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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At its November, 2013, meeting, the General Council Executive directed the Theology and Inter-Church Inter-Faith Committee “to research and devise a position paper regarding adoption and create a United Church of Canada statement on adoption.”
That the 42ndGeneral Council (2015): 1. Adopt the Process of a Living Apology as a vehicle for dialogue, story-telling, education and reconciliation with persons who identify as sexual or gender diverse including but not limited to Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transsexual, Transgender, Two-Spirited, Queer (LGBTT2Q) persons;
That the 42nd General Council (2015) direct the General Secretary, General Council to: 1. send letters of support and solidarity to the Progressive Evangelical congregations in Canada and the United States who have made supportive statements of inclusion and welcome to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people;
That the 42nd General Council (2015): Direct the Executive of the General Council to promote existing resources for congregations and other ministries to understand alternatives to the “first past the post” electoral system in Canada.
The 42nd General Council (2015) direct the General Secretary, General Council to: a) contact the Prime Minister, the party leaders and appropriate ministers calling on them to eliminate solitary confinement; b) contact the Prime Minister, the party leaders and appropriate ministers calling on them to: • Provide better training of staff regarding mental health issues of offenders; • Schedule mental health assessments and development of treatment strategies; • Ensure transfer of inmates prone to injuring themselves to treatment centres; • Ensure that there is adequate oversight of prison conditions. • Work more closely with the John Howard Society, the Elizabeth Fry Society, and the Canadian Mental Health Association in developing better strategies for treatment and training. • Work more closely with the interfaith chaplaincies.
encourage all congregations of The United Church of Canada to welcome transgender people into membership, ministry, and full participation Keywords: Transgender, human rights, gender identity, sexual orientation
That the General Secretary, General Council, create resources for people of all ages for the purpose of: • recognizing homophobia • changing our behaviour and establishing just relationships and that attention be given to strategies for intervention and support on behalf of those who are caught in situations of homophobic abuse, In co-operation and consultation with Affirm United/S’affirmer Ensemble. sexuality, gay, lesbian, bisexual
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 by . people, the very neighbours Jesus has invited us to love . scripture, which grounds our faith and our understanding of the nature and purpose of marriage . history, which affirms the importance of marriage as a social institution · social expectations, which regard marriage as a contractual relationship governed by legal sanctions and customs . marriage 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
Receive the report of the Adoption Task Group concerning United Church run maternity homes, and Direct the Theology and Inter-Church, Inter-Faith Committee to research and devise a position paper regarding adoption and create a United Church of Canada statement on adoption. Give consideration to other denominational statements on adoption and to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
WHEREAS the Nuremberg Tribunal identified a war of aggression as a crime against humanity, calling it “the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole,” and in so doing specifically rejected arguments designed to justify a pre-emptive military attack;
