Affirm Committee
Mission:
Seeking to continue the vision of Jesus by embodying the Spirit of Christ in the world. Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters is committed to enacting this vision for Affirming Ministry within the Region.
Responsibilities:
a) Incorporate this vision and plan of action into the mandate of a Regional Standing Committee for Affirming Ministry, in order to support and provide resources to the congregations of FSLDW Regional Council, in the ongoing process of being an Affirming Ministry within The United Church of Canada.;
b) Work with the FSLDW Regional Council to establish an Equity Group/Team. FSLDW Affirming Ministry Committee will recommend terms of reference for an Equity Group/Team;
c) Expect FSLDW administrative and programming staff to fashion their ministry, at all times and in all places, in keeping with this vision.;
d) Expect the FSLDW standing and ad hoc committees, units, and task groups to regularly assess their agenda and their ministry to align with the Region Vision Statement*. The Affirm Committee has provided guiding Equity Questions to assist committees to operate in keeping with this vision.;
e) Promote and identify the Region’s Affirming Ministry status in official FSLDW signage, facilities, ways of being welcoming, social media, documentation, etc.;
f) Direct the Atlantic Candidacy Board to inform Inquirers, Candidates, and Applicants for ministry within the Region that we are an Affirming Region, as they actively pursue their call to ministry;
g) Actively advocate for justice in issues of inclusive language, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity in particular, as well as life experience, differing abilities, ethnicity, skin colour, culture, age, geographic location, economic circumstance, mental and physical health and those we have yet to discern, both within the church and ministries of our Region, and in the wider community;
h) Encourage and support ministers of diversity applying to serve in the Region… on the basis of sexual orientation, age, gender and gender identity, skin colour, ethnicity or different physical and mental ability;
i) Work towards becoming a Region in which equal marriage is available in all Communities of Faith. To that end, the Affirming Ministry Committee will work with Communities of Faith in their conversations around fully equal Marriage Policy.
Composition:
Chair
Secretary
Volunteers
Executive Minister – Staff Support
Must have passion for, or be an advocate for various areas of difference in our communities. We hope to build a safe place to ask ALL the questions and ponder together with others on how we can be the church in the most inclusive and affirming ways possible, Facilitation, communication, and organizational skills are important for the Committee. Encouraged to work with similar Committees in other Regions on matters of mutual interest as appropriate.
Educational Events
The Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council Affirm Standing Committee continues to offer a series of educational events.
The 2026 events were:
March 5, 2026 Getting Started – A Conversation About the Process led by Pix Butt, Chair of Affirm Committee
The 2025 events were:
January 22, 2025 Sharing Two Wonderful Versions of the Mi’kmaq Creation Story
February 19, 2025 Dementia and Spiritual Care: A Challenge that Affects Us All
April 30, 2025 Getting Started – A More Detailed Step by Step led by Kim Curlett (then Consultant with Affirm United)
The 2024 events were:
January 3, 2024 Mental Health & Resiliency
February 28, 2024 Communities of Faith: Singing Songs of Hope to Support Mental Health
April 18, 2024 Becoming an Affirming Congregation: First Steps
November 27, 2024 Understanding Guaranteed Livable (Basic) Income
The 2023 events were:
January 17, 2023 Where to Start in Becoming Affirming
February 7, 2023 Speaking Inclusively
March 21, 2023 Conversion Therapies. How to recognize them and how to help people in recovery. (not recorded)
November 15, 2023 Welcoming Gender Diversity: A discussion on gender identity in our communities of faith
The 2022 events were:
February 10, 2022 Peace and Friendship Treaties
March 10, 2022 Where to Start in Becoming an Affirming Ministry
May 12, 2022 Land Acknowledgment – Learning Toward Reconciliation (not recorded)
June 4, 2022 Creating Safe Spaces
October 20, 2022 Neurodiversity
November 17, 2022 Economic Justice
Future Dates (Registration and details to follow closer to the event dates):
To be announced
Registration information
For registration please click on this link.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the event.
Webinars will take place using zoom video conferencing.
Please share this information with your committees/networks and save the dates in your calendars!
Affirm Committee Posts
FSLDW Gender Diversity Resources – Feb 17, 2021
FSLDW Affirm Event Gender Diversity Presentation Gender Diversity Webinar Resources