NEWS AND UPDATES FROM BERMUDA-NOVA SCOTIA REGIONAL COUNCIL
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.
Bermuda-Nova Scotia Regional Council Committee Volunteer form.
Condolences – Rev. Barbara Bea Wagner
Our condolences are extended to the family of Rev. Barbara Wagner who passed away on November 17, 2023. The obituary can be viewed here.
Condolences – Louise Cosman
Condolences are extended to Rev. Douglas Cosman and family, on the passing of his wife Louise Cosman on November 18, 2023. The obituary can be viewed here.
Executive Minutes
The draft minutes from the October 24, 2023 Executive meeting are now available on the BNS website.
President’s “Monthly Message” October 12, 2023 – November 11, 2023
Greetings, Bermuda-Nova Scotia Regional Council, Staff and All Communities of Faith
This is my fifth month as your President and as I continue sharing with you what I have been doing on your behalf from October 12, 2023 to November 11, 2023 as I travel within the Bermuda-Nova Scotia Regional Council.
Please click here to read the full Message Message from President Shauna MacDonald.
Service to Decommission Building – St. David’s United Church, Bible Hill, NS
St. David’s United Church, Bible Hill, NS, invites all congregation (past and present), families of early congregation members who have gone before us, former clergy, fellow United Church congregations, neighbours and friends of our church family to join us on Sunday, November 26, 2023, at 10:30am, as we hold a service to bid a fond farewell to our church and church hall. You will find us at 149 Pictou Road, Bible Hill (corner of St. David’s Avenue and Pictou Road).
Special guest speaker will be Rev Jeff Chant, who grew up in our neighbourhood, and served as a student minister at St. David’s. We would appreciate your company as we say our goodbyes to our beautiful sanctuary that has served us so well over the past years, renew old acquaintances, meet new friends, share memories, and shed tears and laughter. Reception to follow the service.
Greetings Growth Seekers from Growth Animator Sharon
With the Advent and Christmas season upon us, you are likely planning wonderful connections with your communities of faith, that will invite neighbours, and visitors. Perhaps consider an announcement handout, post card or intentional welcome to let everyone know what your community of faith is up to. Don’t forget to include information on your websites and social media as well. Consider the welcome of name tags, a great way to help us learn or remember names. Consider having a couple people be name tag greeters before each event, to invite people to make name tags or help people find theirs. In my last pastoral charge, our music director, Jenny Trites, prepared this little “why wear name tags” info for our bulletins, and I share it here with her permission:
In a spirit of radical welcome, we encourage everybody to wear a name tag today.
Name tags help us recognize and remember each other. They are a small gesture appreciated by: those learning many names at once; those who are deaf or hard of hearing; or those who struggle to match names with faces.
If you are comfortable doing so, consider adding your pronouns. Sharing pronouns is a signal that we welcome those of all genders, and appreciate knowing how to speak of each other respectfully.
Share your great ideas for outreach and growth with me. You can reach me by email at sballantyne@united-church.ca or by phone 705 875-8837.
Affirm Committee’s webinar – Welcoming Diversity on Nov 15, 2023
We welcomed Capt Rev Beatrice Gale as our guest. Bea shared her journey and her learnings that can help us all be more welcoming to those who are gender diverse. To see the recording please click here.
Buying United
Buying United embraces the collective buying power of The United Church of Canada’s communities of faith across the country. Our new relationship with Round Table Procurement Services (RTPS) is helping us find great deals for regular purchases; they have just created a new account for UCCers at Staples that should be much more responsive than the previous one. They can also help congregations improve their purchasing habits, for example, they’ll go through a church’s purchasing records to help them save money in the coming year.
To learn more about about this program, click here and join the webinar being hosted by Round Table on Supplier Partnerships and Values Based Purchasing Wednesday, November 29, 2-3 pm. To register through CHURCHx.ca click here.
Join us during Advent
You are invited to join the Justice, Mission and Outreach Committee as we gather to light the Advent Candles each week during Advent. There will be time to reflect, pray, and join our hearts each week for just peace in Palestine and Israel. We will meet via zoom starting Wed, November 29th at 8:00 p.m. AT, all are welcome.
For registration please click on link.
Advent Resources from Prayer Bench
- Advent Email Retreat: Receive a retreat in your inbox three Saturdays in Advent providing you with all you need to pause, contemplate and get ready for the Mystery of Christmas. Learn more here.
- A Comprehensive collection of prayers for Advent and Christmas in Volume 1 of Let Us Pray: A Digital Collection of Prayers by Jane Doull. See here.There are 183 prayers in Volume 2 with prayers for Epiphany, Lent and Easter. See here.
- Visit the Prayer Bench to review many Advent Small Group Studies.
Ministry of Supervision
The Certificate in Ministry of Supervision provides participants with the information and skills to mentor individuals preparing for ministry by equipping them for supervision including pastoral practices, leadership, reflection, feedback and spiritual guidance. It is designed for clergy and lay individuals who are interested in supporting students and communities for supervised ministry education (SME), internships and field education. PREREQUISITES: A minimum of five years of post-ordination or commissioning, experience in congregational ministry leadership OR equivalent lay leadership
Mark your Calendar Now!
The course will take place as a once a week intensive with three-hour synchronous class time on zoom each week. Here is the schedule — click the links to see the start times in each of Canada’s time zones:
Jan 11, 12:00 – 3:00 pm ET
Jan 18, 12:00 – 3:00 pm ET
Jan 25, 12:00 – 3:00pm ET
Feb 1, 12:00 – 3:00 pm ET
Feb 8, 12:00 – 3:00 pm ET
You can register at United in Learning or by clicking here.
For more information please contact Andrew Richardson.
New trust reporting requirement for tax years ending on or after December 31, 2023
After intense lobbying and communication, the CRA has changed a requirement that would have meant a lot of extra administration work for many congregations, most of the Regions, the denomination and especially the UCC Foundation.
The bottom line is that the CRA will not require registered charities to file the T3, Trust Income Tax and Information Return, for internal trusts. Had this administrative ruling not happened, all would have had to prepare T3 tax forms for most of your restricted funds. Please click here to read more.
CCS Friday online discussion about engaging youth in climate justice – December 8, 2023
CCS Fridays are free online conversations to help us respond faithfully to emerging issues in local contexts. These workshops are open to anyone who might be interested. There will be a presentation that will be recorded for future viewing, plus opportunities to engage with the ideas in small groups.
Please click here to read more about this and for the registration link.
