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The vision and mission of the Regional Council were adopted in September 2020:

Vision:

Strengthened by God’s grace and refreshed by the Spirit, we follow the way of Jesus in healing our world.

Mission:

Grounded in the teachings of Jesus to love our neighbours as ourselves,
we nurture and engage our Communities of Faith,
including all ministry personnel, members and adherents, staff and lay leadership,
joining our hearts and voices in sacred covenant.
In gratitude for our abundant blessings and in the service of this call,
we pledge to be faithful stewards of our resources
and aspire to be agents of God’s love, compassion and justice
on earth as it is in heaven.

Recognizing our churches’ participation in historic injustices,
we reach out with particular love and care, as Jesus did,
to those who have been ignored, excluded, condemned, silenced or erased.
We seek to uphold high standards of equity and Affirming,
and to encourage these same standards in our Communities of Faith.

Valuing diversity and differences as gifts,
we support the full participation of all people
in the life and work of our church and in wider society.
We publicly, intentionally and explicitly celebrate and seek justice
for people of every age, gender, racialized experience, culture,
sexual orientation, gender identity, mental and physical health and ability,
economic circumstance or any other diversity.

We promise to walk with, and learn from,
Indigenous ministries and Communities of Faith within our church,
and to reach out to all Indigenous Peoples.
We support and encourage all Communities of Faith to walk this path with us.
As we are called by God to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others and to seek justice,
so we are called to respect the deep spirituality
of traditional Indigenous teachings
of Mother Earth and All My Relations in the Earth community.

Further acknowledging that cultural prejudices have prevented us
from seeing all people as equally worthy of God’s love and compassion,
we invite Communities of Faith to join our vision
of becoming an intercultural church,
participating in ecumenical, intercultural and interfaith
ministries, partnerships and initiatives
in their local communities and in wider society.

As Jesus gathered children in his arms
and spoke of their leadership and spiritual gifts,
we commit ourselves and our Communities of Faith
to nurturing and supporting children, youth and young adults,
learning from them and celebrating their presence
and participation in everything we do.

Hearing God’s call for open hearts and unity in the body of Christ,
we commit to uniting the Communities of Faith and individuals in our Region,
inviting all to participate in this Vision and Mission.
Recognizing that meaningful communication is essential to unity,
we will respect all voices, share information and listen for the Spirit’s prompting,
that all may be embraced in this work of Love.

Diverse, yet One in Christ,
we seek to serve and support our Communities of Faith
as they faithfully serve a broken and hurting world.
Nurtured by our heritage and strengthened by God’s grace,
we witness to the healing power of Christ’s love, compassion and justice
on earth as it is in heaven.

The East Central Ontario Regional Council (ECORC) came into existence on January 1, 2019. Formerly known as Regional Council 11, ECORC is 1 of 16 Regional Councils of the United Church of Canada. A Regional Council is a decision-making body responsible to serve and support Communities of Faith within its bounds and provide necessary oversight.

The ECORC is composed of all ministry personnel within its geographic bounds; ministers of denominations within mutual recognition agreements while under appointment or call; and lay members elected by the Communities of Faith, respecting the balance of lay and ministry personnel where possible.

The ECORC also consists of:

  • the following Communities of Faith of the former Living Waters Presbytery of the former Toronto Conference: Trinity Pastoral Charge-Uxbridge, Sandford-Zephyr Pastoral Charge, Goodwood Pastoral Charge and Epsom-Utica Pastoral Charge;
  • all pastoral charges in the former Presbyteries of the former Bay of Quinte Conference: Four Winds, Hills and Shores, Lakeridge, Kawartha Highlands, Kente, and Shining Waters; and
  • several other entities in a covenantal relationship with the ECORC that gather to explore faith, worship, and service.
The ECORC’s executive body is known as the Assembly of Elders, and the presiding officer of the Assembly of Elders is known as the Speaker.