COVID-19: Global Response
Our call to love our neighbours and leave no one behind has become more challenging in the face of the pandemic. While COVID immunization campaigns roll out in Canada and elsewhere, a humanitarian catastrophe is building where variants of the disease have taken hold. Swift action is needed for access to vaccines for everyone around the globe. As COVID-19 cases rise and health systems face enormous pressure, local and national economies strain under the burden. There are three things you can do:- Make a gift today through Mission & Service to support communities gripped by the pandemic in the Global South and East. Working with Mission & Service partners, together we are contributing food and relief items to those in need, enabling the distribution of PPE, and supporting programs to prevent and control the spread of the disease. Together we can make a difference.
- You can also pay it forward by directly giving the gift of a two-shot dose of vaccine in a country still struggling through the worst of the pandemic and supporting the worldwide effort to protect people from COVID-19, one vaccine at a time. The Government of Canada will now match your gift dollar for dollar until September 6.
- And please write your MP and the Prime Minister. COVID-19 threatens every aspect of people’s lives—amplifying inequalities, destabilizing communities, and reversing progress made on the sustainable development goals in the past decade. Act now for global vaccine access.
The pandemic is not over until it is over for everyone.
[Photo credit: iStock.com/rvimages]
Consultations and Proposed Mission: July Strategic Planning Update
Last month, the consultation phase of the Strategic Planning process concluded and staff are now moving through analysis to framing and drafting the plan. We continue to work toward a proposed plan for the General Council Office going to General Council Executive by the end of September, and a proposed mission and vision for the whole church going to the General Council 43 Recall meeting in October.
As well as two staff surveys, five Town Halls, and four Indigenous Church Circles, 23 other virtual consultations were held, overall reaching about 1,000 people from across the church and partnerships. Thank you to all who contributed their insights in the consultation process. In addition to the Strategic Plan, an operational plan is now being worked on, as well as plotting out a transition period (January‒August 2022) for getting from where we are now to fully implementing the plan.
From all of the consultation and from exploring different scenarios, we are narrowing down to a proposed mission and vision. We have coalesced around six words to express a proposed mission:
Deep Spirituality. Bold Discipleship. Daring Justice.
Read the full news piece to find out more.
[Photo credit: Rebecca Matthews, Pixabay]
Fresh Off the Boat
In this blog post, Ariel Siagan—a doctoral student of theology at Trinity College of the University of Toronto and an ordained minister of the Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippines—raises awareness about the situation of Filipino migrant workers in Canada and calls on the church to respond.
Read the blog post, and watch the accompanying video.
Your Generosity Matters: Jazz and Technology Meet Up to Spark Innovation
 Exercise. Geolocation software. Jazz. Ministry. Here’s how these meet up—with help from your Mission & Service gifts. [Photo credit: Trisha Elliott/The United Church of Canada]
United Church Bookstore: Refresh Your Bookshelves!
There are only a handful of weeks left of the United Church Bookstore's huge summer sale; when it's over, it's over! There is truly something for everyone in this varied collection, from theological texts, to children's volumes, to thought-provoking novels (and much more in between). Stock up now for a summer of great reading! [Photo credit: Ergita Sela on Unsplash]
Worship Resources
See our Worship Resources for upcoming Sundays and special celebrations. July 18 - Eighth After Pentecost | 
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