April 27, 2001
May 2001 News Briefs
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Also available in Acrobat Reader format: nb_may2001.pdf
Tenth Annual General Meeting - Highlights
- Following AGMs in Cranbrook, BC (2000) and Lewisporte, NF (1999), we met this year in London, ON. Our gracious hosts were Byron UC.
- All six regional associations - Newfoundland/Labrador, Maritimes, Central Ontario, London, Alberta, and BC - were formally represented.
- The 2001 planning session built on the new directions established in 2000, including the determination to be highly visible, proactive, and challenging", acting "in a loving and caring manner, [but] without compromise, articulating our faith clearly and with confidence".
- Reports showed that, among other things, planning at the 2000 AGM
had led to:
- NACC congregations receiving News Briefs by email, for copying and distribution to all members;
- local Sessions and Boards receiving other important materials of a more formal nature, also by email;
- the NACC maintaining its usual active presence at General Council, even though denied the formal status of previous years;
- clear and uncompromising communications with the Governor General re. her congratulatory letter to two homosexual couples on their "weddings"; with the Women's Inter-Church Council of Canada re. the deeply flawed order of service distributed for the World Day of Prayer; and with General Council Executive re. the 37 th G.C.'s ill-informed and unbalanced statements about the East Coast Fishery;
- sponsorship of Natural Church Development, a program to revitalize congregations;
- recruitment of a team of knowledgeable "reactors" who have agreed to provide user-friendly analysis of coming remits, etc.;
- establishment of a coast-to-coast prayer chain.
- Prompted partly by "unofficial" moves in the UCC to revise the 20 Articles of Faith, one of the 5-year goals set by the 2001 meeting was "to have more than 400 congregations formally support the original [1925] Basis of Union and the Articles of Faith of the United Church"
- For several years now, the NACC has coupled its AGM with a supplementary program for its host community. On this occasion, London region pastors and others were invited to learn about Marriage Savers, a US program with a well-established record of helping communities build healthy families through "preparing, strengthening, and restoring marriages". Presenters were Mike and Harriet McManus, Marriage Savers' founders and co-chairs.
- Ted Wigglesworth reported on the decision of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench to refuse his request that the UCC be ordered to reinstate him as a minister. The ruling did, however, offer some encouragement regarding how the eventual civil case might go. (That hearing is still probably several years away.)
- Ted's legal costs are high, and the Legal Defence Fund, which is attempting to cover his legal fees, is at this time severely in arrears (even though last year's contributions exceeded $15,500).
- The AGM decided to ask our member congregations to set aside June 10 as "NACC Sunday", re-covenanting themselves as members of the Alliance, praying for its work, and taking a special offering for the Legal Defence Fund.
- Disappointingly, the 2001 Prayer Calendar was not purchased as widely as was hoped, leading to a $2,000 loss. The meeting decided to "return the Prayer Calendar ministry to the Lord pending his further direction, and not to produce a 2002 calendar".
- The Alliance's Operating Fund also ran a significant deficit in 2000. The regions and their member congregations will be asked to help turn this around in 2001.
- The NACC's Officers for 2001-2002 are:
(That is, two from the West, two from Central Canada, one from Atlantic Canada.)Immediate Past Chairman Bob Blackburn Chairman Geoff Wilkins Vice-Chairman Allan Berg Secretary David Fisher Treasurer Jack Scott Member at Large Ted Wigglesworth
All contributions to the NACC's Legal Defence or Operating Funds will be most gratefully received. They should be mailed to: Jack Scott, Treasurer
792 Headley Dr.
London ON N6H 3V8 (Tax receipts will be issued.)
Posted at April 27, 2001 11:26 PM
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