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.
To view Continuing Education opportunities at the Atlantic School of Theology please click here.
Regional Council 15 (RC15) Committee Volunteer form.
Condolences – Rev. David Timpson
Our condolences are extended to the family of Rev. David Timpson who passed away on February 18, 2023. The obituary can be viewed here.
Condolences – Rev. Keith MacKay Rogerson
Our condolences are extended to the family of Rev. Keith MacKay Rogerson who passed away on February 19, 2023. The obituary can be viewed here.
Annual Meeting Teller Volunteers Needed
The Annual Meeting Planning Committee is looking for teller volunteers for the upcoming annual meeting. Please fill out the form to let us know of your interest.
Childcare During Annual Meeting Information Gathering
The Annual Meeting Planning Committee is looking into the ability to offer childcare during the meeting. At this time the committee is collecting information on need. The information collected will be reviewed at the next meeting. Please complete the information gathering form by March 3, 2023.
Agenda Time Requests Deadline
The deadline to submit your request for Agenda Time is March 10, 2023. Please click here to submit your request.
How to put together a Living Faith Story Workshop
As a commitment to providing connection and learning, Regional Council 15 has asked committees to take a turn hosting webinars. In November we had a learning webinar on Governance and Ministry. Our March learning event is being hosted by the Faith Stories and Community Covenants Committee:
Region 15’s Faith Stories and Covenants Committee is hosting upcoming online and in-person workshops: “How to put together a Living Faith Story”. The online (‘Zoom’) session will be held over two evenings, Tuesday March 14 and Wednesday March 15; 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Click here to register for the online workshop.
That workshop will be repeated in-person at Central United Church, 136 Cumberland St., Lunenburg on May 27, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Save the Date!
Calling all Youth grades 6-12!
There will be a Youth Event during this year’s Annual Meeting!
June 9-11th at Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS
Stay tuned for more information and registration coming soon.
Please share this note with youth and leaders in your communities!
For more information, contact Catherine Stuart cstuart@united-church.ca.
Pastoral Charge Information Form – Reminder
The 2023 Pastoral Charge Information Form can be found on our Regional Council website under forms. The completion of this form is important to the region in order to have current contact information for staff and committees as we attempt to provide you with current communications relevant to your Local Board, Council or Committee. If you do not have some of these officers in your community simply mark that section as N/A (non-applicable). It is essential that each Pastoral Charge completes and submits this form.
If you have had your annual congregational meeting and have elected your governing body for 2023, please click on the link below to complete. If you have not had your annual meeting, and have the same people serving in the governing body, we kindly ask you to still fill out the information forms. If you have already submitted your form, there is no need to do so again.
Vacancy – Norman’s Cove, NL
Norman’s Cove Pastoral Charge on the east coast of NL is seeking a half time minister (20 hours weekly). Salary to be paid at the appropriate category. Norman’s Cove Pastoral Charge is a three-point charge. More details can be found on the United ChurchHub or by contacting Dave Laite at davelaite@gmail.com.
Stewardship Update
“We are not alone.”
These words from A New Creed have gained more meaning than ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. Worship delivery has changed; pastoral care has changed; everything has changed—and so has Called to Be the Church your United Church giving program.
Introducing Called to Be the Church: The Journey—tailored and topical modules with coaching and ongoing support to meet your stewardship needs.
Module 1: Stewardship Best Practices is taking place starting the week of March 20, 2023.
As part of a small group experience with 4 other communities of faith, over four 2-hour classes, plan your next steps to help your community of faith increase revenue in order to better fulfil your church’s purpose.
Find out more and register here. I would encourage you to sign up as soon as possible as we anticipate available slots filling us fast. My sessions will take place on Tuesday afternoons and Thursday Evenings.
YOU are not alone.
Covenanting Service for Shubenacadie & MacPhee’s Corner United Churches
Shubenacadie Pastoral Charge of MacPhee’s Corner United and Shubenacadie United announce their covenanting service with Rev. Krista Elizabeth Winn on Sunday, March 26 at 3pm at Shubenacadie United Church, 2869 Nova Scotia Trunk #2 in Shubenacadie. Potluck dinner to follow.
Bring Visibility to Guaranteed Livable Income
Dear Guaranteed Livable Income supporters,
A Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) (also known as a universal or basic income, although “livable” is more specific, which is why The United Church of Canada uses it) is a regular payment to individuals or families by government that is not conditional and allows everyone to live with dignity and security. Since the 1970s, The United Church of Canada has called for a universal GLI that is non-discriminatory and accessible, particularly for Indigenous peoples. With the cost of living skyrocketing, a Guaranteed Livable Income is urgently needed.
The United Church of Canada’s national GLI network invites churches and faith communities across the country to hold an action over the weekend of March 24–26 to call for a Guaranteed Livable Income.
What you can do
Engage your local politicians, MPs, municipalities, or provincial representatives (MLAs, MHAs), by
gathering outside their offices
attending a town council meeting
inviting the politicians in for a GLI-focused service (could be a great photo op for them)
For a sample vigil format, click here and for other resources, click here.
Deliver a message to your politicians and the public. Consider handouts (which can be adapted from this one), letters, petitions (if your municipality is at a stage that would benefit from this), and public visibility.
Look at what your municipality has done on this, then include a letter for your politician stating what you’d like to happen. Consider at what stage your community is: sharing information? asking for a specific action? Expressing support and furthering the actions already taken?
If you are engaging with your federal Member of Parliament, call on them to support Bill C-223 An Act to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income.
Maritime Church Administrators Association
The Maritime Church Administrators Association Invites Church Office Administrators to Join Our Association
Membership connects you to a network of other church administrators across the Maritimes. We can assist with common issues, share info on procedures and, of course, make friendships.
We get together to experience workshops that focus on our theme of Mind, Body, Spirit. Together we provide meaningful experiences and to develop education and support systems for church secretaries and administrators that will enable them to share ideas, concerns and resources, thus helping to exercise our ministry more effectively.
To join, go to our website at http://www.mcaas.org.
Grant Opportunity – Relief Fund for Thriving Congregations
The United Church of Canada Foundation has sent us the below information for a grant opportunity that your community of faith may benefit from:
“Last year an anonymous couple, who have deep love for the church and who have been members of various congregations across the country, created the Relief Fund for Thriving Congregations.
This granting fund will provide the opportunity for congregations that have plans to continue to be of service to their communities and that have vibrant programs and outreach to receive a grant to help alleviate the pressure of debt.
We understand that some congregations in your region have been carrying significant debt and believe that this grant opportunity may be of help to you. We will be accepting applications for this grant from 15 January – 15 April 2023. The application, and additional details, is available on our website (click here).”
Please contact Jenna Yango Leonard, Foundation Coordinator at JYLeonard@united-church.ca or 1-866-340-8223 with any questions you may have and please feel free to share details of this grant with other congregations you think may benefit.
Vital Church Maritimes 2023 – Registration info
We are ‘Setting Sail!’ for a new voyage in missional ministry. Join in three days of encouragement, leading-edge learning and sharing ideas at Vital Church Maritimes 2023 conference.
Taking place April 27 – April 29 in Truro, NS, and on Zoom, this year’s keynote speaker is the Rev’d. Dr. Dawn Davis, professor at Huron University College, London, ON. She teaches Contextual Theology and is Director of Leadership for Ministry Programs. Dawn also hails from St. Luke’s, Dartmouth.
VCM 2023 conference emphasizes spiritual formation and discipleship, as well as opportunity consider present realities and future trends. Let’s explore where God’s Spirit is leading us in missional ministry! Keynote talks titles are:
• Leaving Port
• Sitting in the Fog
• Leaning into the Wind
• Set Sail!
An additional speaker is Registered Psychotherapist, Stephen Doucet Campbell, of Shad Bay, NS. He offers a talk on leadership mental health and resilience. He has a Masters in Counselling Psychology from Providence Theological Seminary and works from the models of Attachment, Narrative, and Dialectical Behaviour therapies. Stephen has worked with adults, youth, and families in out-patient mental health and addiction clinics, clergy and congregational care programs, schools, health centres, and with the justice system.
On Friday there’s a festive fun night, Sea Shanty Kitchen Party. Be sure to bring your musical instruments and wear your finest Sou’wester!
VCM 2023 is open to anyone – laity or clergy. (Invite your friends from other local churches too!)
Conference registration includes engaging presentations, plenty of group discussion, creative worship, materials and most meals. Hotel guest room costs are separate.
MORE DETAILS (including schedule) HERE.
REGISTER HERE.
Inn on Prince Hotel is the conference location. For guest room reservations, ask for our SPECIAL DISCOUNTED Anglican Diocesan rate of $121/night (includes a free hot breakfast).
GOT QUESTIONS? E-mail lvaughn@nspeidiocese.ca or call 902-789-4840.
Annual ASTE Building Respectful Relations June 11th – 16th
The 54th annual Atlantic Seminar in Theological Education will be happening at the Tatamagouche Centre June 11th to June 16th, 2023.
We will continue the theme “Building Respectful Relations” centering this year on experiences of Black Persons within Canadian Society.
We hope you will join us as we spend 5 days exploring the history, culture and impact of the Black Community in the Atlantic Provinces and how Individuals and Communities of Faith can work as true allies.
This is an opportunity to explore this topic in depth in a safe and supportive environment under the guidance of Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield, The Rev. Brigid Maya Douglas and the ASTE 2023 community.
More information can be found on our webpage ASTES2023.
Rural Routes Through the Holy: 2023
This year Rural Routes Through the Holy is gathering at Camp Abby, PEI from June 15th – 18th. You can now register at https://hemofthelight.com. Once there Just hover over the heading Rural Ministries to register, find links to accommodation and lots of information, speaker bio, and testimonials from last year’s gathering.
Rural Routes is a space of nurture for those in rural congregations and for the communities in which they live; a gathering with time for both structured and informal conversations, worship, education, play, prayer, and table fellowship.
Dr. Marvin Lee Anderson will again be our main presenter but there will also be Tasters, thirty-minute presentations given by a variety of people on a variety of things so good we may want to go home and cook them up in our own communities, among them Pop-up Church and Faithful Footprints.
Are you considering retirement?
If you are considering retiring or have retired since our last annual meeting, please see our Regional retirement resource. If you have made the decision to retire please fill out the form.
Thank you.
