Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe

Hi Everyone,

This is an important message from the National Church regarding a day of Prayer for Zimbabwe (this Sunday!) and includes important information on their situation. It’s been running in the news lately, so if you’ve been following the coverage and wondering what role the United church is playing – see below!

Also, please support local fundraising events for Africa. This is a particularly important one passed on by members here at FMC. tc3-poster_nova-scotia_july-9-2

For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 19, 2008

United Church Calls for Prayer and Diplomatic Action for Zimbabwe

Toronto: The United Church of Canada is inviting its congregations to
join with churches worldwide in celebrating a day of prayer for Zimbabwe
on Sunday, June 22. The invitation was extended by the World Council of
Churches in a letter this week to its member churches.

The day of prayer for Zimbabwe, which is an initiative of Christians in
the southern African country, is timed to take place shortly before the
runoff election for the presidency scheduled for Friday, June 27.

“It is impossible to overstate the importance of this election, its
fairness, its outcome and its aftermath,” writes World Council of
Churches (WCC) General Secretary the Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia. “Events in
the coming weeks will challenge the people of Zimbabwe and the world to
find means of overcoming violence in the exercise of democracy, and the
results will influence the future of the nation and the region,” he
adds.

Writing also to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, the World Council
of Churches expressed continued concern about the situation in Zimbabwe
and asked the world body to use its resources to assure an end to
pre-election violence in the southern African country and a free and
fair election on June 27.

Referring to President Robert Mugabe’s statement last week that he would
“go to war” rather than acknowledge an election victory by the
opposition, Kobia writes, “This attitude on the part of the president
undermines the integrity of elections and belittles the Zimbabwean
electorate.”

“Where the Mugabe government fails in its responsibility to protect the
Zimbabwean people, the international community must assume that burden;
in this endeavour, the United Nations should assume a leading role,” the
WCC letter adds.

In a similar initiative, The United Church of Canada has sent letters to
the presidents of Zambia and South Africa and to Canada’s Minister of
Foreign Affairs, urging the three men to redouble their efforts to
ensure that Zimbabwe’s presidential election is free and fair.

Regrettably, the Government of Zimbabwe appears to be refusing to comply
with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Guidelines and is
turning a blind eye to, if not orchestrating, a campaign of
election-related violence across the country.

In a letter to Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who is also the
President of the SADC, the United Church states that some of its
partners in Zimbabwe have reported many acts “of politically motivated
violence…including the torture, killing, and jailing of opposition
party officials and supporters and the withholding of desperately needed
food aid to influence people to vote for President Robert Mugabe.” For
security reasons these partners cannot be named, but similar reports
have been filed by Zimbabwean human rights groups and Amnesty
International.

The United Church urges both President Mwanawasa and South African
President Thabo Mbeki to use their considerable influence within SADC to
ensure that the regional body presses Zimbabwe to abide by the SADC
election guidelines. “This would include ensuring freedom of access by
all parties to all areas of the country, equal access to the media, and
campaigning that is peaceful and free of the violence that prevails at
the moment,” the letters state.

SADC can also act to ensure that election results are again posted
outside polling stations and that the numbers of SADC election observers
are scaled up considerably, the letters add.

“Indeed, we believe that SADC observers should be on the ground in
Zimbabwe now to monitor the pre-election environment and that they
should stay until the election results have been released,” comments
Gary Kenny, The United Church of Canada’s program coordinator for
Southern Africa.

In the letter to Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Emerson,
the church calls on the Government of Canada to use its diplomatic
offices to press SADC heads of state to enforce the SADC election
guidelines. “If the SADC Guidelines are enforced by SADC members and
respected by the Zimbabwean government, there is a good chance that the
June 27 presidential election will be free and fair,” the church says.
If not, “we fear that the elections will sentence the people of Zimbabwe
to yet more economic hardship and misery and the entire region of
Southern Africa to growing political instability.”

The United Church’s three letters also draw attention to the Zimbabwean
government’s ongoing interference with domestic and international aid
organizations that are trying to deliver urgently needed food aid. In
Zimbabwe during election time, food is often used as a political weapon.

For more information, please contact:
Mary-Frances Denis
Communications Officer
The United Church of Canada
416-231-7680 ext. 2016 (office)
1-800-268-3781 ext. 2016 (toll-free)
mdenis@united-church.ca

The Time We Worship & Ethical Shopping for All!

Hi Folks,

I have a little bit of everything to pass on to you today, mostly in the way of annoucements.

The first is to remember that as of right now, we worship at 10am until August 31st! In the fall, FMC is discerning a new worship service that will find us all getting together at 10:30 starting on September 7th. Keep that date on your calendar becuase not only does it mark the start of the busy fall season, but it’s also the date of our BLOCK party – corner of Queen and Tobin for those of you unfamiliar to FMC.

I also want to make mention of an open forum on Ethical Shopping being held at St. Luke’s United Church in Tentallon at 7pm June 25th. It’s open to anyone whose ever fretted over the purchase of goods made in countries with questionable labour standards and human rights records. Given that much of our population shops at Walmart, it’s not a bad idea to check this out (don’t get me started on fair trade coffee and Tim Horton’s…why is it everyone likes to rant and rave about StarBucks but no one investigates where their daily Tim’s fix actually comes from?)

The facilitator of the forum is our own Dr. Al Sinclair and he wants you to bring all your questions and ethical dilemmas to the forum. For more information call St. Luke’s at 826-2523, or why not visit their website? http://www.saintlukesunited.ca

Nkobongo Updated from L. McLean

Just wanted to let you know, our SOAR (Sending Orphans of AIDS) in Nkobongo South Africa event went very well on Friday night. We raised over $16,000 to go towards two things: 1) immediate care for those very vulneravle children who are alone or living with minors and 2) building a new facility that wil leventually feed over five hundred children one hot meal a day and that will also act as a skills development center, assisting in getting children off the streets and into schools.

The aim is to help orphans of HIV/AIDS to mature into stable adults capable of forming loving relationships, of being nurturing parents and responsible citizens. The center will also provide day care, after school supervision and support, recreation and sports programs, school uniforms/fees/transportation to and from, startionary and food parcels.In addition, 16 out of 20 child-headed families were adopted and will recieve sponsorship for one year.

Thanks!

Leslie

If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child please contact Leslie M. through the FMC office at 902-423-4294 or leave a message here on the blog.

A Letter From The Minister

To all those who worship at

Fort Massey United Church

Halifax, NS

May 11, 2008

Dear friends:

On this Pentecost Sunday it seems fitting that I write to you on a matter concerning worship offered at our church.

It is no secret that attendance at both services has been in decline over the past several years. I realize that this is partly due to a national trend. However, over this past year, in particular, I have noticed that we have been having difficulty retaining new attendees. I am convinced that the lack of numbers in the pews at both services is having a negative impact on newcomers as well as on some of us faithful Fort Massey folk.

At my request, the Kirk Session agreed to initiate an ad hoc committee of elders, representing both the 9:30 & 11:00 services. Our goal was to look at offering a single Sunday morning worship service as soon as possible. Subsequently, this committee recommended to the Kirk Session that effective September 2008, the 9:30 and 11:00 services be replaced with a new 10:30 worship experience. Along with the nearly twenty recommendations made by the committee, the Kirk Session and ministry staff have agreed to one Sunday morning worship service for the 2008-09 year.

I am very aware of the energy, time and commitment many of you gave to these two services over the years. Thank you for your support. I also recognize that, for some, you will be feeling a loss of your worshipping community, whether it be 9:30 or 11:00. Please know that I share your sense of loss.

I am excited about the opportunities that this will give to our present and future worshippers. I ask that you keep Fort Massey in your prayers as we venture forth together on this journey. May the Spirit continue to guide us and move us.

On behalf of the Kirk Session,

yours faithfully,

Trent D. Cleveland-Thompson

Moderator

Truth & Reconciliation News Update

For Immediate Release

Monday, March 3, 2008
Aboriginal and Church Leaders’ Tour to Focus on Legacy of Residential Schools

Ottawa: Aboriginal and church leaders gathered on Parliament Hill today as part of a multi-city tour to draw public and media attention to the upcoming work of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“The Truth and Reconciliation process is an opportunity for us to hear the truth about, and begin to break, the enduring chains created by Indian Residential Schools,” says the Rt. Rev. Dr. David Giuliano, the Moderator of The United Church of Canada.
Participating in the tour will be Phil Fontaine, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations and representatives of the four mainline Christian churches who, along with the federal government, operated Canada’s Indian Residential Schools.

The Protestant church leaders include:

*The Rt. Rev. Dr. David Giuliano, Moderator, The United Church of Canada

*The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz, Primate, the Anglican Church of Canada

*The Rev. Dr. J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg, Moderator, The Presbyterian Church in Canada

*The Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Anglican Bishop, the Anglican Church of Canada.

“The Assembly of First Nations is pleased to begin work with churches towards reconciliation between our people and all Canadians. We need to work together to write the missing chapter of Canadian history regarding the Indian Residential Schools,” said National Chief Phil Fontaine. Throughout the tour the Roman Catholic Church will be represented either by local bishops or individual priests and nuns whose religious orders were involved in operating residential schools.

The Remembering the Children tour includes stops in Ottawa, Vancouver, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. In addition to making themselves available for media interviews and speaking engagements in each city, the leaders will also participate in a series of public events that are being planned by local organizing committees in the four cities. One such event was held last evening at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.
Other public events include:

*Vancouver: Wednesday, March 5, 2008, a ceremonial walk will start at 7:00 p.m. from the entrance of the Vancouver School of Theology to the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, where the evening program will begin at 7:30 p.m.

*Saskatoon: Sunday, March 9, 2008, Saskatoon Western Development Museum, 3:00 p.m., hosted by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism.

*Winnipeg: Monday, March 10, 2008, The Forks, Market (Food) Court, 7:00 p.m.Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
The leaders agreed to participate in the tour because they wanted to highlight the significance of the work to be done by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“We want to communicate the historic importance of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as it seeks to give a voice to residential school survivors and their families. As well, it will surely help the country to learn more about a poorly understood aspect of our nation’s history,” comments the Rev. Dr. J. H. (Hans) Kouwenberg, Moderator of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.

The Aboriginal and church leaders hope the tour will also raise awareness and help to educate both church members and other Canadians about the legacy of residential schools and the impacts of colonization on Aboriginal people and their communities.

“My hope is that in the telling and in the receiving of the truth we shall as the Gospel says ‘be made free’ – free to focus more and more on healing and reconciliation, righting the wrongs of the past, honouring Aboriginal history and culture and walking together in the spirit of a renewed national resolve to respect the dignity of every human being,” explains The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

The church leaders believe that one of the most important aspects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s work will be as a forum for former residential school students and their families to tell their stories.

“If we allow the truth to be told and have a heart to hear it, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be a doorway to a better Canada for us all. In fact, at this moment, it is the most important doorway to a liveable future,” adds The Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Anglican Bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada.

For further information about the Aboriginal and Church Leaders’ Tour, please visit: www.rememberingthechildren.ca