Tout au long des Écritures, nous entendons l’appel à la conversion par la repentance. Jean le Baptiste a appelé les gens à une vie nouvelle par le biais de la repentance. Jésus a fait de même au début de sa vie publique, en faisant de la repentance la condition d’entrée dans le Royaume de Dieu. Il a confié la même tâche à ses disciples lorsqu’il les a envoyés en mission (par exemple, Marc 6:12).

Malgré le témoignage constant des Écritures, des premiers Pères, des Conciles, des saints et d’innombrables milliers de croyants qui ont essayé de vivre cet appel, de nombreux chrétiens contemporains semblent ne pas pouvoir ou ne pas vouloir entendre cet appel. Il y a au moins deux raisons principales à cela. Premièrement, nous ne comprenons pas le repentir dans son sens religieux, c’est-à-dire comme un chemin d’amour et de confiance dans la miséricorde infinie de Dieu. Au contraire, nous l’envisageons principalement en termes psychologiques, comme l’expression d’une émotion négative, d’un sentiment de culpabilité exagéré, voire pathologique.

Deuxièmement, nous avons tendance à considérer la repentance en termes transactionnels, comme le paiement d’une dette pour le mal que nous avons fait. Là encore, nous ne le comprenons pas comme un moyen de guérison, un chemin vers une vie nouvelle.

Plus encore, nous pouvons avoir du mal à comprendre à quel point le besoin de repentance est profond parce que nous ne comprenons pas l’immensité de ce que nous avons perdu à cause du péché. Nous considérons le péché comme une question de violation de tel ou tel commandement, comme une mauvaise action individuelle, plutôt que comme la condition douloureuse de l’esprit humain aliéné de Dieu, l’arrière-plan sombre de nos vies.

Nous pouvons considérer la repentance comme une manière de « se faire des amis » avec nous-mêmes. Lorsque nous entrons en présence de Dieu et faisons l’expérience de la réalité de l’amour et de la miséricorde divins, nous pouvons également commencer à nous connaître et à nous aimer comme Dieu nous connaît et nous aime. Nous apprenons la vérité sur nous-mêmes—nos échecs et nos péchés, et donc notre besoin d’une véritable conversion du cœur. Mais l’amour de Dieu rend la vérité sur nous-mêmes supportable. Nous devenons capables d’accepter la vérité et de nous abandonner totalement, tels que nous sommes — les bons, les mauvais, les indifférents —entre les mains de Dieu et d’être en paix.

Le révérend chanoine Kevin Flynn est le pasteur de la paroisse St-Bernard-de-Clairvaux

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The working group was hosting two people from Zimbabwean partner TSURO (Towards Sustainable Use of Resources Organization) Trust, and St. Stephen’s went all out preparing a wonderful meal that included Zimbabwean dishes. After dinner Roseline Mukonoweshuro and Farai Gumisai took the large group who attended the event on a slide-show tour of their numerous innovative agricultural projects in the Chimanimani mountains in the in Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe.

Due to climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation, people in their area are facing many challenges, including food insecurity. They are susceptible to weather events and natural disasters.

Gumisai described the devastating effects of a 2019 cyclone which caused flooding and landslides that destroyed the village, fields, orchards and washed all their crops away. Cyclones are more frequent now. “We must come together to mitigate the effects of climate change,” he said.

The TSURO Trust is working to improve conditions with project funded by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Government of Canada, and supported by PWRDF that uses nature-based solutions to improve biodiversity and strengthen climate resilient livelihoods.

• Conservation agriculture techniques such as minimizing soil disturbance, maximizing soil cover, and maximizing crop diversity.
• Assisted natural regeneration and enrichment planting such as incorporating fruit trees, indigenous trees, and fodder crops into farmers’ fields and household areas in conjunction with wider landscape rehabilitation through tree planting and natural restoration processes.
• Improved water management including use of structures to control soil erosion, farm level water harvest technologies and water conveyance systems. This includes the construction of four solar-powered boreholes. Solar panels are mounted above a borehole well to provide the power needed for a pump to extract water. A narrow shaft drilled approximately 60-80 metres into the water table by a rig, and the water flows from a raised tank of 10,000 litres into pipes that supply water to households for domestic use and livestock watering.
• Improved livestock and range management such as community planned grazing, improved fodder crops and improved crop-livestock systems. This includes distribution of heifers to farmers.

A biodiverse landscape enables community members to build more resilient livelihoods.

• Use of nature-based solutions in agricultural production and improved marketing to enable higher income earnings.
• New or improved agro-ecosystem activities including non-timber forest products such as fruit, nuts and honey; and production and marketing of fuel-efficient stoves to foster resilient livelihoods. Two initiatives include fish ponds stocked with tilapia and demonstration sites teaching farmers how to grow mushrooms.

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One day in November, the Rev. Canon Ken Davis of St. James the Apostle picked up the phone and called the town’s mayor and deputy mayor.  Could they please look into the matter of why, five months later, the land had not been transferred? Without the land in the ownership of Carebridge Community Support, the project could not move forward.

“Magically, it got looked into,” Davis says. “I have no doubt that we would not have it now had I not called.”

Four years ago, St. James organized and continues to lead Community Housing Initiative Perth (CHIP) in the development of 15 units of affordable housing, the first in Perth in 30 years, on the land. Finally in November, the land was transferred to Carebridge Community Support as owner and future operator of the housing. Carebridge already operates 221 units in Lanark County, including the 34 units in the Smiths Falls project that St John the Evangelist supported.

The Anglican Church in Perth has been the greatest supporter of the project along with Carebridge and the Saumure Group, the Smiths Falls-based developer of residential and commercial properties in the Ottawa Valley.

Having worked on various iterations of a site plan for at least six months, Saumure is now well placed to expedite the next step –  completing the plan for approval by the municipality.

For its part the CHIP team is preparing for a $300,000 fundraising campaign and promised consultations with neighbours of the Halton Street site.  A website providing details of the project and a link for donations is available: (https://perthhousing.ca ) St. James is making a $31,000 donation, much of it from parishioners, to launch the campaign.

The team doesn’t underestimate further issues with the town over parking capacity at the site. As well, an access road has to be built, with no offer of help from the town.  But there is still hope that shovels will be in the ground in the spring, with completion some time in 2026.

Carebridge says the CHIP project is unique in its experience. It has never before had a community group lay the groundwork for four years, inviting Carebridge to join the team in efforts to convince a municipality to care about affordable housing.

Normally, for Carebridge it has been the other way around: Carebridge has gone looking for land and support from a group or municipality.

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The archbishop said the diocese of Jerusalem, which also includes Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, is bleeding.

The suffering of Palestinian Christians was at the heart of a joint letter the archbishop issued with Archbishop Justin Welby, who followed through with a planned pilgrimage before he steps down as Archbishop of Canterbury in January. An excerpt is below. In his Charge, Bishop Shane encouraged everyone to “pray, donate and reach out to individuals and agencies who are either struggling or serving to alleviate the effects of obscene violence in the land of the Holy One. PWRDF, UNICEF and Canadian Red Cross … seek to bring relief to those who are suffering.” He relayed Archbishop Hosam’s plea to pray fervently for peace, justice, and reconciliation for all Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the land where Jesus walked.

“The current war continues to be a huge struggle for many of us, for our ministry and our people, so thank you again for allowing me to share this with you and very much for being such wonderful friends. May God bless you all,” Archbishop Hosam said in his video message.

Bishop Shane has been asked to serve on the North American Committee for St. George’s College, Jerusalem and to chair a Canadian campaign to raise $250,000 across the country to pay the Palestinian staff of the college.

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The post Archbishop of Jerusalem sends greetings and asks for prayers for the Holy Land appeared first on Perspective.

Davis praised the process and work than has been done in the diocesan church in the past few years, to create a well-ordered and resourced diocesan church with healthy parishes equipped to serve. She was impressed with the resources that have been created and are easily accessible. “This plan comes from an accountably drawn up consultative process. It has attainable targets, reasonable yet urgent timelines, clear lines of accountability, and is rooted in a very practical and foreseeable vision,” she said. “What your diocese has accomplished under the leadership of your bishop and his team is one of the most comprehensive and effective plans I’ve ever seen,” she said.

Her aim then, she said, was to help Synod members look to the horizon to see what might be coming next. Davis encouraged listeners to remember to ask themselves ‘Why are we doing this? …Why do people need it?’ So, I invite you… to go deeper. To ask this deeper spiritual question means to listen with ears that hear more than facts and figures. It is to be mindful that this is not our church. It’s God’s church. We are stewards,” she said.

In her second reflection, she asked her listeners if they had ever had a spiritual experience and whether they could describe that to someone else. “Maybe this is a feeling you had while you were in nature, a sense of profound awe at the birth of a child, a moment of inexplicable joy or peace during worship, or while engaged in music and dance.”

She observed that Anglicans tend to keep their spiritual lives totally private, but she said it is important to be able to talk about those experiences. It is important, she said, because “when people ask us why, they want to know about the love that has helped you overcome mountains. They want to know about the trust in the divine that brought you healing. They want to know about the divine promise that gave you a new beginning. They want to know about that compassionate heart that came from an experience of really knowing what it was like to be wrong and be forgiven and be whole.”

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The post Guest speaker encourages Synod to focus on the deep spiritual question of ‘Why?’ appeared first on Perspective.

Terms of reference for the newly named Bishop’s Panel on Housing Justice (BPHJ), formerly the Homelessness and Affordable Housing Working Group were presented by the Ven. Kathryn Otley, speaking for Canon Sue Garvey, the chair, who was unable to attend.

She expressed gratitude for the way parishes have participated in many ways to support housing justice. Looking ahead “we hope that some of your congregations will explore housing justice initiatives through the Futures Fund that responds to your unique contexts, and we’d love to help,” she said.

The panel’s new terms of reference include providing advice to the panel charged with administering the Futures Fund on projects related to housing and homelessness. The fund was established, following approval at Synod 2022, to support projects across the diocese with a dedicated focus on contextual mission and new worshipping communities. The fund is seen as the main source of funding of small projects around homelessness and affordable housing that parishes may access.

The terms of reference specifically direct the panel to support housing-related projects that arise from contextual mission in parishes and community ministries.

Otley said panel members are interested in participating in conversations with the Diocese about the use of surplus property and whether it has potential to be used as affordable housing in conjunction with government and other community partners.

Other priorities are advocacy and communications through the diocese website and reports in Perspective and Crosstalk.

In anticipation of a federal election at any time in the next year as well as an Ontario vote no later than June 2026, the panel plans to prepare talking points and encourage parishioners to make presentations to local candidates.

After attending the national conference of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness with housing advocates from across Canada, Otley said, “It is painfully clear that the need is greater than ever.”

In his report to Synod, Anglican Community Ministries director general the Rev. Canon Peter John Hobbs said the latest City of Ottawa count of homeless is 2,800

Related articles:

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Bishop provides guidance for parishes facing major change

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Guest speaker encourages Synod to focus on the deep spiritual question of ‘Why?’

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The post Synod renews commitment to work for housing justice appeared first on Perspective.

Related articles:

Ascension House directors working to reduce parish costs and increase services

Bishop provides guidance for parishes facing major change

Parish Development in motion

Time of Prayer resources posted

Contextual mission guide online

Canons and Bylaws updated

Synod renews commitment to work for housing justice

Guest speaker encourages Synod to focus on the deep spiritual question of ‘Why?’

Archbishop of Jerusalem sends greetings

The post Telling our Parish Ministry Story appeared first on Perspective.

• changes to parish governance, including a motion to clarify that every congregation must be governed by a vestry
• changes to terminology around financial matters, including removal of references to the clergy retirement fund;
• clarification of roles for Synod Officers and Executives of Synod
• clarification of diocesan indemnification authority.

The motions were all carried.

Of note was a motion Schultz put forward to remove a paragraph from a canon which provided that that the diocesan clergy list may include those clergy who from time to time may hold offices including, “headmaster or headmistress or chaplain of residential school situated in the diocese.” Schultz stated that given the history of the schools, it is clear that the paragraph should be removed, even if there never were any residential schools in the diocese. The motion was seconded by Kathryn Fournier, a member of the All My Relations Circle, who said removing the paragraph, which implicitly shows support for the residential school system, is an act of reconciliation.

The motion was carried.

The Synod honoured Justice Murray Sinclair, who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and had passed away earlier in the week, with a moment of silence and a prayer.

Ascension House directors working to reduce parish costs and increase services

Bishop provides guidance for parishes facing major change

Parish Development in motion

Time of Prayer resources posted

Contextual mission guide online

Telling our parish ministry story

Synod renews commitment to work for housing justice

Guest speaker encourages Synod to focus on the deep spiritual question of ‘Why?’

Archbishop of Jerusalem sends greetings

The post Canons and Bylaws updated appeared first on Perspective.

Three broad categories of contextual mission were mentioned:

Loving service – supporting those who experience some form of need for advocacy, social support, or material assistance.

Community collaboration — a new working partnership with other organizations, other churches, or with other groups to serve the needs of the broader community

New worshipping communities – a gathering of people where Christian faith is nourished and discipleship in Jesus Christ is practiced in a new place, in a new mode or manner, or to a new community​

For leaders’ courses, the Rev. Colin McFarland said that the Contextual Mission Sub-committee had identified two suggestions. The Niagara School for Missional Leadership, based in the Diocese of Niagara, and St. Andrew’s Hall Certificate for Missional Leadership both offer courses. The Contextual Mission sub-committee is going to offer a course based on John Bowen’s book The Unfolding Gospel: How the Good News Makes Sense of Discipleship, Church, Mission and Everything Else.

Caileen Dolan presented some information about the diocesan Future Fund, which will provide grants for contextual mission initiatives and new worshipping communities. There are two grant cycles on March 15 or Nov. 1. The amounts can range from less than $1,000 to $10,000 depending on the project. A parish is allowed one successful application per year.

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