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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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.
The 1984 General Council decided that peace education should become a high priority in the United Church over the next five years. In November 1985, General Council Executive approved a three-point strategy which included that development of a theology of peace-making that would engage the church in a discovery of what it means to be a Christian in a nuclear age, and what it means to be a confessing church in a middle-sized country situated between the major antagonists in the nuclear conflict. The National Working Group on Peace and Justice developed the peace theology project, “An Invitation to the Kitchen Table,” to involve people at the local level in developing a peace theology for the church. Over 227 individuals and/or groups registered to participate in the project. A number of local and neighbourhood groups met to develop peace affirmations. This was followed by regional meetings and it finally culminated in a national meeting where the statement of faith on peace was finalized for presentation to the 1990 General Council…
WHEREAS to be a Church signifies not only a willingness but a responsibility to be in solidarity with those suffering the effects of war, particularly the poor; and WHEREAS the world recently witnessed the killing of six Jesuit priests and two women of their household in El Salvador who worked for peace and with the poor; and WHEREAS members of the non-governmental Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and other humanitarian and church organizations continue to disappear, be tortured and harassed and/or expelled as in the case of two Canadians; the Reverend Brian Rudd and Karen Ridd; and WHEREAS Canada is now a full member of the OAS and supports the Esquipulas Peace Accords:
Whereas the Persian Gulf Crisis threatens to erupt into full-scale war of disastrous proportions, potentially involving the use of chemical and nuclear weapons;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The United Church of Canada be encourage to uphold in its prayers and in continuing solidarity the churches and peoples in the Middle East; and that the 33rd General Council adopt as its own the Canadian Council of Churches’ statement on the Middle East; and that the 33rd General Council, through its Interchurch-Interfaith Committee, encourage dialogue among faith groups in Canada on the Middle East:
Keywords: Sexuality, Contraception, Abortion, Restorative and Criminal Justice, Gender Justice, Health Care
That the Government of Canada be called upon to: a) substantially expand Canada’s commendable and important assistance with the implementing and/or monitoring of the Esquipulas peace agreements, and
The 32nd General Council urge the government of Canada to prohibit the testing of cruise missiles over Canadian territory.
WHEREAS during the 1950’s and early 1960’s a series of psychiatric experiments was conducted at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, Quebec; and WHEREAS Dr. Ewan Cameron, Director, combined the following techniques to achieve his goals;
