Bishop Mark MacDonald, the Anglican Church of Canada’s first National Indigenous Anglican Bishop, is on the job and full of energy. After much delay, including leg surgery and moving his family from Alaska to Toronto, the 53-year-old bishop is finally at his desk at 80 Hayden Street, typing away on his laptop and planning out the fall.
The Provincial Secretaries of the Anglican Communion met in Hong Kong from 23 to 30 August 2007 for the sixth in a series of informal meetings started in the 1980s. Provincial Secretaries are key administrators for each province and the conference programme was designed to further their professional development, encourage them in their faith and ministry, increase knowledge and understanding of the challenges facing other Provinces and to strengthen bonds within the Communion.
When she was 26, Bessie Quirt left her Ontario home to teach at a residential school in the Northwest Territories. “At four o’clock we landed at Hay River,” she wrote in her diary on Aug. 3, 1929. “I could scarcely believe that I was actually in the flesh at the Hay River Indian School.” Seventy-eight years later, General Synod archives staff are reading through Miss Quirt’s faded notes–and hundreds of other documents–to find names of former residential school students.
From Aug. 23 to the 30th, the Hong Kong Anglican Church will host an informal meeting of 40 chief administrators from provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The general secretaries represent different provinces, or member churches, of the Anglican Communion, with Archdeacon Michael Pollesel representing the Anglican Church of Canada.
Canadian Anglicans continue to study how human sexuality intersects with their faith, and new online resources now are available to support this study. The Faith, Worship, and Ministry department has reorganized and expanded their website’s collection, including links, timelines, and downloadable studies.
“There’s nothing that beats face-to-face conversation.” This is what Ellie Johnson, director of Partnerships, said after returning from a one-week consultation between African and American bishops called “Walking to Emmaus: Discovering New Mission Perspectives in Changing Times,” held July 21 to July 26 in El Escorial, Spain.
The diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island is searching for a new diocesan bishop now that their “Bishop Fred Hiltz” has been elected “Archbishop Fred Hiltz,” primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. The diocesan search committee is receiving proposed names until August 21 for the October 20 election.
Since his June 22 election, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the new primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has been very busy. He and his wife Lynne Samways Hiltz have been in limbo between diocesan bishop duties in Halifax and starting new primatial work in Toronto. “I haven’t really had time to catch my breath,” he said in an interview.
Bishops from 24 dioceses in the United States and 31 dioceses in Africa joined the congregation of Madrid’s Iglesia Episcopal de España for a Eucharist on July 22, 2007. Joining the Rt Revd Carlos Lozano Lopez, bishop of the diocese, at the altar were the primates of Central Africa, Congo, Southern Africa, and Burundi, as well as the primate of Brazil.
Stephen Andrews, elected Prolocutor of General Synod in Winnipeg, has suggested that the In Plenary feature devised to allow people to discuss issues in advance of General Synod, be extended to allow people to debrief following the gathering.
The following is the text of the sermon preached by Archbishop of York John Sentamu at the installation of Bishop Fred Hiltz as Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada at St. Matthew’s Church in Winnipeg on June 26, 2007.
General Synod agreed Monday that discussions should begin on the possible reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces of the Anglican Church of Canada.
General Synod Monday approved a statement from the House of Bishop urging the church to show pastoral understanding and sensitivity to all same-sex couples, including those civilly married.
General Synod has refused to ratify proposed changes to the membership of the Anglican Consultative Council that would see all primates of the Communion automatically become members.
“I, Fred, chosen to be Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, commit myself to this new trust and responsibility, and promise, with God’s help, to be a faithful shepherd and pastor among you.”
With these words spoken in St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in downtown Winnipeg, Frederick James Hiltz, 14th Bishop of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, formally assumed the position he was elected to three days ago and became 13th Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.