. Utilizing Indigenous Appreciative Inquiry methodology, this hub would commence the first planning sessions by collating ministry experience stories and narratives to identify wise practices (core values). These would create the framework to dream, develop, and design contextual and Indigenized ministry models that would ensure the flourishing of Indigenous peoples in their faith.

Telling the Story, Widening the Hoop

2025-26: NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community continues to build on its legacy of innovation and partnership in theological education. Founded over twenty-five years ago, NAIITS became the first Indigenous-designed, developed, delivered, and governed theological institute accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. In the coming year, it will expand its partnerships to include Bexley Seabury and the Southeastern Pastoral Institute, while deepening its collaboration with Tyndale University.

To strengthen its growing community, NAIITS will host a four-day retreat bringing together faculty, staff, and representatives from partner institutions. The retreat will offer an immersive experience in NAIITS’s relational Indigenous culture and ethos, featuring teachings from founding elders, reflection on institutional priorities, and community-building activities to sustain its shared mission moving forward.

Carrying the Bundle into the City: Indigenous Flourishing in Urban Ministries

2025-26: This project builds upon the first pilot project, “Flourishing Indigenous Ministries,” that commenced in Winnipeg, MB. This two-year project will continue to support the Winnipeg gathering of Indigenous ministry practitioners but will also expand and multiply this experience in two to three other urban locations. Since Indigenous experience and context vary widely across Turtle Island (North America), each potential hub would utilize the Indigenous Appreciative Inquiry methodology to identify wise practices (core values) within its context. This will require relationship-building and identifying the areas of support that are needed by those participating in each specific hub. These hubs would begin with planning sessions to collate ministry experience stories and narratives to identify wise practices (core values) within their contexts. These would create the framework for dreaming, developing, and designing contextual and Indigenized ministry models that support the flourishing of Indigenous peoples in their faith.