{"id":3779,"date":"2020-10-14T18:50:49","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T22:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/?page_id=3779"},"modified":"2021-03-28T18:56:25","modified_gmt":"2021-03-28T22:56:25","slug":"bruce-hutchinson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/about-us\/sharing-our-stories\/we-are-affirming\/bruce-hutchinson\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Hutchinson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"74\" src=\"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SSUC29yr.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3916\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SSUC29yr.jpg 468w, https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/SSUC29yr-300x47.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Celebration Minute: 2019 05 26<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As Marylil Megginson indicated in her Affirming Celebration Minute of April 28, Sydenham Street is celebrating our 20<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;anniversary of being an Affirming Ministry and we are inviting everyone to the party.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This second celebration minute will complete the story about how Sydenham Street became Affirming.&nbsp;&nbsp;Marylil\u2019s story ended with one of the two moms asking us if we had considered becoming Affirming after their daughter was baptized at Sydenham Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The initial work on response to this baptism request was done in the worship committee.&nbsp;&nbsp;After a time of study the Committee brought a recommendation to enter the Affirming process to the Executive Committee in December 1997 and subsequently to a congregational meeting where it was approved.&nbsp;&nbsp;The congregational meeting established the Affirming Congregation Study Group which was accountable directly to the Executive Committee.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Study Group reported to the Executive Committee monthly for exchange of information and for guidance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notes taken at the time, indicate that at the initial Study Group meeting, the intention of keeping the congregation fully informed was foremost in all minds, a concern that remained throughout the process.&nbsp;&nbsp;Congregants were encouraged to join the Study Group and to express their opinions and feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was chair of the congregation at that time and did not know much about Affirm United or about the Affirming Ministry Program.&nbsp;&nbsp;Fortunately, the national conference of Affirm United\/S\u2019Affirmer Ensemble was being held in Peterborough that summer and Linda and I attended it.&nbsp;&nbsp;We learned that it is important to \u201clive\u201d the model \u2013 words alone are not enough; that the process is really important- take time and hear all voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the next church year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In October 1998, in a worship service, individuals and parents in our congregation told their own personal stories.&nbsp;<\/li><li>In November, the Study Group invited written and face to face input.&nbsp;<\/li><li>In December, a second lesbian couple\u2019s child was baptized on Christmas Eve.<\/li><li>In February 1999<ul><li>A new mission statement was adopted by the congregation<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Rev Dr. Robert Bater, Minister Emeritus, spoke on biblical passages, the historical perspective of the United Church and it stance on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>In March, we hosted guest preacher Rev Warren MacDougall, an openly gay minister from Bloor Street United Church in Toronto, an Affirming Ministry<\/li><li>In April, Keith Norton, Chair of the Ontario Human Rights Commission was our anniversary speaker.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to these events, as chair of the congregation, I took some time in regular worship services to keep the congregation informed on the progress of the Study Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By May 1999, it was felt that the congregation was ready to take a vote.&nbsp;&nbsp;Letters were sent to members and adherents describing our journey and what being an Affirming Ministry meant.&nbsp;&nbsp;All, including children and youth were allowed to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The vote was held on May 23, 1999 with 79% voting yes.&nbsp;&nbsp;Although there was rejoicing, some had difficulty adjusting to the new direction taken by the congregation.&nbsp;&nbsp;Attempts were made to reach out to them pastorally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The work of shaping an inclusive and safe environment continues to this day\u2026..\u00a0\u00a0use of the Affirm logo on our website and on our outside sign, a rainbow on The Spire sign, flags both inside and outside the building, an inclusive marriage policy, and a continuing commitment to a culture of celebrating diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sydenham Street was the only Affirming Congregation in the former Bay of Quinte Conference for 13 years.&nbsp;&nbsp;When the Conference ceased to exist in December 2018, there were 30 Affirming Ministries and ten in the Affirming process for a total of 40 engaged ministries.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hallelujah!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Celebration Minute: 2019 05 26 As Marylil Megginson indicated in her Affirming Celebration Minute of April 28, Sydenham Street is celebrating our 20th&nbsp;anniversary of being an Affirming Ministry and we are inviting everyone to the party.&nbsp; This second celebration minute will complete the story about how Sydenham Street became Affirming.&nbsp;&nbsp;Marylil\u2019s story ended with one of &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/about-us\/sharing-our-stories\/we-are-affirming\/bruce-hutchinson\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Bruce Hutchinson&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":3751,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3779","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3779"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6042,"href":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3779\/revisions\/6042"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sydenhamstreet.ca\/ssuc1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}