This Library contains documents from all recent United Church governance meetings, including General Council and its Executive. It will also soon include “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.
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That the 42nd General Council 2015, responding to the ethical imperative of our faith as expressed in the social policies of The United Church of Canada, and commitments to partnership and right relations including support for free, prior and informed consent, instructs the General Secretary to communicate to The United Church of Canada Pension Board (UCCPB) that the will of the church is to divest of its shares in Goldcorp and make public that divestment.
In 2012 the General Secretary, the General Council was asked by the Executive to do a consultation with the French Ministries constituency. The consultation resulted in a restructuring of the structure of Ministries in French (MiF). A couple of the issues raised by the consultation were the issue of the bilingual nature of the church and issues of translation.
The current phase of the theological dialogue between the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada resumed in January 2012 with a shared mandate to discern “whether God is calling us into a new stage in our common life.”The 2010 General Synod of the Anglican Church specifically asked the dialogue to focus its work on “an examination of the doctrinal identities of the two churches and the implications of this for the lives of the churches, including understandings of sacraments and orders of ministry.” Meeting once annually, the members of the dialogue have rediscovered the degree to which our two churches share a common faith, context, history, geography, and commitment to carrying out God’s mission in the world. We have spent considerable time examining the theological positions and practices related to orders of ministry, sacraments, and creeds.
The Permanent Committee, Programs for Mission and Ministry proposes: That the Executive of the General Council receive the report of the United Church’s consultation on disabilities (entitled Gathering Together: Toward a Culture of Mutuality and Full Participation for Persons with Disabilities and Their Allies), and approve the following recommendations
The original motion was amended to first receive the report, then approve the recommendations.
In July 2013, about 55 self-identified people with disabilities, and their allies, gathered for a twoday consultation to share stories, ideas, dreams, and hopes about what would enable The United Church of Canada to better live into its recent commitment to becoming an “open, accessible, and barrier-free church, where there is full participation of persons with disabilities in the church’s ministry and mission.”
That the General Council Executive direct the General Secretary to activate the Palestine/Israel Education and Economic Action Campaign beginning spring 2013, in the following phases: · From June 2013: - engagement with select companies and retail stores, and selection of target items; · From September 2013 consumer economic action, highlighting spiritual reflection and action for Advent, Christmas, and Lenten seasons · July - December 2014: Evaluation, follow-up actions, and preparation of report for March 2015 Executive meeting.
The Aboriginal Ministries Council and the Committee on Indigenous Justice and Residential Schools propose: That the Executive of the General Council… 1. Publicly support the call of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) for the Government of Canada to convene as soon as possible a National Inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada, with Aboriginal women to have a leadership role in the design, decision-making, process and implementation of this inquiry;
Food sovereignty—or people’s food sovereignty—centres on the idea that people must reclaim their power of decision-making in the food system by rebuilding the relationships between people and the land, and between producers and consumers.
The Executive of the General Council proposes that: The 41st General Council 2012: 1) adopt this statement: That The United Church of Canada:
