REPORTS & AGENDA 83rd General Meeting May 22-25, 2014 Vancouver Island Conference Center Nanaimo, BC 2014 Reports & Agenda - Page 1 2014 Reports & Agenda - Page 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 President’s Message 7 President Elect’s Message 8 Executive Secretary’s Message 9 Music Leadership 10 Anniversaries 12 Retirees 28 Memorials BC Conference 36 Ends Policies 41 Executive Members 42 Office & Staff Directory 43 Business Committee Motions 45 Guidelines for Business Procedures 47 Proposals: An Explanation 48 Nomination for President-Elect Presbytery Reports 50 Cariboo 51 Comox-Nanaimo 54 Fraser 55 Kamloops-Okanagan 56 Kootenay 57 Prince Rupert 58 Vancouver-Burrard 60 Vancouver-South 62 Victoria 63 Westminster 2014 Reports & Agenda - Page 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Work of Conference Support of Ministry Personnel 64 Ministry Personnel Council/Conference Pastoral Relations Committee 65 Interim Ministry 66 Pension & Benefits 67 Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response Committee 68 Settlement 69 Spiritual Care Network Support of Ministry Students 60 Candidacy Pathway Pilot 71 Candidacy & Admissions Board Native Ministry 72 Mobile Counsellor Program 74 Youth and Young Adults 78 Conference Camps 79 Archives & Historical Committee Financial 81 Finance Council 82 Grants Committee 84 Home Missions 86 Stewardship 88 ProVision Funds 2014 Reports & Agenda - Page 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 89 BC Conference United Church Women Educational Centers 90 Centre for Christian Studies 92 Vancouver School of Theology Proposals 96 BC Conference 2014-1: Resolution Related to the Storage and Shipment of Thermal Coal attached Settlement Report attached Financial Statements—Consolidated and PDC 2014 Reports & Agenda - Page 5 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE REV. JENNY CARTER Respectfully Submitted: Jenny Carter It has been such an honour and privilege to serve as the President of BC Conference! For the past two years I have met with presbyteries and congregations, individuals and groups, Conference staff and the Executive, and without exception have been blessed by the opportunity to connect with, and hear from, such fine people. As I reflect on the past two years as President, and anticipate the upcoming General Meeting in Nanaimo, I do so with a profound sense that while we live in challenging times as a people of faith, the Spirit is alive and well and in our midst, and calling us to continue to grow into the Conference and communities of faith God knows we can be. As my term rapidly draws to a close, I thank you all for your hospitality and faithfulness. Throughout my journey as your President, the passage from 1 Corinthians, 12:25-27, was formative in how I saw the church in BC Conference. We are the body of Christ – made up of many parts. When one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, as well as in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the abundance. As I listened to the people of this Conference share with me their hopes and dreams, struggles and triumphs as communities of faith – it became clear to me that when we remember that we are all “in this together”, that we are indeed, the body of Christ, united and in service to one another and the world, life happens. Healing happens. Growth happens. Never was remembering that we are the body of Christ more important, nor evident, than when I represented the Conference at the Truth and Reconciliation Event in Vancouver. The gracious welcome we received from residential school survivors, their bravery in sharing their stories, and their strength as individuals, communities, and nations, was inspiring. To see volunteers from the United Church actively listening and fully engaged in the Truth and Reconciliation process infused me with a sense of hope that together, we might find ourselves on the path to true reconciliation. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, “When one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt and the healing.” It is this sense of coming together as the body of Christ that led to the choice of “Connexion” as the theme for this General Meeting. It is the General Meeting that offers us, the United Church family, the time and place to connect as the body of Christ. When we gather we do so as a people who have much to celebrate – we live in challenging times, and we are beginning to find our way, which is worthy of celebration! I now know our Conference is filled with awesome people, and so we gather at the General Meeting to deepen our relationships with one another so that we might share our wisdom and our gifts. When we share these things, we will naturally grow in faith, and begin to live into an ever deepening understanding of our part in the mission of God. It is my hope and my prayer that this General Meeting of BC Conference will be a time of deep connection: a time where we will live into the intention of getting to know one another – hearing one another’s dreams so that we all might grow in hope; hearing of the struggles so we might be a part of the healing; finding our common purpose so we might enter into the exuberance that being a part of the body of Christ brings! May the General Meeting of BC Conference be such a time of “Connexion” for us all! 2014 Reports & Agenda - Page 6 PRESIDENT ELECT REV. KAREN MEDLAND Respectfully Submitted: Karen Medland The past two years have gone by very quickly and it is hard to imagine that we are now gathering once again as the Body Christ here in Nanaimo. Much has happened in that time and I’ve been very fortunate to have Jenny Carter show me the way. It is easy enough to say that the church is in transition, yet again; and I wonder if the last time we were offered such possibilities for renewal was at Union. We stand on the edge of something that is fearful and wonderful; we have a chance, like our predecessors, to shape a community of faith that is unique in its context and life giving in its substance. It is Easter weekend as I write this and the tomb is empty; everything is at the same time impossible and possible. God has chosen life, the question for us is. Do we too choose life, even if it does not look as it did before? These are interesting times and so I come to my time as President of Conference curious about the future, but I trust in God, and God chose life. Therefore I choose life for our Conference too. 2014 Reports & Agenda - Page 7 EXECUTIVE SECRETARY’S MESSAGE REV. DOUG GOODWIN Respectfully Submitted: Doug Goodwin, Executive Secretary If you turn to the United Church’s “answer book”, the Manual, to find out why BC Conference meets like we do in a General Meeting, you will not find much help. The actual responsibilities of the Conference are minimal, and of those only a tinier number are actually accomplished at the General Meeting. What is clear, though, is that it is to meet regularly, at least once every three years. Even if its work is minimal, it needs to meet. At first glance, that seems like too small a thing to do. Perhaps, though, it really gets to the core of what a General Meeting is to the church: it is a “meeting place”, a gathering place, where those present recognize themselves as part of a larger body, even part of the body of Christ, who come together not primarily to “do stuff” but to “be who we really are.” The Methodists, our ancestors and cousins, call this “connexion.” The Conference is the “Connexion”, where people need to talk to one other individually and, more importantly, as a whole. The Connexion wants and needs to know how the rest of the body is doing. It needs to listen carefully, and reflect back what is heard. It does not flourish on clarity but upon extensive conversation. It wants to reconnect with those closest and get to know those most distant. It thrives on relationships. The Connexion needs to know and experience that it does not live to or for itself but lives to the One who gives life. It is the body of Christ and a significant part of the mission of God in the world. Worship, praise, singing, hearing and responding to call, are all part of its life. The Connexion gathers for mission, to order its life together so that God’s work in the world might also be the work of this part of the church. The Connexion organizes for mission: identifying and choosing its leaders, sorting out differences, finding common cause, identifying where energy and effort need to be placed, seeking to discern the new thing that God might be calling the church into. The Connexion celebrates with wondrous music and grieves together with solemn passion. The Connexion feels itself growing as a body. It needs to be fed and nurtured. It needs to hear and say and do something new, something that pushes it outwards while nourishing it inwardly. It needs to grow in faith and spiritual depth. From the Presbyterians we inherited the idea of the “courts” of the church, where decisions are made. From the Methodists we inherited the Conference, where we “confer”, and the Connexion, where we connect. All are important. 2014 Reports & Agenda - Page 8 MUSIC RESOURCE REBEL MESSIAH Cheryl, Brendan & Wade have been playing together since 2008 as Rebel Messiah, and have released an album, Rebel Messiah and the WayCup Cafe. They have a passion for serving the experience of the community that gathers with lively music that speaks to the head, heart and soul of a constantly emerg- Brendan Wanderer is a musician, barista and youth minister from Calgary, Alber- ta.