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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.
To view upcoming events at the the Centre for Christian Studies please click here.
Bermuda-Nova Scotia Regional Council Committee Volunteer form.
Condolences: Marilyn Allan
Our condolences are extended to the family of Rev. David Allan, whose mother, Marilyn Allan, passed away on November 11, 2025. The obituary can be viewed here.
A Gift from the Region
Understanding that having resources is important for your work and support, The Institute for Health, Joy and Excellence has partnered with Janice MacLean to offer this advent small group study and four worship services, as a free gift to you; our Ministry Personnel and Lay Leaders.
Advent Small Group Study with Four Worship Services
We never tire of the story. Each Advent, we set out the beloved figures of the creche and are invited again into the mystery of incarnation. In this small group study and worship series, we look more closely at the figures and what they reveal about the human journey of faith, the bigger picture of love, and the divine longing at the heart of Christmas.
Alongside four study sessions, you’ll also receive complete Advent worship services—rich with liturgy, Advent candle-lighting, all-ages activities, Scripture, reflections, prayers, and music suggestions. Together, they invite us to approach the creche with fresh wonder, to notice who is present (and who is missing), and to be shaped by love that is already here and still arriving.
This series is provided by Prayer Bench and offered as a gift to leaders and communities of faith through a Regional License, please use this link to sign in for the small group study and four worship services. https://prayerbench.ca/2025-regional-license-for-living-nativity-study-worship-package/
Bermuda-Nova Scotia Pastoral Relations News – November 2025
- Approved the Renewal of Supply Appointment of Helene Burns with Sambro Jollimore Pastoral Charge, 20 hours/week, October 1 to December 31, 2025.
- Approved the Supply Appointment of Anne Hoganson with Rawdon Pastoral Charge, 15 hours/week, November 1, 2025 to January 31, 2026.
- Approved the Renewal of Supply Appointment of Jenny Eisener, Ordained Supply, with Waverley Pastoral Charge, 20 hours/week, January 1 to June 30, 2026. Rev. Eisener is engaging Admissions.
- Approved the Renewal of Supply Appointment of Jeff Chant with Fort Massey United Church, Halifax, 20 hours/week, November 1 to December 31, 2025.
- Approved the Renewal of Supply Appointment of Brenda McKay, retired, with Newport Pastoral Charge, 20 hours/week, November 11, 2025 to January 12, 2026.
- Approved the Request for Change in Pastoral Relations for the purposed of Retirement of Phillip Kennedy of Clifton Pastoral Charge, effective December 31, 2025.
- Approved the Profile and position description from Calvin United Church in New Waterford, and authorized Search for half-time ministry personnel. Donnie Morrison, Liaison.
- Approved the collaborative ministry agreement of Westmount United Church, Sydney, and Glace Bay United Church.
- Approved the request from Bridgewater United Church for a Review, and forwarded to the Division of Ministry Resources.
- Next meeting: Friday, December 12, 2025.
HRM Youth Gathering
Attention all United Church Youth in HRM, we’re gathering together as a youth cluster for a night of good food, good conversation and good times. This is for all youth, whether you have a youth group or not in grades (6)7-12. Sunday, November 23rd from 5:30-7:30pm at St. John’s United Church, Fall River. We’ll start with a spaghetti supper and move through games, story and spiritual practices looking at what’s the point?
Please register using the link. This is a great spot to connect with your friends from Youth@Region!
Questions? Comments? Reach out to Rev. Jenny Eisener at jenny@sjucfr.ca
A poster of the event can be viewed here.
Final Service- St. Paul’s, Spryfield
The congregation of St. Paul’s Church, 173 Old Sambro Road, Spryfield will hold its final worship service on November 23, 2025 at 2:00. There will be a light lunch at 12:00, in the lower hall. All are welcome to join us.
The building and property will be held in trust by the Region. The important mission of St. Paul’s Family Resource Centre will continue.
Book Sale at Grace United Church, Dartmouth
$10/Bag Book
Christmas Room
Bake Sale (Saturday only)
Friday, November 28, 4 pm – 7 pm
Saturday, November 29, 9 am – 1 pm
Grace United Church
70 King St., Dartmouth
A poster for the event can be viewed here.
Growth Ideas 101: Card Connections with Neighbours
Do you love getting Christmas cards? Perhaps, like me, you have been inclined to send digital greetings in recent years. This year I am intentionally doing print Christmas cards, hand deliveries for neighbours that I can and for family and friends too far, I’ll support Canada Post. Given my work, church focus takes up space in our family newsletter for the year, but as part of my own attention to invite culture, I will include a focus on invitation. How about you?
You might even make homemade cards. If your season is just too busy, think Epiphany, and gifting of card, connection and update in the new year. Don’t forget to let all your family, friends and neighbours know about whatever is happening in your community of faith. Check out the Advent resource
• Advent as a Season of Invitation Card (PDF): Use this fillable, printable card to invite others to your church to celebrate this Christmas season!
If you did not receive the Advent resources I sent this week, reach out.
Do a random act of kindness for a neighbour. Make room this season to introduce yourself. Make a connection. Offer a card, a token of thanks, an invitation to coffee. Plan a little gathering of neighbours. Plan a neighbourhood walk to look at decorations. Go “caroling.”. Do a prayer walk. Just chat. Set out a table in your front yard to visit with neighbours walking by. If your driveway or sidewalk is not snow or ice covered, create a chalk message.
Connect with a neighbour, where you live, and where you worship, to offer thank you for being good and safe neighbours all around.
Contact your growth animator, Sharon Ballantyne at 506-306-0500 or by email at sballantyne@united-church.ca
Don’t forget to join the Wednesday drop-in every Wednesday morning, a thirty-minute virtual coffee break to connect with people from across UCC-East. 9:45 Atlantic and 10:15 in Newfoundland-Labrador. Contact Sharon if you do not already have the link.
Church musician needed at St. Andrew’s in Truro, NS
Church Musician Wanted — Come Make Music with Us!
St. Andrew’s United Church – Truro, Nova Scotia
St. Andrew’s United Church is a welcoming and caring community that strives to reflect God’s justice and boundless love, as revealed through the life and teachings of Jesus. Guided by our four pillars — Radical Welcome, Reaching Out, Nurturing Spirituality, and Risking Hope — we believe music is an essential part of how we worship, connect, and grow together.
We’re seeking a part-time pianist and/or organist to join us and help lead our congregation and choir in music that uplifts and inspires.
What you’ll do:
• Accompany congregational hymns, choir anthems, and instrumental pieces during worship.
• Support and collaborate with our choir and Music Director at weekly rehearsals.
• Provide music for Sunday morning services and occasional special services (e.g., funerals, Good
Friday).
What we offer:
• A welcoming, supportive church community that values creativity and collaboration.
• Access to a Yamaha Baby Grand piano and a Rodgers 2-Manual electronic organ.
• Compensation:
• Choir Practice (Wednesdays, 7–8 p.m.): $35–$45 per session (based on experience)
• Sunday Service (10:15 choir warm-up, 11 a.m. service): $100–$120 per service (based on
experience)
• Additional services compensated separately.
Term: Immediate start through April 15, 2026.
If you have a love of music and a heart for community, we’d love to hear from you!
Please submit a cover letter outlining your training and experience along with a résumé to complete your application: RevShannonMaclean@gmail.com
Illuminate a Memory: AST’s Christmas Lights dedication and tree lighting ceremony
December 4, at 4:30 p.m.
We invite you to mark the start of the holiday season with a meaningful gathering in December.
The lighting ceremony of the AST Christmas Lights Dedication will take place outside the AST residence on Thursday, December 4, at 4:30 p.m.
There will be hot cocoa, holiday treats, and carolling, too.
For those of you who want to participate, there is a simple way to sponsor a light and ensure your loved one’s name is included in the dedication.
Visit the AST website and make a contribution. Light sponsorships start at $10. Choose your light colour and share the name of the person you are honouring or remembering.
If you sponsor a light before December 1, your dedication will appear in the tree lighting event program and the AST website.
This moving tradition allows you to honour a loved one whose name and memory will be symbolically illuminated by an actual light on the tree.
Proceeds from the Christmas Lights appeal will go toward the AST Annual Fund, which supports ministry students in several different areas, including bursaries, library purchases, guest speakers, and more.
Planning to join us? Kindly confirm your attendance by emailing advancement@astheology.ns.ca on or before December 1. Your RSVP helps us prepare enough festive treats for all our guests!
Heads up! Lots of good “churchy things” looking for new home(s)
The Middleton United Church building is for sale and the congregation is looking to rent worship space once its sold. Therefore we will have a lot of our inventory for sale or gifting, as appropriate.
With Christmas coming up, perhaps your church lacks a beautiful 12 ft high Christmas tree with lights and decorations? Or you might be interested in Voices United Hymn books? Or in upholstered Chairs? or Kitchen inventory?
Pass the word along; we are not in a rush but would like to begin the process of finding good homes for cherished items. If you need something, we might just have it, so please ask us via stjohnsmiddleton@gmail.com
