London Conference News

The 84th Annual Meeting of London Conference was held in Aylmer, ON this past weekend. President Bruce Cook presided over the meeting and its theme was "Sing Your Song of Faith" referring to a theological statement of faith recently adopted by The United Church of Canada.

Presentations were made about poverty reduction strategies, the Healing Fund, the incoming centralized payroll system, religious and political unrest in Israel's West Bank, and many new resources available for congregational use on a variety of topics.

The youth initiative against bottled water, which first surfaced a couple years ago, now has T-shirts bearing the slogan/logo: "Tap Water - Suck It Up!"

Business-wise, there were 7 proposals submitted for the Court's consideration:

1. establishing an Archive Capital Fund that would accumulate 2% of all Real Property (churches and manses) sold in London Conference. Such a measure prepares for 2015 when a new Archive facility will (likely) be needed. - CARRIED.
2. educate and increase awareness of the situation in Darfur. - Referred to Executive (I think, I'm not sure).
   
3. calling on the provincial government to improve and follow through on its Poverty Reduction Strategy - CARRIED.
   
4. calling on the federal and provincial government to sustain current programs that support Affordable Housing - CARRIED.
5. create a Church Structures Task Group to examine and review our current Conference/Presbytery governance structure - Referred to Executive.
6. ask the provincial government to provide a mandatory ethics course for all elementary schools - Defeated.
7. ask all Presbyteries and pastoral charges, and General Council Executive, to register concern and displeasure over uranium mining in Eastern Ontario - CARRIED.
   

Ten candidates for ministry were received into The United Church of Canada (7 ordained, 1 commissioned as a Diaconal Minister, 2 recognized as Lay Pastoral Ministers) on Saturday evening.

Susan Cameron was installed as President of Conference and introduced her theme for the year: "The Fabric of Prayer".

for June 1 - Matthew 7: 21-29

Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord", will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?" Then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers."

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!

Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

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What feelings, questions, thoughts and prompts to personal action arise from this scripture? What about hymn suggestions or ideas for Children's Time? Share them as Comments below or in an email, and help shape Sunday's worship service.

sermon excerpts: "The Ecology of Faith"

(Genesis 1:1 - 2:4a)
Here in the creation story is where God sets limits and boundaries. The Creator carves out a little space for our human existence in the formless void of the universe. Amid the swirling and storming dark chaos that was the nothing from which creation came, God speaks and there is light, land, and life.

That is the task of the church, carving out a sanctuary of love, care and acceptance in a world that is driven by appearance, status and frivolous measures of success. As a faith community, we support people on the frontline of life, parents, children, spouses, friends, neighbours; and in return we find that same support offered to us.

We know that the rest of the Genesis reading will fill the land with animals and people, with the final day set aside for Sabbath and rest. Included is a command to humanity to be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth and have dominion over all life. It is the short-sighted pursuit of this verse that has put our world into the tenuous environmental situation that we find ourselves in.

... After receiving an honours degree in Environmental Biology, one of the first of its kind in the country, I’ve learned something that is both frightening and reassuring at the same time. The green movement, the environmental movement does not want to save the earth. I say this because the earth does not need saving. We do. It is a push to preserve our lifestyle in light of the degrading and declining integrity of the global ecosystem. It is a selfish and self-centred campaign.

We would all like to do things to help the environment: reduce, reuse and recycle. But we are unwilling to make radical lifestyle choices that would make dramatic and effective differences. We want to keep our personal automobiles, our air conditioning, our variety and supply of groceries. Our present environmental movement is preoccupied on finding a way to have our cake and eat it too.

Still, life will continue on this planet, of that I am sure. We know from the Genesis story that this will be the case. Now, as to whether or not it is human life, that is another question.

Ecosystem theory asserts that our actions have an effect and impact that go beyond our little corner of creation. One change to the habitat or diet of any species will ripple through the food chain until a new balance is achieved. This connectedness is mirrored in our faith. What we say and do as people of God echoes and ripples through the lives of others.

As we study nature and discover the intricate and unexpected connections between diverse plants and animals, we can draw parallels in our lives as a community of faith. It is the connections and links to one another that bring meaning and learning into our own experiences.

Our faith tradition tells of a life-giving power inserting a little order into the primordial chaos and confusion. In the shelter of these boundaries, we find some solid truths with which to ground our being: we are blessed and good, we are part of something bigger and greater than just ourselves, we are not alone. We live in God’s world. Thanks be to God.

for May 18: Genesis 1.1-2.4

Apologies for the delay in updates, it's been a busy set of days lately! For this Sunday, the scripture lesson is Genesis 1:1-2:4. Rather than posting it all here, you can click on the link to read again, God's creative power at work.

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What feelings, questions, thoughts and prompts to personal action arise from this scripture? What about hymn suggestions or ideas for Children's Time? Share them as Comments below or in an email, and help shape Sunday's worship service.