Photo of the Week - Community Clergy Breakfast

State Senator James Sanders Jr. (D-Rochdale Village) held a Community Clergy Breakfast on March 27 at Faith Assembly Church in Richmond Hill, bringing together faith-based leaders of different denominations from across the district to share information and discuss ways they can help their congregations.

"My job is to support you," Senator Sanders said. "My job is to help shape your vision."

The guest speaker was Dr. Ron Daniels, distinguished lecturer from York College, who spoke about liberation theology, a movement that attempts to interpret scripture through the plight of the poor. It states that followers of Jesus must work towards a just society by bringing about social and political change and aligning themselves with the working class.

"Liberation theology burst upon the scene in the turbulent era of the 1960s," Dr. Ron Daniels said.  "It was the height of the civil rights / human rights movement. Globally, the Cold War is at its height, nations are struggling to find their own voice within the world, and so liberation theology comes at that moment. ... All around the world there was a new energy that was beginning to develop and it was developing out of the period of black power and black consciousness, something that these days we take for granted."

Senator Sanders will continue to hold clergy breakfasts once a month, each time highlighting a new topic of importance for the faith-based community.

Attendees at the clergy breakfast are (from left): Angela Kanhai, constituent liaison with Senator Sanders' office, Brother Mohammed Safie, Pastor Ejaz Nabie, Pastor Seopaul Singh, Deacon Charles Nelson, Dr. Ron Daniels, Senator Sanders, Pastor Matthew Singh, the Rev. David Kayode, the Rev. Edward McKay, the Rev. Phil Craig and Deacon Fred Simmons.