Highlights of the meeting of the Toronto Conference Executive
March 8, 2006

1.  consultation follow-up:  The Executive continued its follow-up of consultations which took place in 2005 involving Conference and Presbytery representatives.  Five decisions were made regarding an interim vision statement to guide the Executive’s work, establishing two task groups to address major issues, assisting Presbyteries with Section 333 and 363 reviews of Pastoral Charges and Ministry Personnel, and staffing.  The motions passed were:

i) vision statement: …that the Executive adopt the following as its vision statement at least until June 30, 2007:

As passionate followers of Jesus Christ, as part of the conciliar system of The United Church of Canada, as partners with Toronto United Church Council and the General Council, we in Toronto Conference will act as agents in God’s transforming of ourselves and the world.  We will further the mission and ministry of the congregations, Presbyteries and mission units within the bounds of the Conference by nurturing spiritual life, striving for justice and developing healthy ministries.

ii) Presbytery concerns:  …that the Executive…

a) establish a task group to review Presbytery concerns, including but not limited to the following issues – the mission and ministry of Presbyteries, the health of Presbyteries, boundaries and staffing, finances, and resource-sharing with other Conferences;
b) receive the task group’s report no later than January, 2007; and
c) direct the agenda planning committee to allocate time to this topic at the 2006 and 2007 annual meetings if requested by either the task group or the Executive.

iii) Conference governance:  … that the Executive…

a) establish a task group to review Conference governance, including but not limited to the following issues – role of the Executive, role of the executive secretary, role and term of the president, role and term of Presbytery representatives to the Conference Executive, frequency of Executive meetings, role and number of Conference committees, appropriate Conference-level staffing, and relationships with other Conferences;
b) receive the task group’s report no later than January, 2007; and
c) direct the agenda planning committee to allocate time to this topic at the 2006 and 2007 annual meetings if requested by either the task group or the Executive.

iv) reviews:  …that Toronto Conference communicate to the Presbyteries within its bounds its willingness to conduct Section 333 and 363 reviews on behalf on Presbyteries when requested by the Presbyteries to do so.

v)  staffing:  …that no permanent Conference staff hiring be authorized until Decisions have been made arising from the reports of the task groups on Presbytery concerns and governance.

2.  pastoral care to ministers:  In the consultations a number of concerns were raised about pastoral care for ministers, and some Presbyteries are looking at how to provide that care.  President Fran Ota said that she will be in touch with past Conference presidents as a potential resource for offering this kind of care to Ministry Personnel.

3.  children’s charities:  The Executive passed a motion initiated by the Conference’s world affairs committee urging congregations to refrain from participating in individualized children’s charity projects, commonly known as “shoebox” programs.  At the same time, congregations are encouraged to look at United Church resources which are available to them, and the Executive requested Presbyteries to hold workshops or have a discussion on this topic in the fall of 2006 (full text of motion available upon request).

4.  travel rate:  In the fall of 2005 when gasoline princes were in excess of a dollar per litre, the finance committee recommended that the travel rate be set at 39 cents per kilometer.  With prices being lower now, the finance committee recommended that the rate be reduced to 37 cents per kilometre for all Conference-related travel.  This Conference rate does not apply to Presbyteries which can set their own rate.  The new rate brings the Conference back into line with the figure established by General Council.

5.  other matters:  The Executive heard accountability reports from three of the Conference’s standing committees, and approved an on-going extra appeal for the work of Massey Centre.  It concluded one item of business from last year’s annual meeting, and approved three persons as Interim Ministers.

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