GC43 or earlier Marriage, A United Church of Canada Understanding When the 38th General Council-the highest decision-making body of The United Church of Canada-decided in 2003 to ask the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage in the marriage legislation, it was acting on a lengthy history of earlier actions. The purpose of this paper is to describe the United Church's historical and theological understanding of marriage. Our theological understanding of marriage is informed bypeople, the very neighbours Jesus has invited us to lovescripture, which grounds our faith and our understanding of the nature and purpose of marriagehistory, which affirms the importance of marriage as a social institutionsocial expectations, which regard marriage as a contractual relationship governed by legal sanctions and customsmarriage as sacred covenant, a means of God's grace not only for the marital partners but also for their offspring and for the wider community Resources Marriage, A United Church of Canada Understanding.pdf Save to PDF True Document Date December 30, 2005 Document Type Social Policy Originating Body Other Topic Gender and Sexuality Latest News GCE Summary, Sept. 25–28, 2025 The 45th General Council Executive met in person in Toronto, for three days focused on orienting the Executive to the work, including its fiduciary duties, strategic leadership, financial oversight and its role in relation to committees, as well as The United Church Foundation and program organizations such as KAIROS GC45 Recall Meeting: Sept. 13, 2025 The recall meeting for the 45th General Council moved smoothly through several Way Forward proposals outstanding from the in-person meetings in Calgary, Alberta, in August. 45th General Council makes clear commitments to Just Peace regarding Palestine and Israel 45th General Council recalled to deal with unfinished, urgent business on Sept. 13; several proposals dealing with Palestine and Israel receive overwhelming support.
