Florence Driedger

“Reconciliation can be very life giving but it is not always easy”. Florence is a co-pastor at Peace Mennonite Church in Regina, a house church welcoming people from around the world. She works alongside her husband of 64 years, Otto, with whom she has also engaged in international social and restorative justice work on a volunteer basis for 30 years in Ukraine and more than 5 years in Paraguay. With this wealth of knowledge, Florence reflects on the impact of cultural understandings of interpersonal conflict transformation to reconciliation. Florence’s invitation to reconciliation is deeply personal. First, we need to be aware of our own wrongdoings and admit these with humility. Second, we must learn from each other and hear one another’s stories. Finally, we must engage in the act of sharing what we have learned – either through letter writing to politicians or conversations with our neighbours. Florence calls us all to be accountable to our own role in reconciliation so that we can “build a community that is supportive of people rather than degrading them”. We invited Florence to the MCC office to have a conversation around these five questions: 1. How would you define reconciliation? 2. What experiences have defined this understanding? 3. Where have you seen grace in the reconciliation journey? 4. How would you invite other people into understanding reconciliation? 5. Why is reconciliation important to you? Then we recorded her reflections. ***************************************************** Links from the episode: First Contact CoSA South Saskatchewan MCC Advocacy Toolkit Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan ***************************************************** Reconcile: Everyday Conversations is a project of Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan aimed at facilitating conversations among settler/non-Indigenous Canadians around our role in reconciliation. ***************************************************** Project Coordinator: Heather Peters Recording and Editing: Jo Kroeker Music by A Northern Road to Glory