Fall meeting of West District 2007

The Fall meetings of West District were held at Forteau and Red Bay, Labrador, from October 11- 14 with the theme "Moving From Lament To Hope".

The appreciation of the people of Southern Labrador was evident in the warm welcome and hospitality shown to all who attended. On arrival at Forteau, each delegate received a loot bag of preserves, souvenir pins, and discount coupons from the local business community. After a hot meal, we were entertained with a concert of songs and skits by the UCW and men of Forteau and Red Bay augmented by some Anglican friends.

Each session began with music and song while each day began and ended with worship concluding with Holy Communion on Saturday evening. The Friday sessions were held at the Red Bay Community Center where theme speaker Ruth Sirman conducted strategic planning exercises designed to aid West District, and congregations, in answering questions such as: What are our Ministry needs in NFLD? Where are we now and where do we want to be at some future time? Can we reach that ideal position and how do we build on our present assets to enhance the work of the church in West District?

Carol Hancock, General Council Minister for Regional Relations spoke on the initiative "United for World Peace", which was begun as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but may be expanded to include the war in Afghanistan. This initiative is partially funded by the sale of olive wood lapel pins, at a cost of $25.00 per pin. November 4, 2007 will be denoted as "Peace Sabbath" beginning a two year campaign.

General Council report was given by Carol Hancock, John McGonigle, and Bill Bartlett. Some cost saving measures taken at the national level will have implications for local congregations. For 2009, Mission Support Grants to each conference will be reduced by $900,000. The Vision TV studio will be closed. 27 positions will be eliminated at National church while 6 new ones will be created. There will be a Ministry Personnel support project, which is meant to enable clergy, and a new unit called Congregational Educational and Community Ministries Unit.

The Saturday sessions were held at Mountainfield Academy in Forteau with continuation of the theme and various committee reports. Paula Gale presented a skit for Women in Ministry. Conference President, Elsie Pottle outlined her visits to congregations throughout the island and thanked everyone for the support she has been given.

Some upcoming events to be noted include: Welcoming Congregations event at Corner Brook on November 1-3, 2007, Clergy retreat at Woody Island Resort on November 5-7, 2007, and Worship Matters event at Corner Brook on June 13-15, 2008. Due to the Labrador ferry schedule, the closing worship with communion was held on Saturday evening after a delicious turkey dinner. We did not leave from Labrador hungry! We were on the ferry during our regular Sunday morning service time but we sang during the whole ride with music supplied by UC5 members Ralph, Greg and Garfield.