Meeting Resources and Materials

These items are pending and will be added as they become available

• Resource Book – [pdf | 81 pages]
• Draft Meeting Agenda [pdf | 3 pages]
• Consent and Procedural Motions [pdf | 3 pages]
• Holy Manners – [pdf | 1 page]
• Draft Minutes of Regional Meeting –  [pdf | 6 pages]
• Zoom Tip Sheet– includes how to vote during the meeting – pending
• Proposals – There were no proposals received by the deadline.
• Business: Draft Budget – [ pdf | 3 pages ]
• Draft Financial Statements – [ pdf | 6 pages ]
• Reports: Digest of Actions – [ pdf | 7 pages ]
• Reports: Regional Council Executive Accountability – [ pdf | 6 pages ]
• Reports:  Pastoral Relations Commission – [ pdf | 8 pages ]
• Reports:  Support to Communities of Faith Commission – [ pdf | 2 pages ]
• Reports:  Property Commission – [ pdf | 2 pages ]
• Reports:  Nominations Committee – [ pdf | 5 pages ]
• Reports:  Finance Committee – [ pdf | 1 page ]
• Reports:  Affirming Resource Team – [ pdf | 2 pages ]
• Reports:  Right Relations Resource Team – [ pdf | 2 pages ]
• Reports:  Mission Support Grants Resource Team – [ pdf | 4 pages ]
• Reports:  GC45 Commissioners – [ pdf | 5 pages ]
• Reports: Stewardship – [ pdf | 1 page ]
• Reports: Emmanuel College – [ pdf | 3 pages ]
• Reports: St. Andrew’s College – [ pdf | 1 page ]
• Reports: Atlantic School of Theology – [ pdf | 2 pages ]
• Reports: Centre for Christian Studies – [ pdf | 3 pages ]
• Reports: United Church Rural Ministry Network – [ pdf | 1 page ]
• Reports: Manitou Intentional Learning Community (MILC) – [ pdf |  pages ]
• Ordinands and Comissionand – There are no Ordinands, etc. in 2026
• Jubilands – [pdf | 1 page]
• Retirees – There are no retirees in 2026
• In Memoriam – [ pdf | 3 pages ]

Chair of Executive Message

The funeral of a beloved matriarch had just concluded; a woman who had been a blessing in several congregations throughout our Region had died.  As I was standing at the open door with colleague Rev. Lawrence Muvunzi and greeting friends as they began to depart the small, country church, I noticed big water droplets falling from the roof’s edge.  The sun was shining, the weather was balmy, Spring visibly on its way.  And I chuckled to myself.  “Remember your Baptism, and be thankful”, I whispered, “because you’re going to be covered in waterdrops when you walk through that door!”  There is no better time or place to remember why we are here and what gives us hope than a funeral; no better place to recognize that the Hard Places in our lives are also Holy Ground.

As a people of the Canadian Shield Regional Council, we are getting ready for our 2026 Hybrid Annual Meeting taking place in and broadcast from the Quattro Hotel in Sault Ste. Marie from June 5-7.  And the theme for the next 2 years is “Hard Places.  Holy Ground.”  Our thanks to Donna Rutz for designing the logo, the Agenda and Business Team for putting together an exciting schedule to frame our days, and the Local Arrangements Team for ensuring our stay is both accessible and enjoyable.  We are blessed to have with us our 45^th Moderator the Rt. Rev. Dr. Kimberly Heath to inspire and feed us, as well as the Director of Growth and Ministry Development Cameron Fraser to guide us through Toward 2035 and offer a lens on the future.

Each time we consider a theme, we are always drawn back to the unique landscape of our Region.  A hard, rocky place filled with abundant life.  One might suggest that the Parable of the Sower found in all three synoptic gospels inspired us.  In part, it did.  The wild abandon of the sower who cast his seed without regard to where it might land gives us hope as a Region!  But resistance and stubbornness, a hardening of the heart and a growing tiredness can create a climate of despair in our soil.  Yet even here, in the cracks and fissures, we see evidence all across our Region of the Holy nurturing seeds of hope.

In preparation for our Annual Meeting, I invite you to take the time to read the Accountability Report.  And as you do, give thanks for those who have stepped up to serve in leadership roles in the Region:  for the faithful work of our three Commissions and five Resource Teams, our Staff team, and all the Regional Representatives elected from faith communities across the Canadian Shield.  And then take a moment to read the Digest of Actions to learn of the diligent work of your Executive since we last met as a full region.  Yes, our Region may be the size of a mustard seed in comparison, but our foundation is sure.

A special highlight at this Annual Meeting will be the installation of your new Chair, the Rev. Bill Jones, at the Celebration of Ministries service on Sunday, June 7.  As Bill begins his 2-year term at the rise of this meeting, I will be stepping down.  It has been a blessing to serve this Region for the past 3 years and I thank you for all your support! 

Until June …

Rev. Nancy J. Ferguson
Chair, CSRC Executive

Special Guest Speakers

The Right Rev. Dr. Kimberly Heath is the 45th Moderator of The United Church of Canada (UCC). The Moderator serves as spiritual leader of the denomination, quickening a sense of God as revealed in Christ in the hearts of the people, and heartening and strengthening the whole United Church. She visits throughout the whole of the church, and serves as its primary spokesperson and representative.

The Moderator was installed in her role in August 2025, at the 45th General Council of The United Church of Canada in Calgary, Alberta and will serve until 2028. The Moderator was born in Lusaka, Zambia, and has served in ministry for nearly three decades. She’s deeply passionate about transformation in church life, and strengthening the path of connection in a divided world.

Kyle Pugh
Ontario Regional Councils Archivist
The United Church Of Canada

Kyle Pugh is the Ontario Regional Councils Archivist with the United Church of Canada. He holds a Master of Information in Archives and Records Management from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Trent University. He serves as Board Treasurer for the Association of Canadian Archivists and is a Practising NAAB Appraiser with the National Archival Appraisal Board.

Here From The Beginning

A Celebration of Faith, History, Community and The UCC

“Here from the Beginning” Exhibit
Discover the contribution and story of Black Peoples within the United Church of Canada as we commemorate a story of Resilience, Belonging and Bold Discipleship.

Canadian Shield Regional Council will host this national exhibit during our Annual Meeting June 5th & 6th.

Learn more about the exhibit here: https://herefromthebeginning.ca/

Watch for upcoming dates for the exhibit in Thunder Bay during June.