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.
Condolences – Rev. Theo Crozier
Our condolences are extended to the family of Rev. Theo Crozier who passed away on November 3, 2022. The obituary can be viewed here.
Executive Minutes
The draft minutes of the October 14, 2022 meeting of the Executive are now available on the website.
Congregational Governance Workshop
The Regional Council 15 Executive is offering learning events for congregations/pastoral charges in our region. They will happen in November, January, February and March.
The first topic is:
Congregational Governance Workshop on November 15, 2022 at 11:30 to 1:00pm
A workshop on Congregational Governance is being planned for all communities of faith in Regional Council 15. If you are considering a new governance model or would like to learn more about congregational/pastoral charge governance, please consider attending this workshop.
Register Now! CLICK HERE to Register
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email, containing information and links to join the event.
- This is a personal link that you will need to access the Governance Workshop.
This session will be led by Faith March-MacCuish, Executive Minister, and will take place using Zoom video conferencing.
Please register now, and save the date in your calendars.
The Stage at St Andrew’s Upcoming Concerts
The Stage at St Andrew’s, on the Corner of Coburg & Robie in Halifax, has two Upcoming Concerts in November!
The mainSTAGE
November 11 – TERRA SPENCER
Fresh from touring across Canada and the UK with Ben Caplan, funeral director-turned-songwriter Terra Spencer from Windsor NS will take to The Stage on November 11 as part of her album release tour for “OLD NEWS”. This wonderful new album is in collaboration with Ben Caplan, and she will be joined by the Good Friends band at St Andrew’s.
The STAGE Mondays
November 28 – ARSONISTE
As part of our monthly concert series, “The STAGE Mondays”, which shines the spotlight on female and gender-diverse artists, Arsoniste will be revisiting highlights from her 7-year career and introducing us to future sounds from her upcoming album debut “Queen of Swords” (release 2023). Opening the evening will be SAFEWORD, a female-fronted band of four friends from Halifax and Dartmouth who bring danceable, indie pop-rock to our ears.
https://saintandrewshfx.ca/the-stage-concerts
Open Rehearsal with Tom Trenney, Grace United Church (Dartmouth)
Choristers and conductors are invited to observe an Open Rehearsal conducted by the award winning Tom Trenney with the Grace Choir on Saturday, November 19 from 10 am-noon at Grace United Church, 70 King Street, Dartmouth. Masks are recommended. 
Living Faith Stories Workshop, 26 November in Baddeck
The Living Faith Story is the most important tool in the congregational toolbox to help congregations figure out who you are and what you want to do. Everything from discerning mission, setting and evaluating goals, and finding new leadership follows from your Living Faith Story.
To help congregations find your own unique Living Faith Story, we are hosting a workshop at Greenwood United Church in Baddeck, on Saturday, 26 November, 10 am – 3 pm. This is an event for Ministry Personnel and lay leaders, and there will be lots of time for discussion and questions. There is no cost, and lunch is provided, courtesy of Greenwood United Church and the Faith Stories and Community Covenants Committee. Please register by 21 November by emailing revheatherfraser@gmail.com.
If you can’t come this time, we will be holding the same workshop again in 2023, watch for announcement in the new year.
Covenanting Service Between the Rev. Alex Constable, Annapolis Granville Pastoral Charge and Region 15
A Covenanting Service to celebrate our new ministry with the Rev. Alex Constable will be held on Sunday, November 27th, at 2:30 pm at St. George and St. Andrews United Church, Annapolis Royal, N. S. All are invited and welcome to attend. The Rev. Dr. John Moses will be offering the sermon.
Please consider joining us as we celebrate this new beginning in our Church.
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.
Advent Resources & Special Offer
Here is an overview of Advent resources — and an offer that might interest some of you.
Advent is coming soon. You can check out several Prayer Bench Advent resources here: Visit the Advent Resources page.
Here is the offer. If you are not a 2022 Prayer Bench subscriber you can sign up for one of the 2023 packages and receive the 2022 Wake Sleep Advent Prayers and Practice.
Review the information for the 2023 subscription packages here.
New subscribers signing up this week receive the Advent resource for this year: Wake Sleep Advent Prayers and Practice.
[Please note: the resource Wake Sleep prayers and practice is included in the 2022 packages and will be emailed to all paid subscribers soon.]
Visit the Prayer Bench Shop at https://prayerbench.ca/shop/ for more information about the packages and Advent resources.
Gifts with Vision in the Maritimes
Looking for a Christmas gift for someone special in your family or congregation? Give a gift that touch many lives in the Maritime provinces.
Here are the Gifts with Vision available for ministries in FSLDW and Region 15:
* Bursaries to Support Human Rights (GWV 22-44) Breaking the Silence Network
* Outreach Program: Pandemic Recovery (GWV 22-19) Brunswick Street Mission, Halifax, NS
* Send a Kid to Camp (GWV 22-49) Camp Kidston, NS
* Sponsor Student’s Multifaith Meal (GWV 22-02) UCC Chaplaincy at Dalhousie University
* Whatever They need Most (GWV 22-37) Coverdale Centre for Women, Sain John, NB
* Help Young People Live out Their Faith (GWV 22-48) The Go Project
* General gift to Mission & Service (GWV MS5)
* The Environment Fund (GWV ENV)
Worship 101 for Occasional Lay Worship Leaders (2023)
If you’ve ever been asked to offer partial leadership in worship–or take on an entire worship service—you may have experienced the sinking feeling of not knowing where to begin, or that you just can’t see yourself ‘up front’ in that leading role. Do we have a set of workshops for you!
The RC 15 Faith Formation and Leadership Development team presents a five part series– Worship 101 for Occasional Lay Worship Leaders. These workshops are designed to help the occasional lay worship leader untangle how to get started, where to find resources, and how to prepare to lead worship with confidence. The series will be held on Zoom in January-February 2023.
For more info and to register please visit: https://ucceast.ca/67357-worship-101-for-occasional-lay-worship-leaders
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
