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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That the 41st General Council 2012, in order to continue the work of the Beaconsfield Initiative in the Cordillera region in the Philippines, direct the Executive of the General Council and General Secretary, General Council to:
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.
WHEREAS corporate concentration and control in the market place creates disempowerment for government and food producers and, WHEREAS this also creates economic hardship for primary food producers and, WHEREAS government assistance to multi-national corporations is not in the best interests of either primary food producers or consumers. THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 33rd General Council urge the federal and provincial Governments to alter their present economic assistance to multinational corporations involved in food production, processing and distribution in order to more justly meet the needs of primary food producers.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the General Council 1. URGE all levels of the church to give top priority to minimizing consumption of available energy resources; 2. CALL on provincial and federal governments of Canada for policies and funds to support an accelerating program to develop new energy resources which are consistent with a just, participatory and sustainable society; 3. SUPPORT the government’s application of nuclear safeguard policies, and Canada’s role in limiting proliferation of nuclear weapons; 4. ASSIST the conferences and presbyteries to implement programs of dialogue and education on nuclear energy in the context of all energy sources, in order to prepare our church members to participate in evolving decision—making processes for a more just society.
The issue here is the moral issue of loving our neighbour as ourselves, recognizing our common humanity; education in the history of religions is needed by any responsible person in our society, in order to combat the ignorance that feeds racism, prejudice and bigotry. This petition is not advocating any particular theology of religion or a missiology of any kind. It is simply recognizing that knowledge of other religious traditions is necessary for peace and reconciliation in the world. WHEREAS our Canadian society is becoming increasingly pluralistic and multicultural, with people of many different religious traditions living in close proximity; and WHEREAS racism is at least partly a product of ignorance about the different cultural orientation of other people; and WHEREAS a knowledge of the religious traditions of the major participants is an essential element in understanding world affairs; and
