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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The Rev. Kerri Brennan presented a Plan for Parish Development (Action 10 of the strategic plan) that was adopted by Synod. She explained that the plan is all about equipping congregations with core knowledge and skills that are essential to thrive—particularly during times of change. “It’s crucial that we understand how healthy parishes work and how to work within our parishes,” she said. “And this knowledge and skill development applies across our diocese regardless of our location, whether we live and work in rural towns, villages, suburbia or in urban towns.”

The new plan builds on the knowledge and resources gained when the diocese participated in the School for Parish Development, a two-year program offered before the pandemic. It will also incorporate educational and training resources from other Shape of Parish Ministry actions that can be expanded into program modules, Brennan said.

The modules will be short (maximum 30-minute) low-cost, slide-based videos, easily accessible from the diocesan website. The first modules produced will focus on five key areas:

1. parish governance
2. building healthy communities
3. visioning and priority-setting
4. effective stewardship
5. engaging with the wider community

The leadership teams of each parish and congregation (corporations and councils) will be expected to complete the modules in a timeframe that will be determined later, but others who are interested could also participate.

The modules will be reviewed, revised and redeveloped over time to ensure that current best practices are being made available and that content remains current and relevant, Brennan said, adding that feedback from parishes will help inform revisions and updates. The modules will also be complemented by other activities to be developed such as occasional in-person or online learning events, she added.

Parish development will be the responsibility of a subcommittee of the diocesan education committee and will work collaboratively with diocesan staff and other leaders and groups to produce the modules

The cost for producing the five modules is expected to be between $4,000 to $5,000. That sounds low, said Brennan, but explained that the cost is low because the videos will be short, slide-based with video overlay with the content developed in-house.

Brennan spoke on behalf of a task force of clergy and lay people who developed the plan, including the Rev. Matthew Brown, Leslie Giddings, the Rev. Canon Peter John Hobbs, Heather Maclachlan and the Rev. Rosemary Parker. — Staff

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Albert said this budget is projecting an overall increase in revenue by about 5 percent in 2024 to $4.5 million. “We are assuming revenues will decline a little bit in 2025 and 2026,” she said, noting that as a balanced budget, expenses will be kept in line with revenue.

A pie chart showed the expected sources of revenue over the next three years with 40 percent coming from Proportional Parish Share (renamed from Parish Fair Share (PFS), 34 percent from central funds, which includes the consolidated trust fund, property income, and the Cathedral Hill Foundation, 19 percent from administration fees, 1 percent from donations, and 6 percent other.

Of key interest for parishes was the reduction in Proportional Parish Share. In keeping with a resolution from Synod 2022, PFS was reviewed and reduced by 22 percent (or about $460,000 collectively.) Albert explained that this decrease is expected to be more than offset by a projected increase in revenues from the diocesan central funds, distributions from the Cathedral Hill Foundation and property income.

In his charge, the bishop explained that the reduction in PPS was possible “because we combed through the trusts we hold collectively as a diocesan church, and, wherever possible, are now using dividends from them to support our operating budget. Using our central financial resources in this way places less demand on money from our parishes to cover our central operations.”

The bishop also noted that the same approach will be used concerning Equalized Cost of Priestly Services (ECOPS): “Wherever possible, dividends from trusts we hold collectively as a diocesan church will be used to offset the pay fund—understanding that, at this time, the amount we can apply is relatively small.”

Sanjay Grover, director of financial ministry, offered Synod delegates assurance that any money used is from diocesan-owned funds, and parish trust funds are not involved. More detailed information and graphs are available on the diocesan website.

Grover noted that although they tried to keep it to a minimum the amount of support the Diocese provides to the community ministries had to be reduced by about $50,000 from the 2023 budget.

Grover also said that the amount the Diocese contributes to the national church also had to be reduced. “It used to be 26 percent up until about three years ago. Last year, we brought it down to 23 percent, and this cycle we have reduced it to 20 percent, a decision made through consultation with the national church.”

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2 Timothy 4:5

The first reading for the feast of Saint Luke is from Paul’s second letter to Timothy, written near the end of his life. The tone of the letter is very personal, for Paul is writing to give encouragement to Timothy as he strives to continue the work Paul himself had passed on to him in Ephesus.

Paul’s first letter to Timothy was much different, focusing on the organization and leadership of the church. Paul was concerned that the new church in Ephesus be properly ordered and well-run, with clear expectations around structure, roles, doctrine, and worship. Paul was particularly concerned that the church’s leaders—especially bishops—be properly qualified and committed to the building up of the church (rather than their own egos).

In his second letter, Paul understands Timothy and his church face many distractions and fears, and he knows maintaining good order, staying cohesive, and remaining focused on sharing the good news of Jesus Christ will see them thrive. He advises Timothy to keep his eyes wide open, to take loss in stride, to focus on sharing God’s love, and to do his ministry whole-heartedly.

The theologian Henry Chadwick lectured at Cambridge and Oxford during his prolific career and was an expert in the history of the early Church. His studies led him to describe the church as a stained-glass window—reflecting through its diverse panes the beauty of God’s grace, love, peace, hope, reconciliation, and justice. And like a stained-glass window, which on its own cannot withstand the assaults of the elements in its environment, the church needs to be held in this world by the oak and iron of good order and discipline.

Much like Paul in his letter to Timothy, Professor Chadwick realized the structures and operations of the Church—being well-run and properly resourced—enable cohesion amongst its members and frees them to focus on serving outward.

The people and clergy of our diocesan church have joined me in a three-year journey of honestly assessing where we are at, and of carefully and collaboratively discerning what God is calling us to do.

In 2020, the Shape of Parish Ministry Consultation (SPMC) was initiated, and during 2021, we heard that our parishes are challenged by volunteer fatigue, property and administrative responsibilities, finances, evangelism, and aging congregations. We also heard that our clergy and lay leaders are motivated to work together more, reach more people, enrich their discipleship, clarify and support shared roles, and to make changes.

In 2022, we crafted three major proposals which were resoundingly approved by Synod last October. Since then, we have focussed on developing and implementing the Eleven Actions called for in those proposals. During this Synod, we will see how each one of the Eleven Actions has been addressed, and how they combine together to bring about tangible changes to the way we operate and support our parish ministries.

Here is a synopsis of the results we hope to see as we make the changes called for a year ago:

1) there will be less reliance on parish revenues to fund the operating budget of our diocese;

2) diocesan staff will provide increased assistance and support to parish leaders as they manage parish finances, properties, stewardship, communications, human resources, and administration;

3) our Bishop will provide guidance to parishes facing major changes, and will promote and enable innovation and collaboration;

4) parish officers and leaders will receive training and more learning opportunities, and there will be a clear understanding of how parishes operate;

5) a Learning Commons and a Program for Parish Development will provide resources, knowledge, and practical instruction on all essential aspects of parish ministry; and

6) we will learn how to practice contextual mission as we engage with the world and establish new worshipping communities.

If this year’s Synod approves the proposed Plan for Parish Development, the Action Plan for Contextual Mission & New Worshipping Communities; and the Plan for a Future Fund, we will be poised to rapidly operationalize every one of the Eleven Actions called for in the SPMC Proposals we overwhelmingly endorsed a year ago.

This Synod will also be asked to approve a new three-year operating budget. An important feature of the revenue side of the proposed budget is a significant decrease in the category we will now call Proportional Parish Share (PPS). This has happened because we combed through the trusts we hold collectively as a diocesan church, and, wherever possible, are now using dividends from them to support our operating budget. Using our central financial resources in this way places less demand on money from our parishes to cover our central operations.

The same approach will be used concerning Equalized Cost of Priestly Services (ECOPS): wherever possible, dividends from trusts we hold collectively as a diocesan church will be used to offset the pay fund—understanding that, at this time, the amount we can apply is relatively small.

This points to a new operational priority for us: to develop our central resources so we can continue to offset or cover the costs of our operations and staffing. Just as every one of our parishes must seek to engage in effective financial stewardship and develop three streams of revenue from offerings, property, and endowments, we, as a diocesan church, must do the same.

The resources to be provided through our new Learning Commons and Parish Development Plan will help build the financial capacity of every parish, and Ascension House will follow suit— relying on the guidance of our Director of Communications and Development to increase our capacity to contribute to the costs of our parish ministries and to increase our ability to fund our community ministries. Our five community ministries, in turn, will continue to rely on their excellent reputations to increase fundraising, with close support from Ascension House.

Remember: our diocesan church is a body with two arms: parish ministries and community ministries. Our diocese, not the diocese. We, not they. Every parish is ours. Every community ministry is ours. And it all belongs to Christ. We are in communion with one another, deeply and inextricably. We are strong together and we can build our capacity to serve those who seek God’s love in a community of faith and those who cry out for justice, compassion, shelter, and respect.

In our baptismal covenant we vow to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being. This is clearly intended to be accompanied by meaningful action.

This Synod will hear about the intensification of need and danger on the streets of our diocese, and how our community ministries are being called upon to meet this rising tide. The opioid crisis is a very real part of the distress on our streets, and the housing crisis is a major contributing factor.

We continue to do our part to increase the stock of affordable housing, but as we wrap up our goal of providing 125 new units for our 125th anniversary, we need to restate our commitment. At a recent meeting with our Homelessness and Affordable Housing Working Group (HAHWG), we agreed to define a new affordable housing strategy for our diocese, to be adopted by Synod in 2024. In the meantime, we will continue to seek out opportunities to support new affordable housing initiatives—as many of our parishes are doing in their local communities.

Our church has consciously chosen to walk the path of reconciliation, enabling Indigenous and non-indigenous people to form relationships based on mutual respect. Reconciliation is a way of life and our many efforts to stay on the path and enliven it are commendable. In the new year, I look forward to inviting National Indigenous Archbishop Chris Harper to visit St Margaret’s Inuit congregation and to share with all of us stories of Sacred Circle, the new self-determining Indigenous Anglican church.

Reconciliation includes a commitment to anti-racism, acknowledging the inherent racism of the Indian Act and the disproportionate suffering of Indigenous People in our country, as well as the abhorrent racism directed at Black and other racialized people. We continue to address racism and to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion through Project Anti-Racism, which has moved from creating awareness among key diocesan leaders to educating people in congregations. Our commitment to anti-racism is now built into the Action 8 plan to train and support parish leaders, and has already begun with in-person parish workshops facilitated by trained clergy and lay people.

We are in a cherished partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. Archbishop Hosam Naoum and I first met in 2004, when he was a parish priest in Nablus on the West Bank. Our friendship has been integral to the partnership between our dioceses—which has roots in the 1990’s and early 2000’s before it was formalized about 15 years ago. It has comprised pilgrimages, visits, courses, exchanges, advocacy, a women’s conference, parish partnerships, and financial support for health care institutions operated by the Diocese of Jerusalem. In March, at St George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem, I had the honour of naming +Hosam as a Canon of Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa, to mark the close bonds of affection between our diocesan churches.

It is with heartfelt joy that we warmly welcome to this Synod the Very Reverend Canon Richard Sewell, Dean of St George’s College Jerusalem, and his wife JulieAnn, who works at the Jerusalem Princess Basma Center—two institutions well-known to many of us. And it is with heart-breaking concern and sorrow we see the obscene violence unfolding in Israel and Palestine. On October 17, as we joined in Archbishop Hosam’s call to pray for peace and reconciliation, hundreds of displaced Palestinian citizens, gathered in the courtyard of the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, were decimated by an exploding weapon. The hospital is run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.

We will listen well to the first-hand news Richard and JulieAnn bring to us, and we will continue to support our beloved partners who are surrounded by war and mayhem in the land of the Holy One.

Like Paul’s advice to Timothy, and like Professor Chadwick’s observations on the church, we come to this Synod rightly concentrated on the oak and iron that holds our church together, and we will soon be well-positioned to guide change and thrive rather than be changed by external factors.

The reason we need to be well-run and well-resourced is so we can focus outward with humble confidence and expansive generosity—as a resource to the wider community around us, sharing in God’s mission to bring the whole world into the orbit of Christ’s love.

We need to learn how to do this. We need to remind ourselves God is already at work in the world, and our task is to participate in God’s work by listening in a new way to the Holy Spirit— because we cannot afford to repeat the colonial mistake of thinking we have the agenda in hand and have to get others to follow it.

Instead, we must learn new skills which allow us to discern and understand how the Holy Spirit is already active in the people and communities around our churches—and when we have done this, we then need to ask how God is calling us to use our gifts and resources to enable God’s work in the rural areas, villages, towns, and cities of our diocese.

This is what contextual mission is all about. It is Spirit-led and we need to learn how to be led and how to discern what work God is doing—and where we are being called to share in it.

We will continue to attend to the oak and iron because it holds the glass that reflects the beauty God has placed in us, the beauty of God’s grace, love, peace, hope, reconciliation, and justice. From a place of renewed strength, we can listen more attentively to the Holy Spirit and share that beauty wherever God calls us to be.

Amen+

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JulieAnn Sewell offered those at Synod a view of the important work done at the Princess Basma Centre in Jerusalem (JPBC), which is one of the health ministries, operated by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. It specializes in treatment and rehabilitation for children with disabilities from the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.

The Centre also operates an inclusive school that serves children with disabilities from kindergarten to Grade 12.

In a video, Sewell, who works in the fundraising department of the Centre, introduced those attending Synod to a couple of the inspiring children who have been overcoming their physical challenges with help from the staff and programs at the hospital and who are also breaking down myths and the stigma that people with disabilities continue to face. Empowered by the programs at the Centre, Mira, challenged rules that kept her out of her local school because of her physical disability is now a bright student in the fifth grade at the school.

Rehabilitative treatments often involve three week stays at the Centre and training for parents to continue the treatments at home with follow-up virtual appointments. Sewell noted that it is often difficult for patients from the West Bank and Gaza to get to the Centre in Jerusalem, and before the war began, they were working on opening a clinic in Gaza.

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There is a contemporary cliché: “we are where we are.” It conveys something important when it hasn’t been overused to meaninglessness. It is, that we cannot change what happened previously, in other words, history, and we simply have to face the reality of the present moment. But in many cases, and certainly in the situation in Israel/Palestine, we do have to understand what has gone before in order to seek to chart wise steps forward. But, let’s ask where are we today?

We are in a state of war between Israel and Gaza. Israel suffered its worst single atrocity since the founding of the State of Israel at the hands of Hamas. Both the numbers, and the manner of the killings, is deeply distressing. It seems that approximately 200 people, men, women and children have been taken hostage and remain a bargaining tool for Hamas in their bitter zero sum war with Israel.

These actions must be unreservedly condemned. Hamas has proved that it is the terrorist organization which it has been long labelled. In addition, Hamas has launched thousands of missiles from Gaza.

[The missiles have been launched] into all parts of southern and central Israel and also Jerusalem, including where St George’s College, the Cathedral and Diocesan offices are situated.

It is where JulieAnn and I live. We have heard the sirens, we have heard thuds of missiles landing within a mile of our location, we have taken refuge in our bomb shelter on several occasions. I do not like being bombed by Hamas. Israelis who live nearer to Gaza are terrified by the even more frequent bombing. Israel has suffered huge fatalities and casualties, and it has been taken into a new level of individual and corporate trauma.

The day after this onslaught began, Israel declared war on Hamas and unleashed a huge aerial assault on Gaza and its two million residents. I respect the right of Israel to defend itself. The way in which that response is conducted matters hugely. The Israeli action comprises a massive bombing barrage of the whole Gaza Strip including on civilian areas, hospitals and places of worship. I do not think this is acceptable (despite Israel’s justifications). The forced evacuation of one million Gazans from the north of the Strip to the south, in my view, is not acceptable. The siege of Gaza, cutting off water and power and all incoming aid, is not acceptable. Breaches of the laws of war, established in international agreements, should be condemned, whoever commits them and wherever they are enacted.

Both Hamas and Israel are putting civilians at risk. Throwing bombs around indiscriminately will inevitably lead to huge numbers of civilian deaths. Both sides are treating civilians as collateral damage.

We have had our own horrific experience with this week’s appalling bombing of the grounds of our Al Ahli hospital in Gaza city. The precise nature of that attack and who is responsible continues to be a matter of dispute. But what cannot be disputed is that at least 471 people have died, and many others injured whilst sheltering in the grounds of our hospital. A place where they thought, and everyone should agree, ought to be safe. It is a devastating event which I suspect will shape the mission of our diocese for decades to come. We will never forget this event of Oct. 17, we will never forget the people who have died and the assault on our holy ministry to tend to the sick, to heal the diseased and to bind up the injured. It is, in the words of Archbishop Hosam [Naoum], a ‘crime against humanity’. We do not know yet for certain who is responsible, but it doesn’t diminish the nature of the crime. It has let us all deeply shocked and profoundly saddened.

But it is not the only war crime of the past two weeks, and I fear it will not be the last in this appalling war. Israel’s continuing onslaught of Gaza and what will yet unfold is out of all proportion, and the stated aim of destroying Hamas is fundamentally damaging to the prospect of peace in Israel/Palestine and is a very real threat to the security of the entire region because that aim is killing so many non-Hamas people. We stand on the brink of an abyss. The international community has to remain involved and get more involved to prevent the apocalyptic possibilities which stand before us.

We are where we are, yes. But we also have to thoroughly interrogate the question: how did we get here? If we just treat Hamas’s outrage on Oct. 7 as an ‘unprovoked attack’, we will fail to grapple in any reasonable way with the challenge of the present moment. I’m not going to try to describe the terrible and complex history of the past 75 years. It’s all written, but don’t take only one account, perhaps more than any other current geo-political situation, you need to read from different perspectives.

Just in terms of Gaza, it has been blockaded by Israel for the past 18 years. Of course, they have their justifications for that, but regardless, the impact has been to make Gaza an incubator for hatred. Hamas has grown and thrived in the conditions which Israel has imposed upon two million Gazans. There have been intolerable conditions, creating untold suffering and deep resentment for years. Whilst the explosion of violence on Oct. 7th may have been unpredicted, it has been entirely predictable that it would explode at some point.

And then, do not forget to look at the differently awful conditions in the West Bank and the gradual crushing of hope for them that there are any possible non-violent paths towards a situation which will be tolerable for two million Palestinians living there. It is under reported because of Gaza, but the situation is rapidly deteriorating too.

We are in pain, we are in terrible pain. Every single Israeli Jew, every single Palestinian, Christian and Muslim, is grieving, is frightened and is angry (in some way or another, expressed differently). The suffering Olympics is futile. There is no point in pitting one community’s pain and trauma against another. Both are aggrieved to the core of their being, and no one knows how to alleviate it right now.

But we are Christians. We are called to follow the way of Christ. We are called to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. We are called to reject the dreadful and addictive cycle of tit for tat violence. To take the well-known phrase of Gazan doctor, Izzeldein Abuleish whose home was hit by an Israeli missile in 2009 instantly killing three of his daughters and a niece. His powerful book of resistance to the usual narrative was entitled, I Shall Not Hate. I commend it to you. As Christians, we can identify Muslim Dr. Abuleish’s message as profoundly Christian, following the spirit of Jesus’s teaching.

As the Church we are called to be the fragrance of Christ when all around reeks of hatred and revenge. As the Church, we are called to be a light in the world even as encroaching darkness threatens to overwhelm us. But the 1% of Christians in Israel and Palestinians cannot do this alone. They need the global Christian community to amplify this message.

The message of peace entrusted to us by the Prince of Peace is not simply an avoidance of conflict and a call to endure the oppression which is put upon the weak by the strong. Reverting back to the prevailing crushing injustice before two weeks ago is not acceptable. It is no more Christian than to take up arms and to kill the oppressor. Gandhi, the great nonviolent proponent said the only thing worse than committing a violent act of liberation is to do nothing in the face of evil.

For too long the West has done nothing and has allowed the crushing reality of aggressive and expansionist policies of the state of Israel to go unchallenged, or at least unchallenged in any way that would make any impact on Israel’s leaders. That is the fundamental root cause, not the only one by any means at all, but it is at its heart, for the present hideous conflagration which we face. I do not believe it is anti-Semitic to say such a thing. I have been a life-long anti-racist proponent and at times activist. I have always spoken against anti-Jewish racism. It remains essential to my self-understanding. I deplore the upsurge of racist attacks against Jews and Muslims here in Canada and in many other countries in these past weeks. I also deplore and oppose the increase in anti-Christian acts in Israel over recent years. But we cannot avoid stating criticism of countries for fear of being labelled. We have to have the courage to identify acts of hatred, discrimination and oppression where we see them: at home or elsewhere (as long as we have taken the time to understand the situation that we condemn). All of this should be in our DNA as Christians. We need to work without ceasing to bring the land we call holy from the edge of darkness and we all have our part to play.

However, when Bishop Shane first invited me to come to attend this synod several months ago, all of this was not the reason for the visit, nor would it have been the core of my message. The heart of my message would have been to commend to you the ministry of St George’s College. I would have invited you to come and make your pilgrimage with us. I would have said – ‘come and walk in the footsteps of Jesus and meet the living stones of his church today in Israel and Palestine’. That I cannot say that, and in all honesty today, to invite you to make your booking as an individual or a church with a plan to come in the months to come, grieves me very deeply. The College is closed for now. I pray that we will be able tentatively to resume pilgrimages from January, but I simply do not know.

We came through two years of COVID and survived and now this. But because you cannot come on pilgrimage does not mean that you should forget us: the College or the rest of the Diocese. We are one body, made up of many different parts. Please do not neglect us, and please do not feel that it is too difficult, too complex and too stressful to engage with our reality – we need you, and I believe, you need us.

It is going to be a long hard road towards justice, peace and reconciliation from here. It will begin by building bridges of understanding and those bridges cannot be built out of hatred. So let us not add our own words, from which point of view, add to the hate that already prevails in abundance. Let Christ be our way, our truth and our life, drawing us together in unity so that the world may know that we are the disciples of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace and the inaugurator of God’s commonwealth of justice, joy and peace. Lord have mercy. Amen.

Read more about it

For those who want to understand more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Dean Richard Sewell offered a list of recommended reading:

History

• The Hundred Years War on Palestine by Khalid Hussein
• Jerusalem – A Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore
• Israel-Palestine Conflict 1917 to 2017 by Ian Black

Non-fiction

• Apeirogon by Colom McCann
• The Nine Quarters of Jerusalem
• I Shall Not Hate by Izeldein Abuleish

Non-fiction in the style of fiction

• Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour
• A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz
• The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan

Fiction

• Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulwehah

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