Peoples' Social Forum 2014 in Ottawa - invitations to-date IV

I met Paul Heidebrecht at the Mennonite Central Committee office in Ottawa June 25th to talk about the Peoples' Social Forum and MCC. I invited them to present a workshop. Paul is stepping down as director of MCC and MCC thinks they can't present at the Forum because of that. It appears that Muslims for Progressive Values also missed the boat. I also invited MPV and Faith House Ottawa to host a workshop to talk about the Ottawa Network of Spiritual Progressives, but they didn't register either. There are about 10 workshop in the 'spirituality' category, out of about 450 total workshops. There are some nice workshops proposed under this category, such as one titled "Jesus and revolution". There are some institutions such as Citizens for Public Justice that will host a workshop - which is great, but the workshop was not associated with the 'primary' theme of spirituality.
In June I led a Sunday School class at the Ottawa Mennonite Church on the Forum. I spoke about the Forum, I read some documents of the World Council of Churches on Ecumenism from the 60s, always highlighting the importance of interaction between churches and social movements. The discussion was good, but there was no response with concrete action at the time.

Peoples' Social Forum 2014 in Ottawa - invitations to-date III

 
   The Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers) told me that they won't participate, as their annual sessions are in August. But they will advertise the Forum in their social media and electronic newsletter.
   Citizens For Public Justice (CPJ) replied with interest in participating and asked for more information. 
  I contacted the Ottawa office of the Mennonite Central Committee (I'm a Mennonite) and proposed to meet them in June to talk about the Forum.
  I'm very happy with the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Canada's involvement with the Forum. They met with organizers. There were very good things discussed in the meeting!
  I contacted the Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice (CUSJ). As I posted before, I received no reply to my emails to the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa. However, CUSJ is interested in participating at the Forum and is checking if I can go there to talk more about it.
  At the "Nonviolence: A Weapon of the Strong" Conference last week at Saint-Paul University (see here), I made a quick question after Mr. Rajagopal's keynote presentation mentioning the Forum to all.
  I emailed Ecclesiax in the beginning of April, but I haven't heard back.

Peoples' Social Forum 2014 in Ottawa - invitations to-date II

   In the past week I invited by email the Christian Peacemaker Teams from Toronto to get engaged with the Peoples' Social Forum. I also sent an email to OpenMedia.ca inviting them to propose a workshop. The First United Church should have had their council meeting on the 29th of April to discuss their support for the forum, but I haven't heard back from Reverend Brian Cornelius yet. I also contacted Muslims for Progressive Values MPV Ummah Canada suggesting that they host a workshop and support the forum.
  On March 14th I wrote a generic email to Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ), inviting them to know more about the Forum. I got no reply to-date.

Peoples' Social Forum 2014 in Ottawa - invitations to-date

I met with Reverend Brian Cornelius of the First United Church in Ottawa on the 16th of April. It was a nice meeting. He asked about the current endorsers. Other parishioners related to unions had already mentioned the Peoples' Social Forum to him. He will ask the church council on the 29th if they will formally endorse the forum.
I emailed folks from the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa twice, with different emails, asking to meet them. That was about one month ago. I got no response.
I emailed today the Canadian Friends Service Committee, inviting them to come to the forum and endorse it.
I put a post on the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity Facebook group inviting all to participate, but I didn't see any reply.
I emailed Reverend Joel Crouse at the St John Lutheran Church weeks ago. I emailed the church because they are listed as members of The Open Table. The council of the church met and he sent me this reply:

"Hello Gustavo,

Sorry for the late reply.  I took your proposal to our church council meeting and, while we applaud this initiative, we regret to inform you that we are not interested at this time.  We will, however, advertise the upcoming  forum within our publications for individual interest.

God bless you in your ministry.

Be well and serve,

Rev Joel Crouse

St John Lutheran Church, Pastor "

Peoples' Social Forum in Ottawa, August 21-24, 2014

I am excited with the upcoming Peoples' Social Forum happening in August here in Ottawa. I'm inviting different religious organizations and people by email to participate too. I'll post here on my blog the different invitations and responses I get. I'm inviting organizations and people to participate in the fora, to meet coordinators, to advertise the forum and to formally endorse it.