E-ssentials: United Church Welcomes more than 100 Refugees, Faithful Footprints Grants, and more!

United Church Welcomes More than 100 Refugees With the help of the Refugee Advisory Group and hundreds of volunteers from many communities of faith across the country, the United Church submitted applications to sponsor 171 refugees from overseas. Of the 171,12 are Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR), 6 are LGBTIQ2+, 9 are stateless, and 53 are Afghani, with 30 through the Operation Afghan Safety (OAS) program. Refugees were sponsored by communities of faith across the country, including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Toronto, and Ottawa. Read the full story. [Image credit: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance]   Faithful Footprints: Apply for Energy Conservation Grants! Is your faith community thinking of making upgrades to your church or service buildings in 2023? You may be eligible for financial assistance through The United Church of Canada’s Faithful Footprints program. With the church’s commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2030, this one-of-a-kind program offers up to $30,000 in grants towards energy conservation and renewable energy projects (conditions apply). To learn more about how your faith community can be supported, visit FaithfulFootprints.org. [Image credit: Faithful Footprints] United in Learning: United against Hate Workshop On Wednesday, February 15, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. EST, join Affirm United/ S’affirmer Ensemble and Affirming Connections to learn about the malicious misinformation campaign and threats that have been launched against the drag and Two Spirit or LGBTQIA+ communities across Canada—and what you can do. Sign up for United Against Hate. [Image credit: The United Church of Canada] Your Generosity Matters: Dignity Is on the Menu For January, we asked five staff members to select a Mission & Service story that is meaningful to them and tell us a bit about why: "At Centre 507, a Mission & Service partner in Ottawa, Café Cinq-Zéro-Sept provides a full-service fine dining meal several times a year for only $2 to people struggling with poverty in their community. No lines, no trays—everyone treated with the same dignity you and I take for granted. Mission & Service gifts help make this, and all the other meals served at Centre 507, possible." —Kathie Murphy of General Council Annual Giving [Photo credit: Centre 507] The Annual Declaration Is Now Open! We’d like to advise ministry personnel that the 2023 Annual Declaration is now open until May 19, 2023. It’s free and only takes a few minutes. Log into ChurchHub.ca to make your Annual Declaration about whether you’ve had criminal charges in the last year or not. If you make your Annual Declaration each year, you do not need to get a new police records check! (Remember that Chrome or Edge are the preferred browsers for ChurchHub; Safari is not optimal.) Need help accessing ChurchHub? Please contact ministry@united-church.ca [Image credit: The United Church of Canada] The United Church Bookstore: February Is Black History Month! February is Black History Month. Discover Black authors at the United Church Bookstore, and expand and challenge your perspectives with their experiences as Black Canadians. Dive deep into anti-racism titles like The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power by Desmond Cole and Reflections on Emancipation and Anti-Black Racism for Canada. Shop all of our latest titles, including our new Lenten devotional Good Courage, edited by Alydia Smith, and don't forget to take advantage of our free shipping on orders of $100 or more with the promotion code FREESHIPPING. [Image credit: The United Church of Canada] Worship Resources  See our Worship Resources for upcoming Sundays and special celebrations. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - January 18, 2023 Third after Epiphany - January 23, 2023 Fourth after Epiphany - January 29, 2023 Fifth after Epiphany - February 5, 2023 Black History Month 1- February 5, 2023 Sixth after Epiphany- February 12, 2023 Black History Month 2- February 12, 2023   Facebook Twitter Website Email Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Our gifts for Mission & Service bring healing, justice, and hope to life. Donate today.

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