Category Archives: Articles

The Postcard Project was hatched in those days when getting together still seemed far off.  We were just beginning to plan for a Rural Routes Through the Holy gathering in June 2022.  Standing in those uncertain days our planning group spoke about the reality we knew – not everyone was online and, even if theyContinue reading “Postcard Project”

Submitted by Connie Sykes, from Frontier, SK The pandemic has pushed us into trying things that we probably wouldn’t have considered before.  Making more use of technology is one of those things that we hadn’t quite imagined could help us as a pastoral charge, until we found ourselves having to stay apart. Only a weekContinue reading “Video Greetings: At Christmas, or Anytime”

Submitted by Catherine Christie As reported in Feb. newsletter, on March 7 and 8 , the International Rural Churches Association (IRCA) held a global prayer event.  Canada hosted 2 of the hours.  UCRMN member Catherine Smith from New Brunswick, instigator of Rural Routes through the Holy (check out https://hemofthelight.com/ruralroutes/ ) was first, beginning on screen atContinue reading “Canada participates in 24-hour prayer”

By Rev. Dr. Donna Mann Is a story important? Why is a story significant? Whose story is central? My dad was a great storyteller. He could tell a story about any of his cattle, why they liked pulped turnips before their oats. Why did they enter the milking area in the same order every night?Continue reading “Importance of story”

By Joyce Sasse This article is made up of the review notes by Joyce Sasse on the book, Men Against the Desert by James H. Gray, published in 1968 by Western Producer Prairie Books. The disastrous conditions of the 1930s and the incredible work that saved the Prairies is a history-making story that has broughtContinue reading “Our Greatest Canadian Story, Almost Forgotten Until Now”

Submitted by Catherine Christie Besides being on United Church Rural Ministry Network,  Eric Skillings and I are on the Executive of the International Rural Churches Association.   Let me share with you some history of IRCA.  There was an international meeting in England in 1998, when participants (Joyce Sasse was there from rural Canada ministries) decidedContinue reading “IRCA Global Prayer”

Submitted by Catherine Christie, article by Joyce Sasse taken from Country Preacher’s Notebook Jesus was born in a manger, in a stable.  In cities, people see the manger scene in store windows or church Christmas displays, or perhaps even set up in their own living room.  But I fear that the scene loses its simplicityContinue reading “Christmas In a Barn”

Nine UCRMN members joined together on Zoom to check in with each other with their latest experiences in Rural Ministry; one from Alberta, one from Saskatchewan, six from Ontario (five from East Central Ontario Regional Council – Ottawa area), and one from Prince Edward Island. Worship Services: Starting Questions: –   Hybrid Church – How doContinue reading “REPORT: UCRMN Zoom Check in – November 24, 2021”

During the days Nov. 3 to 7, the Church in Mission Unit of the United Church of Canada invited members to celebrate and learn about many love and justice ministries of our church, in an online gathering.  There were worship times, workshops and ‘booths’ of partners to share work of the church. One of thoseContinue reading “The Asian Rural Institute”

The history of Ridgetown Campus begins in 1922 when the Western Ontario Experimental Farm was established on land purchased by the Ontario government. This farm was operated under the Ontario Department of Agriculture as a research facility for variety testing, production trials, and fertility studies of corn, beans, sugar beets and tobacco. Potato and horticultureContinue reading “Chaplaincy at Ridgetown Campus of the University of Guelph”