As Canadian Anglicans prepare to celebrate the fourth annual Jerusalem Sunday on May 28, new liturgical resources highlight the perspectives of women and focus on ministry to support disabled children in Jerusalem.
Reflections and sermon notes for Jerusalem Sunday 2017 draw on the experience of Anglican women from the Diocese of Ottawa who travelled to Israel and Palestine last November for a women’s conference and pilgrimage. In Jerusalem, they joined women from the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem for a mutual learning experience on ministry and the history of their shared faith. Since 2011, the Ottawa and Jerusalem have had a formal covenant of partnership together.
Patricia Kirkpatrick, chair of Biblical Studies at McGill University, took the lead in preparing the sermon notes, which include reflections from the Ottawa participants as well as her own thoughts on Scripture.
“We thought we wanted this year in the sermon notes to make it a little bit more personal,” said Andrea Mann, director of Global Relations, adding that Kirkpatrick “kindly did that, trying to lift up perhaps the voices, the spirituality, the thoughts of women for Jerusalem Sunday. That’s kind of a new lens for us.”
Another liturgical resource in 2017 is the Jerusalem Sunday bulletin cover highlighting the Princess Basma Centre for Children with Disabilities, a non-profit charitable organization and important ministry of the Diocese of Jerusalem that provides physical rehabilitation for local children.
Special offerings from Canadian Anglicans at worship services on Jerusalem Sunday have provided vital support for the Penman Clinic, a centre located in the West Bank that serves as the main source of medical care for many people of all faiths in the surrounding area. As a result, the clinic’s list of needs to fortify their diagnostic tools and infrastructure has now been met.
The focus of offerings has now shifted to support an emerging priorty. All special offerings made on Jerusalem Sunday 2017 will go to support the Basma Centre’s Hydrotherapy Pool program for children, a form of physiotherapy with rehabilitation exercise in a pool.
Jerusalem Sunday is observed on the seventh Sunday of Easter and provides an opportunity for members of the Anglican Church of Canada to support and learn more about the mission and ministry of the Diocese of Jerusalem. Established at the 2013 Joint Assembly, Jerusalem Sunday serves as an occasion to reflect on the ever-growing relationship between the Canadian church and the diocese located in the Holy Land.