NEWS AND UPDATES FROM FUNDY ST. LAWRENCE DAWNING WATERS (FSLDW)
Submission Request for Weekly Announcements
www.ucceast.ca
Staff Directory
Emergency Response Memos for Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters (FSLDW)
It’s Your Call – Podcast
Spark 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.
Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters (FSLDW) Committee Interest form.
FSLDW Licensed Lay Worship Leaders (LLWL) Guidelines and Procedures
To all Communities of Faith in Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council:
Please click here to view the Licensed Lay Worship Leaders (LLWL) Guidelines and Procedures policy document for the region, as prepared by the Pastoral Relations Committee and approved at the October 18, 2022 meeting of Regional Council Executive. This document can also be found on the FSLDW website.
With blessings for your ministry,
Faith
Rev. Faith March-MacCuish
Executive Minister
Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council
Regional Council 15
First Dawn Eastern Edge Regional Council
THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
320 Elizabeth Avenue
St. John’s, NL A1B 1T9
1-800-268-3781 Ext. 6156
fmaccuish@united-church.ca
Salisbury United Church 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.
FSLDW Affirm Committee Zoom Webinar “Economic Justice” Thursday, Nov 17, 7 pm
Guest Resource Person: We welcome Rev. Shepherd Munikwa, Minister for Justice and Mission for the three eastern regions.
Shepherd writes “I’m a Zimbabwean Canadian. I consider myself as a Colonial Firebrand. I was born and raised in a war of liberation situation. I’m a victim of economic injustice from a tender age. My theological conviction is in creating a beloved community in which each person can fully be themselves, have voice, and shape the community, feel safe, respected, expressing all aspects of their identities and dignity. Transforming people, build relationships, friendship and reconciliation. Diversity, equality, equity, inclusion and liberation is key in my ministry. In this vision, each person shares a sense of belonging with other members.”
Webinar Theme: Economic Justice
Economic justice is a component of social justice and welfare economics. It is a set of theological, moral and ethical principles for building economic institutions, where the ultimate goal is to create an opportunity for each person to establish a sufficient material foundation upon which to have a dignified, productive, and creative life. We all have a part to play in levelling the ground for all the creation.
Genesis 1:28,31 “God blessed them and said to them….”, “God saw all that God had made, and it was very good……” The account of Genesis 1 and 2 makes it clear that God planned for humanity to enjoy the beauty, abundance and fruitfulness of creation. The setting of the Garden of Eden, the first humans found a rich, fertile place, and humanity was intended to prosper in every sense. God provides an abundance of resources and means for humans to flourish. If so, where went wrong? Greediness, selfishness resulted to colonialism, capitalism which leads to exploitation of resources and human power. Wendell Berry and Norman Wirzba ed., in their book, The Art of the Commonplace talks of a “Big Bad Idea”, “Commercialization” which brought competition among humanity.
Click here to register to receive the Zoom link.
Video Recording of Oct 20 Neurodiversity Webinar
In case you missed it, the video recording of the Oct 20 Webinar Neurodiversity, hosted by the FSLDW Region Affirm Committee, with guest resource person Rev. Shelley Pick is now posted on the FSLDW Region website.
Pastoral Relations Online Liaison Training: Supporting the Church of Today into the Future
The important work of supporting Communities of Faith in times of transition is managed by your Regional Pastoral Relations Committee, the Regional Minister and dedicated volunteers.
We are looking to add to the team of trained liaisons. If you have interest in shaping the church of the future, assisting with interviews of potential leaders and helping celebrate new models of ministry and relationships, we would love to speak with you. To express interest or ask questions, reach out to the regional minister, Kendall Harrison at kharrison@united-church.ca
Online Training will happen Saturday, December 10th, 9:00 am to Noon
United Fresh Start Free Training, January 24, 25, 26
We are excited to announce that training in the United Fresh Start Program is coming to the Regional Office in Sackville. We have 12 spaces available for free training in this exciting program that is designed to support the mutual ministry of clergy and lay leaders.
We are looking for people who want to learn about the program, practice your facilitation skills and then share that knowledge with others. To express interest please email jwhittemore@united-church.ca
If you have questions about the training after reviewing the information, contact the Regional Minister. kharrison@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
