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.
Young Clergy Retreat Postponed
Unfortunately, due to low registration, we are unable to move forward with the Young Clergy Retreat that was planned for May 23-24. The planning team has decided to postpone the event to October 17-18 (Thursday and Friday).
For those who have already registered and are available for these new dates, no further action is required. If you have registered and will not be available for the new dates, please reach out to rev.bowley@outlook.com.
We apologize for the inconvenience that this may cause. Watch these announcements in late August/early September for more information.
Fairview United Church De-Commissioning Service
Date: Saturday, May 25, 2024
Time: 10:30 AM
Location: 3524 Dutch Village Road, Halifax NS
Dear Friends and Community Members:
We invite you to join us as we De-Commission the Fairview United Church building as a place of worship. As we mark the end of an era, this service will be a time of reflection, gratitude, and celebration. We will give thanks for what was while looking forward with hope as we prepare for new beginnings with our friends at Rockingham United. We warmly welcome special guest, Rev. Donna Tourneur, President Bermuda-Nova Scotia Region.
There will be a reception following the service where we can share memories and stories.
Thank you for being part of the journey! For more information call 902-443-2947
Retirement Open House – The Rev. Ivan Gregan
Join Us for a Retirement Celebration to honour the Rev. Ivan Gregan
36 Years of Faithful Service to the Congregation of Port Wallis United Church!
Open House – Saturday, May 25th from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Port Wallis United Church, 263 Waverley Rd, Dartmouth NS
902-435-3644
Covenanting Service Invitation
Please join us on June 9th AT 2 PM for the Covenanting service between Rawdon Hills United Church and Rev. Dr. Darlene Brewer. Rev. Anne Hoganson will be our Regional Representative and Rev Jean-Daniel O’Donnhada will be our guest preacher. All are welcome as we celebrate this new ministry together!!
Roxburgh at Atlantic School of Theology in June
Alan Roxburgh, author, teacher, and pastor, is the guest speaker at the upcoming Aitken Lectures, which take place as follows:
Aitken Lectures 2024
June 11 & 12, 2024 at 7 pm
AST St. Columba Chapel, 634 Francklyn Street, Halifax, NS
Two Lectures
· June 11, 7:00 pm
“What Happened? Making Sense of the Unraveling after the Lockdown”
· June 12, 7:00 pm
“What do we do? Being God’s People in a Place we’ve never been before.”
Make plans to join us for this free 2-part in-person event brought to you by AST Continuing Education and Pine Hill Divinity Hall. Attendees are asked to register.
Beautiful to Behold: Broken Open Church – Rural Routes Through the Holy
Rural Routes Through the Holy will gather this year from June 13 – 15th at Orchard Valley United Church in New Minas around the theme Beautiful to Behold; Broken Open Church. This is an area very familiar to our speaker, Rev. Dr. Catherine Smith, who has spent years studying the vitality to be found in vulnerability, remaining open, permeable to God and to one another.
We’ll listen and talk, worship and rest, learn, eat and sing together. We’ll hear from those who are excited by a ministry they’re involved in and we’ll have the chance to choose from workshops on Writing Spiritual Memoir (Janice MacLean), Collaborative Ministry (David Hewitt) and explore the legacy of the Acadian experience (Marvin Anderson, Karen Archibald Waugh, David Roger Gagnon, Ivan Gregan, & Betty Jean Curry). You can see the schedule here.
We’ll also be joined virtually for our theme by those outside the Maritimes, thanks in large part to a grant provided by the United Church Rural Ministry Network.
Registration closes June 3rd so now is the time. We’re looking forward to welcoming you.
Indigenous Land Justice
June 12th: Community Land Trusts – Sharing of Knowledge.
6 – 8 pm Atlantic time.
Our second in our Land Legacy series will feature Indigenous speakers from across Turtle Island that are working to reclaim, rematriate land and create healing spaces for Indigenous people. Whether it is creating safe housing in downtown Vancouver, community gardens in Ontario or learning and healing Indigenous centres in Calgary, Toronto and Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. Some are negotiating with municipalities, cities and some with faith organizations such as the United Church to return land. It is a beautiful movement of land justice and true self-determination being created by grassroots Indigenous non-profits. All welcome to attend!
To register, click here.
New Book – It Works For Us-Best Practices in Partially-Funded Ministry
Is your congregation shrinking? Is the church building showing its age? Are you struggling to fill committee slots? Are you unable to offer quality programming? Can you no longer fund a full-time minister? Are you feeling tired, depressed, or frustrated with the state of your church?
Many committed Christians despair about the future of their churches. But, while It Works for Us: Exploring Best Practices in Partially Funded Ministry acknowledges the current challenges most churches face, it drives toward potential solutions and uncovers how churches might thrive with fewer resources. Discover how other churches have explored best practices for establishing long-term health and vibrant ministry, and test their innovative practices. Experiment with identified vitality components to discover how you too can determine the strength and potential in your congregation. Respond to issues with creative, practical, and positive action. Find your good future.
Grounded in clear empirical data, gleaned from a nation-wide survey and from mainline Canadian denominations, It Works for Us analyses the trends in current ministry, explores aspects of congregational morale, encourages courageous, uncomfortable, and tender conversations, and offers hope for the future of the Christian church in Canada. It is a natural follow-up to the author’s previous study, It’s Real Ministry: How Part-time and Bi-vocational Clergy are Challenging and Empowering the Church and is a valuable tool for today’s clergy, lay persons, and congregations.
Ross Bartlett, Author
Rev. Dr. I. Ross Bartlett has broad experience in congregational ministry and is intimately knowledgeable with church structure and institutional shifts. He has a deep commitment to the well-being of congregations and the clergy, and he believes they can thrive if they determine their strengths and work with their potential. He is a veteran congregational minister and educator and is involved in church life at different leadership and educational levels. He has an active practice as a coach for clergy and consultant for congregations. His work is rooted in the theological and social commitments of mainline Canadian churches, and he has taught and spoken on these areas across Canada.
Dr. Bartlett is an accomplished writer, having published several books. Most recently, he has published It’s Real Ministry: How Part-time and Bi-vocational Clergy are Challenging and Empowering the Church. Other publications include Gathered for Preaching: A Source Book for Lay Leaders and Clergy, On Holy Ground: You and Your Faith Story, and Speaking Church: A New Vision for the Sub/urban Congregation. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Dr. Bartlett is a husband, father, and grandfather. He resides in a suburb of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
To place your order please contact Leona at llaundry@united-church.ca. Deadline to order is May 31, 2024.
Greetings Growth Seekers from Growth Animator Sharon
How can work and worship be one? Do meetings make your heart sing or strike a sour note? Does your current governance model fit who you are today and use your resources well? Dr. Shawn Jolemore (a “pracademic”) has been offering a continuing education series this spring through the Atlantic School of Theology. The title is one we can all ask ourselves and apply to the life and work of our communities of faith. Where Are We Going? How Are We Going to Get There?” My experience suggest there is not a cookie cutter answer, no magic formula, or list that offers a tidy response. We all have our own unique contexts. Being productive in our meetings, creating actionable plans in order to not just do the talk, energizes us all, becomes functional activity and affirming that we at least tried a thing instead of just talked about a thing. We are constantly evolving, growing and changing, which means we are constantly revisiting a next step, actionable items that prepare us, like good succession planning, to take the next right step for us. Reflect on meetings we are part of, and what it is to have “Conversations that matter. “”Let’s think about meeting productivity:
• How many focused clearly on strategic issues:
o A destination or outcome (Where are we going?) AND/OR
o A pathway (How will we get there?)
• How would you characterize the level of trust among participants?
• Did your meetings end with clear next steps?
• Did you feel the meeting was “guided” well?
Rate your overall experience on scale of 1 (not very productive or focused) to 5 (very productive
or focused). What did you learn about your meetings?
(Adapted from: Morrison et al. (2019) Strategic Doing: Ten skills for agile leadership) Make sure you add some play and some fun into your meetings. Invite the Spirit to dance among you, reenergizing and equipping you, building capacity, to follow where God leads. You can reach me by email at sballantyne@united-church.ca or by phone 705 875-8837. Let’s grow together with deep spirituality, bold discipleship and daring justice
Annual Meeting Evaluation Form
We would ask everyone who attended the Bermuda-Nova Scotia Regional Council annual meeting to take a few minutes to fill out the online evaluation form by June 7.
June Is Pride Month-Here are some resources
In preparation for next month’s celebration of Pride, the Affirming Committee of Bermuda Nova Scotia Region is sharing the candlelighting liturgy that was a part of our Affirming celebration during our Annual General Meeting, as well as some other links to Pride themed resources
https://thehymnsociety.org/resources/songs-for-the-holy-other/
https://united-church.ca/worship-special-days/pride-sunday
https://www.facebook.com/affirmunited
Worship resources from Enfleshed (Rev. M Jade Kaiser, enfleshed)
