Register Now for the Antler River Watershed Regional Council Fall Meeting

THEME: SEASONS

Online via Zoom Only

Friday October 3rd: Time 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Saturday October 4th: Time 9:00am – 3:00pm

Click here for a Video Invitation from ARWRC President, Richard Auckland

Good day, and with fall-like weather upon us it is a glorious day. It is hard to believe we are winding up our summer and heading into fall. Students and teachers are heading back to school, and as a retired educator, I know how they are feeling – a little nervousness, excitement, anticipation, and an unsurety of what the future holds. And as a church, we too may be feeling similarly about what the future holds. Toward 2035 is an initiative of the General Council Office predicting and planning what the United Church of Canada’s future may hold for us all. During our meeting time, we will also review some of the events of General Council 45 held in Calgary. The theme of our fall meeting will be Seasons, taken from Ecclesiastes. Won’t you join us online on Friday, October 3rd & Saturday, October 4th? Registration is open now!

Looking forward to seeing you online in October,

Richard Auckland

President, Antler River Watershed Regional Council of The United Church of Canada

Meeting Target Dates:

Registration Opens: Thursday September 4th (no registration closing date required)

Complete Workbook and Zoom Link: Tuesday, September 23rd
Note: Meeting Information will be posted on the website as it becomes available HERE

Meeting Dates:
Friday October 3rd: 6:30pm-8:30pm  Online via Zoom
Saturday October 4th: 9:00am- 3:00pm Online via Zoom

Post Meeting Feedback Survey – Monday October 6th via email

More Information Here

Dear Friends,

With joy and anticipation, we, The Regional Executive and Staff, invite you to join us for the Antler River Watershed Regional Spring Meeting on May 30th and 31st, 2025, hosted at Grace United Church in Sarnia.

Our theme this year is “A Time of Renewal: Revitalize,” inspired by Romans 12:2 –
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds…”

In this spirit, we gather as a community to reconnect, refresh, and rekindle our shared sense of purpose and call. It will be a time to worship together, engage in meaningful dialogue, hear from our commissions and explore the ways we are being invited to revitalize our ministries and our spirits.

We are thrilled to welcome Gail Barker, a gifted motivational speaker and workshop leader, as our guest. Gail will guide us with wisdom, energy, and encouragement as we reflect on how we continue to be transformed in faith and practice.

Whether you are lay or clergy, long-time attendee or first-time participant, your presence is a vital part of this gathering. We look forward to being together in community, grounded in hope, and open to the Spirit’s renewing power.

With blessings and gratitude,

Rev. Cheryl Bolton

Antler River Watershed Regional Council President

SPRING MEETING 2025

A Time of Renewal: Revitalize

Friday, May 30th to Saturday, May 31st, 2025

Friday May 30th, 2025:  2:00pm-6:00pm Hybrid and 7:30pm In-Person Community Building
Saturday May 31st, 2025:  9:00am – 3:30pm Hybrid

Celebration of Ministry: Grace United Church, Sarnia Saturday May 31st at 4:00pm In-Person and Live streamed to YouTube

Grace United Church, Sarnia
990 Cathcart Blvd, Sarnia, ON N7S 2H2 (Google Map)

Registration for In-person attendance closes: May 14th, 2024 at midnight

Faith in action: the 2025 federal election and the United Church

This resource includes links to workshops and resources, and will be updated and re-posted weekly until the election.

As faith communities, and registered charities, we don’t promote or critique only one party. We address all of them, we focus on their social policies, and we expect accountability of all of them. Below are some suggested principles and resources to help people of faith engage the federal election process.

We are called to speak up for what we believe in, not only what we oppose.

We are called to name our values, including what our faith calls us to. We live in a polarized and often anxious world and country, and it’s easy to focus on what we oppose. Try to ask others, especially those you disagree with, to name their values and their hopes.

Respond rather than react, working with communal and individual spiritual and faith resources.

Encourage people to engage the whole process, and vote.

Watch out for dis/misinformation. We are all vulnerable to it, because it’s tailored to spark an instant emotional reaction and to reinforce what we already believe. Always check your sources, and think before you post or share. Ask others for their sources if big, polarizing, or unlikely claims or situations are being presented as real.

Be aware that targeted and vulnerable communities are often the target of dis/misinformation, and be aware of the spiritual and emotional impact of this targeting.

Put another way by our Mennonite family members:

“I commit to loving my neighbours in the following ways:
• Listen with curiosity and compassion
• Speak with authenticity and integrity
• Act for the good of my community, here at home and around the world”

Upcoming Workshops (click on the date for the link to information and registration)

Tuesday April 8, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Federal Election Forum. Craig Norris, Host of the Morning Edition on CBC will moderate. Although everyone is very welcome, we are asking people to register to keep track of numbers. In person (Waterloo, ON) and online. If you register, a link for the online streaming will be sent to you. Click here for the registration link

April 24th Egale- Vote with Pride:

April 24th Canadian Interfaith conversation – Engaged Citizenship The role of Faith Communities during an election

Some key resources (click on each for the link to information)

Groups bringing justice concerns to the election process

United Church home page for election resources (scroll down to the bottom for resources- note that these will change as they’re being constantly updated.)

KAIROS Canada election resources on key issues and engaging your candidates well.  (The United Church is a founding and active member of this ecumenical justice coalition.) Their resources include: Indigenous Rights; Ecological Justice; Gender Justice; Migrant Justice; Jubilee 2025

Citizens for Public Justice election resources and travelling/ online meetings (CPJ is a long-standing Christian social justice coalition.)

Mennonite Central Committee: Every Action Counts

Specific justice concerns: choose what you are called to prioritise!

Climate justice

Faith and the Common Good- Interfaith advocacy group

For the Love of Creation- Interfaith Advocacy

Nature Canada- Election 2025 Platform

Guaranteed Livable Income

United Church of Canada – Guaranteed Livable Income

Basic Income Canada Network

Healthcare

Canadian Public Healthcare Association election focus issues
Recorded Webinar: Federal Election 2025: Protecting Medicare in Canada (March 28, 48 min)

Housing

Housing Canada: A Sovereign Plan to Protect Canadians and Build a Resilient Housing System. This resource includes an overview, and links to “Take action and email federal leaders,” and to  “Download the full plan”

National Right to Housing Network- Questions for your federal candidates

Indigenous rights

KAIROS Canada election resources

2SLGBTQIA+ rights

Human rights of gender-diverse/ 2SLGBTQIA people (Momentum Canada)

Palestine and Israel justice and peace
Vote Palestine: A coalition that includes Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and secular groups

Ontario Election 2025:

More than Tariffs A panel discussion

Sunday Feb 23, 3:00-4:15 PM EST on Zoom

Information to help you faithfully discern your vote and continue advocacy after the Feb 27^th election.

Brief presentations by five panel members on selected topics.

Panelists will respond to questions from the audience.

Advance registration required:

https://united-church.zoom.us/meeting/register/Pfy-0rDhQt-l-V5KqspFkw

For more information contact:

Thérèse Samuel tsamuel@united-church.ca and John Egger jegger@united-church.ca

Moderator:

Rev. Éric Hébert-Daly serves as the Executive Minister to ECO and EOO Regional Councils in Eastern Ontario. He was ordained in 2020. He served for 5 years as Responsible, Ministries in French, for 9 years as the National Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. Éric spent 17 years working in federal political circles and 7 years as a registered lobbyist. He also brings a hope-filled passion for the church.

Panel Members

Charles Barrett is a retired economist, who was actively involved in policy dialogue in North America, and the Asia-Pacific region in international economic relations, human resources development and capacity building. He has broad research experience and has written extensively on Canadian and international policy issues. He is a member of Riverside United Church, Ottawa and Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council.

The Rev. Dr. Jessica Hetherington is an ecotheologian and ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. Working at the intersection of ecology and theology for 20 years, she inspires people of faith to transform their actions in response to the climate crisis. She currently serves as commissioner on climate justice with the World Council of Churches and the World Communion of Reformed Churches. Sign up for her weekly newsletter: Faith. Climate Crisis. Action. (https://jessicahetherington.substack.com/).

Bryan Smith is a long-term member of the Oxford Coalition for Social Justice, an organization committed to work and advocacy on a wide range of social and environmental issues locally in the County of Oxford and across the planet. It stands in for the Ontario Health Coalition and stands up for public health. Bryan is a retired teacher, and is active in providing school lunches and community dinners, and promoting local foods, the avoidance of waste, community events, and public health.

Rev. Jeffrey Dale (they/he) is the Minister at College Street United Church in downtown Toronto. Jeffrey is a harm reduction advocate and community educator, working with harm reduction advocacy groups throughout the Province of Ontario to educate communities of faith and the wider society regarding the needs of people who use drugs.

Rev. Susan Eagle is the minister at Grace United Church in Barrie. She chairs both the Ecological and Social Justice Commission for Shining Waters Regional Council, and the Steering Committee of the provincial interfaith coalition, ISARC, which does policy analysis and advocacy for income security, homelessness and employment rights. She has worked with newcomer and low-income individuals and sole-support families as a community outreach worker, and served on London City Council for 13 years.

This workshop is presented by the Social Justice Network of Ontario Regional Councils (SJNORC) with representation from Eastern Ontario Outaouais, East Central Ontario, Shining Waters, Canadian Shield, Antler River Watershed, Horseshoe Falls, Western Ontario Waterways and Prairie to Pine Regional Councils of The United Church of Canada.

Engage, Pray, Vote.

Register here now: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/lu2FfRocTb6yqlx2FznABw

A Unique Learning Opportunity for Lay Leaders and Ministry Personnel

The Effective Transitional Leadership (ETL) Training Course has been designed by the Interim Ministry Network to support the work of ministry personnel and lay leaders in congregations experiencing change and transitions.

This training will be held on the following dates:

• March 6, 13, 20 and 27th
• Time: 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM EDT via Zoom
• Instructor: Pegi Ridout

This is a fantastic opportunity you to enhance your leadership skills.

What are the intended outcomes of ETL?

• understanding change theory and how to apply it in transitional times
• feeling more competent in the role of a transitional leader and facilitator for the work of your congregation
• being equipped to manage both yourself and your congregation in the midst of conflict
• practicing transitional leadership, using tools designed to guide a congregation through a transition
• applying your learnings, using case studies and reflection on your experience/knowledge
• overall, being prepared and confident to assist a congregation towards health, effectiveness, and faithfulness to its purpose/mission

The cost for this training is $75 per person – a savings of 50% off the regular price.

Registration is limited to 24 people.

Attendance at all 4 sessions is expected.

Course material and the zoom link will be provided closer to the first meeting.

Registration Closes on February 24, 2025

Payment can be made by e-Transfer to hfrc@united-church.ca or by cheque mailed to Horseshoe Falls Regional Council – PO Box 100, Carlisle, Ontario L0R 1H0

Please respond using the link to the registration form by February 24, 2025:  

Register Now:

ETL Training Registration Form

This is an opportunity you do not want to miss. We look forward to your participation!

For more information about the course ETL Description  and   ETL and IMN FAQ

Is your church or ministry doing something new or exciting to grow your faith, reach out to the community, or seek justice for people or creation?

Don’t just be quiet about it! Let us know, so we can share the good news with others in the regional council.

Click to fill in the form: Story Sharing of Faith Formation, Justice and Outreach Activities – https://forms.office.com/r/cb4c1PR8Q3

God is doing so much in and through our churches. Let us celebrate and encourage one another by sharing stories of Christ’s church at work and at play.

For information contact Thérèse Samuel Tsamuel@united-church.ca

Flourishing:

Spend a day with the Moderator, engaging in reflection and energizing activities towards dream-oriented actions for our churches and communities.

Saturday, February 22, 2025, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm (local time).

9:00am -9:30am Registration and coffee/tea

9:30am – Welcome and Introductions

In person

Avondale United Church, 194 Avondale Ave., Stratford, ON N5A 6N4

All around the world – from universities to the United Nations, from corporations to community organizations – people are talking about flourishing. Rooted in belonging, flourishing means living with purpose and joy, and bringing bold collaborative solutions to our world’s challenges.

The Moderator, the Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, wants to bring that conversation to The United Church of Canada. She invites us to connect to one another in hope, with a deep conviction by a belief that, despite all the challenges of church life in this day and age, we can move from despair to transformation – from languishing to flourishing.

Is your church flourishing?

(Perhaps that’s the wrong question.)

Is your church contributing to the flourishing of your community?

How might we truly be a flourishing church in the world? How might we live in deep spirituality, bold discipleship and daring justice, linked from coast to coast to coast in ministry that transforms us and the world around us?

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER: Flourishing Workshop

Free Resource
for an Advent Small Group Study

We are offering every Community of Faith a gift this Advent season! By means of a regional subscription you can access an Advent Small Group Study created by:

The Prayer Bench entitled Advent Longing   

We hope this will be a gift for busy ministers and lay leaders in this Advent season who want a faith formation opportunity for their community of faith.

This Advent Small Group Study invites participants to nurture longing as a powerful spiritual gift through an imaginative pilgrimage in an old-growth forest. It encourages us to notice longing in our ordinary days, recognize its gifts during times of desolation and reclamation, and welcome “thin spaces”—those moments of connection, support, and hope. In the context of a planetary crisis, we explore how to activate Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in the world God loves.

What You Receive with this Downloadable Resource   

• Complete Leader’s Guide for three Advent sessions with ideas for Opening, Singing, Movement or Sound Prayers, Conversation prompts, a Group Spiritual Practice, and Closing.

• Three 8-10-minute audio recordings.

• Three scripts of the audio recordings to download and copy so participants can follow along.

• Access to a Prayer Bench webpage with all the study materials, downloadable image for social media promotion, customizable poster for the series, and other resources related to the study.

Click here to register and receive the free resource here:

https://prayerbench.ca/regional-license-for-advent-small-group-study/

Advent Small Group Study Taster on Zoom  

An introduction to the Advent Small Group Study for Leaders with Janice MacLean of Prayer Bench, offering background information and hints for leading the process. Please download the resource and come with any comments or questions for use in your setting.

We are offering two sessions (the same content just different times and days) as follows:

Antler River Watershed, Horseshoe Falls and Western Ontario Waterways Regional Council

Friday, November 22nd at 1:00pm

Click link to register and receive the Zoom link:

https://united-church.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAudequpj4qHtUr_VJD6D436RejF-lPoQO7

OR with

Eastern Central Ontario Regional Council

Monday, November 25 at 7:00 pm 

Click link to register and receive the zoom link:

https://ecorcuccan.ca/eco-rc-2024-advent-small-group-study/

Antler River Watershed Regional Council

A Time of Renewal: Rebuild, Reconnect, Revitalize

Welcomes you to the 2024 Fall Gathering!

Online via Zoom 

Friday October 25th: Time 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Saturday October 26th: Time 9:00am – 2:00pm

The Celebration of Ministry will be In-person and Livestreamed on YouTube  

Antler River Watershed Regional Council Fall Online Meeting Information

Ask An Expert – Answer Session:

❓❓❓
Join us on Wednesday evening for a special one hour Zoom event.

Wednesday, September 18th, 2024 from 7-8pm

It has come to our attention that across-Canada anti-2S-LGBTQIA+ protest marches are to be held on Friday, September 20, 2024. The organization responsible, Hands Off Our Kids (https://handsoffourkids.ca/) states their mission is to:“safeguard children from gender ideology teachings, sexual indoctrination, exposure to explicit sexual content, ensuring that parental consent remains paramount.” They also aim to “protect our children from thought control and will ensure their religious freedoms are protected.”

Their rhetoric has been strongly anti-2S-LGBTQIA+ and especially anti-Trans in the past. This group has worked to exert influence in school boards in Ontario and beyond, spreading harmful misinformation and opposing SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) education in schools, again with misinformation. For information about SOGI click HERE.

These marches are planned across Canada on September 20, including the following locations across our tri-regional councils:

WOW:  Owen Sound, Meaford, Hanover, Orangeville and Kitchener

HF: Mississauga (2 locations), Oakville, Milton, Hamilton

ARW : London, Windsor

More details and updates can be found on their website: https://handsoffourkids.ca/resources/

A constantly updated list of in-person presence and counter-protests is available here. The private Facebook group 1 Million Voices for Inclusion, which also hosts community-specific chats and planning, is an excellent resource for ideas and support.

Christ calls us to be a peace-seeking, truth-speaking,
love-focused presence in the face of these movements.

How can you be active?

Faith-Filled Responses

• Send letters of encouragement to school staff and to any student group or individuals who need support;
• deliver homemade real church cookies to those groups/individuals;
• use your church signage and lawn to send PIE messaging;
• write letters to the editor;
• learn about SOGI and what it really is, as opposed to the myths spread about it;
• support school board candidates and members who are supportive of 2SLGBTQIA+ human rights.
• Offer support to transgender, Two Spirit, and gender-diverse people who are being targeted by this movement.

Faith-Focussed responses:

• Pray
• Re-read all the radical bible verses about God’s all- encompassing love.
• And be PIE— public, intentional, and explicit—about the fact that you’re people of faith supporting 2S-LGBTQIA+ people (using your best judgement about when and how, of course).

When we show up in a positive way, it is noticed!

When discussing with your congregation:

• Know that it is possible that well-meaning people in your congregation may be supporting these movements. Leading with language of “hate” in this instance can alienate the well-meaning people that you wish to connect with.
• While the “Hands Off Our Kids” and related movements are understood as hate movements, and that is an accurate description of the impact of these movements, not everyone who shows up in support of these marches is doing so out of hate.
• Name and honour how this harms people in 2S-LGBTQIA+ communities without conveying an assumption that this harm was intended. Intentions and impacts are often very different, but a well-meaning intention does not erase hurtful and harmful impacts.
• Offer grounded information to counteract harmful mis-information.

If you are making plans or have concerns, please contact me, Thérèse Samuel, Minister Right Relations and Social Justice, and my colleague John Egger, Minister, Social Justice.

Thanks to Northern Spirit Regional Council and clergy from Western Ontario Waterways Regional Council for sharing information that helped in the creation of parts of this resource.

Looking for continuing education that will grow your understanding of ministry from Indigenous perspectives? Join the Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre ministry training students in a learning circle.

October-21-25-2024-5-day-registration-form-Wisdom-and-Psalms

October-28-31-2024-4-day-registration-form-Prophets-and-Prophecy

For more information visit:  sandysaulteaux.ca/events.

You can also contact your regional council  Minister for Right Relations and Social Justice, Thérèse Samuel tsamuel@united-church.ca

This summer we have become aware of a “payroll scam” targeting ministry personnel and other staff members of churches.

How the Payroll Scam works:

• Scammers review websites of churches and learn the positions of each staff member to understand the staff structure in an attempt to steal staff’s salary.
• After they get to know who the staff members are and what their role is within the church, they target a particular staff member(s) and create an email address that is very similar to the person’s real email address ie minister@butterflyuc.com to minister1@butterflyuc.com and then use that email to contact the treasurer or bookkeeper to have their payroll auto-deposit banking information changed.
• Another way a scammer can get access to staff email address is by hacking into the churches email server and gain control over staff emails. Once they have this control they can send an email directly from the staff members real account to community members or other staff.  These emails will only be detected if the staff member check their “sent” emails.
• The outcome of the payroll scam is the targeted staff member is only alerted on pay day when their payroll is not deposited into their account and then contacts the church payroll administrator to find out a false request has been made to alter their payroll information. The payroll is deposited into the scammers account and will be a financial loss to the church.

How to avoid the Payroll Scam:

• Ensure that the payroll administrator on your staff team whether they are the treasurer, bookkeeper or church administrator use extra precautions when processing changes to payroll details for staff members.
• The best precaution is to respond in person or by telephone to verify any payroll information change requests.
• Have the staff member fill out a payroll change form in the office with a witness.
• Develop basic security protocols within the staff team and church council as an example, two staff members must approve financial transactions on behalf of the church ie cheque signing, payroll changes etc.
• Install trustworthy web security systems on all church devices.

Stay alert and be safe online and on the phone.

The United Church of Canada is beginning to collate information on these incidents, to map out patterns and also to encourage reporting, create awareness, and support advocacy initiatives.

Unfortunately many congregations and other ministries have already experienced anti-2SLGBTQIA+ pushback. The regional council has created a reporting form for such incidents. Should you experience any incidents, please fill out the form and help us work together to address the pushback against 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and wellness here:

And may you have a happy and safe summer.

Thérèse Samuel

Minister, Right Relations and Social Justice

Antler River Watershed, Western Ontario Waterways, Horseshoe Falls

TSamuel@united-church.ca