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Remember to sing "Silent Night" this Sunday

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Published on 
November 25, 2010

Already General Synod has received “Silent Night” videos from country singers, Sunday schools, and soldiers in Kandahar. Now the question is, what contribution will your community make to the Silent Night Project?

This Sunday, Nov. 28, is the time to act. Everyone is encouraged to sing “Silent Night” and to send in videos to General Synod as part of the Silent Night Project. All videos received by Dec. 14 will be included in a documentary, to be posted online by Christmas.

Making a movie is easy. Just grab a simple video camera, arrange your group, and press record. All video formats will be accepted. Anglican Video has compiled some filming tips for your community, and encourages you to do something unique. Consider decorating your church, heading outside to a picturesque setting, or performing with unusual musical instruments.

If you’re looking for ways to integrate “Silent Night” with the rest of your service, check out the many downloadable resources:

  • Sunday School lessons
  • Sermon notes
  • Posters (black and white, colour, or colour-in posters for kids)
  • Bulletin covers (black and white or colour)

The Primate has asked that each “Silent Night” singer donate a toonie to support the ministry of Anglican military chaplains, who work alongside the women and men of the Canadian Forces. Funds from the Silent Night Project will bolster chaplains’ ministry by supporting the work of their pastoral leader, the Bishop Ordinary. Together, the Bishop Ordinary and the chaplains carry out an essential ministry: witnessing to God’s transforming power in a broken world.

The model for this project—the 2008 Amazing Grace Project—was a resounding success. Thousands of Canadian Anglicans sang and recorded themselves in downtown cathedrals, seniors’ homes, and remote outports. Over 500 videos were sent in and all were included in an award-winning documentary, Amazing Together. Although originally designed as a unity-building activity, the Amazing Grace Project also raised more than $95,000, now being used for suicide prevention work and education in northern Canada.

Acknowledging the land and God’s creation

This acknowledgement is crafted in light of the Principles of Reconciliation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, as we seek to live faithfully in Christ and in right relationship with all. 

We give thanks to the Creator for this land, its waters, forests and all living beings, and for the abiding presence of Christ among us. From coast to coast to coast, these have been cared for and nurtured by First Nations, Inuit and Métis through countless generations. 

We honour the enduring relationship Indigenous Peoples have cultivated with these lands and waters, and the treaties and agreements that reflect these sacred bonds. We acknowledge the harms caused by colonial expansion, through frameworks like the Doctrine of Discovery and structures like the residential school system. We recognize our past failures as a Church, including disruption of connections to the land and suppression of Indigenous spiritualities. 

Guided by the gospel of Jesus Christ, we confess our need for healing. We commit ourselves to seeking truth, pursuing reconciliation and nurturing harmony with all creation. We place our trust in Christ, through whom all things are reconciled to God. 

May God strengthen us to live faithfully as stewards of the Earth. Let us walk in love, justice and reconciliation, joining in God’s work to restore all creation.