The Ecumenical Health Care Network of the Canadian Council of Churches invites every congregation and community across the country to join in a time of celebration and renewal of Canada’s commitment to ensuring the preservation and strengthening of its universal public health care system, better known as Medicare. To this end, we have named the week of November 18th “Celebrate Medicare Week.”
In the past, Canada’s churches have played an invaluable role in defending access to care based on need not on ability to pay, and as a living statement of how we care for one another in Canadian society. In the words of a former vice-president of the Canadian Council of Churches, Karen MacKay-Llewellyn, “Defending public health care in a system that promises accessibility to all Canadians at the same level of quality, is a matter at the heart of our Christian confession, and this must rest at the heart of our public witness.”
How can your church get involved with Celebrate Medicare Week? Read the full invitation from Canon Linda Nicholls, Coordinator for Dialogue in the Faith, Worship, and Ministry department. To venture further into the topic of churches and health care activism, read A Health Care Covenant, a collection of essays assembled by the Canadian Council of Churches, published in fall 2007. If you or your church has further comments or questions, feel free to contact Canon Linda Nicholls directly.
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