Interested in keeping up-to-date on news and information from the Anglican Church of Canada? Sign up for our email alerts and get our stories delivered right to your inbox.
If two women—one in Yellowknife, one in Regina—hear the call to be priests in the Anglican Church of Canada, the steps they will take to become ordained are quite different. Although both will wear collars and be “the Rev.” in the end, their assessment and education will depend on their diocese’s unique program, which could range from an informal mentoring relationship to specific course requirements.
Just five months ago, the Rev. Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan, General Synod’s director of Faith, Worship, and Ministry was considering a major life and ministry change. “I was taking a sabbatical, thinking, ‘maybe it’s time to leave and take a quiet parish. Or maybe take an early retirement, and put my feet up,’” she said in a recent interview.
Tomorrow, Oct. 1, is the last day on which you can respond to Vision 2019 and help plan the Anglican Church of Canada’s future priorities. Everyone is asked to answer the question, “Where is your church now, and where do you want the Anglican Church of Canada to be by 2019?” All responses will be heard and analyzed by a consultant and then a report will be presented at General Synod 2010.
The clock is ticking. Canadian Anglicans have until October 1 to send in their answers to the two-part Vision 2019 question, “Where is your church now, and where do you want the Anglican Church of Canada to be in 2019?” All responses will be heard and analyzed by an external consultant and then a report will be presented at General Synod 2010. This report will help shape the church’s future.
MinistryMatters, the magazine for Canadian Anglican leaders, has transformed into an online publication. The first fully online edition, Fall 2009, features the same assortment of ministry reflections and practical resources as the print version did, but with new elements of weekly columnists, a video feature, and the opportunity for readers to comment.
Canadian Anglicans have less than two weeks left to contribute to Vision 2019 before the Oct. 1 deadline. Already hundreds of people have sent in videos, emails, letters, and voice mails responding to the two-part question “Where is your church now, and where do you want the Anglican Church of Canada to be in 2019?”
In a kind of high-level pen pal relationship, theologians from five African dioceses are now exchanging essays about sexuality with theologians from three Canadian dioceses. Dr. Kawuki (Isaac) Mukasa, General Synod’s coordinator for dialogue, paired up dioceses during two trips to Africa, including visits to South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda from July 31 to Aug. 21.
In a ground-breaking event featuring Lutheran and Anglican youth from across the country, the National Planning Committee (NPC) for the 2010 gathering announces “Hands On” as the theme of next year’s gathering which is taking place August 19-22, 2010 in London, Ontario. Drawing from the text in Isaiah 64:8, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand”, the gathering will explore how God calls us to use our hands to help shape the world around us.
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has elected Nicholas Orogodo Okoh as its fourth Primate in succession to the Most Revd Peter Akinola.
Vision 2019 Sunday, Sept. 13, is the next big push to get Canadian Anglicans weighing in on the future of the church before the Oct. 1 deadline. Churches across Canada are gathering responses to the question, “Where is your church now, and where do you want the Anglican Church of Canada to be in 2019?” Already hundreds of thoughts have poured in: affirming, critical, in emails or in art—it’s been a healthy variety.
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?
On his first solidarity visit to the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem Aug. 22 to 30, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the Primate, soaked up the area’s rich history and deepened relations with the living church there. As he put it when he preached at the Jerusalem cathedral, “While I come as a first-time pilgrim to the Holy Land, I come with a commitment to be a partner in the Gospel.”
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.
It calls itself “the little church that could.” St. Philip’s in Milford, Ont. is a small but feisty community of mostly retired people who have a reputation as social justice dynamos. Now they’re sharing a new climate change action kit with the rest of the Anglican Church of Canada.
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.