You are warmly invited to a special celebration! 2025 is the 100th Anniversary of The United Church of Canada. The Eastern Ontario Regional Council is hosting a gathering on Sunday June 15th at the EY Centre (near the Ottawa Airport). Worship will begin at 11 am. We will sing and pray together. Rev. Rob Oliphant will be our guest preacher, and Rev. Pete Woods is the music director. There will be a mass choir, a museum exhibit, and activities for children. Please bring along a picnic lunch!
This will be a joyful event. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We invite you to be part of this event, whether you are a lifetime United Church member or this is your first time hearing about this denomination.
Invitation from Rev. Éric Hébert-Daly
Siblings in Christ,
The United Church of Canada is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2025. Events are taking place across the country and much enthusiasm is building around this milestone.
The Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council is planning a significant worship service to commemorate the centenary on June 15th, 2025 at 11 am. Given the special nature of this event, we are hoping that all communities of faith in our region will join us to make it one of the largest United Church gatherings in recent memory.
It will be held at the EY Centre in Ottawa and the gathering will be an opportunity to invite long-time members of the church to celebrate and for us to welcome those who are curious to come and have a taste of this unique expression of Christianity in Canada. We hope to have 1000 people from all parts of our region coming to sing, pray and celebrate together.
We ask that communities of faith worship as one on that day, together at the EY Centre. We are making plans for transportation for those who would use it, for broadcast for those who cannot make it in person, and to invite those who have never stepped foot in a United Church before to join us.
More information will be forthcoming, but please hold the date in your calendar and start spreading the word, so that we can continue to spread the Word!
Blessings,
Rev. Éric Hébert-Daly
Regional Executive Minister
Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council
100th Anniversary Quilt
The Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council is creating a special quilt to mark the 100th Anniversary of the United Church of Canada. We are inviting your community of faith to submit a square. This is for every community of faith, not just those attending the celebration at the EY Centre. Please send us a square with something that represents your community of faith. Thank you to the quilters at St. John’s United Church, Kemptville! They will be taking all of your squares and assembling the quilt.
Quilt FAQ
What material should we use to make the squares? The squares should be made from 100% quilting cotton. If you choose to draw or colour your square rather than piece it together or use embroidery, please be sure to use permanent paints or markers.
How big should the squares be? Please send us a 7 inch square. The block will be trimmed to a 6 1/2” square, with the finished size of each block in the quilt being 6” square.
Can our community of faith send two squares? Unfortunately, we can only accept one square from each community of faith. You are welcome to include more than one word/symbol/image on your square.
Do we send the squares as mini quilts complete with batting and backing, or are they to be just the square itself? Please send just the finished square itself. Some quilters from St. John’s in Kemptville will be working together to complete the 100th Anniversary Quilt once the squares are received.
When and where do I need to send the squares? The squares need to arrive along with the name of your faith community, included on a separate piece of paper, at St. John’s by April 25th. Please send them using Canada Post by Easter so that they can arrive on schedule to the following address:
St. John’s United Church, P.O. Box 340, Kemptville ON K0G 1J0.
Also, please feel free to drop them off at St. John’s Church, 400 Prescott Street Kemptville, Tuesday April 22nd to Friday April 25th from 10:00 AM to 12 NOON. Our Church Administrator, Helen MacGregor will be happy to receive them. Please use the side door.
If you have any further questions or concerns regarding your quilt block you may contact Susan Shantz susan.c.shantz@gmail.com OR Barb Vandermeer bvandermeer1@icloud.com
100th Anniversary Exhibit
At the 100th Anniversary celebration, historical items from across our region will be displayed. Thank you for your interest in sharing items for the United Church of Canada’s 100th Anniversary Exhibit at the EY Centre on June 15th, 2025. The Exhibit Team is interested in obtaining items that will help tell the story of the UCC over the past century. You can read more about it here. Please submit photographs of your items by May 2nd.
Travel to the EY Centre
Full address: The EY Centre, 4899 Uplands Drive Ottawa ON K1V 2N6
Travelling by Public Transportation: The EY Centre is easily accessible by public transit. It is serviced by Line 4 (the new LRT line to the airport) via Uplands Station and by several bus routes. If you are coming from outside of Ottawa/Gatineau, you can park at one of the “Park & Ride” stations on your way into the city.
Travelling by Chartered Bus: Several communities of faith are planning buses to travel together to the EY Centre. This will be a fun, simple and eco-friendly way to travel to the meeting. We have had confirmation that a bus will be running from Chalk River to Arnprior to the EY Centre. Buses are also in the works for other routes.
Travelling by Car: The EY Centre has a large parking lot. It is located near the Ottawa Airport. Parking is $10. We encourage carpooling when possible: it can be a great way to save on parking costs, make new friends (or deepen existing friendships), create links between churches and care for the earth.
Children and Youth
We look forward to welcoming people of all ages at this event, including children and youth.
Babies and toddlers: The EY Centre is all on one level – perfect for strollers. The event will be in one big room. We will have a little area in the back of the room with some mats for babies who need space to crawl around. A nursing/quiet room will be available off to the side. (Of course, please breastfeed or bottle feed wherever you would like! The nursing room is only for those parents and babies who would prefer to breast or bottle feed in a quieter space.) We know that little ones make noise, and are delighted for you and your baby/toddler to be part of this event. There are change tables in the washrooms, and even a special family washroom off of the hallway.
Children: During the worship service, we will have some simple activities available for ages 4-12. They will be in the same room as the worship service, so that children can still be part of this special celebration even while doing their own activities. We are currently planning on three stations: One station with “busy bag” activities, one colouring station, and one story station (where children will hear a Bible story through Godly Play.) We will also provide materials, a pattern and space to make friendship bracelets. Youth and adult helpers will be present to welcome the children. All of the adult helpers have undergone a police record check. Please note that the stations mentioned above are children’s activities rather than child care, as it would be impossible to provide quality supervision in this setting. We will have chairs available near the children’s area so that parents/grandparents/guardians will have a place to sit. This will allow you to keep an eye on your children while also having time to enjoy the worship service yourself. The worship service will be 1.5 hours long. Towards the end of it, we will be sharing Communion. Children of all ages are welcome to share in Communion. We are also hoping to have children involved in worship tasks like collecting the offering and serving Communion. If your child would like to help, please write to eoorc.anniversaryinformation@gmail.com.
Youth: We are inviting youth and young adults to be part of the planning and leadership for this event. Would you or a young person in your life be able to help with serving Communion, collecting the offering, reading scripture, or organizing the historical exhibit? Please write to eoorc.anniversaryinformation@gmail.com.
Accessibility
Are there other accessibility concerns we have missed? Do you have any ideas or want to help? Please write to eoorc.anniversaryinformation@gmail.com.
Joining the Mass Choir
On June 15th, you are invited to join in song. We will sing our praises to God as we celebrate 100 years of The United Church of Canada.
Would you be interested in joining the mass choir?
Many United Church congregations have a church choir. If your Community of Faith is attending the big celebration at the EY Centre, and if you have a choir, we invite your choir to practice the hymns together ahead of time.
Maybe you are not a member of the United Church of Canada, or your congregation does not have a choir. You are still very welcome to join the choir! In this case, we invite you to practice the hymns on your own using a hymn book or online recordings to help.
Either way, please join us for choir practice at 10:15 am on Sunday, June 15th. We will meet in front of the stage at the EY Centre. We will start promptly at 10:15 am. You are welcome to arrive early if you would like.
All are welcome in the choir! A few people have asked whether children and youth can participate. The answer is a resounding “yes!”
There is no need to register for the choir itself. A registration form for the event as a whole will be available in May, and we ask you to register for the event at that time so that we can plan enough chairs for everyone.
Letter from Rev. Peter Woods, Musical Director for the June 15th Celebration
Dear EOORC music people,
Plans are afoot for the 100th Anniversary Worship event. It will be celebratory and energizing, with a few key moments of reflection and collective meditation. Your voice and your energy are essential to the day!
The band that is leading worship, Field Notes, is a group of musicians based out of MacKay Church in Ottawa under the coordinating leadership of Peter Woods (saxophone) and musical direction of Nicholas Gummeson (keyboard). It is a highly collaborative ensemble with lots of ability to encourage collective song while embracing moments of improvisation. They will be creating familiar moments for robust choral singing, as well as one anthemic moment for a Taize-like song experience (composed for the 100th) that will invite your full harmonic and rhythmic engagement. Apart from the ‘anthem’, the music has been selected to encourage ease of engagement by choir and congregation. We hope to incarnate a sense of unity and joy as we raise the rafters of the EY Centre!
We are planning a mass choir to help lead our worship through song. Below, we will share logistics about how musical leaders in EOORC can help in the planning for this choir.
How will the choir practice?
A list of hymns is included below. We invite you to practice the hymns on the list in the weeks before the event. If you are a choir director and your congregation is planning to attend the Worship Event at the EY Centre, you could practice the hymns together over the weeks before the event. If you do not have a regular choir, this would be a great time to have a “pop up” choir group! For those who are not part of a choir in their home congregations (or who are not part of a United Church congregation), it is also possible to practice on one’s own.
On June 15th, we will have one rehearsal at 10:15 am. The worship celebration will be at 11 am.
We ask you to practice these hymns, which will be sung in worship:
Draw the Circle Wide MV (More Voices) 45
The Church’s One Foundation VU (Voices United) 332
Lord, Listen to your Children Praying VU 400
Love Divine VU 333
Walk With Me VU 649
We are also planning a Singalong time. You may also want to practice these hymns (this list may change):
Great is Thy Faithfulness
All who are Thirsty
What a Friend
I’ll Fly Away
Be Thou My Vision
There is one very important attachment: the sheet music for the song/hymn composed for the 100th Anniversary event. This composition is entitled “Love Each Other” (John 15:12) We will be singing it as a short opening hymn, and then singing it in a very big and layered (maybe think of it as Taize meets Jazz?) manner that will involve strong choral leadership plus all voices in the sanctuary! You can find the score for this song HERE and a track for rehearsal HERE. We invite you and your choir to practice and become familiar with it over the coming weeks.
Logistics:
Please come as early as convenient on June 15th. Singers are invited to gather in front of the stage at 10:15 for a 20 minute rehearsal. You will be invited to gather in groupings of SATB at that rehearsal time. Again- please feel free to be onsite as early as you’d like…it’ll be a fun chance to hang out with each other!
Dress is casual and summery.
A few last notes:
Please note that the festivities will immediately continue with a picnic lunch, and there will be some music happening at that time as well….including a few opportunities for group singing. Please bring a picnic lunch along to the event.
I trust this all looks like a reasonable plan at this point? The goal is to inhabit our rooted traditions/sounds in a way that invites daring possibilities and bold directions in our life together, and in our shared theological project.
Plans will be evolving over the coming weeks. Please be sure to check the 100th Anniversary Web Page on the EOORC Website to know all the updates.
We will share the full order of service at a later date. Please advise if there are questions or concerns.
In Christ,
Peter
Livestream
The worship service (at 11 am on June 15th) will be livestreamed onto YouTube. Please check back for the link closer to the event.
If you cannot attend in person, you may wish to consider hosting a “watch party.” Several communities of faith are gathering in their sanctuary or a nearby community centre to watch the streamed service together.
You are warmly invited to attend the in-person event at the EY Centre, should you choose to come. This event is open to everyone, not only United Church members or EOORC members.
Posters for Sharing
We are grateful for your support in sharing this event. We have three options available for download:
- Poster for Printing (in PDF)
- Four-to-a-Page Invitation Cards (PDF)
- Poster for Sharing Digitally (PNG)
All of the above options are in colour. However, they also print well in black and white.
What should I bring to the EY Centre?
We invite you to consider bringing…
- a re-usable water bottle
- a picnic lunch (we may have a canteen open as well – please check back closer to the event)
- any personal items you need for the day
100th Anniversary Survey for Communities of Faith
We are inviting all United Church communities of faith in our region to consider how they will participate in this special event! Once your governing body has made a decision, please fill in the survey using the button below. The survey will help us have preliminary estimates of attendance. We will have a full registration form closer to the event for everyone to fill in. All are warmly welcome, whether this will be your first time or thousandth time at a church service!
Contact
If you have any questions or want to connect with the planning team, please contact eoorc.anniversaryinformation@gmail.com.
If you would like to be part of the event (helping with planning, being an usher, being a first aid responder, etc), you can also contact eoorc.anniversaryinformation@gmail.com.
Registration
Registration will be available by mid-May. We invite to to register at that time. This helps us know how many people to expect, how many chairs to put out, etc.
Is the United Church of Canada planning a national/denomination-wide celebration?
Yes, a special worship service is planned for Sunday, June 8th. It will be at Gower Street United Church in St. John’s NL. It will take place at 5:30 pm Eastern Time (7 pm in Newfoundland). This Centennial Worship service will be livestreamed, allowing people from across Canada to participate in real time. Congregations in EOORC might consider hosting a watch party for this event. We invite you to also join us at the EY Centre in Ottawa for our regional celebration on June 15th at 11 am!