The Canadian Council of Churches Governing Board Meeting
May 18-20, 2022 – St. Paul University (Ottawa)
(Photo credit: The Canadian Council of Churches | Emma Ceruti)
At our semi-annual Governing Board meeting of the Council, we:
- Rejoiced in the blessing of gathering in-person for the first time since November 2019.
- Received governance and program reports from all bodies of the Council; the Council’s 2021 Annual Report; updated Personnel Policy, Financial Policy, and Fundraising Manuals; and an updated Privacy Policy.
- Adopted the 2021 Audited Financial Statements, appointed Graham Matthews as auditor for 2022, and adopted the 2023-27 Strategic Plan of Project Ploughshares.
- Participated in a special learning session around the theme of “Hope in a Troubled World” led by Project Ploughshares.
- Received applications from three new prospective affiliates: KAIROS, the North American Baptist Fellowship, and the Church Council on Justice and Corrections.
- Dialogued with Conservative MP Garnett Genuis on the opportunities and challenges of living faith in public life hosted at the historic Andrews Presbyterian Church.
- Prayed together in the Presbyterian, Apostolic Catholic, and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) traditions.
- Reflected on the changing landscape of the “Church in the Digital Age,” the 2021-24 triennial topic of the Commission on Faith and Witness.
- Worshipped together in the Presbyterian and Ukrainian Catholic traditions.
- Circle shared on the opportunities and challenges of Forum, the model that has historically guided the Council’s decision-making and consensus-building process.
- Gathered in prayer, solidarity, and fellowship at the John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Shrine and learned about the ongoing needs of the displaced Ukrainian Catholic Community in Canada.
- Learned about the history, life, and scope of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Canada.
- Heard an update from lawyer Andrew Brouwer who is working on behalf of the Council and its co-litigants the Canadian Council for Refugees, and Amnesty International Canada in challenging the constitutionality of Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) with the United States.
- Were challenged to sign and champion the Korean Peace Appeal Campaign, which seeks to end the Korean War and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula.
- Envisioned what Canadian participation in the upcoming World Council of Churches Assembly (Christ’s Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity August 31 – September 8, 2022, Regensburg, Germany) will look like.
The next meeting of the Governing Board is scheduled to take place on November 16-18, 2022 at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.