By the Way: Rebuilding belonging

By Rev. Heather Carlson on August 9, 2025.

“I retired after teaching at MHHS,” said the fellow guest at a backyard barbecue several weeks ago. “Maybe we overlapped?”

I inquired, having been a Hat High graduate myself. Sorting through the dates we discover an overlap of one year. Did you know this person, or that? Remember the skywalks, cafeteria fries and shop classes? We find commonalities, and some of the awkwardness of being a stranger begins to ease.

These conversations are part of my “re-homing” to Medicine Hat after 27 years away. Finding connections that help build a sense of belonging.

Being a stranger is hard; I’ve lived in eight different communities in my life. Each one had its beauty and challenges, shaped by unique history and people. But each move meant rebuilding the foundation that makes a place feel like home.

I think of just how many more layers there are in the process of belonging when you have to move to a new place for safety or access to essentials. Some people are new to Medicine Hat for employment, family, health or educational needs, and some are from across the country, across the world, or seeking refuge and a new start.

“The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love [them] as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

– Leviticus 19:34

Feeling like a stranger is a fresh reminder to welcome others and care for those who may be getting left out. But scripture and experience show me that this freshness will fade without cultivation.

As a sense of belonging grows, it can become easy to regard the stranger as an interruption, or even a threat. So God reminds the Hebrew people of long ago, and we who listen today, that we are to regard the stranger as a home-grown neighbour, a part of the family, and those we are assigned to love.

In God’s neighbourhood there is room for everyone to belong.

Rev. Heather Carlson began ministry at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in the spring of 2025