United Against Racism - An Online Worship Service

We have participated in demonstrations. Letters have been written and statements have been made. Now it is time to worship together as people of faith.

The Black Clergy Network of The United Church of Canada invites the whole church to join virtually for a time of worship, prayer, and reflection to face the issues of anti-Black racism across our country and in our church. In worship we will lament, we will hope, and we will be reminded of the need to act against racism.

Sunday June 14, 2020

7-8pm EASTERN Time

Online (link here, and in the fuller details below)

Please plan to join live and let others know you’ll be joining by sharing this event on social media. Use the hashtag #UCCan and tag the United Church on Facebook and Twitter. 

Join Us on YouTube

This service of prayer and reflection will be led by members of the Black Clergy Network and will be livestreamed on The United Church of Canada’s YouTube Channel. You will be able to observe the service as well as chat and comment through YouTube.

Plan to worship together live on June 14. Note that the 7 pm start time is for Eastern Time; please adjust for your local contexts.

Find Out More

• Dear White People—in this blog post, Rev. Dr. Paul Douglas Walfall calls on White people in the church to put their love into action to counteract racism.

• Church Leaders Acknowledge the Racism in Their Midst—the Moderator writes that the struggle against anti-Black racism is the work of White members of the church, and the time has come to commit themselves to this work.

• Call for Churches to Do More to Address Anti-Black Racism—leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada, and The United Church of Canada have issued a joint letter calling on churches to do more to address anti-Black racism.

• Learn more about the United Church’s commitment to racial justice.

Online Course Announcement :: Good. True. Pleasing.

“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things…”
Philippians 4:8

And friends, there are true things,
    and worthy things,
        just and commendable things,
            and excellent things
        emerging
        from the heart of the ministry and leadership that is happening in these days.  

Dear One

The continuing rupture in our patterns of being and believing allows us a chance to voice the lament, and also to turn our gaze and minds to the surprise of what is actually good, true, pleasing. It allows some very good questions to guide our next chapter of discovery. One colleague recently identified that the focus has shifted from “How are we going to do this?!!" and "What’s going to happen tomorrow and next week…”, to “I wonder what faithful ministry could really look like for us in the coming year?”. What an excellent inquiry for a community of faith to hold.

At LeaderShift, we continue to pay attention to the places where online engagement is rewarding - where skills, spiritual practice, and theological reflection are deepening. Because of some of the beautiful and good experiences arising from recent programs, we are excited to repeat three online engagement sessions from LeaderShift partnerships.

Faith Leaders for Such a Time as This with Janet Gear and Rev Brian Thorpe is on the calendar again beginning June 16th. This is a chance to go deep into the questions of the moment, both theologically and personally. Register here now.

“During the month of May a highlight for me was the weekly meeting with Brian and Janet online. Their input was rich, conversations with others in the group were enlightening and the group facilitation was sensitively done. How fortunate we are to have this opportunity for ordered and lay people to learn together. Thank you.”

— Marion Best, 'Faith Leaders for Such a Time as This' participant

In the future, watch for the Stewardship Buzz – a hands on learning for small teams within a community of faith, and Nourishing the Soul of the Preacher – a small group geared towards the unique context of rural and remote ministry personnel to help you develop practices that build collegiality in the face of isolation, and find spiritual practices that support grounded worship leadership.

In the meantime, I want to share with you the outstanding work of our colleague, Blair Galston PMRC Archivist and his support of the Vancouver Japanese United Church community as they created and launched their website, www.vjucarchives.ca Enduring Faith. It's an excellent place of image and story that connects us more deeply to our shared history.

And I want to recommend the excellent work of the PMR First Third Ministry Network and their encouragement to equip ourselves for leadership with children, youth and families. Their upcoming series called the Spirituality of Play still has a few spaces left. You can register here: www.pmrfirstthirdresources.ca. What a worthwhile invitation to engage creativity at a time when imagination may be limited by the video-conference squares on your monitor!

So, as you rest this weekend and prepare for the coming week, may your conversations, prayers, writings and reflections hold lament and praise in tension – and may this tension allow Spirit to forward compassion and creativity in your leadership, as you serve your community.

Faithfully,
Allison Rennie
LeaderShift Director

Sighs too deep for words

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now, and not only the creation, but we ourselves…” 

“…that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”  

Romans 8:22,26 

Dear One,

You’ve been too busy, or not busy enough with the things that most matter.  

You’ve been learning under pressure, but not the things you imagined you wanted to learn if given a break from the ordinary. 

You’re riding on a moment of deep possibility wondering if you’re surfing, upheld or about to crash. 

You see around you the naked yearning of people in your home, neighbourhood, community of faith, and world for real contact that helps comfort, and make sense and bring hope. 

How are you? Really? 

In a variety of settings we are hearing about the challenge to our identity as ministers, leaders, and members of the gathered Body of Christ. The usual habits and activities we have relied on to confirm our identity in the faith are not available to us.  

In the coming weeks and into the fall, LeaderShift will be designing ways for these deep and true questions to be engaged. We are looking to extend opportunity for mutual learning, for shared theological conversation, for exploring the shifting nature of God’s call to us, and or equipping us for the life of service in leadership we desire.  

Here is a link that names many of these areas of concern – and some of you may see yourself in this article. As we plan for the coming months of program what might support you in this time? Message us (we’ll keep it private) on what you think might help your spiritual health and wellness for such a time as this. 

With thanks for the Spirit’s presence in all our ministries, 

Allison Rennie
LeaderShift Director