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.
Condolences: Rev. Dr. William James “Jim” Shaffner
Our condolences are extended to the family of Rev. Dr. William James “Jim” Shaffner who passed away on May 29, 2026. The obituary can be viewed here.
Condolences: Rev. Gilbert “Gil” Frederick Todd
Our condolences are extended to the family of Rev. Gilbert “Gil” Frederick Todd who passed away on May 11, 2026. The obituary can be viewed here.
Celebration of Ministry Service – Link to Live Streaming
The Celebration of Ministry service for Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council will be held Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 10:00am at Convocation Hall, Mount Allison University.
For those unable to join us in person for the service, the Celebration of Ministry Service will be live streamed. Please click here to join.
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”.
Annual Meeting Evaluation Form
We would ask everyone who attends the Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council annual meeting to take a few minutes to fill out the online evaluation form by June 22 (form will open June 6).
Crafting Your Community of Faith Profile
On June 10, 2026, from 7PM to 8:30PM via Zoom, Regional Minister Lloyd Bruce will offer an overview of the process for crafting a Community of Faith Profile.
This gathering is for: Pastoral Relations Liaisons and those from Pastoral Charges that are working on their Community of Faith Profile, and those interested in serving as a Pastoral Relations Liaison.
To register please send your name, pastoral charge and email address to lbruce@united-church.ca with CoF Profile Training in the subject line.
JMOC: Indigenous Right Relations Webinar
The Justice, Mission and Outreach sub-committee working on Indigenous Right Relations is holding a webinar on Wednesday June 17th at 7pm. We encourage anyone interested in learning more about Indigenous rights and justice to join us. We will be sharing a bit about our group, the importance of Land Acknowledgements in worship and sharing the resources available for Sunday June 21st National Indigenous Peoples Day also known within the church as Indigenous Day of Prayer. Please click here to register for the webinar.
Northeast NB Cluster Meeting
The second NE cluster meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 24 from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm at First United in Bathurst, New Brunswick. Regional Minister, Rev. Lloyd Bruce will present and offer some reflection and facilitated conversation around some of the challenges facing the Church. Lunch will be provided for $15.
Please come to connect with old and new friends. Let’s be United!
To register email the Church Office (admin@firstunited-bathurst.ca) by June 19th indicating which Pastoral Charge you are a part of and any dietary needs you may have. Each multi-point Pastoral Charge is encouraged to have one individual present from each point. Each single point Pastoral Charge is encouraged to have two or three individuals present. All Ministers (active and retired) and LLWLs are encouraged to be present.
Salisbury United Church Spring Online Auction
Good news! We are having a small spring auction. We have 70 items up for bid beginning June 8th. The auction will run till June 10th at 6pm.
A Couple of highlights…12 place settings of Paragon’s County Fair in beautiful condition. Coronation mugs for King George IV and Queen Elizabeth. Lovely bone china mugs. A scarce Welcome to Salisbury trivet and so much more. Please share with your friends! You can find all the items over on Facebook-type in the search bar: The Great Salisbury United Church Auction. Thanks.
United Church Worship Resources
Many Communities of Faith (CoF) find themselves where it is falling to lay members to support or lead worship. Lacking formal training, or having very little training, in leading worship these lay members often look for support in leading worship. Additionally, these CoF are often strapped for the funds, which limits their ability for training or support materials for their lay leaders. There are, however, many materials that are inexpensive or free that are available for use by CoFs and lay leaders. On June 22nd the Faith Formation and Leadership Development Committee of the Bermuda-Nova Scotia Region is pleased to present a webinar to help CoFs and lay leaders find these resources. On June 22nd, Alydia Smith – Program Coordinator, Worship, Music and Spirituality at the General Council of the United Church of Canada – will lead our webinar. The session will be on June 22nd and start at 7pm (Atlantic Time) running for an hour with time at the end for questions and discussion. Registration is now open, click here: there is no registration fee for this webinar. Registration will close the morning of June 22nd.
Upon registration you will receive an automated email. A few days later you will receive a welcome email from the committee with the zoom link for the sessions. You will also receive a reminder email before the session.
Living into the vision of Toward 2035, Fall Course,2026
There is an exciting learning opportunity happening this fall. As your growth animator, I will be there to learn alongside all the participants. I am inviting you and people from your pastoral charge to come and learn too!
Toward 2035 is an invitation to prayer and conversation about the future of God’s call to the United Church of Canada. Together, we dream of a United Church that is “increasingly multigenerational, multiracial, and intercultural,” one that reflects the diversity of our neighbourhoods.
But sometimes we don’t know where to start, or how to move from good intentions into practical action. You’re not alone, there are folks across our church who are asking the same questions, and this fall, they are gathering to dig deeply into them.
Becoming An Intercultural Church is a six-week online led by Rev. Dr. Hyuk Cho, exploring how churches can respond faithfully to cultural diversity, migration, racial injustice, ecological crisis, and the lingering effects of colonial histories. Designed for ministers, lay leaders, congregations, and related communities of faith, this course moves beyond simple inclusion language to examine shared woundedness, companionship, anti-racist formation, and the transformation of church life through shared power and responsibility.
The class runs weekly on Wednesdays from October 14–November 25, 2026. Registration is $40 per person or $70 for a group of up to 10. Register on CHURCHx. I invite you to sign-up and consider bringing some friends with you. By having this conversation together, reflecting and practicing in community, we can begin to move beyond those good intentions into real transformative change.
Do you want to talk more about strengthening invitation, church growth and renewal now!
Book time to meet with me
Sharon Ballantyne (she/her)
Growth Animator | Atlantic
506-306-0500
sballantyne@united-church.ca
The ASTE Levy Lecture NAVIGATING HOPE AND DESPAIR: A NATURE WRITER’S JOURNEY with Harry Thurston Tuesday June 18th 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm St Andrew’s United Church 55 King St, Truro NS
Harry Thurston was born in 1950, at the very beginning of the Anthropocene, that era in which humans became a geological force shaping the planet’s biosphere. As a nature writer and poet, his challenge has been to navigate the rough moral and artistic terrain between despair and hope. He will trace that journey and the responsibility that comes with it through an examination and sharing of his work in both prose and poetry.
Born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Harry Thurston is the author of thirty books of poetry, natural history, and memoir. His first prose book, Tidal Life, A Natural History of the Bay of Fundy, revealed the life-giving powers of the Fundy tides and argued against damming them for electrical generation, and is now considered a classic in the natural history genre. His eco-memoir, A Place Between the Tides, A Naturalist’s Reflections on the Saltmarsh won the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award in the U.S., and The Atlantic Coast, A Natural History, received the Lane Anderson Award for the best science writing in Canada. His latest poetry collection, Ultramarine, was a finalist for the J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Prize and the Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry. He lives in Tidnish Bridge, Cumberland County, and is a Mentor in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction program at University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Learn more about Harry at his web site.
Learn more about ASTE.
The Levy Lecture is an integral part of ASTE. The lecture is open to the public at no charge. In particular we are always glad to welcome ASTE alumni to the lecture.
United Church Office Administrators Conference
The conference is planned for October 5-9, 2026, and will take place in Saskatoon, SK. All UCC administrators; whether you are a regional admin, executive assistant, or working in a local community of faith; all are welcome to attend! To view the agenda for the conference click here; to access the MP Support Letter click here; and to register click here.
Camp Abegweit – Golf Tournament Fundraiser
We hope you’ll join us for our Golf Tournament Fundraiser at the beautiful Rustico Resort on September 12, 2026.
Tournament Details:
Start Time: 10:00 am (Shotgun Start)
Cost: $150.00/per player (Eligible for a $50.00 Tax Receipt)
Payment: Will be received on the day of the event, at registration
Tournament Type: Scramble
Food/Drinks: A lunch will be provided on the day of the event; drinks are extra
