Canadian Council of Churches Report

Canadian Council of Churches
Governing Board Meeting November 2011
A meeting of the Governing Board of the Canadian Council of Churches met at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada from Nov. 23rd – 25th, 2011. The centre is situated on twelve acres of property overlooking the Credit River in Mississauga.


The meeting started with welcome by the General Secretary Karen Hamilton and presided over by the President Bruce Adema. There are 23 Church groups in the Council. The members introduced themselves. The Mar Thoma Church was represented by the Diocesan Bishop, Geevarghese Mar Theodosius, Vicar of the Canadian Mar Thoma Parish Rev. Dr. P.
L. John Panicker and Vicar of St. Mathews Mar Thoma Parish, Rev. Varghese K. Abraham.


Natasha Klukach from the World Council of Churches (Programme executive, Church and Ecumenical relations) attended and was present in all the meetings.
Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, the General Secretary (email: [email protected]) said, ‘we have come together
as the Governing Board of the Canadian Council of Churches, the most diverse ecumenical council in the world to work and witness together. Our meeting will be marked by many of the

elements which shape our life together. There will be regular features of our meetings – our opportunities to pray and eat together, to hear the ecumenical news of our denominations and our self presentations. Our meeting will also be marked by some unique elements which also speak to our unity in diversity’.
The morning and evening worship and devotions were led by various Church denominations. There was also time for Bible Study and discussions. The President updated on the Triennium Priorities.
There were presentations from different faith groups. The Governing Board panel presented the Nature and Purpose of Inter-faith Work. The panel members included Ammonius Guirguis of the Coptic Orthodox Church; Willard Metzger, General Secretary of the Mennonite Church, Canada; Bp Gilles Cazabon of the Canadian conference of Catholic
Bishops and Karen Hamilton, the General Secretary of CCC. The topic of Christian Interfaith Dialogue was discussed in groups and reports were drawn. ‘Who is my neighbor?’ was the main question

The second day was for hearing the reports on the Development strategies of the Canadian Council of Churches. This topic was discussed in groups and the reports were collected. There was also a hearing of the commission Report on Justice and Peace.

The third day was for discussing Advancement strategies and to receive reports of the Treasurer and General Secretary. There were announcements regarding the forthcoming events like the Week of Prayer and the dates of the CCC meetings.

The Canadian Council of Churches continues to be very vibrant and visible in God’s world.The CCC is consulted on National matters such as the formation of the new Office for Religious Freedom and it is blessed with students sent from Germany and various departments and colleges in the University of Toronto in the understanding that the
ecumenical work here is foundational to their learning. CCC is invited by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to apply for grants and is considered to be an International expert in the field of consensus decision-making and is known as prominent knowledge base in Canada for the issues of inter-faith dialogue, relationship and understanding.

For further details visit www.councilofchurches.ca

Mar Theodosius+
Diocesan Episcopa