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A number of Educational Centres across the country are accredited and supported by grants from The United Church of Canada. Each provides a variety of residential and short-term educational events for lay people of all ages and for those in paid accountable ministry. Most were created because of a desire among lay people for education and networking.

The Congregational, Educational, and Community Ministries Unit (CECM) of The United Church of Canada is proud to present the DISCIPLE Bible Study Leaders Training events at three of our Education Centres across Canada. See our Events page for further details.

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Common Life: A Cooperative Program of the Education Centres

The four United Church Education and Retreat Centres are engaged in an exciting project to establish and nurture a network of Christian disciples who share a common life in order to discern and do God's healing work in the church and the world.

The Common Life program is designed to address spiritual challenges of our time by engaging participants in five related practices:

• Engagement for Justice
• Attending to the Spirit
• Dedication to Learning
• Commitment to Community
• Retreat

The specifics of the Common Life program at each of the centres are unique, drawing on each centre's traditions and context.

At each centre, individuals take part in a Common Life small group. They have the opportunity to explore and learn about the five practices and to prayerfully support and hold one another accountable to living out these practices in their daily lives and as a community as a whole.

Common Life group members also become part of a national network of people who share a common life based on Christian principles and tradition.

The Common Life program provides a wonderful and challenging opportunity to engage as individuals and as a community of the Christian faith. The program builds community-a common life-among participants.

• Article on Common Life Communities [PDF: 4 pp/106 KB]

Contact the Education Centre nearest you for more information.

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British Columbia

Naramata Centre

Box 68
Naramata, British Columbia V0H 1N0
Tel: 250-496-5751
Toll-Free: 1-877-996-5751 (toll free in British Columbia and Alberta only)
Fax: 250-496-5800
E-mail: Naramata Centre
Web: www.naramatacentre.net*

Director: Janet McDonald

Naramata Centre is located on a beautiful campus on the shores of Lake Okanagan. The centre's work focuses on four main areas: leadership development and empowerment, spiritual nurture, healing and wholeness, and justice and reconciliation.

Naramata offers a rich and varied program, a depth of experience, and a commitment to excellence through cutting-edge continuing education courses, an exciting and innovative intergenerational summer program, complete retreat and conference facilities, and a host of special events and celebrations throughout the year.

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Saskatchewan

Calling Lakes Centre

Box 159
Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan S0G 1S0
Tel: 306-332-5691
Fax: 306-332-5264
E-mail: Calling Lakes
Web: www.callinglakes.ca*

Director: Annette Taylor

Calling Lakes Centre is located on the north shore of Echo Lake in the beautiful Qu'Appelle Valley. The centre's purpose is to provide a sacred space where all people are welcome to search, to question, to learn, to be challenged, to rest, and to find the Holy within and around them.

Calling Lakes Centre offers a variety of programs in the following areas: The Sacred Story, Interpersonal/Human Dynamics, Congregational Life, Personal Development/Spiritual Formation, Seeking Justice.

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Ontario

Five Oaks Centre

RR #3
1 Bethel Rd.
Paris, Ontario, N3L 3E3
Tel: 519-442-3212
Fax: 519-442-3444
E-mail: Five Oaks Centre
Web: www.fiveoaks.on.ca*

Director: Melissa Connor

Five Oaks is a sacred place to seek God in the heart of all of life. It is a place apart where leaders, lay people of all ages, and ministry personnel may participate in worship, meet with a spiritual director, reflect deeply on their lives and on God's world, and be healed, transformed, trained, and sustained.

The centre provides and accommodates continuing education events, leadership development workshops, group and individual retreats, meetings, conferences, and a variety of camps.

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Nova Scotia

Tatamagouche Centre - Atlantic Christian Training Centre

RR #3
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia B0K 1V0
Tel: 902-657-2231
Toll-free: 1-800-218-2220
Fax: 902-657-3445
E-mail: Tatamagouche
Web: www.tatacentre.ca*

Director: Wilf Bean (interim)

Open to the Spirit and rooted in the gospel tradition, Tatamagouche Centre is an education and retreat centre that invites and challenges people from diverse backgrounds to personal wholeness, right relationships, respect for creation, and justice in the world. Overlooking Tatamagouche Bay, this year-round education retreat and conference centre is a natural gathering place in a relaxed and picturesque setting.

Events fall within four general streams: Spiritual Growth, Self-Discovery, Social Transformation, and Congregational Life.