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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The 34th General Council agrees to 1 request the Moderator or the General Secretary to express our opposition to the arms trade to the Government of Canada through the offices of the Prime Minister of Canada, the Secretary of State for External Affairs, the Minister of Defence; and
The 34th General Council strongly encourages the Division of Mission in Canada to create and/or identify the tools and guidelines for AIDS ministry in consultation with HIV-infected people and people presently engaged in this ministry.
The 34th General Council requests the Division of Mission in Canada and the Division of World Outreach a) to gather existing resources and up-to-date information on the UCC’s position on the Middle East; and
The 34th General Council agrees to a) declare its revulsion at the acts of war and atrocities carried out in the former Yugoslavia and particularly at the attacks on minorities in policies aimed at “ethnic cleansing”; b) through the Moderator, communicate with the faith communities (Orthodox, Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Protestant) of the former Yugoslavia and their counterparts in Canada to express our grief and our support for their efforts to relieve human suffering, to withhold moral legitimacy from war-making, and to bring about reconciliation; c) through the Moderator, express to the World Council of Churches and to the Conference of European Churches our willingness to cooperate in efforts for humanitarian relief, protection of refugees, reconciliation, and rebuilding of “civil society” after the war is over;
Having heard Petition 39 [re: placing abortion in the Criminal Code], it is moved that 1 The Frankford/Batawa Pastoral Charge be encouraged to continue studying the issues and to forward the results of their study to Belleville Presbytery;
WHEREAS as Christians we affirm the sanctity of human life, born or unborn and that life is much more than physical existence; and
Having heard Petition 37, it is MOVED that the 33rd General Council: Designate and establish one Sunday per year as an AIDS Awareness Sunday; and Direct DMC to give publicity to the British Columbia Kit of Worship Resources for AIDS Awareness.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this 33rd General Council direct the Division of Mission in Canada to find the means to address bioethical issues to consider immediately the following: 1. All gene transfers in humans that have even a chance of getting into reproductive cells for passage to future generations, should be prohibited
The 33rd General Council urges the Canadian government to: 1. Protest the construction of an acoustic measurement facility in Behm Canal; 2. Deplore the use of Canadian waters by US submarines; 3. Pursue vigorously Canada’s sovereignty claim to the waters of the Dixon Entrance; 4. Insist on environmental precautions before allowing passage of US ships through Canadian waters; 5. Adopt a policy of military de-escalation and to adopt a posture of opposition to a continuing escalation of the nuclear arms race.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 33rd General Council of the United Church of Canada: 1. express its profound regret that the Canadian government has responded outside the auspices of the UN to the Arabian Gulf Crisis; 2. call on the government to withdraw its commitment of Canadian Forces to the US led military confrontation in the Arabian Gulf; and to urgently press the UN to resolve the Arabian Gulf Crisis; 3. and finally, urge the Government of Canada to ensure that Canadian external affairs policy is aimed at promoting and supporting multinational agreements, recognizing international law, and participating in UN initiatives, to create a just and peaceful world.
