The fall meeting of the House of Bishops was held Nov. 2 to 6 at Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre in Niagara Falls, Ont., where we were joined by the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC). We were also joined by two Pastoral Visitors—Bishop Colin Bennetts, retired bishop of Coventry and Bishop Chad Gandiya of Harare. The Pastoral Visitors are partners from the Anglican Communion appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to observe our proceedings and to report their observations to him as well as to offer reflections to us. We were enriched by their presence. We also always value the presence, experiences and contributions of our full communion Lutheran partners at our once-a-year joint meetings.
Rev. Capt. Catherine Askew distinctly remembers the moment when she knew she wanted to be a military chaplain to the Canadian Forces. She was 17 years old and an undergraduate student at university. She had been thinking that a job as an administration clerk would give her a useful skill and some pocket money. Then she met a military chaplain who introduced her to the work of the chaplains’ corps.
General Synod offices in Toronto have been experiencing email problems since late last week which might have delayed reception of emails sent to employees and departments. The sources of the problems were multiple and complex—in the words of IT manager Mariana Bell “a perfect storm.” We are hopeful that these email issues have now been resolved, although there will be another shorter outage on the weekend to put the finishing touches on the fixes.
Canadian Anglicans have until Oct. 1 to submit responses to Vision 2019. Why not join with other parishes in marking Sept. 13 as Vision 2019 Sunday, and use that day to gather as many responses as you can?
How many Eucharists have you participated in? How many have you put together?
For those seeking to keep their planning fresh and thoughtful, the Rev. Dr. Paul Gibson offers Make Preparation, a rich collection of notes on liturgy preparation, available by free download from ABC Publishing.
Norwegian theologian and pastor Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, 48, was elected 7th general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) today during its Central Committee meeting.
Having listened to the concerns of Christian partners and correspondents in Pakistan, NIFCON (the Network of Inter Faith Concerns for the Anglican Communion) is one of the main sponsors of a petition being drawn up asking the government of Pakistan to repeal the law against blasphemy. In recent years the threat of this law has often been often been used in unjust attacks upon the country’s vulnerable Christian minority, and it seems to have played a part in the recent incident in Gojra which led to the death of a number of Christians.
Canadian Anglicans are invited to pray for their brothers and sisters south of the border as The Episcopal Church’s General Convention gets under way today in Anaheim, Calif.
Twelve of Canada’s finest theologians explore issues relating to same-sex blessings in a series of essays now posted online. These essays by members of the Primate’s Theological Commission form the third and final part to the Galilee Report, which considered questions of human relationships and the blessings of same-sex unions.
Canadian Anglican leaders will join Aboriginal and government leaders in celebrating the National Day of Reconciliation on June 11, 2009. This marks one year since Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for Canada’s role in Indian residential schools.
The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), a gathering of Anglican laity, clergy, and bishops, meets May 1 to 13, 2009, in Kingston, Jamaica. The ACC meets every two to three years to coordinate common action and share information among the Anglican Communion’s 38 provinces.
The fourth volume of The Anglican Episcopate in Canada is packed with details on 105 bishops consecrated in Canada between 1976 and 2008. Written by former primate Archbishop Michael Peers, each bishop’s entry provides details on education, service, ordinations, and elections and is accompanied by a photo.
Four church councils, representing Christians in member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), have urged Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other NATO leaders to end the reliance on nuclear weapons.
A veteran financial administrator in both the private and not-for-profit sectors will be the next Treasurer of General Synod and director of the Financial Management Department.
The leaders of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) again mark their churches’ full communion relationship by issuing a joint video message for Easter.
