Thanksgiving Message From the Primate: A Call to Prayer

Once again we are at a moment in history when the world God loves is on high alert. The terrorist movement known as ISIS continues its aggressive campaigns to conquer Iraq, Syria and other nations. The world has witnessed horrific crimes against humanity and in the considered opinion of global leaders ISIS poses a very real threat to international security.

The governments of many nations have wrestled with engagement in a mission to bring this terrorist movement to a halt. Through a vote this week in the House of Commons, Canada is now among numerous allied nations engaged in this mission.

While I am deeply aware of the significant debates among people of faith with respect to “just war,” it is not my intent at this moment to draw us into that discussion but rather to call us to prayer.

I ask your prayers for all people who have been victims in this conflict, all those who have been displaced and seeking refuge in neighbouring countries and all those who are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

I ask your prayers for the members of the Canadian Armed Forces who will be deployed for this mission, for their families for whom times like this are very unsettling, and for all the CAF chaplains and their ministries.

It is Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada. As we gather “to raise the song of harvest home” and give thanks for this good land in which we live, let us be mindful of all the blessings we enjoy, including religious freedom Let us remember those who are denied this freedom and persecuted for their faith.

Let us turn to God and pray,

"Lead us, Father, into freedom;
from despair your world release,
that redeemed from war and hatred,
all may come and go in peace."
(Hymn 576, Common Praise)


The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz
Archbishop and Primate,
The Anglican Church of Canada 10/10/2014

Source: Anglican Church of Canada

Anglican Church of Canada 2013 Annual Report

Here is the 2013 Annual Report from the Anglican Church of Canada. It comprises a statement from Fred Hiltz, Primate and Archbishop and Michael Thompson, General Secretary. It also includes the Mission, a thank you message and the Consolidated Financial Statements.

"The Generous Gift"

In Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, he commends the churches of Macedonia as an example of eagerness of desire and generosity in giving to support the work of the wider church. He confidently calls for gifts according to their means, and for joy in their giving. Indeed it is from this Second Letter to the Corinthians that we know that oft quoted text “God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

The gratitude with which Paul receives such gifts is reflected in his efforts and those of his colleagues to administer the gifts with care and diligence and to render account for the same. In a similar spirit, the annual report of the Anglican Church of Canada for 2013 is presented here. Inside the figures are many inspiring stories of wonderful people doing incredible ministries, each and every one enabled by your gifts.

As I say a sincere thank you, I pray with Paul that “you will be enriched in every way for your great generosity…for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:12)

Fred J. Hiltz
Archbishop and Primate

Dear Friends,

A “national church” and even a “global communion” are always intensely local—always grounded in a place where people are making the difference God asks us to make. You do that in your own community, in your church, your workplace, your home, your neighbourhood. This annual report identifies and celebrates the “network of sharing” that allows us to share our gifts and resources with one another.

Here you will read about important work to strengthen ministry in remote and northern communities, among aboriginal Anglicans, and in the Diocese of Jerusalem. Here you can rediscover the church’s potential to give leadership in the movement towards reconciliation among aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians, a long-standing commitment of our church that we celebrated in the twentieth anniversary of Archbishop Michael Peers’ apology for the church’s role in residential schools. Here you can enter into some of the excitement of a “Joint Assembly” with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada as our churches rise above denominational difference to celebrate a common mission from coast to coast to coast.

As you read, I invite you to savour how God is at work both in the intensely local ministries of the church and in the networks of sharing that strengthen us all. This annual report tells that story. I hope you find yourself—your faith and compassion—reflected in its words and images.

Yours faithfully,
Michael Thompson General Secretary

Mission Statement

As a partner in the worldwide Anglican Communion and in the universal Church, we proclaim and celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ in worship and action.

We value our heritage of biblical faith, reason, liturgy, tradition, bishops and synods, and the rich variety of our life in community.

We acknowledge that God is calling us to greater diversity of membership, wider participation in ministry and leadership, better stewardship in God’s creation and a stronger resolve in challenging attitudes and structures that cause injustice.

Guided by the Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves to respond to this call in love and service and so more fully live the life of Christ.

Your support is a blessing

Thank you for your generous support of the Anglican Church of Canada in 2013!

Gifts received from individuals, parishes, dioceses, and sponsors make it possible for the church to respond to God’s call at home and abroad. Your generosity has touched the lives of women, men, and children everywhere. They are deeply grateful that you have reached them through the ministries of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Consolidated Financial Statements

The Anglican Church of Canada adheres to the standards set out in the Imagine Canada Ethical Fundraising and Financial Accountability Code. For more information, visit www.imaginecanada.ca.

To read the Consolidated Financial Statements, General Synod of Anglican Church of Canada click here.

Bishop’s Communiqué - Bishop’s Purple Prose September 2014

The Right Reverend Barry B. Clarke, Bishop of Montreal, The Anglican Church of Canada
Bishop’s Communiqué - Bishop’s Purple Prose September 2014

Greetings in the name of our Lord!
Let us give thanks for God’s gifts as we move forward in Ministry. ___________________________________________________

Executive Archdeacon Janet Griffith

With my support, The Right Reverend Bol Bennett has appointed Archdeacon Janet Griffith as Rector of the new Brantford Regional Ministries.

Brantford Regional Ministries is four congregations , including an evolving church plant with buildings at St. James, St. Jude’s and Grace Church locations. While there are 751 persons on the parish registers, Sunday attendance averages 235. The clergy team of this new ministry initiative includes two Associate clergy, four Honorary clergy and one deacon, plus a host of energetic laity. As you may be aware, Janet is from the Brantford area and her adult children and grandchildren are also located there. Janet last day is October 18th.

Join me in prayerful thanks to Janet for 7 years of dedicated service, pastoral guidance and to continually remember before our God and Father, her work produced by faith, her labor prompted by love, and her endurance inspired by hop e in our Lord Jesus Christ. May God continue to richly bless her ministry.

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Archbishop Percy Coffin and Bishop-elect David Edwards

Archbishop Percy Coffin was elected as the new Metropolitan for the Ecclesiastical province of Canada this past May. I will be attending the Installation of the Metropolitan Percy Coffin at Christ Church Cathedral in Fredericton, on September 18th.

I will also be attending and participating in the Consecration of Bishop-elect David Edwards of Fredericton on September 20th. Join me in prayers of support for our new Metropolitan and the new Bishop of Fredericton.

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Diocese of Masasi

The Anglican Church of Tanzania in Masasi, will hol d the consecration on September 21,2014 for the newly elected bishop, Father James Armasi. Regretfully, I will not be able to attend, therefore have asked Archdeacon Michael Johnson and Archdeacon Bill Gray to act as my emissaries. They are both honoured and ex cited to be present for the consecration. Please keep them in your prayers.

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Clergy Conference 2014

REMINDER : The 2014 Clergy Conference, “In and For the World” will be taking place at Manoir d’Youville from September 21 st to 23rd . This year’s speaker is The Venerable Dr. Michael Thompson , General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada.

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The 155th Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Montreal The 2014 Diocesan Synod will be held on Saturday, October 18, 2014 , 8am - 6pm in Fulford Hall. This year’s theme is Called to Grow . Please be on the lookout for the registration information coming soon.

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Bishop’s Annual Dinner

We are again excited to host the Bishop’s Annual Di nner to support the mission work of the diocese, a cause that is so very important to o ur brothers and sisters in need. This year’s guest speaker is George Greene from St Michael’s Mission The dinner will be held at a new venue: Club Atwater 3505 ave. Atwater Thursday, November 27th Start time is 5:30 (cocktails) Ticket price: $200 a person (tax receipt available)

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St. Matthias will soon be seeking a full time Incumbent

St. John the Baptist Pointe Claire and St. Matthias The Church of St. John the Baptist, Pointe Claire is seeking a full time Incumbent. The job description and Parish profile is available on both the diocesan and national websites.

In Christ,

† Barry

Climate Change and Christian Faith

On Monday October 6th from 7 - 9 PM an event will take place at Christ Church Cathedral - Anglican Diocese of Montreal (1444 Union Ave. Montreal, Qc.) called Climate Change and Christian Faith. It will address the science of climate change and how Christians might address it theologically.

A climate change scientist (and Cathedral parishioner/chorister) Dr. Barbara Winter will speak about the impacts of climate change and the Cathedral's own Rev'd Dr. Donald Boisvert will offer some guidance in how we might think about the issue from a theological perspective.

A conversation will follow.

Anglican, Lutheran Leaders offer a Pastoral Message on Climate Change

On September 19, 2014, just ahead of the People's Climate March (September 21) and the UN Summit on Climate Change (September 23), the heads of the Anglican Church of Canada, The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America issued the following Pastoral Message on Climate Change:

We are united as Christian leaders in our concern for the well-being of our neighbors and of God’s good creation that provides life and livelihood for all God’s creatures. Daily we see and hear the evidence of a rapidly changing climate. Glaciers are disappearing, the polar ice cap is melting, and sea levels are rising. Incidents of pollution- created dead zones in seas and the ocean and toxic algae growth in water supplies are occurring with greater frequency. Most disturbingly, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising at an unprecedented rate. At the same time we also witness in too many instances how the earth’s natural beauty, a sign of God’s wonderful creativity, has been defiled by pollutants and waste.

Many have reacted to these changes with grief and anger. In their outrage some have understandably focused on the neglect and carelessness, both in private industry and in government regulation, that have contributed to these changes. However, an honest accounting requires a recognition that we all participate both as consumers and investors in economies that make intensive and insistent demands for energy. In addition, as citizens we have chosen to support or acquiesce in policies that shift the burdens of climate change to communities that are most vulnerable to its effects. People who are already challenged by poverty and by dislocation resulting from civil war or famine have limited resources for adapting to climate change’s effects.

While an accounting of climate change that has credibility and integrity must include our own repentance, we find our hope in the promise of God’s own faithfulness to the creation and humankind and in the liberation that comes from God’s promise.

God, who made the creation and made it good, has not abandoned it. Daily the Spirit continues to renew the face of the earth. All who care for the earth and work for the restoration of its vitality can be confident that they are not pursuing a lost cause. We serve in concert with God’s own creative and renewing power.

Moreover, we need not surrender to political ideologies and other modern mythologies that would divide us into partisan factions — deserving and undeserving, powerless victims and godless oppressors. In Christ we have the promise of a life where God has reconciled the human community. In Christ God sets us free from the captivity of blaming and shaming. God liberates us for shared endeavors where we find each other at our best.

While the challenge may seem daunting, the Spirit’s abundant gifts for service empower us to find common cause with people who exercise countless insights and skills, embodied in hundreds of occupations and trades. We have good reason to hope in all the ways God’s grace is at work among us. We can commend ourselves to the work before us with confidence in God’s mercy.

Opportunities to act imaginatively and courageously abound in all our individual callings. The Holy Spirit’s work in us leads us as faithful consumers and investors in a global economy to make responsible choices to reduce energy use, carbon emissions, and the wasteful consumption of water and other natural resources. As citizens, we have voices to use in educating children about the climate and in shaping public and corporate policies that affect the environment. The Spirit has also given us our voices to contribute our witness to public discussion of just and responsible use of natural resources.

We also have the resources and responsibility to act together for the common good, especially for those most vulnerable to the effect of climate change in the spirit of the seventh Millennium Development Goal, “to ensure environmental stability”. World leaders will meet this month in New York for a Climate Summit, and in December in Lima, Peru, to discuss global cooperation on climate change. Working under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), participants in the UNFCCC’s negotiations hope for an agreement in 2015 that will move toward reduction of carbon emissions, development of low carbon technologies, and assistance to populations most vulnerable to the effects of a changing climate.

We encourage you to take the initiative to engage decision-makers in this godly work in all arenas of public life — in government and business, in schools and civic organizations, in social media and also in our church life. We are not powerless to act and we are not alone. “We have the power of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling Spirit of Christ to give us hope and courage.”i

The present moment is a critical one, filled with both challenge and opportunity to act as faithful individuals and churches in solidarity with God’s good creation.

Bishop Elizabeth Eaton
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz
Primate
Anglican Church of Canada

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

Bishop Susan Johnson
National Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

Source: Anglican Church of Canada

Equilibrium Photo Essay Exhibition at St. Philip's Church

Equilibrium, is an Art For Peace, photo essay exhibition organized by St. Philip's own Cynthia Nichols. It will take place in the Memorial Hall on Sunday, September 21st, 2014, at 11:30 AM. This event is in support of the People's Climate March which will take place in New York and cities all around the world. Hundreds of thousands are coming together for the March on September 21 to send a message to those in attendance at the UN Climate Summit which is scheduled for September 23.

Equilibrium is an Avaaz People's Climate Event. Avaaz is a global civic organization that promotes activism on issues such as climate change, human rights, animal rights, corruption, poverty, and conflict. The organization is the world's largest and most powerful activist network. They operates in 15 languages and have over thirty million members in 194 countries.

According to Avaaz, the People's Climate Events are meant to send a message to world leaders who don’t believe enough of us care about climate change, that’s why they’re still not yet rising to the challenge of saving our planet. They see September 21, as an unprecedented chance to prove them wrong, with the largest climate mobilisation in history.

Cynthia describes the Equilibrium event as a "photo essay presentation of ideas." The images used in the exhibition are a reflection of a series of brain storming events held in Montreal where people shared their views on the term ‘Peace.’ They also expressed their thoughts on the ways in which their Peace was being hindered. Through these interactions the environment emerged as an important theme. The photo essay was assembled with the aid of photographer Nedco Ivanoff, who scoured the City looking for emblematic images to express conversations that augur change.

Please join us in the Hall of St Philip's church (750 Sherbrooke St. West) on Sunday September 21 at 11:30 AM for Equilibrium, a powerful photo essay accompanied by a presentation from Cynthia.

For more information contact Cynthia on Facebook or email her at galleryrealart@gmail.com , @ragsart or by phone at 438-931-6698

Tania Lesack to Further her Worship Studies at St. Philip's Church

Tania Lesack is studying for the Master of Divinity at Montreal Diocesan Theological College, and will be at St. Philip's for this academic year, learning about planning and leading worship. Here is an article about Tania from the Montreal Diocesan Theological College's newsletter:

A few years ago, Tania Lesack was seeking an opportunity and a space where she could discuss her faith with other people:

“Our [Anglican Church] worship services are not set up to give people a chance to discuss; and a lot of people find it difficult to discuss their faith; they’re uncomfortable because we don’t do it a lot.”

Lesack also found gathering people for parish bible study was often challenged by scheduling issues.

Now a graduate of the diocesan Centre for Lay Education’s Education for Ministry (EfM) program, Lesack reflects on how the program provided students with a safe space to explore their faith, look at the basics of Christianity, and gain a level of comfort in talking about faith and issues related to personal faith.

What exactly is EfM? It is a program of theological education for lay people, comprising four years of study total, meeting in small groups with a trained mentor. The program combines academic study with integrative components to help participants take what they learn about Scripture, church history, theology and ethics into their own lives and hearts, supporting them in living out a vibrant baptismal ministry in the church and in the world.

 “I have a much deeper knowledge, certainly a knowledge of the context [in which scriptural texts were written], which is really important. When you attend church services you get snippets of the bible. In EfM, you don’t justread it; you study it. The program texts speak about how the bible was put together and you come to understand it’s not a book you read cover to cover, which is normally how we read books; and it would appear to make sense with the bible because it starts with “In the beginning...”and ends with the events after Jesus’ resurrection; yet it’s not really that sort of book at all. It’s more like a library between two covers.”

One of the books read by the class this year examined the topic of interfaith relations. Lesack remarks that she learned how interfaith relations work most effectively through relationships between people rather than meetings where the topic itself is interfaith relations: “The stories were not about Christians impacting others but how the faith of other people had an effect on the person who was writing the story. Fascinating, especially in a multicultural society where we need to be much more open to interfaith dialogue.” “When you attend church you get snippets of the bible. In EfM, you don’t just read it; you study it.”

For more information about the EfM program offered by the Centre for Lay Education and to sign up for classes starting in September, please contact the Director of the Centre for Lay Education, the Rev’d Tim Smart at: revtimsmart@gmail.com or visit the Centre for Lay Education webpage at: www.dio-mdtc.ca/lay-ed 

Source: Montreal Diocesan Theological College's newsletter