NEWS AND UPDATES FROM BERMUDA-NOVA SCOTIA REGIONAL COUNCIL
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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.
Bermuda-Nova Scotia Regional Council Committee Volunteer form.
Condolences – Eleanor May Young
Our condolences are extended to Rev. Margaret Sagar and family on the death of her daughter, Eleanor May Young, who passed away on May 26, 2024. An obituary can be found here.
The Other Side of the Wall Book Study
People around the world have seen and heard the Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac’s Christmas Sermon “Under the Rubble”.
Now the Just Peace Working Group are inviting you to hear more from this extraordinary theologian.
Tuesday evenings in June, at 7:00pm Atlantic, join us while we study Munther’s book “The Other Side of the Wall”. The book can be purchased from Amazon or you can order it through your local bookstore.
You can register for the book study by emailing PLEMoncton@gmail.com or by clicking on this link.
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!!
Greetings Growth Seekers from Growth Animator Sharon
As June is dawning, there is much to celebrate and acknowledge this month. What will your community of faith be partying about? It’s Pride month. It’s indigenous history month. It’s the United Church of Canada’s 99th birthday June 10. More information about the celebration of the United Church’s centenary can be found here. The kick-off event into the hundredth year of United Church of Canada is at Toronto Metropolitan United, live streamed Sunday, June 9, 2024, 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Atlantic time. General Secretary, the Reverend Michael Blair will be the preacher. Plan a party, picnic supper, potluck. Invite several communities of faith to get together and watch the livestream. Start a photo history through the hundredth year. Invite stories, comments, interviews. Mark the hundredth birthday on your calendar for June 8, 2025 and save the date.
Sign up to receive the Centennial newsletter to learn about monthly themes and events throughout our hundredth year. Make your own events in your own community. Consider connecting with other area United Churches and celebrate history. Connect with local museums, historical societies, local libraries, local archives, and explore how community partners might celebrate 100 years of deep, bold, daring. What else in your local context has a hundred or more years of history? Do you have a history of your church? Is it time to profile it? Do members of your community of faith have old photos, stories, newspaper clippings? Invite children, youth, and adults to do some research about life in 1925 and share their findings. Interview anyone in their nineties to early hundreds to capture memories. Learn about what was popular around 1925 from food to fashion, activities to autos and everything in between! Explore how you can invite neighbourhoods in to share heritage. Host an afternoon social, reminiscent of 1925 perhaps, or then and now contrast with a little nostalgia mixed with current day. Perhaps a talent show or music night blending old and new. Maybe historical vignettes featuring characters of the day, snippets of historical writing or creative drama offered. As we look back, celebrate perseverance and determination, how will you also focus on your future moving forward? Let me know your creative ideas. 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
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.
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)
