NEWS AND UPDATES FROM FUNDY ST. LAWRENCE DAWNING WATERS (FSLDW)
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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.
Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters (FSLDW) Committee Interest form.
Annual Meeting Registration is Open
Registration is open for the annual meeting. Please read the memo sent from the Executive Minister. Visit the annual meeting webpage regularly for the latest updates and information on the upcoming meeting.
Youth@Region 2026!
Calling all Youth, between grades 6-12!
Registration is now open for Youth@Region!
Y@R is a place of community and a place of faith where United Church youth, between grades 6 and 12, meet from across Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council. Y@R will meet in-person at the same time as Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council (FSLDW) meets online, June 5-7, 2026. The theme for this year’s event is “Rooted”.
The group creates an inclusive, diverse and safe community for youth in the name of Christ. We provide a place for youth to explore their faith and to learn more about the United Church of Canada while sharing in music, worship and fun in a spirit-filled community.
We hope to see you there!
If you have any questions, please email Catherine Stuart. Deadline to register is May 8, 2026.
FSLDW Youth@Region is looking for facilitators!
Are you an awesome leader who would love to share your faith with a fabulous group of church youth? The Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Youth@Region Planning team are seeking interested leaders to serve as facilitators for this year’s program.
Youth@Region will be a 3-day event, June 5-7 at Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, creating a fun and safe space for youth grades 6 to 12. A leadership training event will take place in late-April/early-May.
Applications for facilitators are now available! Applicants must be 19 years of age or older and must have at least one gap year between being a participant and a facilitator. Deadline for registration is April 17, 2026.
Application can be found here.
Annual Meeting Sunday Worship Service, June 7
If you are in need of worship suggestions for the Annual Meeting Sunday, June 7, there is a full service and bulletin posted to the annual meeting website under the “Sunday Worship Service”.
Nominations are open for President-Elect
Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council is seeking nominations for President-Elect. This position is for a total of three years: one year as President-Elect, one year as President, and the last year as Past-President. The President-Elect will serve as a member of the Regional Executive, leading our Region in its work and ministry, within the bounds of the Region. Serving the Region in this way offers many unique and exciting opportunities to engage in its work and life. More information on the role of President-Elect, President, and Past-President can be found here.
As this election will take place through the Annual meeting held online, no nominations will be accepted from the floor, due to the nature of the online voting process. All nominations must be received by May 1, 2026 at midnight. Nominations are open to all members of the Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council, including ministry personnel and lay representatives. To submit your nomination, please fill out the form here.
Each nomination must include the names of two people who will move the nomination. These people must be members of Regional Council. The nomination does not need to come from the governing body of your local community of faith, it just needs to be two people from the Region who support the nomination.
If you have any questions, please contact Nominations Chair, Tracy Friars.
Regional Financial Support
The Financial and Mission Services Committee is pleased to promote the availability of various funds to support individuals and communities throughout our Region. The guidelines and applications for the specific funds can be found on the Region’s website. Among the funds is the “Camping Ministry Fund” which can provide limited assistance to camps in our Region for building repairs or construction, to assist staff in the development of programs, for technology upgrades, or other needs to enhance our camps’ ability to provide their valuable ministry.
Growth Ideas 101: Seed Your Need
Please click here to read the Growth Ideas from Sharon Ballantyne, Growth Animator, for April 15, 2026.
Share your ideas with your growth animator at 506-306-0500 or by email at sballantyne@united-church.ca.
Sacraments Elder Training: May 30, 2026 9:30AM to 4:30PM
Is your community of faith without a minister and struggling to find a supply minister who can offer communion and the sacrament of baptism?
Is your minister unable to be in two places at once to offer communion on the same Sunday?
If so, maybe there is a lay person in your community of faith who would be willing to be trained as a Sacraments Elder. Please register by clicking here.
Registrants must be supported by their community of faith and are required to review the Sacraments Elder handbook, the link to the handbook will be included in your confirmation email.
Regional Council Office in Sackville, New Brunswick from 9:30AM to 4:30PM Registration will close on Friday May 22, 2026.
Six registrants are required to proceed.
Lunch and snacks will be provided.
Please direct any questions to the Regional Minister, Lloyd Bruce.
Faithful Footprints Grant
The Faithful Footprints Grant supports United Church communities with funding for building retrofit projects that reduce carbon emissions, and strengthen the long-term sustainability of church buildings. The 2026 funding cycle is now open and accepting expressions of interest until April 30, 2026. Please click here for more information.
Transform Your Church by Transforming Your Conversations
Conversations Worth Having Workshop for Spiritual Leaders is a webinar for clergy and lay leaders (M&P members, Church Board leaders etc.) focused on building trust, improving meetings, and navigating difficult conversations with greater clarity and life-giving impact.
Dates: April 29 & May 1, 2026
Interested? For more information and to Register click here.
Facilitator: Todd McDonald (Rev. Dr.) is a former Pastoral Relations Minister in Shining Waters Regional Council. Todd’s work seeks to support the health, joy, and excellence of faith leaders – both clergy and lay leaders.
Staff Change
As of the 15th of March, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Richardson has been appointed as the Director of Emerging Ministry Leadership and Co-Director of the Office of Vocation with the General Council Office. Temporary coverage for the Vocation Minister work is in the process of being arranged. The position of Office of Vocation Minister for the Atlantic Regions has been posted on the United Church web page with a closing date of April 16th.
What does the United Church’s “One Earth Community” mean?
Care for Creation Moment: One Earth Community
The United Church of Canada teaches that care for the Earth is not merely an environmental issue — it is a matter of faith. Creation is understood as a sacred gift from God, entrusted to humanity not for exploitation, but for loving stewardship. This conviction is powerfully expressed in the United Church’s 1992 statement, One Earth Community: Ethical Principles for Environment and Development.
The United Church invites us to live differently — to move from dominance to partnership, from consumption to compassion, and from isolation to global solidarity. It is a call to transformation rooted in faith, justice, and love for all Creation.
Read and be inspired by the Ethical Principles adopted in 1992 here.
Is It Time To Become An Apartheid-Free Community?
Do you Look at the Tragic Events in Israel/Palestine and Feel Both Angry and Helpless?
Our faith calls us “to seek justice and resist evil”.
But how can I and my faith community have an impact on what is happening now so far away – in the land where Jesus walked and taught?
Join us online for the webinar where we will explore:
Is what exists today in Israel and Palestine apartheid?
What can we learn from the struggle against apartheid in South Africa?
How can my faith community become an Apartheid-Free Community?
What would that mean?
If you have any issues filling out the registration form, you can contact info@unjppi.ca.
Annual Pastoral Charge Information Form 2026
We are asking each pastoral charge to complete and submit the Annual Pastoral Charge Information Form as soon as possible after your 2026 annual meeting, noting the deadline was April 1st . This updates the Region with the names and contact information of your current leadership and regional council representatives (elected members). As a reminder, if we do not have the information for your elected members, they will not be able to vote at the Regional Annual Meeting. If you have any issues with completing the form, please contact Shari Kaster, 506-306-0496.
AN OPPORTUNITY NOT TO BE MISSED – Join Catherine Keller and Jason Starr for ASTE 2026 EARTH ON EDGE. Ecology & Possibility June 15th – June 18th Truro, NS
Why, join Catherine Keller, Jason Starr and Maritime clergy and laity for three days of a deep meaningful face to face examination of our joys and responsibilities as people of faith in this age of challenge?
Eight Creation seasons ago I needed help: how to take seriously our ecological emergency, without giving into despair or simply hoping for divine intervention. I found it in Catherine Keller’s Political Theology of the Earth, which led me to her Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming, Cloud of the Impossible, and then Facing Apocalypse. Climate, Democracy and Other Last Chances. I don’t know a theologian who speaks more directly and eloquently to the ecological, cultural and political realities of our time. I wish I had discovered her much earlier in my active ministry. I recommended her to the ASTE Board, believing she would help other worship leaders and spiritual seekers as she has helped me.
We are thrilled that this internationally sought-after theologian immediately accepted our invitation to ASTE 2026 (June 15-18). Don’t miss this unique opportunity!
Jane Doull
Secretary Board ASTE
For information click here
To Register Click here
Inquiry or 902-368-3207
