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News

This Friday, September 30th is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and also Orange Shirt Day. Wear your orange shirt and remember. Participate in an action for Truth and Reconciliation. For more information click: https://united-church.ca/social-action/act-now/honour-children-who-attended-residential-schools

This summer, Joy Kennedy, with pictures from her own neighbourhood created not one, but two meditations on trees. The first meditation is approximately 16 minutes long and could be used in place of a message during worship, as part of a study on climate justice, or for your own personal reflection. The second mediation is 11 minutes long and would be great for a study and for your own personal reflection. Thanks, Joy, for sharing your passion and talents with our Regions! Blessed be the tree!...

Let’s CELEBRATE her many years of service with the Regional Office (& Hamilton Conference) & have a PARTY! Thursday, September 22 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm At the Regional Council Office, Hamilton 1552 Highway #6, Carlisle AND By Zoom Attend In-person: Register by Sept. 15th **registration – no exceptions** Attend by Zoom: Register by Sept. 20th **registration for Zoom Link**

INSTALLATION: Sunday, August 7, 2022 Nominations closed for 44th Moderator of The United Church of Canada on June 17. The United Church of Canada requires an election process for Moderator, so the nominee, the Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, Kwisa’lakw, attended the election on July 23 ..... and the Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, Kwisa’lakw, will be installed on August 7, 2022. Learn more about the nominee in this biographical statement. For those unable to attend in person, the event will be...

It has been such a privilege to serve the communities of faith and ministry personnel of Antler River Watershed, Horseshoe Falls and Western Ontario Waterways Regional Councils over the past three and a half years as we transitioned from conferences to the regional council governance and to the brand new Office of Vocation. More than changes in staffing, more than a new executive and commissions, more than new policies or processes or software platforms, the change of the structure of The...

SAVE THE DATES: ANTIRACISM and the UNITED CHURCH – INTENSIVE WORKSHOP in 2023 Are you interested in furthering your engagement with anti-racism? Save the Dates for this two-session workshop: Tuesdays February 7, 2023 and March 7, 2023 @10:00-11:30 AM EST Feb 7- Part 1: Antiracism Workshop with Selam Debs. March 7- Part 2: Antiracism for the UCC with a UCC BIPOC theologian/racial justice educator. Facilitator TBA. Selam Debs is a Black Ethiopian queer Anti-Racism Coach, Consultant & Trainer...

Here is the Mission Support Grant application for 2023. The deadline for submitting an application is 12:01 am Tuesday September 6th, 2022. Completed application packages can be sent to Kathy Douglas at KDouglas@united-church.ca Upon receiving your email, Kathy will let you know she has your application. If you have not heard from Kathy within 3 working days, please be in touch with her to ensure she received your email. If you have any questions or concerns as you fill out the application,...

ISARC’s Ontario Election Backgrounders We are pleased to provide four backgrounders for use in the upcoming provincial election. Please use them to encourage civic discussion with neighbours and friends, raise questions with candidates, and inform your participation in community all-candidate events. View Backgrounder PDF During the past two years of pandemic response, many issues of equality, adequacy and human dignity were sidelined. Yet, the dire effects of the pandemic served to further...

The Ontario Grant to Support Anti-Hate Security Measures for Faith-Based and Cultural Organizations is now accepting applications for 2022-23. Organizations that applied for the grant in 2021-22 can apply again for 2022-23. The deadline to apply is August 31, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EST. As with the previous round of the program, the grant can go towards expenses such as security equipment or training to respond to hate-motivated incidents. Funds must be spent on eligible expenses by March 31,...

COVID POLICIES from the National Office of The United Church of Canada With restrictions easing across the country, the United Church sought the advice of outside legal counsel for communities of faith. Excerpts from the legal opinion are provided below. Please note it is based on policies currently in place and the assessment of them as reasonable. Assuming that the original rule issued by the Church or congregation concerning masking or proof of vaccination status was reasonable, there is...

You Are Invited! Be Bold, Be Brave Praise God in the holy temple! Praise God for mighty deeds! Praise God for bountiful mercies! Praise God who meets our needs! Psalm 150 (from Voices United) It seems like a very long time, since Grant Williams played the Harry Potter theme music for us at the Meridian Centre and the Hogwarts Sorting Hat helped us discern our places on the Regional Council. Just six months later COVID-19 shut us down for in-person events and we had to be bold and brave in how...

In the summer of 2018, Diane Blanchard accepted the invitation to serve as Minister, Pastoral Relations, for Antler River Watershed, Western Ontario Waterways and Horseshoe Falls Regional Councils starting on January 1, 2019. As if the structural change was not enough to manage, the church also chose that date to implement a new search and selection system called ChurchHub. Diane shepherded congregations through the ChurchHub process in the early days and still resources them now. She trained...

Dear siblings in Christ, Ahead of PIE Day 2022 (March 14th), a small group of friends of Horseshoe Falls and Shining Waters Regional Councils came together to talk about the ways Scripture has been used – and misused – to cause harm to 2SLGBTQIA+ people. We talked about ways the United Church perpetuated that harm. We talked about how far we have come as a denomination – and how far we have left to go. We celebrated the progress that has been made and we wondered what we might offer to help...

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