Highlights of the meeting of the
Executive of Toronto Conference June 13, 2007
and meetings of the
sub-Executive May 17 and June 15, 2007

The Executive of Toronto Conference met in the Fireside Room of Beverley Hills United Church, Toronto West Presbytery on June 13, 2007.  Most of the meeting was devoted to follow-up from the recently-completed annual meeting.

1.  Conference/Presbytery restructuring:  The Executive received the names of persons appointed to serve on three Commissions authorized by the annual meeting.  Those appointed were:

Commission on boundaries and method of assessment

Boundaries
Julia Lobsinger, chair, GRY (L)
Tom Clarke, TSO (L)
Pat Edmonds, SIM (L)
Judith Flemming, MUS (L)
Hugh MacDonald, GRY (M)
Stephen Wickett, TWE (L)

Assessments
Clyde Harris, chair, TSC (L)
Bob Bingham, TWE (L)
Jon Harding, DPL (L)
Darren Liepold Nicholson, TSC (M)
Robin Pilkey, TWE (L)

Commission on composition of Conference Executive

Marg Walker, chair, TSC (L)
Amanda Buchanan, SIM (L)
Bruce Ervin, TSC (M)
Shelley Roberts, DPL (M)
Kate Young, TWE (M)

Commission on staffing

Linda Thompson, chair, GRY (L)
Michael Blair, TSO (M)
Michael Kooiman, TSC (M)
Cora Krommenhoek, YOR (M)
Jim McKnight, TDV (M)
Brian Nicholson, TDV (M)
Michael Shewberg, TWE (M)
Andrea Wheaton, SIM (L)

The Executive appointed a steering group for the restructuring process.  The members are President Rick McKinley, President Elect Carol Gierak, Past President Fran Ota, Executive Secretary David Allen, former chair of the governance task group John Smith, and former chair of the Presbytery concerns task group Thelma Arnott.

2.  unfinished business from annual meeting:  The Executive completed all of the remaining business from the annual meeting, including approval of a budget with an assessment rate of $16.25 per resident member.  The Executive supported two Proposals to the General Council, one of which calls for intervention on behalf of Omar Khadr.  Three committees had requested permission to continue beyond the restructuring timeline; the Executive denied the requests.  The Executive approved a Proposal to support a Private Member’s Bill which would raise the minimum wage in Ontario to $10 per hour; the Executive also challenged congregations to audit their payment practices for staff and outside contractors.

The full list of unfinished business with the disposition of the Executive in brackets:

PTC2 – 2008 budget (Carried)
PTC4 – fair trade palm branches (forwarded to General Council with concurrence)
PTC5 – public intervention Omar Khadr (forwarded to General Council with concurrence)
PTC6 – continuance of church in society, world affairs, and inter-church/inter-faith committees (Defeated)
PTC7 – continuance of ethnic ministries committee (Defeated)
PTC8 – funding for AURA (Defeated)
PTC9 – Cedar Glen Fund for youth (Defeated, but referred to Cedar Glen Fund committee for a report on its criteria)
NB1 – support of living income (Carried with amendments)
NB2 – equal representation for women and men (Defeated)
NB3 – Presbytery staffing for youth ministry (Carried re creation of youth committees, and Defeated re staffing in the new Presbyteries)
NB4 – annual youth meeting in midst of restructuring (Carried with amendments)
NB5 – youth representation on Conference Executive (a corresponding member is being sought)

3.  Sub-Executive actions – May 17:  a) The sub-Executive approved a change in the Conference’s marriage policy to bring it into congruence with the policy on Voluntary Associated Ministers.  The changes will be communicated to Ministry Personnel and ministries over the summer.  b) The sub-Executive approved two persons to continue in Interim Ministry, authorized one person to administer the sacraments, and heard up-dates on three Section 363 reviews.

4.  Sub-Executive actions – June 15:  a) The sub-Executive gave its blessing to a process of negotiation for transfer of Trusteeship of the Beverley Hills United Church to the Ghana Calvary Methodist United Church, with the negotiations to be complete by October 31, 2007.  b) The sub-Executive recommended to the General Council that a minister’s name be placed on the Discontinued Service List (Disciplinary). c) It authorized the executive secretary to represent the Conference in discussions about the future of the Archives.

5.  2008 annual meeting dates and location:  The June 15 sub-Executive meeting set the dates of May 30-31 and June 1, 2008 for the 84th annual meeting of Toronto Conference to be held at the Toronto Congress Centre.

To receive excerpts from the minutes as noted above, please contact Larysa Kazyeva at lgray@torontoconference.ca.