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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The Division of Mission in Canada continue to support projects concerned with the rehabilitation of alcoholics, or action that may have the effect of reducing the over-consumption and abuse of beverage alcohol. Keywords: Alcohol, Liquor, Alcoholism, Addiction, Misuse
The Handicapped and the Wholeness of the Family of God WHEREAS we believe that Christ died and rose for all and his church to be the sign for the coming unity of humankind, and that it must be open to women and men of every nation and culture, of every time and place, of every sort of ability and disability; in its mission, it must actively seek them wherever and whoever they are, and in its company they must find their true home; and
Notwithstanding many international efforts toward securing peace with justice in the Middle East and creating a better understanding of the issues, there has been no significant progress towards a just settlement of the problems in the Middle East since the General Council last met in 1974. The Geneva Conference has not reconvened at the time of writing. The Arab States and the Palestinians continue to regard the Palestine Liberation Organization as the only legal representative of the Palestinians, and Israel remains adamant in its refusal to sit in a Conference with the PLO.
Excerpts of Report Theological, Social and Ethical Perspectives At the onset it must be acknowledged that, while the faith perspective is important to Christians in any serious endeavour such as genetic science, its contribution is not always immediately clear or unambiguous. As Christians, our lives in all decision-making moments are informed by Jesus Christ, the history of the Jewish people and the Christian church of which he is the centre; and we need to try to understand how this history and tradition relate to the problems with which we are faced. However, when these problems are new and have not been encountered before, as is the case in genetic science, we cannot immediately apply our understanding of faith or the biblical patterns and images to them. In addition faith itself is a dynamic phenomenon, and the ways we understand it are changed subtly by new knowledge and insights which may come from any source, including genetic science. Genetics, Genetic Research, Genetic Medicine, Medical Research, Birth Control, Bioethics
We recognize that gambling takes on many forms. There are many disagreements among people as to which activities actually are gambling, and as to what is the relative harmfulness of different activities which are generally acknowledged to be gambling. Our concern lies in all these areas, but our thrust in this report is chiefly on legalized lotteries and on the possible use of gambling activities to raise funds for churches. Central Aim: Our aim and purpose has been to provide GUIDELINES, not directives. We have no intention of attempting to answer all or even most of the questions posed above. The factual information and the reflections contained in this report must speak for themselves. The onus for making value judgments and policy decisions finally rests with individuals and congregations, although the recommendations will give specific conclusions for approval by the General Council.
The question might fairly be asked as to the reason for particular attention in the church to the problems associated with alcohol misuse, when there are so many government, quasi-government, and private agencies focusing on this problem. We begin to answer this question by asking another: What unique gifts has the church to offer persons, families, and communities where alcohol misuse causes harm? Uniquely the church is that body of people assigned to consciously carry forward (in all times and places) the gospel of Jesus Christ, his ministry of teaching and healing, and his straightforward commendation of the good, and reproof of evil.
The native peoples occupying the Anicinabe Park, at Kenora, Ontario, have of their own volition given up their arms and turned from the path of violence to a path of open negotiation Keywords: Anicinabe Park, Aboriginal, First Nations, Native Indian
The Churchill-Nelson River Diversion Projects, a massive hydro development undertaken by Manitoba Hydro, involve a major flooding of large areas of northern Manitoba, including reserve lands now inhabited by several thousand native people. To represent the concerns of the native people a Northern Flood Committee, made up of representatives of eight affected communities (treaty and non-treaty) has been formed. The Committee has retained outstanding legal counsel and has chosen Henry Spence as their capable chairman.
The General Council of the United Church asked the government of Canada to take all necessary steps to ban the advertising of all alcoholic beverages on Canadian television.
The 26th General Council urge that much firmer measures be taken to enforce the minimum drinking age laws in all the provinces. Keywords: Alcohol, Liquor, Addiction, Advertising, Law, Youth
