Affirming LGBTQIA2S+

The Affirming program is both a process and recognition for ministries who strive to celebrate Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ people publicly, intentionally, and explicitly. Any ministry of any kind can become Affirming! Within our Regional Council there are many such ministries- with lots of room for growth. On this page you’ll find a short list of resources and an Affirming-related newsfeed (keep scrolling down).

Knox United Church in Brandon, an Affirming ministry, marching in Brandon’s Pride parade.

In June 2019,  Prairie to Pine Regional Council voted to begin the Affirming process. This reflects its past commitments, when the former Conference of Manitoba and NW Ontario and all of its presbyteries were Affirming. Guided by a task group, the Regional Council and its members discerned how our new structure might live into the spirit and practice of being Affirming. At the October 2020 annual meeting of the Regional Council, the membership voted unanimously in favour of accepting the Vision Statement and Action Plan, and of becoming an Affirming Regional Council. This was a moment of great joy for the Affirming committee! A public celebration on May 30 2021, Our Place in the Rainbow, marked the final step in the formal journey, and the journey of growing into being Affirming began.

Click here for the Vision Statement. 
Click here for the Affirming Action Plan.
And scroll down for Affirming news. 

The Equity and Diversity Committee will carry the continuing work forward. Members are:  Meghan Chorney, Cathey Day,  Ken DeLisle (co-chair), Alan Gershuny, Stewart Hill, Yeseullyn Lee, Hope Mattus, Jamie Miller (co-chair), Linda Rodgers, and Don Schau. For privacy reasons, contact them through the Prairie to Pine office: prairietopine@united-church.ca

Have a look for  the many Affirming ministries in our Regional Council: on the AUSE site; and on the United Church of Canada ministry locator (check under MB and NW Ontario communities for both.) Many others who are not listed are currently in the Affirming process.

Resources and info: United Church of Canada

The United Church of Canada: resources
Celebrating Gender Identity Toolkit
Resource: Moving Toward Full Inclusion-Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the United Church of Canada

Affirming news