How Albertans of faith are countering separatist, anti-immigrant sentiment

I’ve served in the United Church in Alberta since 1988 — in rural, urban and non-profit-agency capacities — and now in an inner-city congregation. In each space, I have experienced hospitality, courage and a stubborn, gritty Albertan spirit.

Most Albertans come from somewhere else. Some pass through, others put down roots.

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Over the years people have asked me, “Why do you live there?” Truthfully, there were moments I asked myself the same question. Now, my reply is that we are not the caricature you see in the media. If time allows, I tell people about the Alberta I know and the church I serve.

It’s easy to brag about the province’s outdoors: clean rivers, lakes, soaring Rocky Mountain peaks and open prairie land that stretches on for kilometres. But it’s more than that. It is the people who have adopted the pioneering spirit, which boasts hope and possibility. The median age in Alberta is 38. It is an incredibly diverse province. Of course, we have had no shortage of premiers whose rhetoric embarrassed many of us, but also many leaders who reminded us that compassion and competence can share the same podium. In Calgary, where I live, our last three mayors have been a young Muslim man, a South Asian woman and now a bisexual man in his 40s. Diversity and opportunity is abundant.

The church I serve, Hillhurst United, has been 2SLGBTQ+-affirming for many years and has hosted 18 refugee families. Recently, over 170 asylum seekers have spirited our pews. Long-time United Church folk come along with recovering evangelicals and former Catholics. We welcome atheists and agnostics. Our diversity is a beautiful gift. There is a hunger for spiritual nourishment and religious rebranding. The spirit is dynamic and our online community is thriving.

Yet even with these realities, something is shifting.

The pioneering spirit is at risk. An angrier and more anxious voice is growing in our province.

There is a tone in the air that feels less invitational and more anxious about the future. Immigration, once celebrated in “Alberta is Calling,” is being reframed as a burden. As a result, referendums float complicated questions that few fully understand on big issues like cutting immigration and working with other provinces to change parts of our country’s constitution. User fees for health care have been proposed for newcomers. Vulnerable communities are blamed for crowded schools, stressed emergency rooms and a housing shortage. Our provincial government is openly scapegoating immigrants — something that is easier to do than to govern. People are starting to notice this nastiness.

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I feel it in my gut. Fear is lurking; division is taking root bit by bit.

So, how do we counter it?

First, we do what many have done. Hang a Canadian flag with pride. We are better together. I have never met a separatist. But I am sure they are lurking. As the president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Deborah Yedlin, recently told CBC News, “Everybody is talking about [separatism]. Are they talking about it publicly? No,” Yedlin said. “But it is a topic of conversation.”

Many wonder why separation is getting so much attention. I believe the horrific events in the United States have awakened and shaken people. We can’t be complacent these days when most anything is possible.

Second, share good theology. People are showing up to church exhausted, confused and hungry for meaning — yearning to belong to something more. I never really imagined that good theology would actually matter as much as it does these days. I believe there is an urgency required in our worship together. We have a faith tradition that can speak clearly to the injustices we are seeing.

Third, live out the gospel. Alberta has changed and so has my ministry, which has become more public than I ever imagined. For decades I have said that social justice is taking what we say and sing on Sunday and carrying it beyond sanctuary doors — Bible in one hand, iPhone in the other. Now, those words feel less like an aspiration and more like an assignment. We have been called to defend what we believe, challenge the media and promote good religion. This is not a time for passivity. People are being called to know their Bible, to see the relevance of our sacred stories. Good religion isn’t an escape — it is engagement.

Fourth, counter the political turn towards fear. In Alberta, there is a faith-based resistance emerging — conversations in coffee shops, prayer circles in sanctuaries and a renewed desire to understand the danger of Christian nationalism. People are attending rallies, writing letters, signing petitions and finding their voice — all in the name of good religion.

Lastly, Albertans are so much more than the headlines you may read. The obnoxious and tenacious small right-wing minority has captured the news but not the heart of this province.

The church in Alberta remains both a sanctuary and inspiration point, grounding us in mercy then pushing us into public spaces with compassion stitched into our politics. I love this call to relevance.

Perhaps that is the calling now, and why I am still here — ever hopeful the pioneering spirit burns brightly.

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Rev. John Pentland is the lead minister at Hillhurst United in Calgary.