The United Church of Canada’s 44th General Council Held Its Annual Meeting on October 19th

The following summary was posted to the General Council 44’s website on October 21st.

Summary for the General Council annual meeting on Oct. 19

Posted on:
October 21, 2024
by Lori-Ann Livingston

The annual meeting of the 44th General Council (2022) met virtually on October 19, 2024, and was livestreamed on YouTube for observers.

Elder Evelyn Day, a Commissioner from Treaty 6 Territory, bookended the day’s proceedings with prayer. The Equity team – Adele Halliday (staff support), Torrin Maag, Franklyn James and Steven Johann – provided self-monitoring questions for participants to thoughtfully consider as the day progressed:

• Am I responding with my bias(es)?
• Just because we’ve always done it this way, should we continue?
• Who is missing around our table in this discussion? Do we need to consult wider?
• Whose voices haven’t been heard? Have I spoken too much?
• Am I using correct pronouns for colleagues?
• Am I making assumptions based on race, sexual orientation, gender, to name a few?

Horacio Mesones, Centro Regional Ecuménico de Asesoría y Servicio (CREAS – Argentina), brought greetings from The United Church of Canada Partner Council.

A time of worship led by Rev. Graham Brownmiller, Worship Chair, included liturgy in multiple languages, and communion, which was celebrated by Commissioners and Corresponding members from where they participated. The staff who gathered for the meeting in the office at 3250 Bloor St. W., Toronto, met in the chapel.

In her introduction to the meeting, the Moderator, The Right Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, asked those present “Who is the Jesus you need to have show up for you right now?, a variation on the theme from the 2022 GC44 “Who do you say that I am?” These questions were briefly discussed in small breakout groups.

The meeting included key proposals, the reception of reports, and several videos highlighting various aspects of denominational work.

Consent Items

The consent items included approval of the minutes of the online annual meeting of the 44th General Council from October 2023. Also included was receipt of the General Secretary’s accountability report, and reports from the General Council Executive, Audit Committee, Reconciliation, and the UPRC.

The Theology and Inter-Church, Inter-Faith Committee (TICIF) also submitted a report, alongside an interim report on the Use of the Principle-Based Approach to The United Church of Canada’s Justice Work.

There were updates on the Strategic Plan, the Anti-Racism Action Plan and the National Indigenous Council also in the consent agenda.

In addition to receiving reports, passing the consent proposal approved audited financial statements of 2023, assessment funding rates and principles for 2025 and the nomination of a new member of the General Council Executive.

GS 25 Enacting Remit 1

General Council enacted Remit 1 to establish an Autonomous Indigenous Church within The United Church of Canada. The remit was to change the Basis of Union, to indicate an Autonomous National Indigenous Organization within The United Church of Canada without the need for further remit approval.

The Moderator acknowledged the work of General Council Office staff, and staff and elected members in the regions, in supporting the remit voting process. She congratulated the Church on this important outcome, and invited Rev. Graham Brownmiller to offer prayer.

GCE 09: Authorizing Remit 2

The Council then discussed the possible authorization of a further remit (category 2) to make further changes to the Basis of Union. The remit is focused on enabling regional councils to add lay members for greater diversity, and – given recent advances in designated lay ministry – retired Designated Lay Ministers. Excellent questions were raised about whether the wording proposed accomplished the church’s aims, and this proposal was subsequently referred to the General Council Executive for further work.

Then Let Us Sing!

Rev. Dr. Alydia Smith, Identity and Mission Network Coordinator, presented on a new hymn resource for the church, Then Let Us Sing (TLUS), which also features collaboration with ecumenical partners. Developed primarily during the pandemic, TLUS is in an all-digital format, and contains most hymns from Voices United, More Voices and Nos Vois Unis, and about 150 new hymns.

Select hymns have been translated into American Sign Language by an ASL team that included four members of the Deaf community.

Although it will be a dynamic resource, a hard copy supplement will be available in June 2025, as a celebration of the Centennial of The United Church of Canada. The resource was developed in partnership with GIA (ONELICENSE) for copyright and Hope Publishing for the style guide. With 30 people on the committee, most of the work was done online; the committee met in person only a few times during the development of TLUS.

“Congregational song is an antidote to fear, to the narrative of decline,” Rev. Smith told the Council. “It enlivens and emboldens us to be the people of God, giving us language to name and articulate our hopes.”

GCE10 Principle-Based Approach to Palestine-Israel

The General Council affirmed the continued application of the Justice Principles to the advocacy work of The United Church of Canada, by passing GCE 10 Authorizing Action for a Principle-Based Approach to Palestine-Israel.

In doing this, the Council directed the General Secretary, as the senior staff, to continue reporting on the advocacy work related to Palestine and Israel, to the Executive of the General Council.

The principles that have been developed speak to the decolonizing approach into which the church is living. They provide a framework for the church, including staff, to examine and respond to justice issues in a timely matter, including to calls from partners, while staying faithful to overarching principles of the denomination. In passing this proposal, the church is acknowledging that applying the principles allows for:

• adopting the strategies of Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement and;
• responding positively to the request of NEW04 – Join the Apartheid Free Communities Movement, and;
• joining the consensus of the international human rights community in recognizing and rejecting Israel’s apartheid system of laws and legal procedures towards the Palestinian people.

At both the national and local levels, it is the people of The United Church of Canada who need to engage and work with the principles.

Proposals GCE04, CS01, SW09, FSL01, PM02, RC1501, SW02 Peace in Palestine and Israel, and NEW04 – Join the Apartheid Free Communities Movement, were referred to the General Secretary as part of the process to guide the church’s response.

NEW05: Indigenous Sovereignty

The 44th General Council (2024) had received a new proposal, entitled NEW 05 Indigenous Sovereignty proposal. This proposal is related to recent challenges emerging in the National Indigenous Council which resulted in action by the General Secretary to dissolve the Council and dedicate urgent planning and resources to a National Indigenous Spiritual Gathering (scheduled for November 29 -December 3, 2024).

Such a gathering of the whole Indigenous church will provide an opportunity for a new or renewed governance bodies to be elected. On the advice of the Business Table, and given consideration of key principles as to the best place for this discussion, the General Council voted to refer this proposal to the General Council Executive for consideration.

New Executive members and other highlights

The General Council appointed, and covenanted with, the following newly elected members to the General Council Executive until the 46th General Council, 2028:

• Rev. Alcris Limongi (ordained minister, Faculty, Center for Christian Studies, Prairie to Pine Regional Council)
• Rev. Katherine Brittain (ordained minister, Pacific Mountain Regional Council)

Several staff members who had submitted reports and updates fielded questions from Commissioners about their work; the questions covered the strategic plan, the Bringing the Children Home project, and ethics in making good decisions about property.

Former Moderator, The Very Rev. Marion Pardy, took the chair in the absence of the immediate past Moderator, The Very Rev. Dr. Richard Bott, who is on his honeymoon; this allowed the Moderator to offer her report to the Council and engage with the Commissioners. Commissioners offered gratitude for how visible she is in her travels, and for the Mod’s Book Squad. In response to the question of where she is finding hope, the Moderator talked about the Flourishing workshops, and the (Re)Generate cohort, and the shifts in our outward-facing communications as places where she finds hope in the church.

Sarah Charters, Executive Minister, Philanthropy, and President of the Foundation, highlighted the work of Mission and Service through a short video.

The United Property Resource Corporation (UPRC) also offered an update on their work with a video.

The meeting concluded with reflections on equity support, prayer and closing motions.

To review the proposals and reports provided for the GCE for this meeting, go to commons.united-church.ca > Governance > General Council > 44th General Council (2022) > Meeting Documents > 2024-10 Annual Meeting.