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ATLANTIC ECUMENICAL COUNCIL |
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The Executive of the Atlantic Ecumenical Council met on November 18, 2011 at Sackville United Church, Sackville, NB at 11 a.m.
Present: Bob Brittain, Morris McIntyre, John Wilson, Bob Mills, Pauline Caissie Regrets: David Luker, Neil Bergman, Marlene Knowles
Morris McIntyre, president, welcomed everyone to this meeting. Bob Mills led with the opening prayer. Bob Mills read a letter from Marlene Knowles stating she was away with a mission team in Cochabamba, Bolivia and would not be able to attend today’s meeting.
Pauline Caissie moved, Bob Brittain seconded, that the agenda be approved with the addition of two items: the financial report and correspondence. Motion carried.
John Wilson moved, Bob Mills seconded, that the minutes of the February 1, 2011 Executive meeting be approved as circulated. Motion carried.
Business arising From the Minutes
At the annual meeting May 6, 2011, we agreed to provide up to $1000 to a student from the Atlantic School of Theology to attend the North American Academy of Ecumenists meeting in Allentown, Pennsylvania in September 2011. The student was Nicole Elizabeth Urzans and she attended the meeting along with David MacLachlan from AST. Bob Brittain reported that he had received from David a copy of the receipts for Nicole’s participation in the conference and had paid out the $1000 that was promised. Bob Brittain agreed to ask them for a report on the event. It was agreed that if we were to have another Annual General Meeting, then it would be good to have them report. This Academy will be meeting at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax in September 2012.
Correspondence
Morris McIntyre, chair, read a letter from Sheila Redden-Smith of the Atlantic Seminar in Theological Education (ASTE) seeking a representative from the AEC for their steering committee. Bob Mills provided background on ASTE. Bob Brittain moved, Pauline Caissie seconded, that John Wilson be the AEC representative on the ASTE steering committee. Motion carried.
John Wilson read an email (dated October 24, 2011) Bob Mills had received from Maureen Praught, secretary of the Summerside and Area Christian Council, outlining concerns she personally had with regard to a “Freedom of Conscience” symposium being held at Trinity United Church, Summerside, on October 27, 2011. The symposium involved presentations on the theme by representatives of Moslem, Hindu, Jewish, Christian and Aboriginal communities of faith. John reported that he attended the symposium and that Maureen was present as well. It was agreed that John, as secretary, would respond to her concerns, outlining our position as an ecumenical council on specific matters of faith.
Pauline Caissie, a member of the Provisional Steering Committee of the Moncton and Area Council of Churches shared that the Moncton Council was not meeting at the present time and that they were trying to see what could be done in regards to the future of that council. She shared with us a presentation that had been made to the Steering Committee of the Moncton and Area Council of Churches dated November 3, 2011. It was a telephone conversation Rev. Wayne Smith had with Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches:
PRESENTATION TO THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE MONCTON AND AREA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES November 3, 2011
In a phone conversation this week, the Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of The Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) responded to the question, "We of the Provisional Steering Committee of the Moncton and Area Council of Churches feel that we are at a crossroads. We have a rich history and an uncertain future. As we consider our future, is there something in the Canadian Council of Churches' journey that might help us in our discernment?" Dr. Hamilton offered the following:
the CCC is both ecumenical and interfaith, with the interfaith component increasingly important, while maintaining an open, Christian perspective there appears to be a percentage of inter-Church/ecclesial community-interfaith balance of approx. 70/30. It is expected that the interfaith component will take on increasing importance. the Christian perspective brings, not only its faith-base, but visible organizational structures (i.e. a 'comfort' level with a 'chain of communication' -i.e., 'who to call'); the Baha'i and Jewish traditions offer similar organizational 'certainty' at both 'macro' and 'micro' level (i.e. contacts and chains of communication); Muslim and Buddhist communications and organization are most successful at a local level experience of the CCC shows non-Christian traditions are very interested in supporting ecumenical efforts in social justice issues (i.e. Issues of homelessness, human trafficking) the CCC represents 23 Christian traditions/denominations, 6 Orthodox and 6 Evangelical traditions - a model for local councils to consider in considering how to 'bring others onboard', it is sometimes helpful to invite 'weaker' traditions or those who are hesitant to support an ecumenical presence to host a Council meeting it is increasingly important to broaden the contacts of Christian-based and interfaith communication to include political voices in engaging ecumenical Christian dialogue and inter-faith conversations, always ask the question, 'What can we do together.” - It is important to pray together – something all traditions can do! - In January there is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - the CCC would be interested in talking with our Steering Committee about this and would like to receive any prayer or 'service' material from our part of the world.
Request: Dr. Hamilton would like to add us to the CCC newsletter recipients and for us to provide, if possible, a list of names and emails of anyone in our area of an ecumenical/ interfaith interest.
Respectfully submitted, Wayne Smith (Rev)
Financial Statement
Bob Brittain moved, Pauline Caissie seconded, that the following financial statement for the period January 1, 2011 to November 15, 2011 be approved. Motion carried.
Bank Balance at January 1 2958.29
Receipts Dues 960.00 Bank Interest 1.17 Donations 150.00 AEC Annual Registrations 470.00 1581.17
Expenses Travel 777.25 Postage & Photocopying 103.67 Bank Charges 22.70 Purchase Cheques 32.23 Meals for AEC Annual Meeting 500.00 Donation to Kairos 500.00 Ecumenical Conference (AST student) 1000.00 2935.85
Net Income for the period -1354.68
Bank balance on Nov 15, 2011 1603.61
Respectfully submitted, Bob Brittain, AEC Treasurer
The Results of the Questionnaire
The Annual General Meeting in May 2011 agreed to have Bob Mills send out the following questionnaire to the members of the Atlantic Ecumenical Council:
The Atlantic Ecumenical Council is a "fellowship of churches which confess Bob Mills reported that he had sent out 18 surveys plus seven to the AEC Executive members and had received seven replies by the time of the meeting. An eighth reply, the one from Summerside, was received after the meeting and their reply is included here at his request in his report.
The AEC is seen as a viable and helpful entity to the local ecumenical Church Council or denomination. “We like what the constitution says. We see the potential of this body. We have not witnessed any impact on our local council.” They passed a motion in support of the work of the AEC saying yes to the question, but also asking the following questions:
1) How often does the AEC meet? 2) Do individual Churches attend your meetings or is there only one representative from each local Christian Council? 3) Is there a report/minutes sent to the Christian Councils? 4) Is there another vehicle or organization that speaks effectively on the issues in the Atlantic area - 2b, 5 and 6? 5) Arrange specialists who will promote ecumenical study, action and dialogue through a tour of lectures and addresses? 6) Is the onus on the Council to approach the AEC, or for the AEC to inform the Councils of issues in the Atlantic Area? re: online gambling issue: are the individual Councils to inform the AEC with regard to letters written to government bodies? Will the AEC investigate the issue for all the Councils and report? 7) What is the AEC doing to identify your presence?
Bob Mills said in summarizing the results that some do see value in the AEC but not in the same way as in the past. He suggested that we look at our constitution in the light of these responses, asking “what is our role?” This was agreed. In particular we focused on Article IV, section 2 (b). [A copy of the constitution can be found on the Atlantic Ecumenical Council website.] Some of the comments made on each of the parts of this section follow:
(i) to encourage the formation of local interdenominational groups to work on such subjects as Bible Study and Faith and Order - there are some things that we have dropped and are no longer doing - local interdenominational groups do the work on Faith and Order. - at one time, we did this via conferences that we held - is there now any need for us to do what groups like the Atlantic Seminar in Theological Education in Truro is doing? - we could do more promotion of that and other educational opportunities such as the “Fresh Expressions of Church” event in Fredericton (an Anglican endeavour) - or the Natural Church Development program of Christian Schwartz in Moncton (this program aims to evaluate congregations and work on their weaknesses), or Seniors College, Atlantic School of Theology, Acadia Divinity College, the Atlantic School of Theology Integrated Alumni Association. - this objective is being filled by other groups - perhaps we can use our web site
(ii) to promote the formation of local Councils of churches in agreement with the basis of this Council - this depends on local needs and decisions - perhaps we should be saying “to support” instead of “to promote”
(iii) to arrange for and organize the visitation of specialists who are available to the Atlantic area who will promote ecumenical study, action and dialogue through a tour of lectures and addresses - this is being done now by others such as AST, Acadia, ASTIAA, etc.
(iv) to serve as a study and report commission from time to time with reference to certain Atlantic problems, e.g. radio work, penology, rural life, industry, university ministry, and report to the appropriate body in order to stimulate action on these matters - this is often best done locally as this is often where the concerns are - on gambling, for example, a lot has been done locally
(v) to seek representation in such organizations as the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, the Religion and Labour Council, etc. - we do some of this through local members and councils, etc. - some of this may be far-fetched
(vi) to foster greater understanding and co-operation with Churches and Christian groups in accord with the ecumenical spirit - we do this through local members and councils
The basic question, then, coming out of this discussion and the results of the questionnaire remains: is there a reason for us to continue as a council? If we keep going, what should be our focus as we have not had much effect over the last few years? The following were some comments made on these questions:
- What happens locally is more effective. Local areas have concerns of their own. We are beyond the point for an umbrella organization for member churches - Maritime Conference, United Church of Canada, for example, had one person coming to this event. They had dropped from five to two memberships being paid. - The Roman Catholic Diocese of P.E.I. did have ecumenism as being part of their priorities, but this has not been restarted - The Heads of Churches meeting did share about what was happening with each church - We have not had much success in visioning. - We are one of the last regional councils in existence in Canada. - Denominations tend at the moment to be focusing on how to survive. - If survival is an issue, ultimately, ecumenism is the only way. - How does a regional council fit it? How can we be present in some way when an area comes to us, how can we set up a district council?
It was agreed that the secretary would send a letter to each of the members of the AEC outlining the following points:
- in light of the response to the questionnaire and our own experience over the last few years, we feel the AEC as it has existed should be put on hold, retaining the present executive for organization and cutting the fee for member churches in half. - the executive would continue to exist as a contact for churches and councils in the Atlantic area for ecumenical endeavours - we would continue in discernment mode and would welcome input from our members for guidance and information exchange while on this discernment road.
The proposed letter would first be sent to the members of the executive for possible revision/adjustments etc. It was also agreed that the letter and a copy of the minutes go to Kenn Stright, our webmaster for his information.
It was agreed that there would be no annual general meeting in 2012. The next meeting of the Executive would be at the call of the president as needed. Communication could also be by email or Conference call.
Bob Brittain moved, Pauline Caissie seconded that the meeting be adjourned. Motion carried. John Wilson closed the meeting with prayer.
____________________ ____________________ John A. C. Wilson (Rev.) Morris McIntyre Secretary President
Atlantic Ecumenical Council Executive Agreement by Email November 29 – December 1, 2011
Morris McIntyre, the President of the AEC contacted members of the Executive by email to approve the inclusion of a letter from Kairos Canada dated October 21, 2011 concerning funding from CIDA for certain Kairos programs. The majority of the Executive agreed to have the letter attached.
______________________ ______________ John A. C. Wilson (Rev.) Morris McIntyre Secretary President |