Our director, Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard, is available about once a month to preach in various churches. She will bring a message on Christian unity and reconciliation that will be of great benefit to all. If you wish to have her speak in your church, give us a call to arrange a date. Dates are available from December onwards.

We have had volunteer help in getting our library re-catalogued from the Dewey Decimal system to the Library of Congress (LC) system. There are about 2,000 books, most of which are available for borrowing for 1 month, on a number of ecumenical and interfaith topics. Besides some videos, we also have a vertical file on many topics, with documents, news articles, and general information. Come and see what we have -- students, clergy, and laypersons -- we will be able to help you!

Is resistance futile? The Church, Empire, and Post-9/11 Global Orders
The St. Andrew's College Winter Refresher is February 5 to 8, 2006. Theme speaker is Mark Lewis Taylor, professor of theology and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary. Additional workshops will be offered, and the whole experience can be taken as a one credit-hour course with supplementary work. Some bursary assistance is also available for ministers and their partners, and for those considering enrolment in a United Church theological college. The Winter refresher is geared towards clergy but is open to all, and all are welcome. Registration is through St. Andrew's College. Phone 306-966-8970.

Late registration fees apply after January 16, 2006. Registration includes three lunches and refreshments.
Regular participants: $150 before January 13, $175 after January 16
Post-secondary students: $50 before January 13, $75 after January 16
One credit course: $177

The publication of the cartoons, which first appeared last year in a Danish paper and have been reprinted in more than 60 papers since, has led to demonstrations all over the world, some of them violent.

Speaking in answer to a question at the first press conference of the 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre, Kobia said, "Violent reactions, as well as justifying these cartoons as an expression of freedom of speech, continue to put fuel on the fire." He said that both Christians and Muslims had a responsibility to promote tolerance and address ignorance about the other.

He added that while freedom of speech was a fundamental human right, "When it is used to humiliate people's values and dignity, it devalues the foundation it is based on."Read more ...À suivre ... | Printer-friendly pageImprimable

The letter strongly condemns the publication of the cartoons as "incitement to religious hatred." The letter notes that the cartoons falsely teach "that Islam itself teaches, condones and encourages violence, bombings and the mistreatment of women. Furthermore, the implication is that all Muslims believe so as well. This we know to be untrue."

The letter offers the "sincere apologies" of the United Church community "that such attitudes can persevere in a country that we believe can and should be a model for the world of racial and ethnic respect."

The full text of the letter is found at www.united-church.ca/news/2006/0217.shtm

Update: In response to numerous letters received by the United Church General Council offices criticising the above statement, the United Church has published further explanation on its website at www.united-church.ca/gco/060223.shtm.Printer-friendly pageImprimable

"Despite a few small occurrences, Canada's collective response to this controversy has allowed us to overcome this crisis and strengthen our democracy," says Dr. Tyseer Aboulnasr, a member of the Order of Ontario and spokesperson for the Muslim coalition. "Our community felt it was time for us to acknowledge to all of Canada how proud we are of our country."

The statement was signed by 21 national Muslim organizations and a number of umbrella groups from across the country representing an additional 175 organizations.

The complete statement can be read on the site of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN)Printer-friendly pageImprimable

An invitation to the churches to renew their commitment to the search for unity and to deepen their dialogue.

WCC assemblies have adopted texts offering a vision, or identifying the qualities, of "the unity we seek". This assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, is invited to consider and adopt the present invitation to the churches. The purpose of this invitation to the churches is twofold: (1) to reflect what the churches, at this point on their ecumenical journey, can say together about some important aspects of the church; and (2) to invite the churches into a renewed conversation - mutually supportive, yet open and searching -- about the quality and degree of their fellowship and communion, and about the issues which still divide them.

Update: The draft document "Called to be the one church" was revised during the WCC Assembly ending February 23. The Assembly was asked to:
a) adopt the Ecclesiology Text as an invitation and challenge to the member churches to renew their commitment to the search for unity and to deepen their dialogue;
b) call upon each member church to respond to the ten questions at the conclusion of the Ecclesiology Text with the expectation that, by the Tenth Assembly, each member church will have so responded;
c) direct the WCC to prepare periodic reports to the Central Committee of the number and content of responses received, so that responses can inform the direction of work towards deepening the understanding among member churches and furthering progress towards the visible unity of the Church.Read more ...À suivre ... | Printer-friendly pageImprimable

Renouveler notre engagement à rechercher l'unité et à approfondir le dialogue -- Une invitation adressée aux Églises

Les assemblées du COE ont adopté des textes qui proposaient une vision -- ou précisaient les qualités -- de « l'unité que nous recherchons ». L'Assemblée de Porto Alegre, au Brésil, est invitée à étudier et à adopter la présente invitation adressée aux Églises. Cette Invitation aux Églises les appelle à poursuivre un double objectif : (a) énoncer ce que les Églises, au stade actuel de leur cheminement œcuménique, peuvent dire ensemble sur certains aspects importants de l'Église ; (b) inviter les Églises à relancer leurs conversations -- qui doivent se conforter mutuellement tout en restant ouvertes et prospectives -- sur la qualité et le degré de leur communauté fraternelle et de leur communion, ainsi que sur les sujets qui les divisent encore.

Mise à jour : Le document sur l'ecclésiologie intitulé « Appelés à être l'Église une » est révisé par la 9ème Assemblée. L'Assemblée a été demandée à :
a) adopte le texte sur l'ecclésiologie en tant qu'invitation et interpellation à l'adresse des Eglises membres afin qu'elles renouvellent leur engagement à rechercher l'unité et à approfondir leur dialogue ;
b) appelle chacune des Eglise membres à répondre aux dix questions qui figurent en conclusion du texte sur l'ecclésiologie, en espérant que, d'ici à la Dixième Assemblée, chaque Eglise membre aura donné ses réponses ;
c) charge le COE de préparer des rapports périodiques à l'intention du Comité central sur le nombre et le contenu des réponses reçues, afin que celles-ci donnent des informations sur la direction que doivent prendre les travaux visant à approfondir la compréhension entre les Eglises membres et à progresser ver l'unité visible de l'Eglise.Read more ...À suivre ... | Printer-friendly pageImprimable

God so loved the people of the world

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is March 21, the anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. In Canada, the Canadian Ecumenical Anti-Racism Network (CEARN) has developed a week of study, prayer, and reflection on issues of racism in our world and in our communities. Entitled "God so loved the people of the world", the week will be observed from March 19-26, 2006. A resource kit is available for download from the Canadian Council of Churches website at www.ccc-cce.ca/english/downloads/God_so_loved.pdf.Read more ...À suivre ... | Printer-friendly pageImprimable

La Journée internationale pour l'élimination de la discrimination raciale est mars 21, l'anniversaire du massacre à Sharpeville en 1960. Au Canada, le Réseau œcuménique canadien contre le racisme (ROCCR) a développé une semaine d'étude, de prière, et de réflexion sur des questions du racisme en notre monde et dans nos communautés. La semaine à partir de 19 à 26 mars, 2006. Un kit de ressource intitulé « God so loved the people of the world » est disponible en anglais au site web du Conseil canadien des églises à www.ccc-cce.ca/english/downloads/God_so_loved.pdf.Read more ...À suivre ... | Printer-friendly pageImprimable