Nidus Festival

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A festival celebrating faith, arts and justice helf Friday August 4 to Sunday Agust 6, 2006 at Bigemans Kitchener ON.



Streams flow together at NIDUS

By Peter Biggs

BILLING itself as "a festival for people from all streams of Christian faith with music, arts, keynotes, worship, dialogue, drama and dance," NIDUS Festival 2006 is a unique event that tries to bring the themes of faith, arts and justice together in a way that might appeal to a wide spectrum of the church.

It will take place August 4 - 6 at Bingemans Park in Kitchener, Ontario.

The event features many top Canadian Christian musicians and speakers. The opening ceremony includes Susan Aglukark, and the Toronto Mass Choir with Hiram Joseph, and other events include Taize prayer, films, and a late night DJ.

The weekend is packed with an eclectic mix of talks and workshops covering a wide range of topics, including AIDS, Celtic Christianity, urban ministry, the future of Christian music, and the "end of Religion." Sessions will be led by speakers such as Jim Cantelon, Brian McLaren, Steve Bell, Frederica Mathewes-Green, James Loney (Christian Peacemaker hostage) and Bruxy Cavey (leader of The Meeting House). There will also be worship, prayer or liturgy sessions on Saturday and Sunday.

Rob Shearer, working with the Canadian Council of Churches, is the visionary leader behind NIDUS, a term that means "nest" -- and he comes from a broad and varied Christian background himself.

He grew up Pentecostal and now describes himself as a charismatic Catholic with a social justice perspective. "I've been able to employ the language of the three groups I've been part of -- evangelical, Catholic and mainstream Protestant," he said.

Shearer said he got the idea for NIDUS while on a short church trip in West Africa five years ago. "I encountered diseases -- especially HIV/AIDS. I also discovered a very vibrant, celebratory church. I spoke to a pastor who was a Methodist missionary. He wanted to stage a pan-African festival geared toward youth and young adults, focusing on social justice. That conversation struck a spark with me. So here we are, after two and a half years of planning."

Given the wide spectrum of Christian traditions participating in NIDUS, there has been some inevitable friction. "There have been a few bumps," said Shearer. "But we agreed from the beginning to avoid certain hot-button issues -- such as sexuality, abortion, same-sex marriage, sacraments and church governance. We knew the second we brought those up, there'd be some fights. Our goal was not controversy, it was Christian unity. But we also wanted people to be who they are."

He encapsulated the vision of NIDUS very simply: "We want people to listen to each other -- and to see that the other tribes really have something to say."

Source: http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/060803streams


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