GCE Summary, February 20–21, 2026

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“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

The first 45th General Council Executive (GCE) of 2026 met online on February 20 and 21, 2026. The work over the two days thoughtfully reflected the Executive’s role to offer insight, oversight, and foresight for the good of the church. The equity support team was comprised of Rev. Adele Halliday, Anti-Racism and Equity Lead in the General Council Office, and GCE members Luc Noubissi, Thea Sheridan-Jonah and Alcris Limongi.

The General Secretary, Rev. Michael Blair, is currently on sabbatical; Rev. Cheryl-Ann Stadelbauer-Sampa is Acting General Secretary in his absence. However, Rev. Blair, through the Acting General Secretary, announced his retirement, and the Executive agreed to work with him to determine the timing of his departure, as well as beginning a process to recruit a new General Secretary. 

The Right Rev. Dr. Kimberly Heath began Friday with prayer that lifted up regional requests, and a reflection on the shifts and small changes we can make during Lent, through the lens of 2 Corinthians 4:7–15. She chose the song “Lord, Prepare Me to Be a Sanctuary” to set the tone for the covenanting liturgy installing Angelica Benalcazar, the former Director, Human Resources, as Executive Minister, Shared Services. The liturgy ended with communion and prayer.

On Saturday, Sarah Charters, President of the United Church Foundation, presented a Mission and Service story of the Tomken Grove after-school program from Westminster United Church in Mississauga. For the discussion on the Pilgrimages of Learning, the Executive was joined by Ms. Elisabeth Cook, Rector (President) of the Latin American Biblical University (UBL) in Costa Rica and professor of Biblical Studies, as well as Maria Tendai Dendere, Director for Humanitarian Services and Diakonia at the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (Zimbabwe).

Insight

Consent Agenda

The following reports and proposals were addressed through the consent agenda:

Received for information:  

• Acting General Secretary’s Accountability Report
• Operational Plan Report — Fourth Quarter 2025
• United Church of Canada Foundation Accountability Report 
• Leadership Counts Report 

The GCE approved the following proposals in the consent agenda:

• NOM05 Recommendations for Appointment
• GS35 Revisions to ChurchHub Access for Ministry Personnel
• GS36 New Appointment to Partner Council 2025–2028
• GS38 Signing Authority
• GS43 General Secretary — Authorization to Sign Acte de reconnaissance — Aylmer United Church Property 

Time with the Moderator and Acting General Secretary

On Friday, the Moderator offered some reflections about her ministry in the past few months. Since the beginning of December last year, she has joined the Francophone youth at their Faith and Football gathering at Five Oaks in Paris, ON; spoken at the anniversary of Lennoxville United Church, and attended Worshiplude, organized by youth in the Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council. She also attended Kitchissippi United Church, offering a blessing for the over 100 new members recently welcomed from the God’s Beloved congregation.

The Moderator also spoke of her recent trip to Colombia, where she connected with partners working with LGBTQIA+ communities; she was encouraged by their leadership and programs, and noted that while deep spirituality is not a challenge in Colombia, security and food safety are. 

On Saturday, Acting General Secretary, Rev. Cheryl-Ann Stadelbauer-Sampa spoke of the inspiration she draws from working with the various units in the General Council Office, since the General Secretary role touches so many different projects and initiatives. She observes that the volume of work outpaces the role and requires ongoing learning, even for experienced staff. She reminded the Executive to keep this in mind when the next person is recruited to fill the role. 

Leadership 

The GCE engaged with two significant presentations related to leadership in the denomination. GCO staff Rev. Adam Hanley, Acting Co-Director, Policies and Programs for Ministry, and Diane Bosman, Program Coordinator, Member Engagement, led a process with Rev. Adele Halliday of reflection on the implications of the Leadership Counts Final Report (as received), which helps describe strengths and gaps in the diversity of ministry personnel and national committee members. 

Lynella Reid-James, Chair of the Nominations Committee, joined the GCE to highlight the importance of the ongoing work of this committee in ensuring effective, diverse, and accountable leadership across the governance bodies of the national church. 

Pilgrimages of Learning

Rev. Dr. Japhet Ndhlovu, Executive Minister, Church in Mission, introduced the Pilgrimages of Learning report, noting that the pilgrimages reflect the United Church’s attentiveness to what God is doing in the world, of mutual radical accompaniment. 

The pilgrims travelled to the four regions where the United Church has partners: Cuba, the Philippines, Kenya, and the Middle East. A few pilgrims presented their report, and shared firsthand observations and stories in breakout rooms. The report makes three recommendations, which will be discussed for decision at the May Executive meeting:

1. Prioritize listening to partners and the partners council
2. Affirm radical mutual accompaniment as a framework
3. Endorse in principle the pilgrimage of learning report and recommendations as foundational to future decisions regarding the global partnership program

Solidarity with Cuba Partners

On January 30, the Trump administration issued an executive order that enacts on the people of Cuba "a new tariff system that allows the United States to impose additional tariffs on imports from any country that directly or indirectly provides oil to Cuba." The United Church has several Mission and Service partners in Cuba, including the Cuban Council of Churches; Cuban Centre for Reflection and Dialogue CCRD in Cardenas; Martin Luther King Memorial Centre; Presbyterian Reformed Church of Cuba; and Ecumenical Seminary of Theology in Matanzas, and has expressed support and solidarity with them.

Partners report that they are on the brink of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, and are responding by providing humanitarian assistance, developing an ACT appeal, and advocating for the end of the blockade. They are clear that the only just path forward includes an immediate end to the US blockade on Cuba, respect for sovereignty and international law, and ongoing accompaniment and solidarity with the Cuban people in exercising their full rights to self-determination. 

Oversight

The GCE carried a motion to modify the timeline of one portion of the approved Total Compensation Review Proposal, so that regional councils would receive aggregate payroll data by regional cost of living groups once a triennium, instead of annually. The impact of this change would be significant annual savings to staff time, which in turn would free up staff in 2026 to explore options to automate some steps of the salary analysis and ensure that the process is less time-consuming.

The GCE also approved work by the Finance Advisory Committee to review existing Congregational Development loans and propose principles for the way forward to the GCE in November. 

Several updates were made to the Governance Handbook. Two changes were made to reflect decisions from GC45, including the addition of the Public Statements section, which was rewritten to reflect the intentions of the recommendation in the Report on the Office of the Moderator and General Secretary. The second change is that the Moderator’s Advisory Committee and the General Secretary’s Supervision Committee have been retired and replaced with a draft Terms of Reference for the Moderator and General Secretary Accountability Committee.

Pension Plan

Harry Li, Executive Minister, Pension and Finance, and John Prezisio, Pension Plan Legal Counsel, presented GS37 Governance Policy for the Pension Plan, recommending a small change that brings the existing governance documents and procedures for the Plan in one place, to prepare for a comprehensive third-party review of the plan’s governance structure, anticipated to begin later in 2026.

United Church Foundation

Sarah Charters and Jim Simpson, chair of the Foundation board, offered an overview of the Foundation’s successes, particularly the Centennial legacy campaign, which is still going strong, and runs until June 2028. By December 31, 2025, $15 million had been committed to the campaign; just over six weeks later, the campaign now has $18.2 million committed through gifts, new endowments, and bequests.

Granting for all purposes in 2025 amounted to $10.8 million, including $1.2 million granted through application streams and $6.2 million in immediate gifts, mostly to congregations. Charters noted that for 2026, the Foundation’s granting focus would be on Toward 2035, anti-racism work, and the Centennial, among others. The full report can be found here.

Foresight

Kairos Palestine II — A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide

The Executive endorsed Kairos Palestine’s challenge to the global church, which represents the call and the cry of Palestinian Christians in which Palestinians are “living in a time of genocide, ethnic cleansing, settler colonialism and forced displacement.” United Church of Canada people, communities of faith, and theological schools are urged to engage with Kairos Palestine II for action. Read the full manifesto on Kairos Palestine’s website.

46th General Council 

The Executive approved GS40, confirming the location of the 46th General Council as Brock University in St. Catharines (Horseshoe Falls Regional Council). The meeting dates will be July 31–August 4, 2028, with July 30–31 set aside for pre-events and August 5 for post-events. June 3, 10, and 17 of 2028 were identified for possible online sessions. Rev. Deborah Laforet is chair of the GC46 planning committee. Rev. Dr. Kenji Marui was appointed Chair of Business and Rev. MiYeon Kim is Chair of Worship.

Strategic Plan Metrics

Rev. Jennifer Henry, Executive Minister, Organizational Development and Strategy, presented a proposal, GS39 Strategic Metrics — Toward 2035 and 2026–2028 Strategic Plan, seeking the Executive’s approval of metrics intended to measure the impact of the strategic plan’s activities. To create a baseline, the work will draw on data already collected through statistics and completed surveys and studies. It will also be informed by an upcoming survey on engagement with Toward 2035, currently in beta testing, and another to gather information on the diversity of communities of faith across the country. 

Next Meeting and Cross-Country Check-In

The next meeting of the Executive is May 8–9.

The online Francophone session of Cross-Country Check-In is scheduled for May 12 from 6–7 p.m. ET, with host Rev. Eric Hebert-Daly, Executive Minister, East Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario Outaouais, and Nakonha:ka regional councils. 

The following evening, on May 13, the online English session will be held from 6–7:30 p.m. ET, with host Rev. Mark Laird, Executive Minister, Antler River Watershed, Horseshoe Falls, and Western Ontario Waterways regional councils.