Regional Representatives
Regional representatives are elected by their regions to two-three year terms. They help coordinate and encourage ecumenical and interfaith social justice activities in their region along with an elected regional coordinating committee. Reps also bring their region’s voice and views, along with their own knowledge and abilities, to KAIROS’ national Education and Animation Program Committee. Their work is vital to KAIROS.
Biographies:
Atlantic Region: Kenn Stright
Kenn Stright is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. He is married to the Rev. Jeanne Stright who serves a United Church congregation in Halifax. And their three grown children all find themselves nearby.
Kenn began ministry with the people of Waywayseecappo, an Aboriginal community in western Manitoba. Many of the difficult issues around residential schools were still hidden at this time but came more and more to the surface as trust and respect were built up over the period Kenn spent in Manitoba. Kenn has remained connected to that community and the issues that have surfaced over the past twenty years. In 1996, he authored the denomination's study on the Confession offered at that time. He was involved in a number of the conferences held to seek a way forward, such as Sacred Assembly ’95 and the Design Teams for Healing and Reconciliation (and still is!) and was the Educational Coordinator for the Healing and Reconciliation Initiative.
Through Councils of Churches, Kenn has worked with Ending Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism, Citizens against pollution, and with Coastal Communities addressing the decline in the Fisheries. Kenn was named “Ecumenist of the Year” in 1996 by the Centre for Ecumenism in Montreal.
Kenn has worked in a number of capacities with the Justice Ministries of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and has been a member of the Halifax cluster of Kairos since 2004.
Kenn can be reached at kennethstright[at]gmail[dot]com
British Columbia/Yukon Region: Susan Grace Draper
Watching the struggle for civil rights in the US as well as the protests against the war in Viet Nam as they played out every night on the television news informed and shaped Susan’s teenaged understanding of politics, and the role that ordinary people can play in a democratic society. Martin Luther King Jr. and his non-violent demonstrations against injustice were powerful examples and she vowed that one day she would stop talking about all the problems and do something.
Time passed; life happened. She married, became a public school teacher, and then a mother of three children. It was at this point, Susan decided that it was time to model another way of being in the world: her children needed to see alternative models, rich with the possibility of transformation and hope.
For over 20 years, grassroots social justice organizations have been her “work”. Active in her United Church in whatever community she made her home, Susan served in leadership roles on outreach committees, Christian Education committees, and local Ten Days for Global Justice committees. On the secular side of things, Amnesty International, anti-poverty coalitions and various community peace groups have also been places where Susan has practiced her commitment to walking a different path.
When Susan married Bill Draper, a retired naval officer active in the Baha’i faith community, living and working in a multi-faith way also became very important to her; the KAIROS groups in Victoria where both she and her husband work for social justice welcomes all faith traditions.
Susan can be reached at bc.kairos[at]gmail[dot]com
Cambrian-Agassiz Region: Fletcher Stewart
Fletcher Stewart has been an Anglican priest for forty years, in The Pas, Winnipeg, and Toronto area. After some rural parish work in Toronto area, he served in University chaplaincy at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1974-1979, and did a year’s study at Newman College, Edmonton, in the interdisciplinary program, 1979-80 (Theology/Sociology).
He was parish Priest at Christ Church in the Town of The Pas, 1980-91 and Coordinator at Henry Budd College for Ministry, also in The Pas, training Swampy Cree people for all forms of ministry in their local communities. He has been involved in deanery, diocesan, and General Synod work in the Anglican church and served on a wide range of national church committees focused on social justice.
Fletcher has been a member of local Ten Days and Kairos Committees, in The Pas and Winnipeg, worked with refugees in Edmonton and Winnipeg, Aboriginal people and Residential School survivors in Edmonton, The Pas, and Winnipeg. He was an Observer at the third indigenous Sacred Circle, Lethbridge, 1997 and a member of the Just Income Coalition in Winnipeg, 2003-4.
Fletcher is interested in the creative arts, especially painting, drama, and writing; social justice, especially Aboriginal rights, Third World development, and inner city; and in philosophy of science and science fiction.
Fletcher can be reached at FletchStew@gmail.com
Great Lakes/St Lawrence Region: Tom Sagar
Following a career in education, where he served in various leadership capacities at local, area and provincial levels, Tom was elected Regional Representative in 2005.
Lector and Eucharistic minister in his Catholic parish, he is actively involved in his church’s outreach to the bereaved (Consolation and Hope), its annual Vacation Bible School, and parish social ministry through Development and Peace and KAIROS.
Currently serving as chair, he has been connected with El Sembrador since its inception in 1999. Based in the Bradford-Newmarket area, El Sembrador is an outreach program to seasonal, migrant agricultural workers from Mexico who work on local farms.The work of El Sembrador has been recognized by KAIROS, UFCW, North-South Institute and researchers from various Ontario universities.
During his term as Regional Representative, Tom has responded to invitations to speak or preach in Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Quaker and United places of worship.
Tom encourages you to help build the KAIROS volunteer network throughout the Great Lakes- Saint Lawrence Region. GL-SL comprises most of Ontario: anywhere east from Pukaskwa National Park to the Quebec border plus English speaking groups in Quebec.
Much of this vast area does not yet have a KAIROS presence. Please prayerfully consider whether you being called to be the catalyst to initiate a KAIROS presence in your local community.
Tom's email: glslKAIROS[at]gmail[dot]com
Prairies North Region: Don Dale
Don was born and raised in Brampton, southern Ontario. A United Church person by background, Don lives in Calgary. He has been involved in the ecumenical social justice movement for many years including the Calgary chapters of several of the Inter-church coalitions: Ten Days for Global Justice, Human Rights in Latin America, Refugees, Taskforce on Churches and Corporate Responsibility, and the secular Committee Against Racism.
From 1986 -1994, Don chaired Calgary Presbytery’s Division of World Outreach, which gave him a seat on Alberta & Northwest Conference’s Division of World Outreach. In 1992 Don attended meetings of national Councils of Churches in Kenya and South Africa as a lay representative of the people of the United Church.
In May 2002, Don attended the founding meeting of KAIROS in Toronto on behalf of the Calgary corporate accountability group. He has remained active with KAIROS locally and at Regional meetings, served on a General Council Permanent Committee on Programs for Mission and Ministry for 3 years, and served his congregation as lay Presbytery rep and Board chair.
Contact Don through info[at]kairoscanada[dot]org
Québec: Réseau œcuménique justice et paix (ROJeP): Jean Luc Djigo, staff
Originally from Cote d’Ivoire, Jean-Luc first connected to Canadian social justice work through Canada World Youth as a group leader in his home country. He now lives in Montreal, bringing his background in youth and community development to the ROJeP, KAIROS’ francophone partner in Quebec. Jean-Luc also works part time for KAIROS, and continues to be involved in building bridges between Quebec and KAIROS’ work on theology and justice for migrant workers. Contact Jean-Luc at info[at]justicepaix[dot]org
KAIROS Education and Network Coordinator: Julie Graham
The education and network coordinator works in English and French with the local and regional KAIROS networks in all their diverse expressions, supporting grassroots work,the KAIROS regions, and long-term education and skill-building. This includes support for annual regional meetings and helping build bridges between KAIROS and our national and global partners in this work, including the many parts of KAIROS’ member churches and agencies. Julie is a United Church member with Anglican and Mennonite roots, originally from BC’s Lower Mainland. She has a background in Latin American studies and community education; she now works out of the KAIROS national office in Toronto.
Toll free: 1 877 403 8933 ext. 233 or jgraham[at]kairoscanada[dot]org
