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Welcome to Milestones in Shining Waters Regional Council. We have expanded our regional notices to include not just upcoming covenanting services, but to mark other significant events in the life of our communities of faith, such as affirming services, milestone anniversaries, church closings and amalgamations. If your community of faith has an upcoming milestone, please share by contacting us at communications@shiningwatersregionalcouncil.caCovenanting ServicesSunday, September 10, 2023 at...
For those who will be attending the Toronto Pride Parade 2023, here is the details for marching in the parade
The latest news from Shining Waters Regional Council
I really like watching good musicians play live, especially bass guitarists. When I played bass trombone in a swing band, the rhythm section held the band together. The drummer and the bass kept the groove alive and kept all of us players together. When I see a really cool bassist slap out a funk rhythm, I am filled with joy. Rhythms are the stuff of life, stuff we dance to, provides stability for all the joy going on over top of it. Soloists are able to swoop and rob time only because of the steady rhythm of the rhythm section that holds everything together.
There is a rhythm to the life of any group too, including a Clergy Peer Learning Group’s life…
The latest news from Shining Waters Regional Council including staff changes, new resources and a Christmas message from the Moderator.
Shining Waters is inviting all ministers to consider forming a Clergy Peer Learning Group. A group can meet in person or it can meet by Zoom. A group can include ministers from other denominations. The common denominator for a peer learning group is 7-8 committed colleagues who want to explore new learning in Deep Spirituality or Bold Discipleship or Daring Justice.
But your group is not just about new learning. It is also about support.
I had a conversation with the Rev. Orville James last week. He told me about…
Hello friends!
Shining Waters has started a Clergy Peer Learning Group program with the hopes that ministers can gather together and support each other through this strange, random and wonderful time to be in ministry. What can we learn about leadership, together? In what ways can we have each other’s back in a safe place to reflect on ministry with a learning focus connected to Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, Daring Justice? Whether by Zoom and in person, it is critical to…
Hello friends!
After over two years of life with COVID, I’ve heard many people describe the changes in the contours of their congregational life. When I think about those United Church folk for whom attending church is their primary way to be in community and experience God, online worship, separation from each other, and fear of catching a virus, has left some feeling loss, deep loss. As we learned many years ago…
The United Church of Canada set a bold, new emissions reduction target this year – asking for an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Many of us are asking, “How will we meet this target given our limited time and resources?” Join our info session for more information and resources.
Welcome friends!
For the next while I would like to talk about clergy peer learning groups, something we are currently promoting within Shining Waters. This is my first time trying to write a blog so bear with me! I began ministry in Newfoundland. There were so many good relationships to be had with the people of that four-point pastoral charge. But I remember being…
The latest news from Shining Waters Regional Council happening this fall. Save the date for our Regional Meeting in May 2023. See the details inside.
Affirming Connections has a developed a great new video series: Small Town, Big Impact: Stories and strategies from the Affirming journey. The series invites Affirming leaders, clergy and lay, to share their experiences of the Affirming journey including how the conversations developed, what roadblocks they faced and are facing, and how this work has impacted both their ministry and the wider community. You can watch these on your own, show them during a worship service, watch with your...
The latest news from Shining Waters Regional Council
TRANS MARCH FRIDAY JUNE 24, 7:00 PM (MARCH AT 8PM) Trans March Website UCC PARTICIPANTS Come and join the journey. Walk with the Trans community or cheer them on from the sidelines. UCC friends are welcome to gather at Gloucester and Church, south east corner between 7PM and 7:50 and then walk up to join the march that starts at 8PM. The Trans March Route starts at Charles and Church, heads north on Church then west along Bloor St, south on Yonge and east along Carlton, ending at Allen...
The latest news from Shining Waters Regional Council
Thanks so much to Wasauksing United Church and food bank for sharing this photo of their regional rainbow flag. Let's follow their lead and share photos of your community and your flag. Use our United Church flag hashtags and let's all show up this month with our rainbow colours on! #CreatedinGodsImageSWRC #UCCanPRIDE #DeepBoldDaring #UNITEDCHURCHPRIDE >Back to the Affirming page
Here's the information page for local Pride events and a place to sign up to receive information related to United Church groups in local pride parades in York Region, Toronto and Muskoka. >Back to Affirming Ministries page
The impact of the May 14, 2022 racially motivated targeted shootings of Black shoppers in Buffalo, NY was deeply felt in Shining Waters Regional Council. As a community, we grieve for the families of those killed and wounded in Buffalo. We hold in prayer all in God’s family who cannot shop, walk the street or live their lives without fear or hypervigilance. As this year’s Asian Heritage Month comes to a close we acknowledge that anti-Asian racism and hate in North America are intrinsic to...
As Queer Folk in Community is a new hymn written by Jeffrey Dale. The tune is Kingsfold. It is on page 53 of Gathering Magazine: Pentecost 1, 2022. >Back to Affirming Ministries page
The latest news from Shining Waters Regional Council
He is Risen! Since Easter 2020, many have faced a difficult two years in Canada and around the world. Our neighbourhoods, families, and communities of faith have faced incredible challenges. We have seen the best side of society and the worst side of society, including racism and inequality, as well as great sacrifice and expressions of love. We have experienced great loss, including the death of millions of people around the world as a result of Covid 19, and we have witnessed great acts of...
Thanks to everyone who contributed a video and attended our event to share your stories of what it means in your place to be public, intentional and explicit in your affirming journey. View our video library of stories here. We invite all Affirming Ministries to continue to add stories to our collection. Send us a short video (maximum three minutes) and we will add it to our video album. We hope this is inspiring to communities of faith who are just starting out as well as those who have...
On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Descrimination it's time to disrupt racism wherever it is found. In 2022, the first anniversary of the March 16 Atlanta spa massacre of six Asian women and two Asian men perpetrated by a White man, I am especially aware of the alarming rise of assaults on Asian North American women and elders with fists, boots, knives, guns, and acid. As an urban Asian woman, I have... Read the rest here
Here's the playlist of our first round of storytelling of what it means to be an Affirming Ministry, in our own words. > Back to Affirming Ministry page
Shining Waters Regional Council stands with Metropolitan United Church (Toronto) against hate-motivated vandalism. As you may have seen in media reports, Metropolitan was targeted on March 7 by an act of vandalism using homophobic and anti-Semitic graffiti that the Toronto police have designated as a hate-motivated incident. A letter of solidarity and support is being sent by Rev. Betty Lou McNabb, President of Shining Waters, on behalf of the region.
The United Church of Canada’s Moderator, Richard Bott, shares his own plans for PIE Day! More PIE Day Resources on the National Affirming PIE Day website. > Back to Affirming Ministry page
Jointly created by Horseshoe Falls and Shining Waters Regional Council. The Resource Page includes includes a litany, children's story, sermon starters and links to more resources. >Back to Affirming Communities page
The latest news from Shining Waters Regional Council
Celebrate P.I.E. Day with us in Shining Waters Regional Council this year on March 14, 2022 at 6:45 pm. Bring some dessert and share in a short program. Mark this national day to be public, intentional and explicit about the inclusion of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Registration Register here and receive the Zoom link. >Back to Affirming page
These flags were blessed at the Affirming Ministries Celebration Creator of the universe, God of steadfast love Your rainbow holds the promise of the everlasting covenant between You and creation. We are whole and we are holy. Bless these rainbow flags, rich with diversity that we will share across our region to serve as visible signs of welcome....
The latest news from Shining Waters Regional Council
The Transgender Day of Remembrance, November 20, was set aside to recognize those who have been killed due to ignorance and hatred, targeted because they were trans or gender non-conforming. The first event took place in 1999 in San Francisco to honour Rita Hester, who had been brutally murdered the previous year. Transgender Day of Remembrance Prayer On this Transgender Day of Remembrance we remember those who have been murdered for being who they are, those who face violence on a daily...
Nominations, Regional Council meeting, Communities of Faith support, Equity Goal Research Project
As Ontario prepares to enter Phase 2 of reopening, ministry personnel and Communities of Faith naturally have questions about how to safely be together once again. One of the many concerns that has surfaced is whether Communities of Faith can require worshippers and staff to be vaccinated before returning to in-person gatherings.
As Ontario prepares to enter Phase 2 of reopening, ministry personnel and Communities of Faith naturally have questions about how to safely be together once again. One of the many concerns that has surfaced is whether Communities of Faith can require worshippers and staff to be vaccinated before returning to in-person gatherings.
Virtual Pride Gathering June 24, 2021, 7PM
By Susie Henderson Wild Churches are restoring and reimagining relationships between faith and the natural world Taddle Creek Wild Church, Metropolitan United Church Every way you look at it, the present-day front yard of Metropolitan United Church, which corners on Queen and Church Street in downtown Toronto, is a very lively place –there are people from all walks of life, relentless traffic, steps from a major hospital, and more. The building can definitely hold its own here, and so does...
Yesterday afternoon, a severe weather event ripped through parts of the City of Barrie. Dozens of homes sustained catastrophic damage when a tornado touched down in the Mapleview neighbourhood shortly before 3:00pm. While damage is extensive, we are grateful that there has been no loss of life.
PalNet SW’s goal is to assist Shining Waters Region focus on human rights for Palestinians in response to the 2020 Cry for Hope from Kairos Palestine (representing many Palestinian Christian churches).
As Ontario prepares to enter Phase 2 of reopening, ministry personnel and Communities of Faith naturally have questions about how to safely be together once again. One of the many concerns that has surfaced is whether Communities of Faith can require worshippers and staff to be vaccinated before returning to in-person gatherings.
Affirming Prayer
Creator each and every human identity
bears your sacred image.
Inspire us
to fully live
the power of this truth
every day.
Amen, amen, may it be so.
Creator each and every human identity bears your sacred image. Inspire us to fully live the power of this truth every day. Amen, amen, may it be so. >Back to Affirming page
Here is the regional prayer from the Shining Waters Pride Service in June 2021 https://youtu.be/R6pqckfihZ4 Creator each and every human identity bears your sacred image. Inspire us to fully live the power of this truth every day. Amen, amen, may it be so. Happy Pride from Shining Waters Regional Council >Back to Affirming page
Friends become family at Dorothy's Place By Susie Henderson based on an interview with Rev. Carmen Llanos Dorothy's Place is a ministry of Birchcliff Bluffs United Church serving 2SLGBTQ+ seniors in east end Toronto and Scarborough. Based on the success of Toby's Place that responded to a gap in services for youth; the vision of Dorothy's Place emerged out of a need for services to seniors in Scarborough beyond the services downtown. Participants are welcomed with nourishing food and...
PalNet SW’s goal is to assist Shining Waters Region focus on human rights for Palestinians in response to the 2020 Cry for Hope from Kairos Palestine (representing many Palestinian Christian churches).
Shining Waters Regional Council joins with other Regional Councils, the United Church of Canada, people of faith, and many other voices across Canada, in condemning the act of hatred and terrorism that killed three generations of a Muslim family in London, Ontario on Sunday, June 6.
Indigenous Ministries asks all of the church to continue in this time of mourning and of support for each other as we grieve this loss, and others that we do not yet know about.
Watch the livestream of today's Celebration of Ministry service.
We Are Whole and We Are Holy Written and performed by Moon Joyce. Permission is granted for this song to be widely used. Please include attribution. >Back to Affirming page