To get a feel of what it is like to be among 3,000 people at the World Council of Churches’ 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil (Feb 14- 23), assembly participants from the Anglican Church of Canada are sharing experiences, stories and reflections on issues, events, places of interest and the different people they meet on ‘Porto Alegre Diaries’.
Dean Peter Elliott, Prolocutor of General Synod, is pleased to announce the appointment of The Very Reverend Michael W. Hawkins, Dean of Saskatchewan and Rector of St. Alban’s Cathedral, Prince Albert, and Mr. Arran Thorpe of Dartmouth, a theological student of the Diocese of Nova Scotia & P.E.I., as members of the national Financial Management and Development Committee, effective immediately.
The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) is pleased to announce the completion of a successful search for a Communications Coordinator. Diana Mavunduse will fill this important position in PWRDF starting March 6, 2006.
The president of the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF), Sheila Ritson-Bennett has announced the appointment of Adele Finney to the position of acting executive director of PWRDF starting March 7, 2006.
General Synod’s departments of Financial Management and Information Resources announce the publication of Step by Step, a narrative budget for 2006.
The Anglican Church of Canada’s Volunteers in Mission (VIM) program has launched a new, revamped website.
A survey to improve the usefulness of General Synod’s website has been posted online and a paper copy will shortly go out with the Winter Ministry Mailer.
As the 6th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) proceeds in Hong Kong, (Dec.13-18,) the Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, KAIROS, joined the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) and other bodies in lobbying national governments and WTO delegates.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has officially announced the Lambeth Conference dates in an Advent Letter to the 38 primates around the world. Archbishop Williams, at whose invitation the bishops come to the conference, outlined his hopes for this global meeting of Anglican bishops. He spoke of the conference as an opportunity for “individual Christian pastors to meet Jesus afresh, for our church to be renewed in mission, for the world to hear good news.”
The Council of General Synod, meeting in Mississauga, Ont., has unanimously passed the following motion: “That this Council of General Synod … call the church to prayer on behalf of all those involved in the negotiations between the Hon. Frank Iacobucci, legal counsel for former students, the Assembly of First Nations and legal counsel for other involved church entities, that these negotiations will result in a fair and lasting resolution of the legacy of Indian Residential Schools in Canada.”
From May 18-20, 2006, Toronto’s University of St. Michael’s College, Regis College, L’Arche Daybreak and the Henri Nouwen Societies of Canada, the United States and Netherlands will host Turning the Wheel: Henri Nouwen and Our Search for God to mark the 10th anniversary of Henri Nouwen’s death.
The Primate, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, has written to all bishops and metropolitans asking them to encourage their dioceses and provinces to study and respond to the St. Michael Report. The Report was produced at the request of the Primate following a decision by General Synod in 2004 to defer consideration of the blessing of same-sex unions until the Primate’s Theological Commission had studied the question. Their theological evaluation of the issue was presented to the Council of General Synod in May, a full year before the deadline, so that there will be greater opportunity for the Report to be studied by the church.
The Anglican Book Centre (ABC) and the Centre for Spirituality at Work have joined to help people deepen the connection between who they are and the work they do through various workshops.
The first daily highlights of the 5th Anglican Indigenous Sacred Circle, taking place at the Wilderness Edge Retreat and Conference Centre in Pinawa, Manitoba, from Aug. 7-13, are now online.
The executive director of the Anglican Foundation, Canon John Erb, died peacefully at St. Michael’s Hospital on Sunday, July 31st around 8 pm. His family was with him at the time of his death.