NEWS AND UPDATES FROM REGIONAL COUNCIL 15 (RC15)
Submission Request for Weekly Announcements
www.ucceast.ca
Staff Directory
It’s Your Call – Podcast
News from the Pews Newsletter
To view upcoming programs at the Tatamagouche Centre please click here.
To view upcoming events at the Atlantic School of Theology please click here.
Regional Council 15 (RC15) Committee Volunteer form.
Covenanting Service between Rev. Daniel MacDonald, Central United Church, Lunenburg, and Region 15
A covenanting service to mark our new ministry with Rev. Daniel MacDonald will be held on Sunday, November 6th at 7:00pm at Central United Church, Lunenburg. All are welcome and invited to attend. The Rev. Dr. Ross Bartlett will be offering the sermon. A light lunch and reception will follow the service. Please consider joining us as we celebrate this new beginning!
Details:
Sunday, Nov. 6th at 7:00pm
Central United Church,
136 Cumberland St., Lunenburg
Parking is available on either Cumberland, King or Lincoln Streets.
Covenanting Service between Rev. Pieter LeRoux, North Highlands Pastoral Charge and Region 15
A covenanting service to mark our new ministry with Rev. Pieter LeRoux will be held on Sunday, November 6th at 1:30pm at Aspy Bay United Church, Aspy Bay, NS. All are welcome and invited to attend. Ron Nikkel will provide the message. A light lunch and reception will follow the service.
Details:
Sunday, Nov. 6th at 1:30pm
Aspy Bay United Church,
North Highlands Pastoral Charge,
Aspy Bay, NS
Covenanting Service between Jim MacNaughton (R-DLM), River and Lakeside Pastoral Charge and Region 15
A Covenanting Service is taking place November 6th, 2022 at 7:00 pm at Forbes United Church in River Denys, Cape Breton in the new Pastoral Relationship between River and Lakeside Community of Faith, Jim MacNaughton (R-DLM) and Region 15 with the Regional Liaison representative Dianne Kempt presiding. All are invited to attend. You will find Forbes United Church in River Denys, off of Highway 105 at Exit 3, put Forbes Cemetery into your GPS and it will bring you right to the Church door.
Advent Planning
Advent is just around the corner. Are you leading worship during Advent? Are you ready? If you are still wondering what to do during this Advent season, the Region 15 Faith Formation and Leadership Development Committee would like to offer you an opportunity to get together, to discuss ideas and to share resources. On Thursday November 3rd you are invited to join an Advent Planning Drop-In session beginning at 10 am. For more information contact Rev. Sharon at revsharonbeacon@eastlink.ca.
Click here to receive the Zoom information for the drop-in session.
Region 15 Pastoral Relations News — October 2022
- Approved the Call of Krista Elizabeth Winn to Shubenacadie Pastoral Charge, effective February 1, 2023. Valerie Kingsbury, Liaison.
- Approved updates to the Profile and position description for Kingston Pastoral Charge, and authorized Search for full time ministry personnel to resume. Anne Cameron, Liaison.
- Approved a one-month extension to the Appointment of Sheila Redden-Smith with Annapolis Granville Pastoral Charge, to November 30, 2022.
- Approved the Request for Change in Pastoral Relations from Linton Worrell, Candidate from Rawdon Pastoral Charge, effective December 30, 2022.
- Approved the Appointment of Linton Worrell, Candidate with Tatamagouche Pastoral Charge, full time, January 1 to May 31, 2023. Jack Canning, Liaison.
- Approved the Request for Change in Pastoral Relations for Marty Clark-Ettinger with Upper Stewiacke Springside Pastoral Charge, effective November 30, 2022.
- Approved the Appointment of Marty Clark-Ettinger, DLM, with the collaborative ministry of Cobequid Pastoral Charge and Upper Londonderry Pastoral Charge, full time, December 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. Connie McNamara and Dave Forbes, Liaisons.
- Approved the Appointment of Natalie Buchanan-Rutherford with Pugwash Pastoral Charge, 25 hours/week, December 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023.
- Approved the Request for Change in Pastoral Relations for the purposes of Retirement from Sarah Reaburn from Rockingham United Church, Halifax, effective April 30, 2023
- Approved the Profile and position description for Interim Ministry, full time, at St. James United Church, Dartmouth, and authorized Search to begin. Wendy Kean, Region rep to Transition Team.
- Approved the Profile and position description for St. Paul’s United Church, Mount Uniacke, and authorized Search for a half-time minister to begin. Robyn Brown-Hewitt, Liaison.
- Approved the request of United Heritage Church to disband the Search Committee for a one-year Supply position.
- Approved the Appointment of Brenda McKay, retired, with Avon United Church, Hantsport, 20 hours/week, November 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023.
- Next meeting: Friday, December 2, 9:00 a.m.
For more information, please contact Regional Minister David Hewitt dhewitt@united-church.ca
United Church Bookstore
Taking pre-orders for the following books. Please contact Leona Laundry at llaundry@united-church.ca or 1-800-268-3781 ext. 6141 to add your order to the list.
Abingdon Worship Annual 2023
he Abingdon Worship Annual 2023 is a practical, lectionary-based resource for leaders who are responsible for planning worship. This thoughtful sourcebook offers a weekly theme with meaningful prayers and fresh litanies following a traditional order of Christian worship: Invitation and Gathering Proclamation and Response Thanksgiving and Communion Sending Forth Liturgies and prayers are also included for special days, including New Year’s Day, Ascension Day, All Saints Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Eve. The Annual includes helpful reminders for Christian-year planning–including liturgical colors–and a scripture index. The authors also provide in-depth guidance and practical ideas for this new age of worship, helping readers to understand and weigh their options for worshiping in digital spaces and in unconventional places. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2023 is a must-have source book offering countless opportunities for planning meaningful and insightful worship. $39.95 Tax Included.
Abingdon Preaching Annual 2020
The local pastor’s go-to resource for weekly sermon planning. The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2023 is lectionary-based and follows the calendar year (January – December). It includes special days like Maundy Thursday and Ash Wednesday, and indexes for scriptures and themes, to assist preachers with non-lectionary sermons. Each entry begins with a preacher-to-preacher prayer for preparation, then moves to the key feature: a commentary on one or more texts for the week, exploring themes and storylines, theological reflections, and thoughts about how the text and topic relate to our lives today. Also included are ideas for bringing the text to life–stories, illustrations, ideas for further reading, questions the preacher might pose to the congregation, and suggestions for a ‘call to action’ in response to the message. Finally, for the preacher’s ongoing enrichment, the Annual includes excerpts from new books on preaching and homiletics. This helpful resource is written by every-week preachers whose aim is to come alongside you, offering a reliable starting point for your sermonic planning, writing, and delivery. $39.95 Tax Included
Prepare 2022-2023
Prepare! is lectionary based and places everything at your fingertips: – New theme index! Includes themes like: assurance, doubt, family, justice, prayer, temptation, and many more. – Scripture Index. – Calendar format that helps you plan the entire choir year, from September through August. – The Presbyterian Hymnal, The New Century Hymnal (United Church of Christ), Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship, Songs for Praise and Worship Singalong Edition, The United Methodist Hymnal, Voices United, Worship & Song, and Worship III (Roman Catholic). Complete lectionary text of the Old Testament, Psalm, Epistle, and Gospel readings, using the New Revised. $41.95 Tax Included.
How is your church helping to protect God’s life-giving Creation?
Show your church the video we saw at our Regional AGM this spring – talk about it at your church!
Did you know:
The United Church of Canada has committed the whole church to the goal of an 80% decrease in carbon emissions by 2030! The United Church’s Faithful Footprints program is currently working with 260 congregations to make their buildings more energy efficient, more than halfway towards the goal of reaching 500 communities by 2025. For the 56 completed projects, carbon equivalency savings are equal to the annual energy of 147 homes (i.e., 628 metric tonnes of CO2e saved). The United Church has also committed to stronger advocacy at both the provincial and the national government levels for bold climate action. We want to strengthen our work with Indigenous communities, global partners, ecumenical organizations, and relationships with young people who have shown great moral climate leadership.
Invest in People for the Common Good
From a recent article by Marion Pardy printed in The Telegram, St. John’s, NL, Nov. 1st.:
“…A guaranteed livable basic income, administered through our tax system, without excessive taxes, is an efficient and effective way to lift substantial numbers of people out of poverty. Think, for example, of the savings in excessive health care and administration if burdensome monitoring requirements are eliminated. It ensures that single parents, individuals, seniors and others with unpredictable incomes have sufficient means to meet their daily needs (instead of being forced to choose between food for their family and paying the light bill, or food and medication). It ensures that children can develop their minds and bodies to the best of their potential by participating more in school and community activities, that the poverty cycle is broken. In short, it would allow people to live with greater dignity.”
To read the full article please click here. The article is also posted on the Justice Mission and Outreach section of the UCC East website.
Phone Conference Services Ending
As of November 15, 2022, our service provider, Arkadin Phone Services, will no longer be available to us for conference calls. This platform is terminating their services. Congregations or committees who have used Arkadin may want to consider using the Zoom teleconferencing platform. This can be done in a variety of ways:
1. Avail of the free Zoom account that allows for 40 minutes of free teleconferencing: https://zoom.us/signup#/signup
This free service allows you to manage your own meeting bookings and maintain control over scheduling and hosting your meetings. For meetings longer than 40 minutes, you can schedule a meeting break and sign in again, or consider using option 2 or 3.
2. Consider purchasing a paid Zoom account at $20 per month or $200 annually: https://zoom.us/pricing
This option will provide your committee or congregation with the full flexibility of hosting and managing your own meetings for minimal cost.
3. If option 1 or 2 do not work for your committee or congregation, the region will share its accounts with you. You will not be provided with hosting options, but will be able to run your meetings by requesting time in advance with one of the shared accounts. You will need to arrange your Zoom meeting through Jennifer Taylor, Executive Assistant to Executive Minister: jtaylor@united-church.ca
The mainSTAGE at St. Andrew’s United Church
St Andrew’s United church in Halifax, NS runs a monthly concert series called “The mainSTAGE“. The concert series, “The mainSTAGE“, involves bringing some of the best artists the Atlantic Coast has to offer into our church, and we’d love to open our doors to community beyond the city of Halifax to enjoy them! Visit our website to find information about our upcoming concerts.
November concerts include:
Terra Spence is from Windsor, NS
Atlantic String Machine is from PEI
Salisbury United Church (NB) Online Auction
Salisbury United Church is hosting its annual Great Salisbury United Church Auction. Auction starts November 7th at 12:01AM and ends November 10th at 5:00PM. To look at and to take part please use the search link on facebook-The Great Salisbury United Church Auction.
