The Affirm United/S’affirmer Ensemble Annual Conference and AGM just took place in North Bay, Ontario on August 2-5, 2013. The theme for the conference was “Singing a New Song.” It was a wonderful conference and we wish to thank Will Kunder and Susan Whitehead from the Manitou Conference office for their leadership is planning this event. Thanks also to their organizing committee and to the people of St. Andrew’s United Church who provided us with food and hospitality.

We were very pleased to have Moderator Gary Paterson and his husband, the Rev. Tim Stevenson present with us during the conference. Gary acted as theological reflector for the conference and Tim spoke us on Friday evening during our celebration of the church’s 1988 decision. It was at the 1988 General Council in Victoria that the church declared that in and of itself sexual orientation is not a barrier to full membership in the United Church, and that every member of the church is eligible to be considered for ordination.

To learn more about the conference, read Moderator Gary Paterson’s blog Reflections on “The Issue” and 1988 by clicking here.