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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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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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

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• 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.

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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.

The post Contextual Mission guide online appeared first on Perspective.

The post Time of Prayer resources posted appeared first on Perspective.

Giddings added that it’s important to note that thriving is not the same as growing. “Thriving means having a parish that’s functioning in a way that serves the needs of the local community and the congregation members in ways that are sustainable for the finances and the volunteers that are actually available right now.”

Videos on parish development will soon be available on the ADO website. The first will be a general overview and then next is “going to be about developing a vision and setting priorities for your parish as you move forward.”

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Some parishes have chosen to preserve the status quo, while others amalgamated with neighbouring parishes, chose to become a chapel, and others have made the difficult decision to disestablish and been warmly received into neighbouring parishes. “That’s extremely important. We do not walk away from people,” said Bishop Shane. “We might close a building, but we don’t close relationships.” He recommended a step-by-step online guide that has been created for parishes considering major change and reminded them to also “bring in the bishop” as they talk about major change.

The bishop noted that Result 3 also calls for promoting innovation and collaboration across the diocese. Archdeacon Patrick Stephens is chairing an Episcopal panel which is getting underway and considering how to approach hospital ministry in a collaborative way, the bishop said, adding that the new youth program, ADOyouth, is another collaborative example.

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