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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At its November, 2013, meeting, the General Council Executive directed the Theology and Inter-Church Inter-Faith Committee “to research and devise a position paper regarding adoption and create a United Church of Canada statement on adoption.”
The Theology and Inter-Church Inter-Faith Committee invites your response to this study document on membership in The United Church of Canada, a study authorized by the 42nd General Council that met in Corner Brook in 2015. At the end of this document you will find the questions we are seeking feedback on. You are invited to respond either by using the survey link found there or by sending a hardcopy to the address provided. To give a sense of the questions being asked before reaching the end of the document, you will see them numbered and in bold type at various places throughout this document. You will also have an opportunity to make other comments at the end.
That the Executive of the General Council encourage all Conferences, Districts, and Presbyteries, to incorporate at least one half hour in their 2016 meetings to read aloud the 1986 Apology to First Nations People and the 1988 response from the All Native Circle Conference as a way to recognize the 30th anniversary of the Apology. Apology to First Nations People, 30th anniversary of the Apology, Apology
That the Executive of the General Council, in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Call to Action 48 (text below): 1. formally adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and comply with its principles, norms, and standards as a framework for reconciliation;
On June 2, 2015, the United Church of Canada, along with the other church parties to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, welcomed the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation C...
That the Executive of the General Council, in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Call to Action 48:formally adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous ...
That the 42nd General Council (2015) direct the General Secretary, General Council to: a. Call upon the Government of Canada to: i. Conduct a full Public Inquiry into the more than 1200 cases of missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada; ii. Support and continue to support the struggle against the devaluation of women by conducting this inquiry;
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 Aboriginal Ministries Council and the Committee on Indigenous Justice and Residential Schools propose: That the Executive of the General Council… 1. Publicly support the call of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) for the Government of Canada to convene as soon as possible a National Inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada, with Aboriginal women to have a leadership role in the design, decision-making, process and implementation of this inquiry;
