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.
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In 2022 the Executive of the General Council adopted the strategic operational plan for the work of the General Council Office. One of the six objectives was Strengthening Invitation: Humility and Confidence in Sharing Faith. The objective’s goal was to help to implement effective and connected regional and national strategies that result in growth within existing ministries, and by seeding and sustaining new ministries and communities of faith.
With the enactment of “Remit 4: Funding a New Model” (GC43 2018), the intention was for all pastoral charges to contribute to governance and shared services in a proportional and transparent way. Since the Denominational Assessment was introduced in 2019, six years of experience have shown that the current rate, based on the economic realities of that time, is no longer sufficient to support the full scope of responsibilities mandated by the Manual as of 2019.
In the life cycle of a community of faith, change is natural, and it might happen in a variety of ways, such as “relocating,” “realignments,” “reforming” (all of these are in the Manual as descriptors of congregational lifetime changes - G.1.3), “migrations,” “mergers,” and more.
The Remit and Proposals process was designed to allow for democratic input from the appropriate groups within the denomination so that the decision-making process is upheld with integrity to ensure our identity as a conciliar church and to give voice to all. We have recently witnessed “legal loopholes” allow for prior Remits to be circumvented using the Proposal process.
The United Church of Canada must establish a policy around the use of AI to ensure that technological advancements align with its ethical values, social justice principles, and commitment to inclusivity.
The United Church of Canada (UCC) is facing a significant challenge in maintaining and expanding its membership due to the declining population of congregants and the limited engagement with migrant and refugee communities.
We believe that the Triune God is calling us to (re)widen the structures of the church to make room for Emerging Communities of Faith within The Manual of The United Church of Canada.
Broadview Magazine, an important voice for faith and justice in the United Church, has suffered substantial cuts to both its funding and advertising revenue.
Glen Morris United Church and likely other small churches have difficulty filling all positions on their Governing Bodies due to the limited number of full members in their congregations. Many adherents are faithful and devout Christians who possess skills and resources to become invaluable members of Governing Bodies. They are willing to be nominated and elected to Governing Bodies to contribute to the life of work of their churches. this is an important issue since it very likely affects United Churches throughout Canada.
We believe God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit is calling us to respond to the challenge of youth underrepresentation in our church. We see the desire for youth inclusion and seek to offer a proposal that will provide an avenue for youth influence at both regional and national levels. The aim of this proposal is not to prove that young people are important leaders in the church, it is to provide a new avenue for their leadership to be empowered within the governance of our denomination.