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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1 John 3:18 Let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. Our seven sacred teachings tell us to be humble, love one another, treat each other with respect, be courageous and brave, always tell the truth and seek wisdom.
Therefore, we respectfully recommend the following motion: WHEREAS children, youth, women and men are all called to be members of the Body of Christ and the household and family of God. WHEREAS changes of language offers creative and expanding possibilities for Christians in their perceptions of God and of one another.
From October 1989 to the end of 1990, the United Church was involved in the study of the document The Authority and Interpretation of Scripture (referred to as the Study Document in this report). As the statistics show, in terms of the sheer numbers of persons involved and responses received, it has been one of the most extensive church studies. People came to the study with different levels of energy and spiritual expressions and with a variety of expectations and assumptions. A participant in one Conference event spoke for many involved in the study when she said, “People came…looking for a garden ready to harvest but were given dirt and tools.” It is a good metaphorical description; what we offer as a report reflects the labour of many Christian people, at home and abroad, who were not afraid to plough in with hope of a good harvest.
We believe the church is about God’s mission in the world, one of healing and justice for all creation, and that this work is surely to be lived out and realized with others. In many varied and rich ways the work of the church, including The United Church of Canada, is accomplished through working with others, including by relationships that we know as partnerships.
In 2022 the Executive of the General Council adopted the strategic operational plan for the work of the General Council Office. One of the six objectives was Strengthening Invitation: Humility and Confidence in Sharing Faith. The objective’s goal was to help to implement effective and connected regional and national strategies that result in growth within existing ministries, and by seeding and sustaining new ministries and communities of faith.
In response to the deteriorating human rights situation there, the United Church of Canada has spoken out about the plight of Palestinians frequently over the decades. One of the actions it has recommended is that faith communities and United Church entities holding investment funds take economic and other measures to draw attention to the occupation of Palestinian lands, and in particular, to illegal settlements.
We believe God/Jesus/Holy Spirit is calling us into continued concrete relationships with partners. One manifestation of this commitment is The United Church of Canada Partner Council. The term of the current Partner Council 2025-2028 ends with the rise of the 46th General Council. The appointment of this new member is to replace a previously-approved member on the current Partner Council, bringing in a Global Ecumenical and social justice perspective.
With Medical Assistance in Dying now legal in Canada, people participating in United Church of Canada communities of faith are faced with their loved ones choosing such assistance in dying, or considering this option themselves, and with health care professionals in their communities who are discerning their response to this option. How can the church support people challenged with such a decision? How can the church prepare people for end-of-life decision-making?
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
WHEREAS it has been thoroughly documented by the Inter-Church Committee for Human Rights in Latin America and the Christian Reformed Church, among others, that there is no protection for refugees in the neighbouring Latin American countries to which they flee; and WHEREAS people living as refugees are often at risk in regard to their personal safety, and may have barely adequate and extremely crowded shelter, with one meal a day and water to drink; and
