Calgary Banquet Of Belonging Schedule
Wednesday, May 6 – Dessert & Storytelling Night
6:00 PM – 6:20 PM | Welcome & Community Worship
Gather together raising our voices as we open the conversation by singing glory to God and inviting the Holy Spirit to join us in worship.
6:20 PM – 6:30 PM | Vision Sharing & Opening
Our host will open the evening with a warm welcome and share the heartbeat behind Deeper Communion and this year’s theme.
6:30 PM – 6:40 PM | Dessert & Coffee
Find yourself some dessert & drink before the Sweet Conversations begin!
6:40 PM – 7:45 PM | Sweet Conversations at the Banquet of Belonging w/ Ron & Teresa Buschman and Erik & Bonnie Freiburger
$25/Ticket For Wednesday Evening In Person (Calgary Only)
The Banquet of Belonging isn’t just a fabled dream — it is something that happens when people gather around a table of hospitality, share stories, and discover they are not alone.
Join us Wednesday evening for a relaxed dessert night as Ron & Teresa Buschman share conversation with Erik & Bonnie Freiburger about marriage, relationships, and building a life together while navigating spinal cord injuries and disability for most of their lives. Centred around dessert and conversation, they’ll share honest stories of love, challenge, humour, faith, and the unexpected ways disability can shape partnership and deepen connection with one another and the communities we are a part of.
Like any good banquet, this evening isn’t about having all the right answers — it’s about gathering together, listening well, and discovering how belonging grows when we learn to support one another with vulnerability, grace, and mutual care.
Come enjoy dessert, settle in, and be part of a conversation that reminds us God’s table is wide, welcoming, and always being expanded.
7:45 PM – 8:00 PM | Closing Blessing
A gentle send-off as we prepare for a full day together on Thursday.
$80/Ticket For Full Conference ($40 Online)
Thursday, May 7 – Day of Deepening Connections
9:15 AM | Doors Open – Coffee & Community
Arrive early for fresh coffee, tea, and conversation before the day begins.
9:30 AM – 10 AM | Morning Worship
Beginning the day in worship & prayer.
10 AM – 10:50 AM | Workshops
Ty Ragan – ‘Belonging At The Table’ (20 min.)
Synopsis: This presentation reflects on Luke’s banquet story through the lived realities of disability, dignity, and belonging in Alberta today. It challenges how church and society often define worth through productivity, normalcy, and social capital—and asks who we assume belongs at the table.
Reading Luke as a disruption rather than a literal invitation list, Ty argues that those pushed to the margins were never an afterthought. Disabled people and the invisible majority were always central to the story.
At its core, this is a call to move beyond charity and toward belonging. The question before us is simple, but demanding: Who do we believe is a person—and what are we willing to do about it?
John Van Sloten – ‘The Parable of Life with a Child with a Disability’ (20 min.)
Synopsis: “The Parable of Life with a Child with a Disability” In this talk I’ll share stories about how I’ve come to know God more through my relationship with my son Edward. With few words Edward communicates a deep wisdom about what it means to be yourself, receive life, and embrace weakness. He’s taught me more about God than anyone else.
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM | Lunch Banquet
Join the Banquet of Belonging while connecting with an inclusive community and share thoughts from the conference over a provided shared luncheon.
11:45 PM – 12:00 PM | Welcome Back For National Speakers
Returning with an introduction to the streaming of the national speakers.
12 PM – 2:00 PM | Keynote Address (Hybrid)
Broadcasted online live from three DC Hubs: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto
Keynote Speakers in Order:
Vancouver: Sarah Wardlaw (30 min.) [Live Streamed]
Synopsis: “Not Made to Fit: Reimagining Belonging at the King’s Table”
In Matthew 22:1–14, Jesus tells a story about a king who throws a wedding banquet. The setting might flood our minds with thoughts of elegance, status, and perfect etiquette. For any one of us, such a polished scene could evoke anxiety about whether we really belong there and what we need to do to fit in. The rest of the story shakes that up. The king invites everyone to his feast: people from the streets, those with different dis/abilities, and others who are overlooked.
Sarah will suggest that if we take our default banquet imagery as the backdrop and paste the king’s guests into it like paper cutouts, inclusion becomes a question of, “How do we help these people fit into this setting?”. This perpetuates an unhelpful atmosphere of anxiety for those making efforts to be inclusive. In Sarah’s experience, it also led to shame and trying to hide or overcome her disability in order to belong.
Yet the kingdom of God flips that vision. Instead of designing the banquet first and helping people “fit,” what if we begin with who God created us to be — on purpose — and reimagine the table from there? By exploring the parable and some moments in her own life, asking, “What might the King’s banquet actually have been like?” Sarah hopes to spark enthusiasm for that reimagining.
Calgary: Jon Coutts (30 min.)
Synopsis: “Disentangling Christian Community from the Superman- and Barbie-ficiation of the Image of God”
In this talk I will frame prevailing myths of humanity within various interpretations of the image of God in order to reorient us to the relational view that is to be modelled in the gift-sharing community of Christ. In conversation with myths peddled by entertainment and tech industries, I will draw from various disability models to portray human goodness in terms of creaturely interdependence.
Toronto: Terry and Jenna Sanderson (30 min.) [Live Streamed]
Synopsis: “Belonging in Family and Faith”
The Sanderson’s explore what it truly means to belong—at home, in the church, and in our wider communities. Rooted in their shared family story and lived experience, this session weaves together faith, vulnerability, and practical wisdom.
Together, they reflect on how families are shaped by love, limits, care, and mutual dependence, and how faith communities can become places where those realities are named and honoured rather than hidden.
The Sanderson’s invite us to consider how belonging grows through relationships rather than programs, and how family life—especially when shaped by disability, difference, or caregiving—reveals a deeper vision of faith marked by grace, patience, and shared life.
Q&A (30 min.) – Hosted Through: https://www.slido.com/
2:00 PM – 2:20 PM | Table Talks & Reflections
Small-group conversations to unpack the keynote and connect with one another.
2:20 PM – 2:30 PM | Coffee Break
2:30 PM – 2:50 PM | Panel Conversation
$80/Ticket For Full Conference ($40 Online)
Leaders and participants share stories, struggles, and sparks of hope around living inclusively as church and community. Open Mic
2:50 PM – 3/3:30 PM | Closing Blessing
One last chance to exchange contact info, share encouragement, and celebrate what God is doing among us.