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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.
Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters (FSLDW) Committee Interest form.
Hello from FSLDW President Elizabeth
Today I extend congratulations on the 150th Scotch Colony Anniversary, 1873-2023, in Southern Victoria County, NB.
Last weekend (August 18-20) friends and neighbours near and far gathered for a three-day celebration of the arrival of people from Scotland to Victoria County, NB.
For a schedule of events check out the website.
A worship service was held August 20 at Melville United Church in Kincardine, with guest preacher Rev. John Moses who was a student minister with the community in 1974. Congregations also include Kincardine, Upper Kintore, Lower Kintore, Bon Accord and Kilburn.
The website notes how “The first church was made of logs and was situated on lot number 33 in Kincardine.
Also in 1877, the church of Kincardine was finished… under the direction of Rev. Peter Melville for whom the church was named.
Fifteen Sunday Schools were first held in private homes, in the log church, and then in the new churches and schools.”
Upper Kintore, Melville and Kincardine United Churches continue to hold worship services together with Upper Kent and St. James, Perth Andover. Each week the location of the service is posted on social media with the invitation “Come and bring your fiddles.”
One can only imagine, how the face of ministry has evolved over those 150 years. The event website notes how “The people of the Colony… we could sum up their character in the phrase ‘Presbyterian rectitude’ — sometimes self-righteous, but rarely hypocritical.”
Many who gathered to celebrate have been touched in one way or another through this ministry. The people of Scotch Colony have supported and cared for one another across the decades celebrating God’s presence, through joys and sorrows. Thank you. Know your presence has made a difference in the lives of many, including the formation of United Church clergy.
Thank you to all for many years of ministry in Southern Victoria County, NB.
Thank you for continuing to be the face of the United Church of Canada in your communities.
In Peace,
Elizabeth
506-650-4812
elizstevenson@gmail.com
FSLDW Region, An Affirming Ministry.
Quick note from FSLDW President Elizabeth
For a few photos of people living out Affirming PIE – being Public Intentional and Explicit about God’s unconditional love for all, check out the Region’s Facebook.
God is doing a new thing!
Progress for GLI
Did you know that in New Brunswick, 5 municipalities have written letters to the Federal and provincial governments asking something like this:
“THEREFORE be it resolved that the City of Fredericton write a letter to the Prime Minister, New Brunswick Members of
Parliament and the Premier of New Brunswick, calling on these orders of government to work towards implementing a Guaranteed
Livable Basic Income to eradicate poverty and homelessness, and ensure everyone has sufficient income to meet their basic needs.”
Sept 20/22 Moncton unanimous
Oct 26/22 Fredericton 10-2 in favour
Jan 13/23 Saint John unanimous
Feb 21/23 Ville de Edmundston adopted
May 16/23 Miramichi unanimous
Also, we now have three key Prince Edward Island municipalities having passed the ” basic income resolution” unanimously:
City of Charlottetown (June 12, 2023);
City of Summerside (July 17, 2023) and
Town of Kensington (August 14, 2023)
Should I be grieving?: Disenfranchised Grief and the Caring Professions
Tuesday, September 26th at 7pm AST
Cost: $15 plus Eventbrite Fee
Format: Online
This online workshop aims to explore grief among clergy, chaplains/spiritual care practitioners, and healthcare professionals. These groups lose parishioners or patients but often wonder if it is okay to grieve. Not grieving, though, can lead to burnout, and grieving ourselves can help us to be more connected to those we serve. This workshop will cover recent research on disenfranchised grief amongst ministry personnel and healthcare workers. It will also provide ways to grieve and time for participants to share wisdom from their own experience. Click here to view the poster.
About the Speaker:
In 2022, Ginny Wilmhoff graduated with an MDiv, specializing in pastoral care and counseling, from Acadia Divinity College. She is an ordinand with the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and she has completed her third unit of clinical pastoral education at the Moncton Hospital. During her clinical training, she has served palliative and hospice patients. Her previous experience includes 2.5 years as a case manager to the formerly homeless and 4 years providing student support at the University of King’s College in Halifax.
To attend, please register at this link.
Godly Play Doorperson Workshop
Date: Sat. October 14, 2023 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM at Christ Church Cathedral Fredericton, NB
Doorpersons are key figures in supporting children who gather in community. This workshop offers a unique way to experience Godly Play and find support in helping with children’s programs.
This 5-hour workshop will be offered at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral in Fredericton, NB. Leadership will be provided by experienced Godly Play trainers, Cathy Laskey and Anne Pirie.
We will explore principles and practices of Godly Play especially relevant for Doorpersons in supporting a circle of children, tending to the environment and attuning to relationships and challenges that arise. Participants may be part of a Godly Play program, and/or have an interest in leadership with children.
Register at: Godly Play Maritimes
Participant cost: $35 – bring your own lunch
Godly Play Core Training for Storytellers – Fall 2023 – in Sackville NB
Training is offered in modules over two weekends at the United Church Fundy St, Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Centre, 21 Wright St. Sackville NB
Fri, October 27 (4 pm – 9 pm) & Sat, October 28 (8:30 am – 5:30 pm)
Fri, Nov.17 (4 pm – 9 pm) & Sat, Nov. 18 (8:30 am – 5:30 pm)
Godly Play is best learned from the inside out.
Opportunity to learn about Godly Play and supporting children’s spirituality. You will experience a variety of Godly Play stories, tell a story by heart, and receive supportive feedback.
Godly Play is a creative approach to nurturing children’s faith. It values process, openness, discovery, community, and relationships. We will explore the principles and practices of Godly Play in the Environment, the Spirituality of the Child, and the Community of Children.
A parent’s writes about Godly Play: “The children know that to these leaders their faith, ideas, thoughts, and feelings are all valid and wonderful. They feel heard and important.”
Information and register at: https://godlyplaymaritimes.com/
We welcome participants who are new to Godly Play as well as
experienced Storytellers and Doorpersons who want to refresh their leadership skills. Maritime Godly Play Trainers: Shawn Redden, Cathy Laskey, Anne Pirie
Worship Resources
LET US PRAY (Vol. 1) is a collaboration with Jane Doull offering a complete set of prayers for every Sunday from September to Christmas Sunday:
Gathering Words
Opening/Centering Prayers
Prayers of Confession/Searching
Offering Prayers
Prayers of the People
Words of Blessing & Parting
This Volume (the first of four) includes prayers for Creation-time, Ordinary time, Advent and Christmas with prayers for other special Sundays within this time (Peace Sunday, Remembrance Sunday, Children’s Sunday.)
Read a sample of the prayers on the resource page.
WORSHIP SHEETS: If the Worship Leader is away or you need inspiration for worship, meetings or a group, here are 10 reflections They can be matched with prayers from Let Us Pray to put together a complete worship service. There is a sample you can preview on the resource page. See: https://prayerbench.ca/product/worship-sheets/
The Legacy of The Hon. Hugh Segal and GLI
Honouring the Life and Work OF THE HON. HUGH SEGAL by Dr. Abram Epp
The passing of the Hon. Hugh Segal on August 9 reminds many of us of the struggle to achieve a Guaranteed Livable Income for which he advocated through his adult life. His 2019 publication, Bootstraps Need Boots: One Tory’s Lonely Fight to End Poverty in Canada, is both a memoir and a manifesto.
Of course, the fight to end poverty is no partisan struggle, as a close reading of Canadian political history over the past half-century and more clearly shows. In an era of social policy advances, Dr. Joe Willard, Deputy Minister of Welfare in the Diefenbaker, Pearson , and Trudeau Governments, wrote a report on social development policy late in the Sixties urging an income maintenance program.
As the Liberal Party prepared for a policy convention in Ottawa in November 1970, a ginger group at the University of Western Ontario issued a broadside about inequality in Canada and called for action. The London resolution calling for implementation of an income maintenance scheme for Canada did not make it to the convention, but a motion calling for a guaranteed annual income program to be instituted by January 1, 1972, was supported by a vote of 595 to 250, even though Prime Minister Trudeau had told delegates at the opening session that Canada could not afford a guaranteed income plan.
Failure to act on the recommendations of the Carter Commission on Taxation would have fateful consequences. Prior to the Constitutional Conference of First Ministers in Victoria in June 1971, Prime Minister Trudeau offered 50% federal funding to any province establishing a guaranteed income program. Premier Ed Schreyer’s Manitoba Government responded by establishing a pilot project based in part in the Dauphin area. Federal funding was ended by spending cuts the Trudeau Government instituted in 1977, and University of Manitoba Professor Evelyn Forget has only recently been able to assess how the people–and the province–benefited from the project while it lasted.
Eighteen years later, the Chrétien Government responded to similar financial pressures by gutting Canadian social assistance programs. Among the most significant cuts was abolition of the Canada Assistance Plan in Paul Martin’s 1995 budget, which allowed Ontario Premier Mike Harris to establish the Ontario Works program and thus force unemployed Ontarians to starve ever since—and through several changes of government!
The need for a guaranteed livable income becomes more obvious with every day that passes. Exacerbating the plight of so people in our communities is the fact that there is far too little social housing and that housing cooperatives have received little encouragement for decades.
Dr. A Ernest Epp, known by all as Ernie Epp, served as MP for Thunder Bay – Nipigon 1984-1988 and is now Professor Emeritus of History at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay.
The Fifth Gospel: Pilgrimage in Israel/Palestine
February 15 – 26, 2024
Course Fee: $250 CAD plus Eventbrite fee
Deposit: $500 CAD, non-refundable
Full Cost: $6,538 CAD
This course integrates biblical study with a 10-day pilgrimage in Israel/Palestine. Students will explore the Holy Land, its people, history, and archeology as well as the current experience of Palestinians living under occupation and the work being done towards a just peace. Several class times with the instructor will take place prior to departure, dates to be determined. These are open to Continuing Education participants. Click here to view the poster.
Some of the locations the group will visit:
• Qumran, the home of the Essenes
• Bethany by the River Jordan where John the Baptist baptized Jesus
• Sea of Galilee
• Nazareth
• Jerusalem
• Bethlehem
About the Instructor:
Dr. MacAlpine-Gillis earned an MDiv (Atlantic School of Theology) and a DMin (Bangor Theological Seminary). She served both rural and suburban churches during 31 years of full-time ministry. As an avid traveler, Dr. MacAlpine-Gillis believes in the integration of travel and Biblical studies as a way of bringing the stories of scripture to life through walking the land where they unfolded.
To attend, please register at this link.
“Save The Date” ~ United Church Office Administrators Conference
The retreat is planned for October 1-4, 2024, and it will take place at Queen’s House in Saskatoon, SK. All church office administrators are welcome to attend! Further information and details will be coming soon.
