DATE: July 21, 1998
MEMO TO: Anglican Council of Aboriginal People
FROM: Jim Boyles, General Secretary
RE: Comments from Forums at General Synod
____________________________________________________
The following comments ere recorded on newsprint and relate to the work of your committee:
The Church in the North and Aboriginal Peoples (from Northern Lights Forum)
The Council of the North dioceses have given special attention to our relationship with the Anglican Council of Indigenous People during the last triennium.
a) What further steps can be taken to enrich our partnership with aboriginal people, especially as we move in the direction of the Covenant and in other areas of mutual ministry?
b) How can the Canadian Council respond to the challenge of the Anglican Council of Indigenous People and the Council of the North to the spiritual and other needs of Aboriginal peoples living in large southern Canadian cities?
* A healthy Church requires a healthy community.
* Development of Companion Congregations.
* How can the Church facilitate urban native people connect with their own culture and language?
* Find Diocesan models that work e.g. Diocese of Brandon model.
* Learn from one another through parish
JUBILEE
To what extent and in what ways do you think the priorities for the work of the Partners in Mission Committee and the PWRDF Committee do or should reflect the themes of Jubilee?
* Need a good theological reflection on the meaning of Jubilee - bible study material
* Practical ways to practice Jubilee - 1st question, `what do we let go of?'
* Importance of Sabbath renewed
* Maintain arm lengths with government agencies
* How would debt forgiveness work at all levels?
* Balance of debt forgiveness and human rights
* Means of accountability with debt forgiveness
* Tie debt forgiveness to restorative justice
* Willing to find ways to take a prophetic voice locally in specific ways
* Dioceses finding ways of `letting go'
* Jubilee service to heal brokenness, starting with ourselves and process
* Recognition of forgiveness
* Being in partnership with those in debt / in prison
Jubilee (from Streams of Living Justice Forum)
. The church needs to announce Jubilee as Jesus did as a celebration. We need to present HOPE to parishioners.
. We are the church - what can we do?
. When Jesus proclaimed Jubilee he was more concerned about our salvation out of which Justice will come. Is the church in danger of standing outside and being the ombudsman?
. The church could/should make expectations and be prophetic in our relationships and demands of national and international financial organizations.
. The members of the church need to understand the full implication of Jubilee for themselves and need to help each other to achieve the Jubilee by changing lifestyles and assisting others internationally, nationally and corporately to change their ways. (Resources, education, goals and objectives, prayer).
Jubilee (from Ecumenical Relations Forum)
- Sabbath begins with hearing what each of means by Sabbath
- Let us not confuse commercial celebration of millennium with Jubilee
- set aside time of Sabbath each day for the next 3 years (2001)
- do the givers understand the concept of - land, freedom, slavery, celebrating Sabbath
- We need to work with other ecumenical/inter-faith groups around the categories in 4
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (From Streams of Living Justice Forum)
. Visibility - varies from highly visible to areas where there are no indigenous people in churches. Particularly in cities there are indigenous people not connected to church or home communities.
. Awareness - the responsibility is personal awareness and action begins with each of us living our lives as Christians where we are.
Inculturation (From Anglican Identity Forum)
. Sharing our Story
* Different pieces of the story of who we are
* stop addressing, start listening
* "pushed into shoes that don't really fit"
* Anglicanism - grass roots religion
. Practicing as a Community
* liturgy is cultural
* welcome uniqueness
* build liturgy around the community
* more patterns of worship than text
* tradition continues to speak to people
. How do we love?
* flexibility in recognizing needs
* be user friendly
* recognize the marginalized
* welcoming people
* redefine mission
* self determination
* not everything works for everyone
Scripture and Culture (From Anglican Identity Forum)
. The Gospel of Christ speaks to us through the cultures of the Bible.
. How do we engage the particularity of the Biblical witness as we seek to address to the cultural realities of our day? How does our culture provide lenses through which we read the bible? And how might the bible provide lenses through which we might see our culture anew?
. We are all shaped by traditions whether we accept it or not.