Resources

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: 2011

The roots of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity go back to the 1800s; it is one of the oldest, most widely observed ecumenical events in the world. The materials on this website are designed to be of service to you not only during the Week itself, but throughout the year. Let them help you find ways to express the degree of communion already given to the churches, and to pray together that we may be more fully united one with another, and all of us with Christ.

2011 edition is available here.

 

Mamow Be-Mo-Tay-Tah - Let us Walk Together

This resource is designed to help Canadians engage with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools and better understand the legacies of colonization that Aboriginal peoples live with today.

Click here to download the resource, or order a print copy of the resource with the accompanying DVD featuring Archbishop Mark MacDonald by emailing us at order@councilofchurches.ca. A contribution of $10 per copy is requested.

 

 

The Bruised Reed: A Christian Reflection on Suffering and Hope

This ecumenical resource on the universal experience of suffering and hope weaves together fine art, meaningful reflections and voices from CCC traditions.

Click here to download the resource, or order a print copy of the resource by emailing us at order@councilofchurches.ca. A contribution of $10 per copy is requested.

 

 

The Gospel Imperative to Advocacy: Faith & The Public Square

This pamphlet documents the 2008 Faith and the Public Square event organized for the Governing Board of The Canadian Council of Churches on the gospel imperative to advocacy at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Ottawa.

Click here to download the resource, or order a print copy of the resource by emailing us at order@councilofchurches.ca. A contribution of $10 per copy is requested.

Canada's Role in Afghanistan

The Canadian Council of Churches calls on Canada to mount a new peace mission in Afghanistan that focuses on two priorities:

1. Support Afghans in implementing participatory reconciliation programs and responsive governance at district and local levels

2. Urge the international community to pursue diplomatic efforts to end the war.

View the letter from the President of The Canadian Council of Churches.

View the Executive Summary.

Download the full Ecumenical Brief, "Canada's Role in Afghanistan", or order a print copy of the resource by emailing us at order@councilofchurches.ca. A contribution of $10 per copy is requested.

The Acceptable Year of the Lord

 

The Acceptable Year of the Lord: Preaching the Old Testament with Faith, Finess and Fervourby The Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of The Canadian Council of Churches. This book is designed for busy preachers and presents preaching instights into the meaning of the original Old Testament texts, the meaning they have in the Jewish tradition and their meaning for Christians today. It is available for order through local bookstores and Novalis.

 

 

 

Liturgies for Christian Unity

Featuring a foreword by the Anglican Archbishop Michael G. Peers, Liturgies for Christian Unity is an anthology of the very best approaches to celebrating common religious ground.

Containing prayers and texts from the past 100 years of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, it offers a wide range of ideas for liturgies of all forms and sizes. Its inclusiveness and its usfulness make it a required resource for parishes, retreat centres, chaplains and educators in all manner of situations. This resource is the fruit of rich editorial work by the Faith and Witness Commission of the Canadian Council of Churches, under the guidance and leadership of Rev. Judee Archer-Greene, Rev. Richard Vandervaart and Dr. Mary Marrocco.

 

Text from Novalis website. You may order copies fo Liturgies for Christian Unity from the Novalis website. Please click here.

 

Becoming Human: On Theological Anthropology in an Age of Engineering Life

• May the tissues (for example, stem cells) of a human fetus be used to look for a cure for Alzheimer's disease?
• Should scientists clone human beings, simply because it is possible?
• May humans manipulate the environment in whichever way suits them, no matter the effect on other species?
• Should Christians care about the ozone layer?
• Should Christian farmers grow genetically-modified foods?

When The Canadian Council of Churches' Commission on Faith and Witness was asked to consider such important, troubling, and complex questions, we found we were led to the foundations of our faith. None of the questions is abstract; all are urgent, because they are about matters that are happening here and now to each of us. These matters have effects much bigger than we can see, but require that we make choices. In making choices, our humanity is disclosed.

View Becoming Human

Life: Patent Pending

Canada's churches consider that the biopatenting issue is a significant one for humanity's understanding of itself and of its call to live respectfully with other living beings, which we believe are also creatures of God. Seeking the Creator's wisdom on our relationship with other forms of life is crucial now, when new ideas and powerful new techniques are having such an impact on humanity's self-understanding and on the scope of human action. That's why the Council of Churches and the Evangelical Fellowship together sought intervener status in the Supreme Court's "oncomouse" case, as did nine other non-governmental organizations.

The CCC has published a booklet, Life: Patent Pending, as a discussion-starter for people in church networks who want to consider questions of biopatenting, questions which, presumably will come before the Parliament of Canada in the foreseeable future. Click here to download the booklet

 

 

Together in Christ

This collection of essays from 14 Christian denominations, which contains both theological reflection and practical information, offers a tool to help pastors, couples preparing for marriage (particularly interchurch marriage), and their families to explore together the differences and common understandings of Christian marriage. It may also be used as a springboard for discussion in adult faith study groups in congregations or in ecumenical settings.

Together in Christ is available from Novalis.

 

 

From Chains to Freedom: Journeying Towards Reconciliation (2007)

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade by the British, this is a packet of materials on the slave trade and the practice of slavery in Canada for parishes, congregations and study groups including worship materials, biblical reflection, educational materials, children's resources and much more.

Click here to download the resource, or order a print copy of the resource by emailing us at order@councilofchurches.ca. A contribution of $10 per copy is requested.

From Chains to Freedom 2007 Racial Justice Resource PDF version (in sections)

• Part 1 Introduction
• Part 2 From Chains to Freedom
• Part 3 Worship Resources
• Part 4 Journeying Towards Reconciliation
• Part 5 Resources for Children
• Part 6 Resources for Further Learning

For God So Loved the People of the World (2006)

This kit is the fruit of five years of learning, reflecting and acting together in the Canadian Ecumenical Anti-Racism Network, representing our first attempt to jointly lift up the importance of anti-racism ministry in the member churches of The Canadian Council of Churches. The contributors to this resource kit come from a variety of traditions; each of them has worked from the heart, offering the best of what they know now of the topic at hand.

The title of this resource, For God so loved the people of the world, comes from one of the lectionary texts, John 3:16. As we compared versions and translations of the text, we settled on this phrase from the Chinese Kuo-yu Bible, an ecumenical translation done in the 1930s and still in use in most Chinese congregations.

Click here to download the resource, or order a print copy of the resource by emailing us at order@councilofchurches.ca. A contribution of $10 per copy is requested.

Download the full version of this resource (37 pages)
God so loved the people of the world - Full Version

Or see the Table of Contents to download one or more chapters separately.
God so loved the people of the world --Table of Contents

More Resources

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: 2011

Mamoh Be-Mo-Tay-Tah: Let us Walk Together

The Bruised Reed: A Christian Reflection on Suffering and Hope

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: 2012

The Gospel Imperative to Advocacy: Faith & The Public Square

Canada's Role in Afghanistan

The Acceptable Year of the Lord

Liturgies for Christian Unity

Becoming Human: On Theological Anthropology in an Age of Engineering Life

Life: Patent Pending

Together in Christ

From Chains to Freedom: Journeying Towards Reconciliation (2007)

For God So Loved the People of the World (2006)