NAN'S AT GENERAL COUNCIL 41

Former Moderator Bill Phipps was one of the "Pop Up Prophets" today and spoke very powerfully and challenged the church to be courageous.

"Why Support Boycotting Settlement Products for Peace and Justice?" was an educational forum I attended today. Pictured are Ramzi Zananiri, International Christian Committee-Jerusalem and Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Interfaith Peacewalks and Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence

Nominees for Moderator--and current Moderator Mardi Tindal

In what Moderator Mardi Tindal described as “an historic moment,” The United Church of Canada has acknowledged the presence and spirituality of Aboriginal peoples in the United Church by adopting additions to the introductory materials to the Basis of Union as found in The Manual and revising the church’s crest.

Commissioners to the 41st General Council gave overwhelming approval today to a proposal to invite Aboriginal people to become signatories to the Basis of Union and to include changes to the crest to recognize Aboriginal spirituality. The crest changes include incorporating the four colours of the Aboriginal medicine wheel and adding the Mohawk phrase “Akwe Nia’Tetewá:neren,” which means “all my relations.”

 Statements of Faith Added to United Church Doctrine

The 41st General Council has decided to expand the document that expresses the beliefs of the founding denominations of the United Church to include the 1940 Statement of Faith, the 1968 A New Creed, and the 2006 A Song of Faith.
They will join the 20 articles of faith in the Basis of Union that were approved at the founding of the church in 1925.