This is the fourth of a series of articles exploring the use of our senses in connecting with God.

If we restrict our understanding and the practice of prayer as being an activity only of the head, it can be likened to a bird trying to fly with one wing. We would be missing the richness of the use of the senses that God has given us. To “sense” something is to understand and experience life, gaining knowledge and achieving our potential. As we do with the physical world around in touching, tasting, smelling, seeing, and hearing, so, too, we can use our senses to learn about and experience God.

In this article we explore the use of our sense of hearing and prayer.

In prayer, we should spend a majority of our time listening to what God is saying to us. I recently heard an interview with author, Ronald Rolheiser, in which he said that when we are faced with decisions or are searching for direction: our head tells us what we should do: our heart tells us what we want to do: and our gut tells us what we must do. God speaks to our head, our heart, and our gut.

My experience is that God often speaks to me through others when they speak to us. Hearing and listening are two different things. We can hear someone talking, but unless we focus and pay attention, and listen they are just noise. When we listen to what is being said we are engaging our mind and spirit on the content. Some of my most meaningful times of prayer have been prompted by listening to others speaking to me in conversation or in a presentation. I also sense God speaking to me when I listen to the reading of scripture or the words of worship services or podcasts,

Another powerful way God speaks is through listening to music. Most often through the sung words of hymns, songs and chants. However, often instrumental music triggers a closeness to God that I do not otherwise achieve. Prayer and Praise go together. In addition to sung words and music, spoken words, meaningful worship, which is, after all, a form of prayer, is often enhanced by such things as bells and singing bowls, all of which can lead to prayer and a powerful full connection to God.

As we use our sense of hearing to listen to God, may we be guided by the Holy Spirit in all that we do.

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It is not surprising, therefore, to find this remarkable photograph of Saint Alban-the-Martyr Church, Mattawa taken only four years after the church was built in 1883. In 1882, the Mission of Clara was established, to provide services for the Mattawa and Chalk River district.  Land was conveyed to the Rev. Charles Vaughan Forster Bliss on 6 November 1882, and Saint Alban’s Church was built at Mattawa, probably the following year. The man we see here in the bowler hat was probably Forster Bliss. By 1884, the Clara Mission consisted of Mattawa, Chalk River, Sturgeon Falls, Bissett’s Creek and North Bay.

Saint Alban’s was not a large church, but its name and High Victorian Gothic Revival design speaks to the missionary drive of those who built it. It was as if Saint Alban’s, Ottawa had been transferred to the frontier and built on a smaller scale and in brick. Its belfry containing a sacral bell was stationed above the chancel arch inside, and the steep belfry roof was crowned by a Celtic cross.

Unlike the earliest churches that simply had been auditory boxes, the different rooflines marked the separate functions of the porch, the sacristy, the nave, the chancel. A cross was marked in brick in the upper west wall, while the lancet arches in the doors and windows proclaimed to the world passing by that this was a Christian house of worship. If Mattawa could not afford the iron cresting of Saint Alban’s in Ottawa, it lined the ridgepole with crockets fashioned from wood. In the distance on the far right we see the roof of a driveshed for parishioners driving into the village from a distance.

There are various extraordinary features shown here. Not least of these is the landscape strewn with boulders, as if to illustrate that early farmers in Renfrew County faced a harvest of stones. So early is this picture that no attempt has been made at landscaping; instead a wooden walkway was placed over the boulders to prevent anyone stumbling as they made their way to the church. The large clergy house on the left was home to various clergy who served a large territory. An enclosed walkway was built between the clergy house and the church sacristy. A frame shed in front of this walkway most likely contained privies; they too had pointed windows.

Two years before this photograph was taken, the Church of England mission included: Mattawa; Saint Michael’s, North Bay; Saint Mary’s, Sturgeon Falls, Chalk River; Lake Tallon [sic]; Deux Rivières; La Vase among other places. In 1886, this territory was renamed the Upper Ottawa Mission, and it included outstations at Renton and Les Erable [sic].  In 1887, the mission included Saint Alban’s, Mattawa; Chalk River; Saint Augustine’s, Deux Rivières; Saint Margaret’s, Lake Tallon (Rutherglen); Fields’ schoolhouse and Schoolhouse No. 3; Eau Claire; Petawawa; Klock’s and Les Erable [sic].

The Diocesan Archives collects parish registers, vestry reports, service registers, minutes of groups and committees, financial documents, property records (including cemeteries and architectural plans), insurance policies, letters, pew bulletins, photographs and paintings, scrapbooks, parish newsletters, unusual documents.

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Yet in today’s world, to keep Advent, in its true fullness, is also counter-cultural. The world around us, thanks to consumerism, launches into full-blown “Christmas” sometime just after Remembrance Day. Yet Advent invites us to an active waiting, preparing our hearts and minds, our very souls, to once again celebrate the Babe of Bethlehem and Lord of life in Christmas.  There is great spiritual insight in this. In the world around us there is a tendency to rush into Christmas, Easter and other times of celebration, and yet, once the feast has fully arrived it is over. Gone. Dead. It reveals to us that the pattern of this world is life-death. Yet for Christians the pattern of God is death-life. So it is that in Lent we enter a time of reflection on human mortality and sin, leading to Jesus’ execution, only to greet the risen Christ on Easter and then celebrate Easter for 50 days. Where Lent is 40 days, the Easter celebration is 50 days and finds its fulfillment in the gift of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost, making it a living, perpetual, feast.  

Similarly in Advent, we enter into a time of preparation, actively waiting, soul searching, and longing as our preparation for Christmas. Then Christmas itself is a season not a day. In the fullness of our tradition, Christmas is celebrated with 12 days of music, scripture and reflection that leads, in turn, to the long season of Epiphany. In Epiphany, we explore the meaning of the birth of Christ as we enter the New Year in faith. Again, Advent is teaching us that the economy of God is not life/death, but death/life. The Advent scriptures underscore all this as we encounter, over the four weeks of Advent, Waiting, Repentance, and Birthing God. 

On week one we hear the call to “be alert” to “be awake.” This is a reference to the active waiting mentioned above. It is the kind of waiting we do, not in a lineup somewhere, but as an active preparation for an important guest. It is a calling to be present in and engaged with the world. In the last four years, as our world has undergone the angst of a global pandemic, and now we witness wars in Ukraine and most recently in Israel/Palestine, it has been tempting to say something to the effect of “wake me when it is over.” But our Advent faith tells us to engage, to be alert, and to continue to reach out. We are called to not turn our eyes away from these things.  Just as in our Diocese, during the pandemic, we pivoted our ministries both parochial and at community ministries, to ensure that people were cared for and the poor supported, so too in this current place of “wars and rumours of wars” we are called to be present. We are, I believe, called to be aware of the crisis, the injustices and the complexities of these situations so that we may respond with aid, knowledge, and challenge to the assumptions our culture often makes. This is equally true for the burdens of this inflationary time, as well as the homelessness crisis and the pressure it is putting on the most vulnerable. This is the true spirit of “being alert” and “being awake” for the Christ.

On the second and third weeks of Advent we usually hear the story of John the Baptist and his call to repentance. Repentance is about a change of heart/mind. It involves the soul searching to be honest with ourselves about our lives and the life of our world.  On a cursory reading, John the Baptist sometimes comes across as a slightly unhinged, judgmental wild man. Yet ultimately while provocative, he was a prophetic figure that people came to hear from all the surrounding country. That tells us that to the people of his time, John was speaking Good News. News people wanted to hear! His message then, as now, is something we need to hear in order to lighten life’s burdens and give hope. The call to repentance is not as simple as confessing our sins. True repentance is about a deep transformative soul searching which empowers us to let go of the anxious self-concern of our egos, in order to live more fully and consciously before God in the human community. In this year’s reading from Mark it says, speaking of John’s ministry, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” In other words, John’s role was to call all who hear to live, not just concerned for themselves, but in the kind of compassion, forgiveness and understanding that builds communities, lifts the burdens of the needy, and reaches out to the marginalized…the way of the Lord! In the difficult economic and politically charged times in which John and Jesus lived, this was good news indeed. And so it is for us too in our own difficult economic and politically charged times.

Finally on the last Sunday of Advent, we explore the life and ministry of Mary. In the rich metaphorical language of the Gospels, we hear how Mary was called to be the God Bearer (Theotokos from the Eastern Church). We are asked to remember, through her, that we are similarly called to be God Bearers and to give birth to the Christ in our own lives. To use St Paul’s imagery, to “put on the mind of Christ.” When I hear that phrase I feel that it is an invitation to look in the mirror, and ask ourselves the question: When people meet us do they feel that they have met the reflection of the Christ? Do we represent the way of the Christ in our conversation, compassion, listening, concern for the poor, the displaced/dispossessed and care for God’s creation?

With these rich themes Advent prepares us for Christmas. Christmas itself, only actually begins at sundown on Dec. 24. But the feast as a whole, extends to Epiphany (little Christmas) and in many respects into the Epiphany Season. There was a time when Christians remembered this and observed each day of Christmas as important. Sadly, in the world around us, Christmas is over on the 26th.  (I have often cynically commented that at one time was there was a Christmas week that had a boxing day in it. Now there is a boxing week that happens to have a Christmas day in it.) Perhaps it is time we reclaim what is ours. Perhaps it is time to mark the fullness of Advent and Christmas/Epiphany and to enjoy the human and divine journey it represents. There is an ancient tradition of keeping the Creche out until Feb. 2nd (Candlemas) to remind us that Christmas moves into Epiphany and that together they call us into the very life of God in Christ.  May we all pass a blessèd Advent and a full and spiritually renewing Christmas Season.

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I was involved with St. Bernard from the beginning (1978) and have fond memories of this small community meeting at Saint James, Hull and informally gathered around the altar with Charlotte, as always, caring for the children, which at times seemed to outnumber the adults. When I was the Bishop of Ottawa and while the congregation was still in what was then called Hull and before it re-located to Aylmer and now to St. Alban’s, Ottawa, I made an annual visit and always, at their request, at the same time. It was Epiphany and I felt that it was because they wanted to share something with me, as well as their usual kindness.

In place of a sermon was the ‘Living Nativity Scene,’ and one might expect the familiar tableau of Christmas pageants and, of course, this was a part of it enacted by children and adults. However, the story did not end with the shepherds and Magi visiting Bethlehem. It continued with the flight into Egypt and it became clear why this part of the story was particularly important to the cast. Many of them and much of this congregation had come, some recently, as refugees from Africa. I then remember how, after the play, they would stand at the chancel steps and tell their story of having been refugees. It was so moving for me that I have shared the experience as I visited throughout the Diocese.

The Holy Family’s story was their story of escaping violence, of being displaced, of living in refugee camps, of having hopes and disappointments and waiting for a permanent and safe home. As The Word became incarnate in Jesus, it did so in the lives of the experience of these people, God’s people, in this case as refugees in Africa who would, in time, come to safe haven. Their story is a familiar one but sadly it is repeated and many have not yet found that haven. This story is also that of those who are displaced in our own communities by violence, rejection or for any cause and are homeless or otherwise vulnerable and also seeking that haven. They too have their story. “Those who have ears to hear…”.

The beauty of the Incarnation is that God enters our experience and accompanies us and calls us to accompany each other so many ways and on so many journeys. I just give thanks for those who have reminded me that this is so by sharing their story.

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An activist for women’s rights, Azizi advised women about their rights to be educated, to work, to avoid forced marriages for themselves and their daughters in her home province of Herat, but moved to Kabul after the Taliban threatened to kill her and her brothers.

She found work with an independent organization that monitored conditions for women working inside 33 departments of the Afghan government. But the situation wasn’t safe in Kabul either.  A bus taking female staff to work was blown up killing 20 people. “We had some bomb explosions. Every morning when we went to the office, I didn’t know if I would come back or not,” she said.

On the morning of Aug. 15, 2021, she and a few colleagues were in their office in a building that was normally filled with about 300 people. Azizi stepped into the corridor and realized the building was empty and they were alone. Her colleague checked her phone and said, “The Taliban is coming into Kabul.” The government of Afghanistan had been at war with the Taliban, but until that day, it had controlled the capital. Azizi called her husband Tajuddin Farzam, who was part of the Afghan president’s staff. “Leave your office as soon as possible,” he told her. Azizi and her colleagues left everything. “All the streets were blocked by the traffic jam,” she said. “All the people tried to run, run anywhere.”

She and her husband had lots of documents in their home that showed we are employees and that she was a human rights activist. “We tried to put them in water to destroy them” or hide them, she told Crosstalk. But now the Taliban had access to their offices, computers, human resource databases. Some people fled to the airport to get out of the country, but Azizi and Farzam felt it was too dangerous to even try to get there. They stayed at home for about a month.

Until that point, the Taliban had said women were allowed to keep working, but Azizi and her collegues were not allowed to return to their offices. They organized a well-attended peaceful demonstration to call for women’s right to work and to education covered by the media. They kept their faces covered. The Taliban didn’t respond immediately, but later when Azizi and Farzam were not home, they came to their apartment looking for them. A neighbour called Azizi and warned them not to come home.

They stayed with friends and family, but they decided they had to try to get out of Afghanistan. Through some family members, they managed to get visas to go to Pakistan. Farzam’s brother gathered some documents and three sets of clothes from their apartment, and with Azizi disguised under a burqa, they drove to the border of Pakistan and made it out of the country.

They had hoped to make a new life in Pakistan, but when they finally got an appointment with the UN office for refugees, they were given only a case number. The UNHCR informed them that because there were so many refugees the Pakistani government would not allow them to give them refugee cards, which would have given them the right to stay in the country and work legally.

And so they were stuck in a tiny apartment in Islamabad with almost nothing aside from a small carpet, two plates and two glasses in 40 to 50 degree temperatures. “We had a fan, but most of the time we didn’t have power,” Azizi said. They tried to stay cool in the bath and tried to stay calm, but the stress was terrible. They couldn’t live in Pakistan with no income, and they couldn’t go home.

They were in contact with Farzam’s brother in Ottawa. Azizi told her sister-in-law, “We are in the worst situation in our life. I think our life is ending.” They didn’t have the means to sponsor them to come to Canada, but they looked for a way to help them and contacted a team at St. John the Evangelist in Ottawa, who have sponsored many refugees over the years in partnership with the Diocese, which is a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Azizi and Farzam were eligible to come to Canada under a special program called Operation Afghan Safety, created after the Taliban took power, but their sponsorship still took about seven months from the time the team put the application in until they arrived in Canada in late July.

“We love the people of Canada. They are so kind, they are so lovely. We feel we have new families here,” said Azizi, adding that they are eager to contribute to building Canada in ways they weren’t able to in Afghanistan.

Brian and Margot Cameron are part of the core team at St. John that sponsors refugees, which includes people from outside the church as well. The church’s history as sponsors goes back to the 1970s when “the boat people” came from Viet Nam. Over the last five years, they estimate they have helped bring more than 100 people to Canada from places such as Eritrea and Iraq.

Brian talked about the joy of seeing the newcomers succeed and and celebrating with them. In some cases, they stay in touch.

Once people are settled, they often want to bring their loved ones to safety in Canada as well, the Camerons said, so one sponsorship often leads to others.

As veteran members of a constituent group (sponsor), the Camerons say fundraising is a challenge and warn parishes considering doing a sponsorship that they may need to raise more money than the amount the Canadian government requires, particularly for accommodation.

“One of the ways we do it is by family sponsorships,” says Margot. “We co-sponsor with the family. The family raises the money. and we do the administration.”

Another option is to sponsor someone or a family with a Blended Visa Office-Referred program, in which the government shares the cost of supporting the newcomers during their first year in Canada.

The Camerons strongly recommend that anyone considering sponsorship complete the government’s online Refugee Sponsorship Training Program [www.rstp.ca], which provides a step-by-step guide. Margot also recommends getting in touch with groups who have sponsored refugees before.

The Refugee Ministry Office at Ascension House supports parishes considering or in the process of sponsorship. Case manager Ishita Ghose says she and her colleague Reem Abu Afieh can help by reviewing applications, ensuring they are complete and submitting them; following up if additional documents are required, and guiding applicants through the interview process. They can also contact the Immigration department if the family has faced any changes or adversities that might require the case to be expedited.

Ghose says the pace of case processing has picked up again since the pandemic. As of mid- November, the diocesan Refugee Ministry Office has helped 123 newcomers to Canada from 42 sponsorship cases.

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Here in the ‘brave new world of the West, we have grown out of religion,” he observed.

He offered encouragement to the people of the Diocese of Ottawa in the challenges of offering the love of God and their faith in that context. “I perceived in you a sense of holding on to something that you feel really is very, very precious and … that spark that you want to fan into something bigger. Yes, I did hear a sense and a fear that maybe what you’ve got is so fragile it could actually be lost,” But he said, “The promised world of the post-religious framework has failed to deliver most of those great promises….We live in a world that perhaps, certainly as much as ever, maybe more than ever, needs to hear the gospel that God is love and that Christ has promised to be with us till the end of the ages. We have this heritage and if we keep it sheltered amongst ourselves, we are denying our people the gift that changes the world.”

….There are many different ways to share our faith, he said. “They have to come from us, come from the heart and truth, with integrity. So, I want to encourage and commend you and say continue to be a gift to your neighborhoods, your communities and find those sparks so that you perceive where it is that God is already working and that you get to work with God.”

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Following the presentation on contextual mission and new worshipping communities, Bishop Shane Parker outlined how a new forward-looking initiative will involve every parish:

“By 2028, each one of our parishes and congregations will be engaged in contextual mission, and each one will have initiated or collaborated in at least one identifiable new venture. By 2032, the 135th anniversary of the founding of our diocese, we will have 35 new worshipping communities in a great variety of shapes and sizes. Resources to support the formation of lay and clergy leaders in contextual mission and the creation of new worshipping communities will be shaped by the new contextual mission subcommittee. A microgrants program to support new initiatives will also be rolled out.  Today, we are launching the essential foundation of our vision and goals. As I now call our diocesan church into a time of prayer as we listen for the divine sparks in our midst.“

The Action 2 team thanked the Rev. Michael Garner for suggesting that this new diocesan-wide venture begin with a diocesan-wide time of prayer.

“We believe if we listen as a diocese, really listen, take time and discern, test the things we hear, that indeed God’s spirit will speak to us…,” said Garner. “Active listening to and for God can become the turning point for us as people of faith and the turning point for our diocese. If we have the courage to say, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening,” we also have to be willing to act on what we might hear. So, there’s risk in listening to God, in responding to Jesus, to moving as the Holy Spirit leads, because the Spirit will move us to where Jesus is.”

He shared a quote from former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, “Where might you expect to find the followers of Jesus? One answer is in the neighborhood of chaos. It means you might expect to find Christian people near to those places where humanity is most at risk, where humanity is most disordered, disfigured, and needy. … If following is being led to where Jesus is, then following is being led towards the chaos and the neediness of a humanity that has forgotten its own destiny.” 

Garner said, “Thankfully, this is not something that God has left us alone to accomplish in our own power. God has sent the Spirit to dwell within and amongst us, to give us the ability to do, what? More than we can ask or imagine. And we must remember that the actor in the renewal of the cosmos is God. It is not us. But God is inviting us to participate with them in their work.” 

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What is contextual mission?

Archdeacon Mark Whittall explained that contextual mission begins with the question “How is God calling us to proclaim the Good News in our time and our place?…We live in a post-pandemic, what some people call a post-Christendom world.” But he underlined that the church still has gifts and a life-giving faith to offer others. “We have wonderful communities of faith that can welcome those who are looking for a spiritual home. The connection, the joy, the sense of belonging that we offer is of incredible value. Our Anglican tradition, at its best, is thoughtful and generous. Our liturgies are participatory and beautiful. We are grounded in compassion and committed to social justice. We are a global communion. We are rooted in the apostolic tradition. We have demonstrated a capacity to evolve in our thinking and practices and to engage with contemporary issues. We certainly aren’t perfect, but we have shown at least some capacity to acknowledge our mistakes and to repent. We offer a spiritual home where people can deepen their connection with God and with each other, where we can grow, where we can care for one another, and serve our neighbours.”

Contextual Mission at St. James, Perth

The Rev. Thomas Brauer offered an example to illustrate what contextual mission is from the experience of St. James, Perth when kids broke into the church basement with their skateboards. The church’s initial reaction was to put up “No skateboarding” signs, but when challenged by a young parishioner named Peter, it changed course and instead added skateboarding ramps to welcome and embrace that community of young people. Brauer recounted that later one of the mission leaders said that “One of the goals we have here is getting better at skateboarding, as well as fellowship and praising God.”

Even though that ministry to the skaters no longer operates, Brauer said “its success is found in the fact that the church had the courage to go where God sent them, to the place the community needed them, and to partner in God’s mission for the time it was needed.” Not every effort in contextual mission will lead to an opportunity to create a new worshipping community, but those efforts offer opportunities to engage, build relationships, and to explore the potential for new worshipping communities.

“The Spirit beckons”

Paul Mugarura, who leads a new worshipping community on Sunday afternoons at Trinity Church in Ottawa, spoke at last year’s Synod about the need for parishes to be more welcoming and open to Anglicans and Christians coming to Canada from other parts of the world. This year, he offered inspiration for parishes exploring the possibilities for contextual mission and new worshipping communities.

“I believe that the reason that the Anglican Church has persisted for so long and did not die off after a generation was because those who were stewards of the movement before us met the challenges of their contexts head-on. What is different, however, is that we’re living through an unprecedented season of accelerated demographic, cultural, societal, and religious change. And so the pace of our response has to be changed. Our capacity to respond has to be increased. Our imagination has to be activated. Our willingness to try new things has to be encouraged. … As our demographics change, we will have to navigate the tension between stewarding our legacy and imagining a new Anglican tradition or movement that thrives in the future. As the ethnicities in our communities change, we will have to make room for expressions of faith that may differ from our historical expressions.

The rapidly changing context in which we currently live may look daunting to some, but I’ve come to see things differently…. I believe that this is an opportunity to add new pages to the book….. I believe that we can build on the work of legacy congregations by starting new faith communities which are not viewed as competition because they’re reaching new people. I believe that we can be agents of justice in a world beset by injustice. I believe that we can be instruments of grace and peace in a world of deep division and suspicion. I believe that the work the church has to do is not yet complete. Our changing context illuminates new, exciting roads to travel. I believe the spirit beckons.”

What is a new worshipping community?

The Rev. Thomas Brauer tackled this question. “By new community, we mean a community that is centred on Jesus Christ. That’s not new. That’s what we’ve all been doing all this time. That may be born out of our inherited congregations, again, that’s not the new part, or out of our outreach programs and other activities, but especially are born out of the unique prompting of God. And sometimes that is more new than we would like it to be. Not born out of a strategic action plan but born out of the prompting and movement of God discerned through prayer and attention to the Spirit of God.

“By worshipping community, we mean that it is a community that nourishes and practices discipleship in Jesus Christ (again, that’s nothing new. That’s what we are. It’s our DNA.) and has the capacity to evolve into a community of Word, Sacrament and pastoral care.” He was quick to add, however, that it doesn’t need to start there. “A new worshipping community does not need to be a community of… the Eucharist. It can be something radically different, but if it has the capacity to move into that, then we understand it to be the potential of a new worshipping community.”

What would a new worshipping community look and be like?

“It may be a new church plant, perhaps, spot into our Anglican heritage and tradition, because that’s what the people are needing,” said Brauer. “Or it could be something else, new, and noticeably different from what we might expect of inherited Sunday morning-style expressions of worship and community.”

He offered St. Jimmy’s Table in Carleton Place, which has been identified as one of two new worshipping community pilot projects, as an example. At St. Jimmy’s Table, they have monthly events for families with crafts and other activities, with a meal and child-friendly faith formation. “It is in every way church, but it’s not in the church. And in fact, it is intended for those families and people for whom Sunday morning worship isn’t working. They can’t get there. It’s not fitting,” Brauer said. But it is an evolving worshipping community that is adding a youth component. “Now it is truly multi-generational, whole families, parents, children, teenagers. And they can tailor their work for the unique needs of the different ages within that group.

“We would call St. Jimmy’s Table the new worshipping community because it is a new expression of worship, meeting the needs of a community that might not already have a church home, while also welcoming those who are already part of the church, but have a different set of needs. They are nourishing and practicing discipleship in Jesus Christ across multiple generations, and it has the capacity to grow.”

The Vision

Bishop Shane outlined how this new forward-looking initiative will involve every parish:

“By 2028, each one of our parishes and congregations will be engaged in contextual mission, and each one will have initiated or collaborated in at least one identifiable new venture. By 2032, the 135th anniversary of the founding of our diocese, we will have 35 new worshipping communities in a great variety of shapes and sizes. Resources to support the formation of lay and clergy leaders in contextual mission and the creation of new worshipping communities will be shaped by the new contextual mission subcommittee. A microgrants program to support new initiatives will also be rolled out.

Today, we are launching the essential foundation of our vision and goals. As I now call our diocesan church into a time of prayer as we listen for the divine sparks in our midst.

How will the people and parishes of the diocese do this?

The Rev. Simone Hurkmans was the team member tasked with explaining how this ambitious vision could be realized.

She unveiled an action plan with 27 concrete actions, divided into five broad categories: A time of prayer; establishing and overseeing the practice of contextual mission; supporting leaders, lay and clergy; supporting parishes and congregations, and financial resources.

“The important thing to note is that all of the actions share a common theme and that word that describes that theme is support,” Hurkmans said. “The actions are all about supporting us in doing God’s work in the world.”

The first and essential step is prayer, she said. “We can look at demographics, we can look at statistics, we can look at business plans. But over the past year, our research in talking to people who have done contextual ministry, who have started new worshipping communities, is that it has to be rooted in prayer.”

After Synod approved the Action Plan, A Time of Prayer was officially launched on the final morning of Synod with a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to help all of the parishes in the diocese discover God’s divine sparks in their midst.

The Action Plan

1. A Time of Prayer – Listening for Divine Sparks in our Midst This diocesan-wide initiative was launched on the final morning of Synod. It calls on all parishes, groups, and individuals to participate in regular prayer to discern where God wants parishes and congregations to act. The bishop will appoint a working group to pray for, oversee, and implement “A Time of Prayer.” Each parish and group will identify a point person. Prompts, resources, and prayers will be generated.
2. Establishing and overseeing the practice of Contextual Mission – The bishop, Diocesan Council and other lay and clergy leaders will play an essential role in the support, monitoring, evaluation, and communications.
3. Supporting Leaders, Lay and Clergy – with resources such as a knowledge network, qualified coaches, symposia, opportunities to participate in courses and workshops
4. Supporting Parishes and Congregations– with a step-by-step guide to engaging in contextual mission and new worshipping communities; multiple sources of funding and other resources
5. Financial Resources – Parish funds used to support new contextual mission initiatives and NWCs will be exempt from assessment for Proportional Parish Share and a microgrant program will be established to support contextual mission and NWCs and will be financed from the Future Fund.

Finances

Presented by Sandra Hamway, ADO director of communications and development, Synod approved a proposal first discussed at the 2022 Synod to rename and repurpose the existing Second Century Fund as the Future Fund to provide resources for contextual mission and new worshipping communities.

The fund (currently about $1.6 million) will essentially function as an endowment, maintaining its principal while offering about $62,000 in dividends each year for use as microgrants, with some possibility for draw downs on the principal, which will not fall below $1 million. The fund will be overseen by a panel and the bishop.

The Action 2 team thanked Karen McBride, a student at St. Paul University, who was instrumental in helping craft a Time of Prayer and will be putting together the resources for parishes such as Prayers of the People and Bible studies.

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Youth animator Donna Rourke asked them to share some of their thoughts and impressions.

“It was really wonderful to get to go to Synod as an observer for the first time,” said Evan Desilets. “I really learned a lot! What stuck out the most to me was Dean Richard Sewell’s opening and closing statements. It really brought the reality of what is happening in Israel and Palestine a lot closer to home. His statements about how we display our faith here, as opposed to people in Israel was really food for thought.”

He added, “I loved hearing about the plans for contextual ministry, I’m excited to see how it gets implemented across the diocese over the next year.”

Both he and Madeleine Gomery, who attended as a delegate from Christ Church Cathedral, said that the Rev. Canon PJ Hobbs’ presentation about the difficult challenges the Anglican Community Ministries are facing right now inspired them to get involved and volunteer.

Gomery attended Synod last year and said she noticed a more subdued energy in the room this year – “very reasonably – because of the heart-wrenching recent events in Gaza and Israel. “I was very moved by Dean Richard Sewell’s reflections and impressed with the balance he managed to strike in speaking about a contentious recent event,” she said.

Cailleen Dolan, who was representing St. John’s Kanata North, was also mulling these difficult issues over. “It is easy to get so caught up in the bad news that we don’t know where to begin to help,” she said. “Fortunately, especially among the other young adult attendees I got to meet, I sensed a deep desire to make a change.”

Gomery and Desilets both said they enjoyed the fellowship with everyone at Synod too. I really enjoyed being able to connect with “young” (i.e., 18-30s) Anglicans from across the Diocese, said Desilets.

“As always, it was lovely to interact with people from all over our diocese over the three days of Synod—some whom I recognized, some of whom I was meeting for the first time. I am so grateful for the friendliness, collaboration, and knowledgeability of my fellow Anglicans.” – Staff

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