We Just Did What!?

Here at the 42nd General Council of the United Church of Canada, some 340+ Commissioners have gathered to do the work of our denomination.

The plenary working its way through the Comprehensive Review.

Those of us who have been elected from our Conferences were required to read through and examine a 1100+ page Workbook. Very many proposals have been put forward for the Council. The biggest (in length of the pages & potential impact on the structure and future of the UCC) proposal is the Comprehensive Review but there are many other issues up for discussion. Membership, ministry training,  justice for Israel/Palestine, reducing carbon emissions, fossil fuel divestments, calls for public inquiries for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, concerns for inmates enduring solitary confinement and implementing a Child Well-Being Index are just a few of the topics being decided at GC42.

Yesterday we met in our Commissions. Each of the Commissioners were assigned to a Commission: Blueberry, Partridgeberry or Bakeapple. All proposals not of the Comprehensive Review or not foundational in terms of our denomination were given to the Commission to discuss and decide upon. My Commission, the Partridgeberry Commission voted on issues mostly concerning the church itself: how does a person proceed through training for ministry, should we do a review of the theological statements that are in the covenant for those people being ordained or commissioned, can those people not 'full members' of a congregation vote on all matters of the church?

Bakeapple Berries

When we left the second round of Commissions yesterday, at 7:15 pm in NFLD, some of us discovered that the Bakeapple Commission passed a proposal stating that the United Church will divest from fossil fuel companies. To the dismay to many Commissioners from Alberta and Northwest Conference, it was also clear that the national news programs were already reporting on this decision.

This has put me and my ANW Conference fellow Commissioners in the uncomfortable position of supposedly being at the meeting where this huge vote took place but not formally understanding what exactly was passed. There were many variations of the proposal to divest from fossil fuels - some more far-reaching than others. As well, the proposals may have been amended before being voted upon, so even though I have access to all the original proposals, I don't know the final wording or even which proposal was the one that passed. The wider gathering, the plenary, will hear reports from each of the Commissions on Friday. So, we know there was a vote and divestment form fossil fuel companies has been called for but we really do not know anything else at this moment in time.

And so, my friends of north Calgary, Symons Valley United Church and Alberta & Northwest Conference, what I am trying to say is:

Breathe deeply, know that we are not alone. Our United Church of ours is a diverse body of Christ grounded in social justice and which has great compassion for our world and all of God's creation. We have come together, following Jesus and being led by the Spirit. God is with us. God has been before us and will be after us. We are God's people. Thanks be to God.