This Library contains documents from all recent United Church governance meetings, including General Council and its Executive. It also includes “Our Beliefs Explained” official policy documents dating back several decades. If you can't find something you think should be included, contact gcbusiness@united-church.ca.
1) Enter your search words.
2) Use the filters to refine your search by GC, Document Type, Originating body, or more. You can stack the filters to further refine your search to help find exactly what you’re looking for. Results will update in real-time as you select filters.
3) To find Belief/Policy documents, use the “Topic” filter option.
Helpful topics
WHEREAS the statement of the Minister of Multiculturalism which expresses “regret” over Japanese Canadian injury due to internment and confiscation is inadequate and does not acknowledge wrongdoing; and WHEREAS the recent act of the Minister of Multiculturalism to establish a fund for victims of racism in Canada does not address the specific need for compensation to Japanese Canadians; and
WHEREAS the 1983 Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Vancouver called upon all member churches to “intensify their efforts to develop a common witness in a divided world, confronting with renewed vigour the threats to peace and survival and engaging in struggles for justice and human dignity,” and
WHEREAS the threat of nuclear war is global and the prevention of nuclear war calls for global collaboration by people of all faiths and commitments; and WHEREAS the Christian gospel is denied in the false apocalypticism of some religious figures and by the despair and passivity of others; and WHEREAS the world is witnessing a renewal of movements that use religion to buttress militarism and war-making:
Faith Base Jesus called persons into freedom from coercion and enslavement, and through the cross and resurrection delivers us from evil powers. The Bible tells us to be discerning of false prophets and doctrines. Preying on the human spirit, mind control is based on fear and guilt.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: THAT the 30th General Council of The United Church of Canada: 1 REQUEST the government of Canada to recognize the right of self-determination; 2 BRING influence to bear on the government of the United States of America to withdraw from interventions in Nicaraguan affairs.
THAT the 30th General Council: 1. AFFIRM the United Nations’ proposal for a mutual verifiable freeze on the development, testing, production and deployment of nuclear weapons and delivery systems of vehicles, urging our government to vote at the United Nations in favour of the freeze;
WHEREAS sexism is a form of oppression that exists in church and society; and WHEREAS sexism functions to discriminate against women; and WHEREAS sexism is manifested and perpetuated through the traditions, policies, structures and theologies of the church and thereby supports and encourages the sexist patterns of society; and WHEREAS sexism is evil and contrary to the intention of God for creation; and WHEREAS other forms of oppression will not be eradicated until sexism is eliminated; and WHEREAS to work against the evil of sexism is to enter more fully into the process of transformation and therefore to act more faithfully as the people of God:
We affirm our acceptance of all human beings as persons made in the image of God, regardless of their sexual orientations. Accumulated social science research and the articulated experience of the vast majority of both heterosexual and homosexual men and women affirm that sexual orientation is not so much a matter of choice, as a “given” aspect of one’s identity, resulting probably from a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors.
WHEREAS the world church has been called to develop Christian, social and political ethics based on the vision of a “just, participatory and sustainable” society as the foundation of a wise stewardship of all the resources with which we have been blessed by God; and WHEREAS the United Church at its 29th General Council adopted policies which apply this vision to energy and environmental questions; and WHEREAS the Division of Mission in Canada has encouraged the church to consider the vision of the kingdom, announced in the ministry of Jesus, and realized in just and right relations among humankind; and WHEREAS the state of the present Canadian and world economy represents a state of moral crisis, in which capital, rather than labour, property rather than people, are asserted as the dominant principle of economic and social life, and inequality and injustice increase rather than get reduced; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT: The 30th General Council pledge support and encouragement to the Canadian Council of Churches committee, which is seeking to build an inter-faith and ecumenical dialogue on the Middle East, and commend this committee’s efforts to our general membership and to the courts of the church.
