The 2017 Canadian Church Calendar was a collaborative project of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and offered a glimpse into the ministry of both churches across Canada and around the world.
While shifting the focus of the 2017 calendar, we also made several design and content changes which garnered considerable feedback.
Thank you for being frank and generous in sharing with us what does and does not work for you. That feedback has helped us realize and celebrate how important the Canadian Church Calendar is to many people across our church. For example, the calendar is an important tool for Altar Guilds across the country as they do the unseen work that prepares the space in which we worship and celebrate. It’s also a way for our church to see itself from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Calendars are often gifts passed to friends and family around the world, showing who we are as a church and People of God.
We are committed to ensuring that future editions of the Canadian Church Calendar meet these and the many other needs that you have identified. We want to let you know that we have heard you and how we will respond as we plan calendars. We also want to renew our commitment to this project and to meeting its aims in 2018. And we are asking you to help us do the work of showing and celebrating the local ministries of our church that honour God and serve God’s mission.
Design changes: liturgical colours and calendar grid layout
We heard from a number of people about unhelpful changes in the practical presentation of the calendar. In particular, we will restore the liturgical colours to dates in the calendar grids, so as to serve those who serve the church in preparing its sanctuaries for worship.
We also heard that the absence of previous month and next month graphics is frustrating for planning. They will be back in the 2018 calendar.
Timelines and ordering
As we entered into a new way of doing things to produce the 2016 calendar, our deadlines became compressed. For the 2018 Canadian Church Calendar, we commit to having the calendar available to order through our distributor early in the spring of 2017, and ready to be shipped in August 2017 at the latest. This means that the teams who gather orders, distribute calendars, and sell them in our parishes, will have them in-hand with time to spare.
Content changes: churches, scripture and tradition
We heard mixed feedback on the decision to move away from pictures of church buildings to pictures that focus on ministry and mission. We still believe that the decision to focus on ministry is a good one, although we now believe that the execution of this focus needs to change.
Our churches are our gathering places. We were remiss to exclude them completely. The cycle of our lives happen at the steps of the altar – in our baptisms, our worship, and the celebration of the Holy Eucharist; through our confirmations, our marriages, and our funerals. Our churches are the containers for ministry where we plan, gather, and worship, where we encounter God, where we respond to Jesus’ call to spiritual works of mercy (Matthew 25:36).
So we are asking that you share images of your church for the 2018 Canadian Church Calendar. But don’t just share the building, share what happens there to support the desire of God’s heart to heal and renew the earth and its creatures, and to restore the loveliness of the life of the world that is God’s gift.
We want to see you! What does worship look like in your church? How and where do you gather? We want to see your ministry both inside and outside of church buildings. (You can send us a photo of just your church too, and we’ll include as many of those as we can in the calendar grid page.)
Show us your community outreach and lunch programs. Show us young people and children engaged in your church (with parents’ permission of course) as they grow to be followers of Jesus. Show us how you partner with different groups in your communities. Show us how you welcome the stranger. Show us who you are.
All that we ask is the following:
- That any photos be print quality (i.e. 300 dpi)
- That all people in the photo have given their permission to be included in the calendar
- That you tell us who is in the photo and provide a simple caption
- That you provide a contact person’s information so we can follow-up to find out more
- That you send all information to [email protected]
Deadline for submission is Friday March 10, 2017.