It’s an area of stewardship that many churches aspire to strengthen but rarely find the right moment—or the right tools—to begin. Resources from secular charities don’t always translate to a faith-based context, and conversations about wills and bequests can feel awkward or out of place in the life of a congregation.

“We often hear from parishes that they want to start the conversation about legacy giving, but they’re not sure how,” says Michelle Hauser, development & communications officer for the Anglican Foundation of Canada (AFC). “That’s exactly why we created the Legacy Talk Parish Toolkit—to make it easier, more natural, and more spiritually grounded.”

Rather than focusing on financial targets, Legacy Talk connects legacy giving to gratitude, discipleship and hope for the future of the Church. Each seasonal toolkit aligns with the rhythms of the liturgical year, offering clergy and lay leaders reflections, bulletin inserts, sample messages, and practical templates that can be adapted to any parish setting.

Begin with Vestry Season:

Planning with Purpose

Annual Vestry Reports and planning meetings provide a perfect opportunity to integrate legacy giving into the parish’s financial and spiritual vision.

For example, the Vestry Season Toolkit offers a Parish Council Checklist—simple, concrete steps that can help normalize legacy giving as part of a parish’s ongoing stewardship practice:

Add legacy giving as a standing item in stewardship conversations;

Include a legacy paragraph in the vestry report;

Ensure your website or bulletin mentions bequest options;

Publicly thank legacy donors when appropriate.

“For many churches, the checklist is a great place to start—it helps parishes move from ‘we should do something’ to actually feeling confident about making legacy giving part of their spiritual DNA.”

From Lent to Christmas: A Year of Gratitude, Growth, and Faith

Across the seasons of the Church year, Legacy Talk offers practical ways to weave legacy giving into parish life—always grounded in faith rather than fundraising.

During Lent, parishes are invited to reflect on what they treasure and why, exploring legacy giving as a spiritual practice rooted in love and intention.

The Easter to Pentecost toolkit celebrates growth and gratitude, encouraging churches to see legacy gifts as seeds of faith—planted today to bless the Church of tomorrow.

In Ordinary Time, the focus shifts to steady, everyday stewardship through simple reflections and conversation tools that keep faith communities engaged year-round.

As All Saints’ approaches, parishes are encouraged to remember, honour, and plan—giving thanks for those whose generosity built the Church we inherit and asking, “What legacy will we leave?”

Finally, Advent and Christmas offer a natural moment to express gratitude and hope, reminding us that every generation helps “prepare a place” for those who will follow.

“It is our hope that using Legacy Talk as a guide will help parishes build a rhythm of gratitude and generosity,” says Hauser, “and that 2026 will be the year more church communities feel inspired to take that next faithful step—turning good intentions into lasting impact.”

To explore or download the full series, visit anglicanfoundation.org/legacytalk.

— Anglican Foundation of Canada

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Participation will be limited to 30 teams and registration is on a first-come-first-served basis. Teams will be asked to articulate a campaign goal and project focus at the point of registration. Most costs associated with youth projects and programs, including staffing, are eligible.

SYTK is an annual fundraising appeal sponsored by AFC. Launched in 2021 to encourage church-led pandemic recovery programs and initiatives, the SYTK movement has now provided $755,000 in funding to more than 150 beneficiaries and fundraising partners for youth-focused ministry and outreach across the Anglican Church of Canada.

“The top three ministry impact zones have been faith formation, arts and education, and outdoor recreation,” says AFC executive director Dr. Scott Brubacher. “It’s wonderful to see the year-over-year impact as so many churches and dioceses are using SYTK to invest in youth retreats, Vacation Bible Schools, and part-time staffing to revitalize children and youth ministry programs.” Other impact zones include food security and poverty reduction, reconciliation, and health and well-being.

At the close of the 2024 campaign AFC surveyed past SYTK participants. “Seventy-five percent of respondents told us they use SYTK to create a sustainable revenue stream for an ongoing ministry and that it’s an important source of funding for them,” says Brubacher. “We also heard how influential the AFC Angel Donor matching gift program has been to local campaigns. We are all very grateful to the lead donors who, over the past four years, have championed this cause with donations totaling more than $100,000.”

At the close of the 2025 campaign, teams will have secured a grant of 80 percent of the funds raised, including any matching gifts or leadership giving boosts provided by AFC. Campaign funds will be disbursed in August. The 20 percent share that is retained by AFC will build up the Kids Helping Kids Fund to enable even more youth-focused grants across Canada.

Visit www.anglicanfoundation.org/apply/sytk to register today.

For more information contact: Michelle Hauser, development & communications officer, Anglican Foundation of Canada

mhauser@anglicanfoundation.org

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Speaking on behalf of the Mississippi Mills All My Relations Group, John Coderre told the more than 200 people gathered that the circle of seven stones and animal carvings represents “the work of a creative team that included both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working together— true model of what truth and reconciliation can be,” he said. “The installation is a reminder that although Mississippi Mills is only 200 years old, the Algonquin have used this land and that waterway for thousands of years. The Seven Gifts is not only a great work of art, but it provides a sacred space in our community and a continuing opportunity for everyone to learn and seek healing with one another and with the land.”

Seven large stones donated by the Tatlock Quarry are arranged in a circle in Almonte’s Riverfront Park. Artist Deborah Arnold was commissioned to carve the stones and provide a place on each for a spirit animal carving. Algonquin artist Nish Nabie was commissioned to carve seven spirit animals. The eagle represents love; the beaver, wisdom; the turtle, truth; the buffalo, respect; the wolf, humility; the raven, honesty; and the bear, bravery. His carvings were then cast in wax by Darlene McLeod and then into bronze by Almonte sculptor Dale Dunning.

Together, the stones and animals, “celebrate the Seven Teachings brought to a child from the Seven Grandfathers of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg,” a sign at the circle explains, encouraging visitors to “Come, with hearts open and full of child-like wonder” and contemplate the meaning of each gift.

Anglicans were key supporters of the project. The Anglican Diocese of Ottawa provided a grant of $10,000 through its All My Relations Circle, and the Anglican Foundation of Canada provided another grant of $15,000.

Sue Evans, co-chair of the Mississippi Mills All My Relations group, offered a land acknowledgment that also acknowledged injustices in local history as Mississippi Mills marks its bicentennial year. “For the past several hundred years, we, as a society, have been oblivious to the harm our people have caused to both your people and to this land. Two hundred years ago, not long after the War of 1812, with your people’s help, we were able to prevent the takeover of this land by the Americans. Then we moved into this territory, forgetful of your tremendous contribution, and took it over to make it our own. We pushed you either onto a reserve, or if you chose not to go, deeper into the woods to try to survive however you could,” she said. “We know from the graves we’ve discovered on a hill in Pakenham that many of you died from diseases we had brought with us from our homeland. We confess that we have destroyed the original trust that once existed between us. We seek then to do what we can to grow in our understanding of these truths, to revise the history we tell ourselves, and to renew friendships with you if you are willing.”

Nish Nabie sang an Algonquin song at the ceremony, and he spoke about his mother’s suffering as a survivor of residential school and losing him as an infant in the Sixties Scoop when many Indigenous children were taken away from their families. Nabie spent 20 years as a First Nations police officer and only began carving after he was injured on the job and had to stop working as an officer. He thanked the Mississippi Mills All My Relations Group for recognizing him as an artist.

He thanked his wife Lona for her encouragement as he worked on the carvings. “I had to give it everything I have, all my soul, my spirit, in those carvings, so that when you go and look at that, you would know that my carvings come from love. I’m very honoured that they’ll be here,” he said. “It’s so important that we all understand what those those animals, those totems are all about. Reconciliation. Reconciliation stands for so much for us as human beings.”

Nabie remarked on his surprise that during the process of creating the installation, he became friends with the Rev. Jonathon Kouri. Priests had always been a reminder of his mother’s suffering in a residential school, and Kouri is the Incumbent at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Almonte. He is also a member of the Mississippi Mills All My Relations Group and shared this reflection with those gathered:

“In 1993,… Archbishop Michael Peers, who was the leader of the entire National Church of Canada, offered a public apology for the church’s role in the residential school system….When the apology was given, there was a recognition that the apology was just a beginning. It was something that needed to be lived into because anyone can get up and offer words, but those words need to be backed up with concrete actions. For 30 years now, the Anglican Church … has been living into that apology in various ways. Archbishop Peers passed away this past summer, but the work that he inaugurated through that apology carries on. It carries on here in Almonte.”

Kouri added, “This is but one step on the wider journey of healing and reconciliation…. The Seven Gifts’ opening doesn’t mean we can be complacent and sit down and forget about this, because the injustices that Indigenous people have faced are ongoing…. It’s incumbent upon all of us to stand together with our Indigenous brothers and sisters and to work for a better future for all people.”

He also read a letter from Bishop Shane Parker:

“The land you stand upon is ancient, and the first voices to speak on this land were those of Algonquin Anishinaabe people. An important part of reconciliation is to hear and respect the wisdom that creator gave to those who first spoke on this land. A wisdom that continued to flow through generations of Algonquin Anishinaabe, despite egregious attempts by non-Indigenous people to erase them. The Seven Gifts provides a place to lift up the ancient wisdom Creator gave to the first human beings who lived on this land. And it is a place to strive for right relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, so that we can celebrate our common humanity as creatures made in the image of our Creator. We are made from love, and we are made to love. I offer warm congratulations to your community for bringing this sacred place into being.”

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The board also approved the introduction of Category A grants of up to $5,000 with no matching local funds required. “These category A grants were introduced for AFC’s 2021 Say Yes! to Kids Request for Proposal and proved very effective,” explains Rob Dickson, chair of the Grants Policy Working Group. “That experience demonstrated how the infusion of a few thousand dollars can have an enormously positive impact on ministry.”

The long-established traditional AFC grants—up to $15,000 and no more than 50% of the project budget—will become the new Category B grant.

Lastly, the AFC board approved the introduction of Category C grants of up to $50,000. “This new third category will allow the board greater discretion in approving larger grants where the impact will be most beneficial,” explains Brubacher. “It will also allow AFC to be a more flexible funding partner in dioceses where a cornerstone project needs a major boost.”

Rob Dickson says the new and much larger Category C grants have the potential to be a game-changer for smaller dioceses. “The opportunity to submit a $50,000 grant request is well-suited to a diocese that may have the capacity to bring only one project per year, but a transformational project the entire diocese can rally around.”

Dickson says the Category C grant will be the one application a diocese is allowed to submit in a calendar year. In terms of the matching funding requirement for such a project, that will be left to the discretion of the AFC board. Dioceses will need to articulate a strong case for merit, and the board will have to evaluate these applications very carefully.

The board also approved removing the requirement that grant applicants be current members of AFC. Dickson says, “It is more consistent with our value of generosity to invite applicants to donate out of a spirit of generosity to ‘pay it forward’.”

These changes mark the conclusion of AFC’s Grants Policy Working Group’s year-long review. “The Foundation’s role in resourcing a change-minded church in the wake of a global pandemic is only beginning to be defined,” says Brubacher. “We hope our members and friends across the Canadian church will see in these changes to our grant program a deep and genuine desire to resource the church as faithfully and abundantly as possible, so that we may drive change, together, with hope, courage, and vision.”

For more information on AFC’s new grant categories or to apply for an AFC grant, visit anglicanfoundation.org/apply.

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By the end of 2022, more than $257,000 had been donated. Using funds from the sale of a property, “the Diocese of New Westminster ACW provided $100,000 this past spring to launch the fund. Other ACWs across Canada then took up the challenge to do their part as well. And then an incredible $150,000 arrived in early December as a memorial gift, from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous,” says Brubacher.

“In 2023, we will continue to work through the granting and disbursement process in partnership with the Council of the North. We expect to receive requests from retired clergy in need of assistance through the Council, and our goal is to begin to disburse funds to beneficiaries this year.”

Canadian Anglicans began to learn more about the plight of northern clergy when the Anglican Journal published an article in December 2020 about the homelessness experienced by Rev. Jonas Allooloo, former dean of St. Jude’s Cathedral in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

“Non-stipendiary clergy have made the church in the North viable and yet they will not receive a pension from the Anglican Church,” says Gail Revitt, past president, New Westminster ACW. “Our members felt called to respond to this housing crisis in a meaningful and tangible way.”

“The council is very thankful to the New West ACW and the other visionary benefactors,” said Bishop David Lehman. Bishop of Caledonia and Chair of the Council of the North— “The response to date has given so much hope that we may look to a future where those who have served the church are well-served in their retirement.”

—Michelle Hauser, AFC

To make a gift to the ACW Council of the North Retired Clergy Fund please contact Michelle Hauser, AFC’s Development & Communications Officer at mhauser@anglicanfoundation.org or visit anglicanfoundation.org/donate.

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Founded in 1957, AFC remains best known for supporting church infrastructure projects. As Brubacher remarks, “That’s completely understandable because for many churches, the call to imagine more has included funding for ramps, lifts, roofs, washrooms, and so much of the essential infrastructure that allows churches to welcome parishioners and reach out to community members.” In the past decade, of the more than $6 million in grants and loans awarded, nationally, forty per cent went to support infrastructure projects.

In recent years, AFC has also become a major partner in innovative ministry and spiritual formation projects, funding visionary programming that reflect an increasingly missional church. The remaining sixty per cent of AFC’s funding during the past decade supported other key impact zones: leadership and education, community ministries, Indigenous ministries, and sacred music and liturgical arts. These days, it’s fair to say that AFC’s funding extends well beyond bricks and mortar to foster a healthy, vibrant church.

Brubacher acknowledges that the first year of the pandemic presented funding challenges owing to the combination of fewer grant applications and the initial impact on AFC’s investment portfolio. “2021, however, was a totally different story. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our donor family—and the energy and creativity of our grant applicants—AFC had its most impactful year ever and gave more than $1 million in grants. Let’s aim that high again in 2022!” 

Brubacher is inspired by all the churches who are doing great work in uncertain times. “There are a lot of people finding courageous and creative ways to do good ministry, and for those who want to branch out, AFC is both a dependable and a hopeful partner. We believe in the vital importance of the Anglican church in our Canadian context, and we’re here to invest in that!” 

The deadline to apply for AFC’s spring grant cycle is April 1, 2022. Visit www.anglicanfoundation.org/apply for more information or email foundation@anglicanfoundation.org. 

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