City’s Anglican churches plan to merge

From Canada-

One of St. Thomas’s oldest congregations plans to merge with another city church because of escalating costs and a decline in the number of parishioners.

Trinity Anglican Church on Southwick Street and St. John’s Anglican Church on Flora Street each held a meeting recently with parishioners and decided to merge.

The Diocese of Huron will make the final decision Dec. 6 on the proposed merger.

“Both churches have decided to become one church,” said Malcolm Wood, rector warden of Trinity Anglican Church. “In our particular case, what we’ve decided to do, is we’ve decided to reorganize the churches.”

Trinity Anglican Church and St. John’s Anglican Church would cease to exist, and a new name for the merged congregation would be chosen, if the diocese approves the plan.

More here-

https://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/news/local-news/citys-anglican-churches-plan-to-merge

Anglican Diocese of Western Newfoundland votes to allow same-sex marriages

From Canada-

A step toward healing and moving forward within the Anglican Church took place in Corner Brook Sept. 3 when the Diocese of Western Newfoundland voted to allow same-sex marriage.

The motion to allow same sex-marriage by consenting clergy, and including protection for non-consenting clergy, was accepted by 93.4 per cent of the 79 delegates. 

Bishop John Organ said the result was both positive and affirming.

“It doesn’t matter what particular issue it is in any organization or community, not everybody is of the same mind. But this is a way that we can walk together in unity and respect our differences,” he said.
He said the synod delegates expressed courage and a genuine concern and pastoral concern for all people and the vote sends a positive message that all people are included. “That God’s love is for everyone, no matter the colour of their skin or their sexual orientation.”

Organ said the group of 30 clergy and 49 lay delegates met for five and half hours to discuss the issue and the conversation was a good one. 

More here-

https://www.thewesternstar.com/news/local/anglican-diocese-of-western-newfoundland-votes-to-allow-same-sex-marriages-350781/

Priest who borrowed a book from his elderly neighbour as a child is touched to be given the title more 30 years later after her death - and finds pressed flowers he gave to her aged 18

From The Daily Mail-

A priest has told how he was given a book by the family of a late neighbour and found flowers he had given her as a teenager pressed inside. 

Reverend Daniel Brereton, from Ontario, Canada, took to Twitter to tell how he had fallen in love with 1901 novel The Making of a Marchioness after reading it at the home of his elderly neighbour Mrs Smith, whom he affectionately called 'Granny'. 

The title, which Mrs Smith forevermore called 'Danny's book', was passed down to her daughter, and later her granddaughter. 

Writing on Twitter, Reverend Brereton, now thought to be in his 40s, explained how he was touched when Mrs Smith sent him the book on her mother's death.

More here-

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7382601/Anglican-priest-receives-flowers-gave-elderly-neighbour-29-years-picked-them.html

Anglican Church to review governance structure after same-sex marriage change fails

From Toronto-

One of Canada’s largest Christian denominations will spend the next three years considering whether to change its governance structure amid outrage that just two bishops’ votes stood in the way of having same-sex marriage recognized by the Church’s laws.

Some in the Anglican Church of Canada say the current system to alter doctrine and policy — which requires a two-thirds majority from three groups of delegates — unfairly gives the most voting power to a small group of bishops.

The denomination’s outgoing senior officers in charge of its tri-annual policy meeting said Tuesday that the Church will look at ways it can change its governance structure between now and the next General Synod in 2022.

More here-

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/07/16/anglican-church-to-review-governance-structure-after-same-sex-marriage-change-fails.html

Vancouver sewing group stitches clothing for homeless children

From Canada-

After 20-some years of sewing clothes for homeless children, the Helping Hands Sewing Group has noticed some changes.

Fabrics have gotten thinner and contain more polyester than they used to. What little ones like to wear has changed. Volunteer seamstresses have come and gone. The group’s formidable founder, former social worker, gerontologist and activist Betty Plank, died in 2012.

“Some of us move. Some of us get old. Some of us couldn’t make it down the stairs,” said Sandy Hubbard.

The group comprises eight primarily retired, senior women who have the free time to sew Thursdays in the basement at St. Luke’s/San Lucas Episcopal Church in Vancouver.

The large church hosts all sorts of groups from narcotics anonymous to single seniors to clutterers anonymous.

“This is really a niche ministry,” said St. Luke’s rector, the Rev. Jaime Case.

More here-

https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/state/vancouver-sewing-group-stitches-clothing-for-homeless-children/article_846d1c8b-4210-5d27-a6c1-29d3e91defc8.html

At national gathering, Arctic Anglicans say no to same-sex marriage

From Canada-

Anglican bishops representing the Arctic and other Indigenous and northern regions played a crucial role earlier this month in blocking a resolution that would have amended the Anglican Church of Canada’s canon law to permit the solemnization of same-sex marriage.

Anglican delegates from every corner of the country took part in a passionate debate on the issue this past July 12, during the church’s triennial synod, or national assembly, in Vancouver.

The resolution would have replaced the words “man and woman” and “husband and wife” with “the parties to the marriage” and would have extended the marriage sacrament to all persons able to get married under civil law.

One of many supporters of the resolution, lay reader Robert MacMillan of Nova Scotia, said he and his partner waited 20 years to get married. But to do that, they had to go to the United Church of Canada—because his local Anglican rector refused to marry them.

More here-

https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/at-national-gathering-arctic-anglicans-say-no-to-same-sex-marriage/

Abuse survivors await apology from Anglican Church for physical harm: Bennett

From Canada-

The Anglican Church’s recent apology for doing “spiritual harm” to Indigenous Peoples is a beginning, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said Wednesday, but victims of sexual abuse at the hands of one priest in the 1970s and ’80s continue to wait for an apology for physical harm they endured from a “man of the cloth.”

In an interview, Bennett said several survivors have been clear they want an apology from the church for the legacy of Ralph Rowe, a former priest and Boy Scout leader who abused children during the two decades he spent travelling among remote First Nations communities in northern Ontario.

Bennett and her husband Peter O’Brian –himself a victim of childhood sexual abuse — have spent years trying to raise awareness about the impacts of Rowe’s abuse, its long-lived impacts and in some cases, deadly consequences.

More here-

https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/abuse-survivors-await-apology-from-anglican-church-for-physical-harm-bennett

Anglicans in Canada elect Linda Nicholls as first woman primate

From Canada-

Linda Nicholls, bishop of the diocese of Huron, was elected fourteenth primate of the Anglican Church of Canada on July 13, becoming the first woman in the history of the church to hold the position.

“You have bestowed on me an honour that I can hardly imagine, and it is terrifying. But it is also a gift, to be able to walk with the whole of the Anglican Church of Canada from coast to coast to coast,” Nicholls said in a brief impromptu speech on her arrival, after the vote at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, where the election was held.

Nicholls will be installed on the final day of General Synod—Tuesday, July 16—succeeding Archbishop Fred Hiltz, who has served the church as primate since 2007.

She was elected on the fourth ballot, with 64.2% of lay votes and 71.1% of votes among the clergy. Jane Alexander, bishop of the diocese of Edmonton, was the only nominee remaining on the fourth ballot. Alexander received 35.8% of laity votes and 28.9% of the votes of the clergy.

More here-

https://www.anglicanjournal.com/linda-nicholls-elected-primate/?utm_source=Anglican+Church+of+Canada&utm_campaign=05894035fc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_07_14_03_34&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6285aca377-05894035fc-243912869 

and here-

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/london-area-anglican-bishop-takes-top-job-with-national-church

Priests and pastors shoulder a huge emotional burden, but they're burning out ... alone

From Canada-


When we were 16, one of my closest friends told me he wanted to be a priest. I must have looked as shocked as I felt, because he reassuringly added "a Protestant priest, dear."

He read me right.

Having been raised Catholic, my mind jumped straight to celibacy, a concept that made my hormonal teenage mind reel. I was relieved to hear my friend wasn't committing to a life of total abstinence. For a moment, I had been afraid that I didn't know him at all.


Celibacy aside, I was still puzzled. I couldn't imagine joining the clergy. I realized that part of the reason I was confused was because I had no idea what being a priest entailed.

What do priests actually do?

More here-

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ainsley-hawthorn-pov-priests-1.4982116?fbclid=IwAR0-jsOEMpQhKJdeVhhUnHthkxPE7LhyZUGsFptb8fk3yLHyQ__mu7OhP7Q

Victim impact statements delayed in Anglican priest’s sexual abuse case

From Global News-


A former Anglican priest convicted of sexually abusing four First Nations boys decades ago was expected to hear from victims Friday in a London courtroom on Friday, but proceedings have been rescheduled for next month.

David Norton was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault back in November in a case involving men who said the 72-year-old abused them while they were altar boys at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Chippewa of the Thames First Nation in the 1970s and ’80s.

The victims came from troubled backgrounds and grew to see Norton as father figure who provided attention and affection

More here-

https://globalnews.ca/news/4862441/victim-impact-statements-anglican-sexual-abuse-case/ 

Anglicans mull replacement for conversion of Jews prayer

From Canada-

The Anglican Church of Canada, one of the largest Protestant denominations, is considering replacing a prayer for the conversion of the Jews with a new one calling for “reconciliation” with the Jewish people.

Right Rev. Bruce Myers, Bishop of the Quebec diocese, has proposed that the last vestige of anti-Semitism in the traditional Anglican prayerbook be removed. He was tasked by the church’s leadership to draft a motion to that effect, leading up to the triennial General Synod, the church’s highest governing body, which meets in July in Vancouver.

Inexplicably, the Prayer for the Conversion of the Jews remains in the 1962 edition of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), more than 25 years after another, more harshly worded prayer that was recited on Good Friday was expunged.

The prayer now in question, which is found on page 41 of the BCP, is apparently not often recited nowadays, largely because the 1985 Book of Alternative Services is often used instead. In addition, unlike the Good Friday prayer, which had roots in 16th-century England and was part of an annual service, the Prayer for the Conversion of the Jews is among about 50 prayers that are used discretionally, Rev. Myers explained.

More here-

https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/anglicans-mull-replacement-for-conversion-of-jews-prayer

Anglican church welcomes Indigenous teacher who once renounced Christianity

From Canada-


More than 50 years after Albert Dumont renounced Christianity, the dean of Ottawa's Anglican diocese has welcomed him back — not as a believer, but as an Indigenous spiritual teacher-in-residence.

Dean Shane Parker, who is also the rector of Christ Church Cathedral, met Dumont in 2015 during an event connected with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.    

"Someone came to see me to say, 'There's a fellow here who wants to smudge. Is that OK?'" said Parker. "I just had this strong sense of wanting to stay in the room."

Since then, the two men have bonded over a shared belief in the importance of compassion and interfaith dialogue. 

More here-

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/indigenous-spiritual-advisor-christ-church-cathedral-1.4956326 

Chris Harper ordained as first Indigenous bishop of the Anglican Diocese in Saskatoon

From Canada-

As Chris Harper walked into St. John’s Anglican Cathedral on Saturday afternoon, the soon-to-be-ordained bishop-elect paused at the door to take part in a smudging ceremony.

As the first ever Indigenous bishop of the Anglican Diocese in Saskatoon, Harper — originally from the Onion Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan — said before the ceremony that he considered himself to be a “bridge” between the church and the Indigenous peoples in the city and the province.

“I’ve always said I’ve walked in two worlds all my life,” he said. “If we can find peace first, maybe we can walk together as human beings and to recognize each other … that we’re in this together.

More here-

https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/1119-news-bishop-installation?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0lTO3FgBY9c-U8n5wbrpuT26Epx2OZ29OT2tO3hpttHvIJngZWgXKOHeo#Echobox=1542495502

Indigenous bishop a first for Saskatoon Anglicans

From Canada-

In a year marked by deep hurt and division between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Saskatchewan, much hope is focused on Saskatoon’s new Anglican bishop.

On Saturday, Rev. Chris Harper will become the first Indigenous person to lead the Diocese of Saskatoon, a geographic band stretching across central Saskatchewan from Manitoba to Alberta.
“I am hoping and I am praying that I might be able to offer myself as a mediator, as a bridge builder,” Harper said in a recent interview.

Leaders and dignitaries attending the service will include the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, the mayor of Saskatoon and the treaty commissioner.

For Harper, his new role is a virtual homecoming. He was born in Paradise Hill and raised in Onion Lake Cree Nation, two communities just over the northern boundary of the diocese he will lead.

More here-

https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/indigenous-bishop-a-first-for-saskatoon-anglicans

Indigenous bishop groundbreaking for Sask.

From Canada-

Harper has been elected bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Saskatoon. His appointment is groundbreaking because Harper is the first Treaty Six member to become an Anglican Diocesan bishop.

Harper was born in Paradise Hill and spent half his younger life on the Onion Lake First Nation, the other half living off reserve in a number of locations in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
A hard work ethic has always been part of his life, and during the nearly two decades he worked as an EMT/EMT-A, he was also involved in lay ministry in his church.

“At one point, our parish was without a priest,” Harper says, “and the bishop of Saskatchewan approached me about conducting lay ministry services. I wanted to do it right, and I believed that required some education.”

To that end, Harper enrolled in James Settee College which provides theological education for Indigenous clergy and laity.

More here-

Why does this Toronto church have a heart inside its walls? Because a scandalizing convert wanted it that way

From Toronto-

When John Elmsley died in 1863, his will included a minor renovation project: Please take my heart from my body and place it in the wall of St. Basil’s Church.

There it remains, floating in alcohol, inside a jar, behind a wall. The heart of the man who was involved in one of this city’s biggest religious scandals, the heart of a mercurial but generous guy who changed the fortunes of Catholic Toronto when he made a splashy conversion in 1833.

Heart burial was a mortuary practice once trendy among medieval kings, religious men and European nobility, especially during the Catholic Reformation. The practice never took off in North America, and was not a custom of Indigenous people here. Elmsley’s heart burial in St. Basil’s Church is believed to be the only one in Toronto’s history.

“It is shocking in today’s somewhat bloodless society,” David Mulroney said a few days before retiring from St. Michael’s College, which was built alongside St. Basil’s Church on land donated by Elmsley. Mulroney has been a parishioner at the downtown church east of Queen’s Park for his entire life, and he remembers being fascinated with the heart as a boy.

More here-

https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2018/08/13/why-does-this-toronto-church-have-a-heart-inside-its-walls-because-a-scandalizing-convert-wanted-it-that-way.html

The clergyman (names withheld) who is married with children and hailed from Tombia community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state, according to a church member was not known to be sick but was complaining of headache before his tragic death.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/08/pandemonium-as-bayelsa-anglican-clergy-slumps-dies-on-pulpit-during-wedding-ceremony/

The clergyman (names withheld) who is married with children and hailed from Tombia community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state, according to a church member was not known to be sick but was complaining of headache before his tragic death. According to the church member identified as Mary said: “Our reverend was not known to be sick but was complaining of slight headache before the wedding ceremony . We are at a loss as to what must have happened to him. He was such a nice family man.” It was gathered that the pandemonium that ensued changed the mood of the wedding programme and temporarily disrupted the wedding proceedings for half an hour before normalcy was restored.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/08/pandemonium-as-bayelsa-anglican-clergy-slumps-dies-on-pulpit-during-wedding-ceremony/

The clergyman (names withheld) who is married with children and hailed from Tombia community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state, according to a church member was not known to be sick but was complaining of headache before his tragic death. According to the church member identified as Mary said: “Our reverend was not known to be sick but was complaining of slight headache before the wedding ceremony . We are at a loss as to what must have happened to him. He was such a nice family man.” It was gathered that the pandemonium that ensued changed the mood of the wedding programme and temporarily disrupted the wedding proceedings for half an hour before normalcy was restored.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/08/pandemonium-as-bayelsa-anglican-clergy-slumps-dies-on-pulpit-during-wedding-ceremony/

Bishop bikes through Bow Valley on cross-country “pilgrimage”

From Canada-

Anglican Bishop Rob Hardwick is on a cross-country trek to meet and pray with people and to raise money for different charitable causes. Hardwick, a Saskatchewan bishop with Anglican Diocese of Qu’Appelle, cycled through the Bow Valley on Monday. His day began in Radium B.C. in the morning around 8:00 a.m. and he arrived in Canmore at 5:00 in the evening, averaging about 24 km/h along the way he estimated.

“It’s a pilgrimage,” the bishop said. “It’s praying for people and situations and praying, primarily, for unity for healing and reconciliation.”

Hardwick’s journey began at Holland Point Park in Victoria, B.C. on May 19. It is estimated that it will take him 62 days to complete the 7,877-kilometre route to finish in St. John’s, Nfld. on Aug. 1. The trip’s aim to foster unity and reconciliation is within the the Anglican Church of Canada, with Indigenous Peoples, and all who are hurting.

During his trip, Hardwick aims to raise $2 million for different causes. He plans to raise $800,000 to support Indigenous ministries in the Anglican Church of Canada. The remaining $1.2 million is planned for various causes — to help build a medical centre in Muyinga, Burundi, to help construct a home in Regina, Saskatchewan with Habitat for Humanity and to conduct mission work in his home diocese in southern Saskatchewan.

More here-

http://www.thecragandcanyon.ca/2018/05/30/bishop-bikes-through-bow-valley-on-cross-country-pilgrimage

Protesting pastors arrested at Kinder Morgan facility in Burnaby

From British Columbia-

An Anglican priest and a Mennonite pastor were among those arrested after protesting with some 20 religious leaders outside Trans Mountain’s Westridge Marine terminal Friday.

Religious and faith leaders set up blockades at both entrances to the terminal, turning away workers and vehicles from 5:30 a.m. Friday morning, and stayed into the afternoon, protesting, singing and praying. The group responded to an invitation from Tsleil-Waututh Nation member Will George to religious leaders and “all people of faith and spirit” to oppose the project.

Burnaby RCMP informed the group they could face criminal charges for protesting. Justice Kenneth Affleck, who issued the injunction order, previously recommended that, due to the public nature of the breaches, demonstrators should face criminal sanctions.

Rev. Emelie Smith, the parish priest at St. Barnabus Anglican Church in New Westminster, was the first person arrested. She said she was protesting because she felt compelled by her faith to support local Indigenous peoples’ opposition to the pipeline.

More here-

https://www.kamloopsmatters.com/bc-news/protesting-pastors-arrested-at-kinder-morgan-facility-in-burnaby-900828

Marriage canon resolution may be amended with protections for traditionalists, bishops say

From Canada-

A resolution to amend the marriage canon to allow for same-sex marriages may itself be amended to include protections for Anglicans who hold to the traditional view of marriage, said Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

“There is a possibility” that the resolution, which passed its required first reading at the last General Synod in 2016, may be amended when it is presented for a required second reading in 2019, Hiltz said in an interview Thursday, April 19.

Another possibility is that a separate resolution to amend the canon could be made, one that “would enable the church as a whole, as a General Synod, to say something clearer to conservatives who want to remain in our church” in the event the resolution passes, he said.

More here-

https://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/marriage-canon-resolution-may-be-amended-with-protections-for-traditionalists-bishops-say/

Anglican Diocese of Niagara elects first woman bishop

From Canada-

On Saturday, the Anglican Diocese of Niagara chose a new leader — the Reverend Canon Susan Bell, who is from Hamilton, will become the first woman to serve as a diocesan bishop since its founding in 1875.

Bell, a priest and former school chaplain will serve as the 12th bishop of Niagara.

The vote took place Saturday. It took five ballots to determine the new bishop out of seven candidates. To be elected, a candidate needed a majority of votes from both clergy and lay delegates. 

'I think it's exciting that we've elected our first woman bishop in the diocese.'

Ann Turner, a priest at St. James Anglican Church in Fergus, Ont. was an organizer of the election, in which 269 people voted.

She told CBC News that the diocese is excited about about the historical election.

"I think it's exciting that we've elected our first woman bishop in the diocese. She's among the first also that's been elected from outside of the diocese," said Turner. 

More here-

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/new-anglican-diocesan-bishop-1.4561254