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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In The United Church of Canada, we see ourselves as a church rooted in justice and equality with a vision of Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, and Daring Justice. Our roots flow from the social gospel tradition of bringing Christian responsibility to public influence. In many ways, we have been a model of equality. We were the first denomination to grant ordination to women and commissioning and ordination to people who are openly 2SLGBTQIA+. United Church ministry personnel come from different walks of life and many cultural backgrounds. And while our history includes the running of Indian Residential Schools, we have apologized, made reparation, and continue to work toward reconciliation.
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.
The 40th General Council that met in Kelowna, British Columbia, in August 2009 approved a motion to add to the Doctrine section currently in the Basis of Union three other doctrinal statements that General Councils of the United Church have approved since 1925. Those three statements are the Statement of Faith (1940), A New Creed (adopted in 1968; revised in 1980 and again in 1994), and A Song of Faith (2006). For this proposed action to take place, the General Council authorized remits, which are votes by presbyteries and, in this case, also by pastoral charges, on whether to add some or all of these three statements to the Doctrine section of the Basis of Union. This background document is intended to help your pastoral charge’s session, church board, or church council as you prepare to vote on whether to include these other doctrinal statements in the Basis of Union.
The 37th General Council 2000 of The United Church of Canada approved the report To Seek Justice and Resist Evil: Towards a Global Economy for All God’s People. The report described, analyzed, and denounced “the global reality of systemic economic injustice” (neo-liberal economic globalization) and called the church “to seek justice and resist evil so that together in mission we can build a global economy for all God’s people.” It was both critical of the global economic status quo and its exclusionary tendencies, and filled with hope for the fulfillment of God’s promise of justice for all people and creation.
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;
To Seek Justice & Resist Evil invites us to SEE global economic injustice, to discern or JUDGE what this means for our Christian faith, and to ACT in common mission for justice. This document provides a snapshot of stories that illustrate the devastating reality for the majority of people living under the present economic system in the world today. It does not intend to suggest blanket opposition to all aspects of the global economic system or to oppose all international trade or profit-seeking activity. Nor does this document attempt to present a blueprint for an alternative society. Rather, through this document the global partners of The United Church of Canada have issued both a Cry and a Call to seek justice and resist evil so that together in mission we can build a global economy for all God's people.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Thirty-sixth General Council to call upon the Government of Canada to implement a National Childcare Program which provides affordable, accessible, and quality childcare.
Today is a time of spiritual dislocation for many Christians. A secular and consumerist spirit pervades public life. The shopping mall can be as much a Sunday morning destination as is church. Many people identify themselves as “spiritual” but not “religious”. They choose not to identify themselves with any of the traditional churches of Canada. Greater knowledge of the richness of the world’s religions, together with the arrival of immigrants and refugees from all corners of the earth, has brought Canada greater cultural and religious diversity than earlier generations might ever have imagined. This is true not only in Toronto and Vancouver, but in Lac la Biche, Alberta and Shediac, New Brunswick. The proximity of people of other faiths has served to break down stereotypes about other faith communities. We may even feel challenged by the spiritual and moral integrity of some of our newer neighbours. These developments have raised the question of how to relate the historic teachings of the church about Jesus Christ to the present pluralistic moment. As Christian people we want to witness faithfully to the salvation, wholeness and challenge we have experienced through the gospel of Jesus Christ. At the same time, and precisely because we know Jesus as God’s Word made flesh, we want to treat all our neighbours ethically. We want to acknowledge the value we see in them and in their own expressions of faith.
Whereas the House of Commons did not take into consideration on Bill C 86 by the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Sciences and Technology; and Whereas the Senate Committee’s recommendations reflect the recommendations of ICCR, Amnesty International, the Canadian Bar Association and UNHCR representative to Canada in briefs presented to the Senate Committee and the House of Commons Committee; and
