Horseshoe Falls Regional Council

Curriculum Round Table
2024-09-04 19:00 - 20:15 (America/Toronto) | Online via Zoom
“We Are Not Alone” in Children and Youth Ministry.
What are your plans for children’s ministry this fall? Are you wondering about curriculum options? Do you want to connect, share, and learn from others in the field? Then don’t miss our Curriculum Round Table webinar!
To register or for more information, contact:
Kdouglas@united-church.ca Kathy Douglas (she/her): Faith Formation Minister, ARW, HF, WOW Regional Councils
Shull@united-church.ca Sharon Hull (she/her) Minister for Spiritual Nurture, Respectful Relationships and Justice with All Ages, East Central Ontario Regional Council
Sredden@united-church.ca Shawn Redden (she/her): Justice and Faith Formation Minister, Canadian Shield & Shining Waters Regional Councils

Sue's Retirement Party
2024-09-06 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Toronto) | In-person & Online via Zoom
All invited to celebrate the retirement of ARW, HF, WOW Regional Councils Executive Assistant, Susan Duliban on Friday September 6th from 1 to 3pm at the Regional Council Office 1552 Hwy 6, Waterdown, ON L8N 2Z7 or via Zoom at this link: https://united-church.zoom.us/j/81252105843

Ask An Expert
2024-09-18 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Toronto) | Online via Zoom
We’re trying something new. We’re introducing an Ask An Expert series in partnership with the General Council Office. You ask the questions, and we’ll provide the expertise.
Who are the experts? Well, it depends on the topic and staff availability.
Maybe you want to know more about the insurance partnership between the GCO and Communities of Faith. Or what you do when the local newspaper calls (or when you want to get a good story out). Or what the new government relations officer does. Or what the cost-of-living-adjustment is.
It’s kind of like a Pick-Your-Own-Adventure book. Here’s how it works:
1. You send us your questions here: https://forms.office.com/r/q7UM9spU9z
2. We find the expert who can answer them.
3. We all tune in on Wednesday September 18th, 7-8 p.m. by Zoom here: https://united-church.zoom.us/j/89972136949
4. As many questions will be answered as can be within the allotted time. Unanswered questions will carry over to the next session, or we’ll answer them on our Regional Council Facebook group.
5. Tough questions are okay. We’ll do our best to answer them, and if we can’t on the spot, we’ll follow up with the right information.
So, pick your adventure. Will it be insurance? Or grants? Climate justice? Governance? Media relations? Government relations? Global partnerships? Or something else?
You pick. Ask your question here: https://forms.office.com/r/q7UM9spU9z. Join us on Wednesday September 18th at 7 p.m. to get an answer in real time. Don’t have a question right now? Listeners welcome!
This session will be facilitated by: Michelle Owens

ARW Online Clergy Gathering
2024-10-22 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-11-19 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-12-17 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-01-21 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom

HF Online Clergy Gathering
2024-10-23 15:00 - 16:00, 2024-11-20 15:00 - 16:00, 2024-12-18 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-01-22 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom

WOW Online Clergy Gathering
2024-10-24 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-11-21 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-12-19 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-01-23 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom

ARW Regional Council Fall Meeting (online)
2024-10-25 - 2024-10-26 | Online via Zoom
Fall 2024 Meeting

ARWRC Fall Meeting (online): October 25-26, 2024
Celebration of Ministries: To be confirmed

Advent/Christmas Round Table - All Ages Planning
2024-11-04 19:00 - 20:15, 2024-11-13 13:00 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom

WOW Regional Council Fall Meeting (online)
2024-11-16 - 2024-11-17 | Online via Zoom
Fall 2024 Meeting

WOWRC Fall Meeting (online): November 16-17, 2024
Celebration of Ministries: To be confirmed

Engage Difference
2024-11-25 - 2024-11-29 | Five Oaks Education and Retreat Centre, 1 Bethel Road, Paris, Ontario, N3L 3E3, Canada
Deepening Understanding for Intercultural Ministry

November 25-29, 2024 at Five Oaks

More information and registration here: https://www.interculturalleadership.ca/engage-difference-nov-2024-5-oaks/

Fishbowl – Cross Generational Discussion
2024-11-28 18:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom
Regional Councils of ARW, HF and WOW in partnership with The Hub and Trinity UC Kitchener-
Thursday November 28th, 2024, 6:30-8:30 (all participants are asked to arrive at 6:40).
Background: Post-pandemic, Youth leaders struggle to put together groups. A message often heard from youth in the church is that what’s being offered doesn’t work for them. Being an intercultural church includes finding ways to bridge communication between different age groups/generations.
Goal– To offer a forum that brings together youth and Elders in the church– a forum that allows the two groups to hear one another and be heard by one another, and to consider what might be the Spirit’s invitation to the church for youth ministry at this time.
FISHBOWL PROCESS:
8 Youth (teens to twenty-somethings) and 8 Elders (45+) from WOW, HF and ARW Regional Councils and facilitators will gather via Zoom.

Discussion questions will invite each to share and listen to experiences of their own youth faith formation, and hopes and challenges for youth ministry then and now.
On each question, using the Zoom spotlight feature to focus on one group of eight:

Youth will invite one another to share, while the Elders listen.
Places will be switched, and the Elders will invite one another to share while the Youth listen.
For some questions, the order might be reversed, with Elders sharing first

After two rounds of sharing in separate groups, Youth and Elders will have an opportunity to reflect together as one group.

Each group will be invited to reflect on what they have heard and consider possible next steps.
Participants will be given questions for reflection and feedback, to be submitted in writing following the session.
This is a cross-cultural listening event, and a pilot project. This session will not focus on problem solving or planning. The focus of this event is to listen and learn about one another as a first step of re-visioning youth ministry in ARW, HF and WOW in this post-pandemic time.
An HONORARIUM of $105 is available for participants who are not otherwise paid for their time in this discussion.
To apply, complete the Application Form :
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=qLUYz3gmEUCTEhXw9xV1dPBWSFWIXSNPila5mgKiAchUM0NLV0kyWUtVM1JXUEcyOUw4QlVaRlVDUS4u
Application deadline November 18, 2024

For more information contact
Thérèse Samuel tsamuel@united-church.ca
Kathy Douglas kdouglas@united-church.ca
Adam Cresswell – hubleadership@gmail.com
Aimee Belanger at youthevents@hubcommunity.ca

HF UCW Gathering
2025-01-18 14:00 (America/New_York)
Topic: Horseshoe Falls Fall zoom event
Time: January 18th, 2025 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://united-church.zoom.us/j/83472886564

Worshiplude 2025
2025-01-31 - 2025-02-02
Sign Up Now!

Worshiplude 2025

Fri. Jan. 31st – Sun. Feb. 2nd Ottawa, Ontario Join us for a weekend in Ottawa for Winterlude activities, a museum experience and gather with us for Dinner and Worship Saturday night at Southminster United Church (15 Aylmer Ave, Ottawa)

$75 per participant (Registration fee) plus spending money and enough $ for 2 lunches and 1 supper extra.

Youth and youth groups will need to be accompanied by an adult. (At least one adult for every 7-9 youth)

Grades 7+

Bus will begin in Beamsville, ON and travel along the QEW to 401 and on to Ottawa. We can discuss pick up locations along the route, once we begin to get registrations.

We will be billeted at a church in Ottawa. Participants can bring sleeping needs (sleeping bags, pillows, mattresses etc)

Register Now (spots are limited):https://regionalcouncil789.formstack.com/forms/worshiplude

Preaching with an Ecological Lens
2025-02-04 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Toronto) | Online via Zoom
Ministry Personnel and LLWLs,
Are you looking for ways to address the climate crisis from the pulpit?
Join us online Tuesday Feb 4th, 2025 7:00-8:30PM
Preaching with an Ecological Lens
A workshop offered by the Rev. Dr. HyeRan Kim Cragg,
Principal and Professor of Preaching at Emmanuel College.

The Rev. Dr. HyeRan Kim-Cragg is the 14th Principal and Professor of Preaching at Emmanuel College. She is the first racialized person holding both roles. Kim-Cragg received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2020, the highest honor granted to Emmanuel Alumni. She has been actively involved in the preaching life of the United Church of Canada, a denomination that has been aspiring to become an intercultural and anti-racist church for the last 25 years. As a leading postcolonial scholar, she has written or contributed to over 15 books including her monographs Interdependence: A Postcolonial Feminist Practical Theology (2018) Postcolonial Preaching: Creating a Ripple Effect (2021), both are claimed as original contributions in homiletics and practical theology. Her most recent book is Moments in Time: Sermons from the United Church of Canada 1910-2020 (UCPH, 2024). Currently, she is preparing a manuscript for preaching addressing the climate crisis and ecological justice with a tentative title, A Homiletic of the EARTH. She is grateful to share some of her current research in this workshop.
Workshop: Preaching with an Ecological Lens
In this workshop Rev. Dr. HyeRan Kim-Cragg will share her insights into challenges faced by those of us who wish to address the climate crisis from the pulpit. She proposes five homiletical strategies that may help preachers and congregations face these challenges and tackle this crisis. The five strategies can be remembered using the acronym of E.A.R.T.H. which stand for the Elements of Life, Animals in the Bible, Rhythm of Life, Tree of Life, and Hesed (God’s unconditional love). Once briefly reviewing these five, Kim-Cragg will note the Elements of Life as Water, Fire, Air, and Soil that are prevalent in the Bible and well used as theological metaphors. She will focus on air, Ruah in Hebrew. With the deepened appreciation of this sacred element of life, Kim-Cragg will offer how to proclaim the Gospel for the sake of the Planet Earth.
There is no registration fee. The costs of this workshop are fully covered by Antler River Watershed, Horseshoe Falls and Western Ontario Waterways Regional Councils.
For more information contact Thérèse Samuel (Minister, Right Relations and Social Justice) tsamuel@united-church.ca
Click to register for “Preaching with an Ecological Lens” online workshop.
The costs of this workshop are fully covered by Antler River Watershed, Horseshoe Falls and Western Ontario Waterways Regional Councils.

Lent & Easter Round Table - Children and Youth Ministry
2025-02-05 19:00 - 20:15, 2025-02-06 11:00 - 12:15 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom
Sharing ideas and challenges

Come prepared to share your ideas and/or listen to others

Contact Kathy Douglas for ZOOM link

kdouglas@united-church.ca

Black History Month Event
2025-02-14 13:00 - 14:30 (America/Toronto) | Online via Zoom

ARW Online Clergy Gathering
2025-02-18 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom
As you continue your preparations for the Lenten season, you are invited to come and join with colleagues in ministry for a time of conversation, support and information sharing.

ARW gathering Feb. 18, 2025 – 2pm
HF gathering Feb. 19, 2025 – 3pm
WOW gathering Feb. 20, 2025 – 2pm

The meeting link will be sent the week of the gathering.

HF Online Clergy Gathering
2025-02-19 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom

UCC 360 Anti-Racism Program
2025-02-19 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Toronto) | Online via Zoom
UCC 360 ANTI-RACISM:

Have you engaged in previous anti-racism or racial justice training?
Are you ready to take your antiracism education a bit deeper, within a United Church context?

If you answered yes to both questions, this is for you:

UCC 360 Anti-Racism Program
with antiracism educator Rev Alcris Limongi, and Minister for Social Justice Dr. John Egger.
An in-depth 4.5 hour course offered over three weeks,
sponsored by the tri-regional councils of Antler River Watershed (ARW), Horseshoe Falls (HF) and Western Ontario Waterways (WOW).

Please plan to attend all three Wednesdays: Feb 19, Feb 26, and March 12, 2025 @ 6:00-7:30 PM Eastern
(Note: we take a week break for Ash Wednesday)
Session topics will include:
– A 360 View of Yourself, and developing your Antiracist Personal Purpose (APP)
– A 360 View of your immediate context (your church or regional council context)
– A 360 View of the United Church of Canada
.
(If you have to miss a session a recording of the session will be available, but will not include breakout discussions.)

This is not an introduction to anti-racism, but is intended for people who have engaged in some previous anti-racism training. If you are not sure if your previous anti-racism work has prepared you for this session, contact Thérèse Samuel tsamuel@united-church.ca

Advance registration required. Click to register now.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
There is no registration fee. The costs for this program are fully covered by Antler River Watershed, Horseshoe Falls and Western Ontario Waterways Regional Councils.
For information contact Thérèse Samuel tsamuel@united-church.ca

Bio: Rev. Alcris Limongi

The Rev. Alcris Limongi was born in Venezuela and has been a member of the United Church of Canada since 1996. She has served the Church in different capacities. She was a Th.D. candidate in NT at Emmanuel College and the Racial Justice, Gender Justice and Sexual Minorities Program Coordinator at the General Council Office. She also was the Liaison to the UCW National and to Affirm United. She was the staff lead for the GC40 Commitment to Inclusion, and has served as facilitator of the UC Racial Justice Mandatory training since 2009. As an Ordained Minister she served at Parkdale United Church in Ottawa for five years and currently is part of the Center for Christian Studies in Winnipeg staff team as Program/Educator.
She offers both experience and perspective from our national denomination structures a well from a local-congregational community and based ministries.
Rev. Alcris trained in Courageous Conversations about Race with the Pacific Educational Group. The focus has been identifying systemic racism and racial differential gaps, as well as facilitating Courageous Conversations.
Her own identity as a racialized woman in Canada, her life experience between marginality and privilege in different ways, combined with a sound theological education, and personal and theological commitment to justice, have helped her develop a particular lens, what she calls “the gift of her brown eyes” to the Church. Her passion is to encourage racial majority and minorities to engage together identifying, naming, interrogating, interrupting and dismantling racism. She is a teacher/preacher/facilitator with creativity, flexibility, and openness to respectfully listen and learn from cultural differences. She adds “English is not my native language, which is both strength and weakness. It is a strength because with language I also bring different perspectives of defining and understanding reality”.

This is not an introduction to anti-racism, but is intended for people who have engaged in some previous anti-racism training. If you are not sure if your previous anti-racism work has prepared you for this session, contact Thérèse Samuel tsamuel@united-church.ca

Registration information coming soon.
