Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been impacted by the recent finding of the 215 children buried without record on the grounds of the Kamloops residential school. We acknowledge the many more who will yet be found.

As a church, FBC Vernon has been committed to charting a course toward reconciliation. We have heard the stories of residential school survivors, journeyed through the Kairos blanket exercise and are seeking to learn what it means to love our Syilx neighbours of the OKIB. This discovery only confirms the stories that we have heard. This will be a journey that will be generations long, seeking healing, understanding and reconciliation.

Along with our family of churches (the Canadian Baptist of Western Canada - Approved by the Assembly May 2017) “we agree to formally adopt and comply with the principles, norms, and standards of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a framework for reconciliation.”