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.
1) Enter your search words.
2) Use the filters to refine your search by GC, Document Type, Originating body, or more. You can stack the filters to further refine your search to help find exactly what you’re looking for. Results will update in real-time as you select filters.
3) To find Belief/Policy documents, use the “Topic” filter option.
Life is a gift from God and elicits our respect, awe and reverence. We are one Earth community, one human family and we share one destiny. We cherish and respect the rich diversity of life and celebrate the beauty of the Earth. For us, as members of one family, love and caring are the basis of our relationships with one another and with nature. The Earth community is a sacred trust. We recognize God's call to live in harmony with this total community, to draw on the Earth's sustenance responsibly, and to care for it that all may benefit equitably now and in the future.
Energy is integral to God's creation. Sources ranging from fossil fuels to the sun are transformed into the physical energy used by human societies. Nutritional elements combine with water and air to give our bodies the biological energy to maintain life. Our relationships with God, the natural world, and other people provide us with the spiritual energy to thrive.
The 34th General Council agrees to adopt the following statement on environment and development. Keywords: Ecology, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Consumerism, environmentalism, greenhouse gases, greenhouse effect, global warming
WHEREAS "the needs of the poor have priority over the wants of the rich" because "the way our society treats the poor and oppressed is, for us, a test of God's redeeming presence and of human justice" (30th General Council); and WHEREAS "we must ensure that advances in biotechnology respect the integrity of creation, and that such advances do not give power to the few at the expense of the many" (31st General Council); and WHEREAS "we are one Earth community, one human family and we share one destiny" and "we recognize God's call to live in harmony with this total community, to draw on the Earth's sustenance responsibly, and to care for it that all may benefit equitably now and in the future" (34th General Council); and
In the company of God and one another, our community can be transformative. Ethnic Ministries believes that God is calling us to transformation as individuals, as communities, and as church, with all the life-giving traditions, faiths, and cultures we have been gifted with for Godsmission
Individually and in community, we do everything through the lenses of our cultures: there is no such thing as a culture-free perspective. Our experiences and understandings are shaped by our cultures. Since we cannot capture the complexity of God through our limited cultural understandings, our understanding of God is limited when we see this God through only one dominant cultural perspective. Instead, our understandings of God and our scriptures can be deepened when we come together, as disciples of Jesus Christ, in all of our differences and diversities to acknowledge intercultural reality and richness.
Implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Follow-up to the UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992. WHERAS the 33rd General Council (1990) adopted a policy resolution on the problem of climate change (global warming) recognizing it as one of the most serious threats to the well-being of God’s Creation and urging international negotiations to limit the emission of greenhouse gases, and WHEREAS the United Church has provided leadership in educating people about what they can do to reduce the threat of climate change, in pressing governments to limit their emissions of greenhouse gases, in encouraging churches in other countries to become involved, and in participating in World Council of Churches’ Monitoring Teams during the negotiations for a treaty on climate change, and
