NEWS RELEASE
RAMA UNITED CIRCLE OF FAITH
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On Sunday, Feb. 16, the Right Rev. Carmen Lansdowne, member of the Heiltsuk First Nation in British Columbia and moderator of the United Church of Canada (UCC), will be visiting Rama United Circle of Faith for the 11 a.m. service.
Lansdowne is the 44th moderator for the United Church and the first Indigenous woman. She is the elected national spiritual leader and public representative of the United Church until 2025.
As moderator, Lansdowne chairs the governance bodies of the UCC. She also sits on the board of the Vancouver Foundation — one of the largest community foundations in Canada. She has previously held a number of important governance roles with the UCC, including supporting Indigenous candidates for ministry. Passionate about justice issues, she hopes to address specific concerns during her three-year term, like climate change, reconciliation and economic inequality.
“For too long, our words and messages to each other in the church have been centred around fear,” she says, as an invitation to the church to embrace prophecy and dreams, and the visions promised in the book of Joel and of Acts. “To flourish, we must uncover new and engaging ways of living in this beloved world.”
Prior to serving the national church, Lansdowne was the executive director of First United Church Community Ministry Society in Vancouver. She joined First United in February 2017, led an organizational turnaround resulting in increased stability and capacity, and facilitated the redevelopment of their main site. Following her term as moderator, she will take up a teaching position as assistant professor of UCC studies at Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto; she starts teaching in January 2026.
Lansdowne holds a PhD from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., and is a member of the Heiltsuk First Nation. She is passionate about creating a life with great stories and amazing adventures with her family.
The service is at 11 a.m. at Rama United, located at 5896 Rama Rd., just across the street from the casino.
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