This page is updated frequently with items of interest to representatives to Halton Presbytery, and to members of pastoral charges within the presbytery.
Please check back regularly to find the latest information.
If you have any information that would be of interest, please send them to .
On January 24th, 2012, Halton Presbytery hosted a special workshop in our Vital Congregations series, this one entitled Tools for Cultivating and Nurturing Vital, Healthy Ministry. The presenter was Rev. Judith Gilliland, the Congregational Futures Development Minister of London Conference.
For those interested in following up, here are the slides that were shown:
The following is a long to the current list of invitations from Partner Churches around the world, to participate in service and learning opportunities: http://www.united-church.ca/getinvolved/global/overseas/. This list is updated from time to time.
Living and working as mission personnel in a cross-cultural context overseas is a unique opportunity and offers many gifts and challenges. These challenges are best met by people who have a deep and growing Christian faith, who are flexible, mature, resourceful, and who can live with ambiguity. These persons have a healthy sense-awareness, the ability to deal with unusual circumstances and are able to handle occasional high levels of stress. They have a strong commitment to God's mission of justice and peace for all, and particularly for those who are marginalized or oppressed. Know someone like this? Please encourage them to consider overseas mission service through The United Church of Canada.
We have an intensive screening process, which can take several months. Individuals pursuing the possibility of mission service overseas should start six months to one year in advance to explore such a ministry. As one of the first steps in the process, inquirers are asked to participate in a Mission Discernment Event (a spring date will be announced soon). Please urge any potentially interested individuals to be in contact with this office.
Peace,
Patti Talbot & Heather Spares
As part of our full court meeting on Nobvember 22, 2011, Diane Urquhart presented a report about her work fighting financial fraud and negligence.
Several people asked if they could get copies of her report, so they could review it more carefully. Diane has generously made her work available.
Click here to see the report. Also, click here to get a copy of Diane's CV, with more information about the work she has been doing in this area.
As part of our full court meeting on September 27th, we heard a presentation about Compañeros. This social enterprise brings groups, especially United Church groups, to Managua, Nicaragua to work on a variety of community development projects.
You can click here to see their web site to get more information.
At our full court meeting on September 27th, our Persistent Friend Lorna MacQueen reported that by September 16th, the United Church had raised one million dollars to address the problem of famine in the Horn of Africa. This money is to be matched by the federal government.
Lorna also told us about a "good news" video in YouTube. It tells about a similar drought in Zimbabwe - and the response, supported in large part by the United Church - that has prevented this drought from becoming the kind of famine that has devasted the Horn of Africa.
Please click here to view this inspiring video.
The Strategic Mission Development Committee (SMDC) has issued an Annual Report for the 2010-11 year. Click here to read it.
Walter Sowa has announced has announced his resignation as a Commissioner of the 40th General Council effective October 11, 2010 (not co-incidentally, Thanksgiving Day). Walter has decided he wants to dedicate more time to his conculting business, and must cur back in ohter areas.
Walter wrote a wonderful letter of resignation to our Moderator, Marti Tindal, and out General Secretary, Nora Sanders. It expresses his thoughts on leaving this work, and on the future of the church. You can read his letter here.
We at Halton Presbytery and the entire United Church are very grateful to Walter for all his contributions to the church.
Kilbride United has produced a package of note cards that are available for purchase. Each package contains six cards. Each on is based on a painting that hangs in the church, and is completed on that back with a message inspired by the image.
More information about this project, and a view of the cards, is available by clicking here.
In 2008 Halton Presbytery commissioned a report concerning its communications resources and needs. This report is available here as Communications Policy and Strategies.
At this time Halton Presbytery has accepted Recommendations 3.1 ("Mission Statement"), Recommendation 3.2 ("Purpose"), amd Recommendation 3.3 ("Communications and Technical Committee").
Other aspects of the report are still being evaluated, under the leadership of the Strategic Mission and Development Committee (SMDC), and further work will be brought to Halton Presbytery in due course.
For some time now, Wesley and other emergency shelter providers in Hamilton have been working on transforming the way we work with homeless men and women. The results of a number of years of work have been dramatic. More individuals are being housed and staying housed. As a result, shelter numbers have been dropping consistently for the last few years. This work is part of an initiative we are calling the 'Shelter Blueprint'.
As you will see from this paper, one of the resulting changes from the implementation of the Blueprint is that Wesley Centre will become a day-time drop-in only as of August 1st, 2010. That means we will no longer provide emergency overnight shelter which we have been doing since 1991.
Apart from the information in the attached document I wanted to highlight a few other points:
First, the funding we receive from the Mission and Service Fund is for day-time programming and is unaffected by this announcement. As you will see in the attached, much of what we do at Wesley Centre happens during the day.
Secondly, the Ministry of Word, Sacrament and Pastoral Care at Wesley Centre will continue. Rev. Thom Davies will continue to have full-time employment at Wesley and continue our important community ministry through Wesley Centre.
Thirdly, while change is never easy this is a really good news story. Community Ministries often talk about 'putting themselves out of business'. Well, in a small way we are doing that. This move towards a more justice based approach is one that feels really good - despite the very real pain of the transition we are entering into with our staff, clients and volunteers.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me directly.
Sincerely,
TAMARA COLEMAN-LAWRIE
Director, Resource Development
United Church Executive Secretary Nora Sanders has issued information related to the financial and program planning for the Church, leading up to the next General Council in 2013.
A memo outlining the process and the mandate for this process as directed by the Sub-Executive of General Council is available here.
Some background information is also available here.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is a new law that affects all public and private buildings in Ontario. The measures it establishes are being introduced in phases. The first phase comes into force on January 1, 2010. It will take about 15 years for full implementation.
The law incorporates tough penalties for non-compliance. There have been suggestions that churches will be a particular target for enforcement. Therefore, it is in our best interest, aw well as that of the disabled people that this act is intended to assist, that we all study the act and do our best to comply.
Most of the actions required in the first phase are informational - making sure we properly advertise our accessible facilities, and making sure everyone who needs to is aware of our facilities, and can assist those who need to use them. Actions requiring building changes will arise in future phases.
There is a web site describing the act in detail here.
Rev. Morar Murray-Hayes of Maple Grove has collected some documents related to the Act and preparations for it. Some of these were prepared at the University of Toronto. Here are links to them:
News Release -- Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Toronto: While it may not be a traditional pulpit, for The United Church of Canada, it is a communication platform like no other.
This week, the church is launching its own YouTube channel, featuring a playlist of more than 20 videos with more to be added in the weeks ahead.
Many people think the church is just a collection of buildings with steeples, but by using YouTube, we can show how active the church is, whether in a downtown mission like First United in Vancouver or through overseas partners working on water issues in Kenya," says Catherine Rodd, the church's Multi-Media Producer. "Our audience is the world and we want to add our faces and voices to the tapestry of people working for just change, wherever they are."
The United Church's YouTube playlist includes videos of some of the United Church's hundreds of community projects, both in Canada and overseas, as well as video messages from the church's current spiritual leader, Moderator David Giuliano.
Rodd explains that while this YouTube venture is a first for the church as a national body, many local congregations and youth groups have been posting videos independently for some time. She hopes to integrate the best of those videos into the channel in the coming months.
"For 20 years the United Church had a weekly television show on VisionTV. When it ended, we needed a new window. YouTube offers us that," says Rodd.
"YouTube also gives us a chance to showcase videos produced by our overseas partners that people wouldn't normally get a chance to see," adds Rodd. "We are very excited about the possibilities to show local, regional, and international stories that make people think about the world from new and different points of view."
The United Church of Canada's YouTube channel can be found at www.youtube.ca/unitedchurchofcanada.
For more information, please contact:
Mary-Frances Denis
Communications Officer
The United Church of Canada
416-231-7680 ext. 2016 (office)
1-800-268-3781 ext. 2016 (toll-free)
Halton Presbytery has adopted a policy regarding the use of this web site and e-mail to communicate with presbyters and pastoral charges. This policy is posted here.
Comments and suggestions regarding this policy are welcomed. Please send them to .
At the April 2006 meeting of Halton Presbytery, the Rev. Neil Young provided all pastoral charges with information about claiming Provincial Retail Sales Tax rebates. Churches are eligible to claim rebates on many of the purchases; this can result in a substantial return.
A summary of Neil's package, with links to the government forms and instructions is available here.
The Executive of General Council has issued directives regarding the police records checks required for ministry personnel, and the monitoring of those checks that are required. These changes affect all Pastoral Charges. The document describing the new policy is available here.
A new 60-page4 brochure, Archives and Recordkeeping: A How-to Guide for Congregations and Conferences has been prepared by the General Council office. One copy for each congregation in Halton Presbytery has been purchased by the Pastoral Oversight Committee.
The document can be read on-line, as a PDF file, or additional copies purchased for $8 each, here on the United Church web site.