Review responses from other Canadian Anglicans below (most recent responses are at the top). You can also view responses by diocese, and add your own story.

Message from Coline B., Dauphin, MB

Sent to us on September 29th, 2009

I think our church needs to be about . . . CHILDREN.

Holy Baptism !

Holy smoke, I say. ( Wasted opportunities, time after time. ) We treat this opportunity as a ” one of” when really, it can become a life long love of our Anglican way.

Young parents may not attend church, but they sure want their babe’s blessed in this ancient ritual.

Babes in arms offer a wonderful opportunity to engage the child’s family. The extended family too, as they often participate in the Christening. Let us . . . love them ! Invite them back, tell them we need them to do a small, specific task ( reading next Sunday ? ) Later, call to see how the baby is doing, send a card . . . casually, with kindness & interest. Odds are, out of ten babies baptised, a church could offer at least three families a home !

A Nursery; clean, bright & well equipped is an essential ministry. Volunteers can paint & reupholster old furniture. Nursing Mothers would appreciate the quiet spot. Infants and toddlers have a safe place to play while parents worship. Volunteers can, flexibly, take turns looking after the room 7 little ones.

Sunday School ! This is too often an area of gloom. People will come forward to be teachers, if clear lessons are available and they are honoured.

Children want God. They are intensely curious about Him. Stories of Jesus, told well, will be the rock each child builds their faith on.

The Diocese of Keewatin has a ” Virtual Sunday School,” on line. Each week’s lessons, tied to the lectionary, are downloadable.

A new Google Group, Canadian Anglican Sunday School Teachers” brings opportunities for all teachers, rural & urban, to share ideas and care about each other. Coast to coast to coast !

Clergy can offer children the chance to greet, to serve, to pass the collection plate, to read to make their own Prayers of the People.

Vestry can include children’s interests in each monthly meeting.

The parish will accept children, as soon as children begin to be more valued.

If this happens, our church will continue.

Thank you.

Coline B.

Message from the Diocese of Brandon | No Comments »

Message from Lois H., Shawnigan Lake, BC

Sent to us on September 29th, 2009

I dearly love our Canadian Anglican Church and many of its people, but I’m afraid that it is becoming too committee and meeting oriented. It seems that ordinary discussions end with a decision to form a committee and then the meetings begin. When I hear about committee meetings I’m often reminded of the old chestnut that a camel was a horse designed by a committee!

I have three special concerns that I dream will become part of our focus as we reach out toward 2019.

I look forward to a day when Anglicans (clergy and laity) focus on relationships and act like they really believe what they profess and begin to love their neighbours (or relatives, friends, colleagues and all they meet) as themselves.

It would improve our parish life and the lives of the people around us (and probably our own) if we recognized concerns that are right in our midst. Notes, calls or visits to encourage, sympathize, congratulate or thank mean so much to those on the receiving end. And a note, call or visit simply to keep in touch with someone we haven’t seen for a while, or someone who is new to our community, does so much to lift spirits. It shouldn’t be necessary to organize a parish programme to do these things. We only need to think about friends, family, colleagues and parishioners and be willing to take time to let them know in a concrete way that we are thinking about them.

Secondly, a recent Anglican Journal article reporting on Canadians who are in need of our help encourages me. As a church, many of our efforts, as well as funds, seem focused on projects that are far, far away, and at times I fear that we are ignoring the Lazarus who sits at our own gates. Perhaps it’s easier to consider problems that we don’t have to see rather than dealing with those on our own doorstep. While I would never discount the importance of the wonderful overseas work that is done, I feel it is time for us to help improve the lives of Canadians who are also in need of help.

My last (and probably not final) concern involves the liturgy. Anglicans used to be known for beautiful music and liturgy. As I write, I almost duck when I say that the Book of Alternative Services needs help! While many people have the ability to talk and write about liturgy that reflects our Church, only a few are actually able to turn it into a service using beautiful words that feed our spirits – would that more attention had been given to such language in writing the Book of Alternative Services. The first time I used the book I noticed that a number of lovely prayers were “borrowed” from other books and then changed (not for the better) to make them Canadian. As an example, BAS Eucharistic Prayer 4 calls for a single repetitious response by the congregation throughout the prayer. It is an adaptation of the American rite 2 in which the congregation takes a substantial role in its responses to each paragraph. It’s as if it were a wonderful dramatic dialogue. In the Book of Alternative Services all prayers involving the laity became a litany because (I am often told) they were intended to be sung. As a lady in the pew who has visited many Anglican Churches, I have observed that the singing of prayers is very rare, but to my amazement the liturgists are still writing services as if singing of prayers is the norm.

If we really believe that laity are an intelligent and important part of our Church, then we could give them more to say than “Hear our Prayer” or whatever few words are said over and over and over again. It’s boring! We are losing beauty and mystery in our spiritual language. While I understand that the theology of the Book of Common Prayer is troubling to many, I hope they realize that Cranmer’s language was magical. There must be other Cranmers in our midst that can bring the beauty and mystery of 21^st century spiritual language to our liturgy.

Message from the Diocese of British Columbia | No Comments »

Message from Archbishop Anderson Memorial Church, Cochrane ON

Sent to us on September 29th, 2009

ARCHBISHOP ANDERSON MEMORIAL CHURCH
HOLY TRINITY PARISH
COCHRANE ONTARIO

VISION 2019

Our Anglicanism is steeped in deep tradition; some would say this is our baggage, others would say it is our roots. However, we all want the Anglican Church to still be here in 2019!

Our Parish cherishes who we are as a Christian community. We want to continue with the ministries that we have identified as important. We have a strong, sense of family and hope for the future. We struggle with being financially responsible and sometimes this overshadows our focus of Gospel ministry.

There is a recognition that young families and young people are vital members in a growing parish family. We need to actively welcome, encourage, educate and support these groups. Programming specifically targeted to these groups would perhaps result in a stronger commitment from them.

Worship music was a very passionate topic for a large percentage of people poled. There is a strong desire to have more joyful, contemporary styles using guitars and other instruments. Many, who feel that they can not sing, still appreciate and want meaningful, contemporary songs used in the worship service.

The Outreach Ministry that our parish, and on a larger scale the Nation Church, is involved in, is very important and worthwhile. We are proud of what we have accomplished with PWRDF but also realize that outreach ministry is ongoing and is what Christ calls us to do.

There is a longing to return to some worship traditions of “Sung Services” and Morning Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. There is also a desire to have Youth Services, Contemplative Prayer and Taize services.

Strong leadership at all levels of our Anglican Church is important. We need to be confident that there is a vision and a common mission that we are all working towards. However, this does not include aggressive, confrontational political involvement.

In 2019, we want the Anglican Church to be here and to be involved in meaningful and relevant ministry.

Message from the Diocese of Moosonee | No Comments »

Message from Vanessa R., Toronto ON

Sent to us on September 29th, 2009

First of all I would like to thank the Vision Team, in allowing me to answer these two questions.I have always loved and been very proud of my Anglican roots and to be part of

the Anglican Communion as a whole.

These questions calls upon each of us to ‘look deeply, prayerfully with insight, with a humble and open heart. Listening, as we do to the Holy Spirit, now and in the future. It is my hope that by doing so, God will direct, guide the Vision for his church in 2019.

Where is the church now?

I am only going to touch on 2 issues of interest, for there are many and varied as we know.

In my opinion the church is continues to deal with the complexities of finding its place

within the scope of the ‘traditional and liberal’ liturgies.

The Anglican Church has established the importance of ecumenicism and where it holds it place, however I do believe we need to be careful that we ‘not lose our own identity’ in doing so by being too complacent. I am very pleased that the relationship with the Lutheran and Roman Church dialogues continues to be amiable and open.

Where I want the Anglican Church of Canada to be in 2019:

I have focused primarily on 10 points, as these might provide brain-storming for others, these brush strokes may be light and varied……….I hope so:

A church that is vibrant, growing focusing clearly on: prayer, Sovereignty of God, liturgy, study, vision to be welcoming, to ’build up the Body of Christ’;
A church that is remains to be focused on God and to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit;
A church that continues. to communicate effectively by using technology, multi-media locally, nationally and throughout the Anglican Communion;
A church that continues and encourages the laity to grow,seek further secondary education through theological colleges. Enable those that have graduated from Theological colleges to be used at the parish level. Those with the distinction of Lay Ministers could provide more active roll that what they are now doing. By providing there resources as a ‘bridge between the Clergy and ordained deacons” alike. As we move into the future – the clergy will be stretched as congregations will be growing older. Further I would like to see the implementation of a “B.A” designation established once again at Wycliffe college the laity can progress and maintain their skills on an ongoing basis.
The church to establish of a local data bank (either held at the diocesan level or parish) with the parish determine: skills, talents that might be used as an ‘as need basis’ much like a human resource in business. The parish could draw to assist those in the congregation or for it’s own volunteer needs;
To continue locally, nationally to raise awareness through education concerning the Religious Orders and what they do. To provide financial resources at the national level so that they can grow in the future;
At the national level, an establishment of both a designated “Vision Sunday’ marked in the Church calendar to gather and continue to prayer for the “Vision 2019″. The second part of this would be to have a of yearly gathering for prayer and worship at the Sky Dome to continue this process and mission for the Church. Perhaps it could be called “Anglicans with a Vision”,
At the parish level continue to include “every age group” to be part of a group. There are plenty of groups for the teenagers, young people and seniors; however unfortunately in some parishes the ‘middle-aged’ are often and invisible group;
To continue to monitor the needs of our elderly in congregations, so that they do not become invisible or isolated. The laity could be used in this regard to assist the clergy.

Respectfully submitted,

Vanessa R., Toronto ON

Message from the Diocese of Toronto | No Comments »

Message from Jonathan H., Calgary AB

Sent to us on September 29th, 2009

When I look at our church today, I see a good deal of tension – tension around human sexuality (on a surface reading); tension around doctrine and pastoral duties; tension around the purpose and proper use of Scripture; and the list goes on. Ultimately, this tension revolves around what it is for us, as Anglicans in Canada, to be part of the one Church (which is Christ’s body). Who are we, as a part of that Church, to be? What does our identity as a part of that Church tell us about “how” we are to be, in relation to the world?

The great debate – which I believe has been far less than a real debate – has its “two-sides,” and the dialogue which has gone on between them has been less than adequate, in my opinion. From where I sit, the dialogue of the church has been used to try to sway those of opposing view – which only shows that dialogue hasn’t really been entered into. Again, from where I sit (which is the only place I can view things from), it seems that these opposing sides are talking past each other due to emphases. One group would emphasize the Great Commission – “go and make disciples…and baptize them;” the other group would emphasize the Great Commandments (though generally citing the second more than the first) – “love your neighbour as yourself.” Now, neither group denies that validity of the other group’s emphasis (though there is some disagreement about how the “others” go about emphasizing it); yet the order of priority is disagreed upon. But neither the Great Commandments nor the Great Commission can be fulfilled without the other! Where we are running into difficulty in agreeing on what it means to fulfill either is precisely the point where we need to meet each other.

One cannot fulfill Christ’s commission to make disciples of others apart from loving God with one’s whole being, and loving the other (of whom a disciple will be made) as oneself. One cannot love God with one’s whole being, nor one’s neighbour as oneself, without being moved to offer that neighbour the Bread of Life – which is Christ Jesus our Lord. When we understand these two “Greats” as being bound up in one another, we understand the importance of putting an end to these tensions which are driving many away from our church (and keeping them here isn’t the ultimate point, anyway, as I will get to shortly).

Let me say this another way. One group tries to use the language of faithfulness and obedience to the Word of God – by which these mean the canon of the Bible. The other group tries to use the language of faithfulness and obedience to the Spirit of God – by which these mean the Spirit’s work in revealing the mind of Christ to/in the Church today. Neither group denies the validity of the other group’s emphasis (though there is, again, some disagreement about how the “others” go about emphasizing it); yet the order of priority is disagreed upon. But here, as before with the “Greats,” neither the Spirit of God nor the Word of God can be understood without the other! Where we disagree is where we need to learn to meet!

We cannot be faithful to the Word of God apart from the Spirit of God: the canon of Scripture was decided upon under the direction of the Holy Spirit; as we read the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit opens them to us and gives us understanding. Neither can we be faithful to the Spirit of God apart from the Word of God: the mind of Christ for the Church today must be in consonance with the Word of God handed down to the Church – for Christ is a person (the second of the Trinity), and persons have integrity to themselves. When we understand that these two (the Word and Spirit of God) are so bound up in one another, we understand the importance of due process – by which we are forced to come to grips with those influences on our faith that we may not give priority to, and which we may (at times) even wish didn’t exist so that we didn’t have to come to grips with them. We must have integrity to our Anglican body at the least, if not to the whole Church catholic.

So that’s where I see us right now – and I suppose it’s a crossroads. We risk fracturing into separate denominational bodies, each with their own emphases – and this is a real risk, as it has already happened in some places. The option, and my hope for our church by 2019 (if not much sooner), is that we would learn to seek God’s Kingdom. Not to seek an Anglican kingdom; not to seek a “my-kind-of-Anglican” kingdom; just to seek God’s Kingdom (thus, my remark above about how “keeping people in OUR pews isn’t the ultimate point anyway”). To be a church that doesn’t serve bottom-lines, but that does count the cost in and through and of faithfulness to God. To be a church, then, that doesn’t seek quantitative growth in “buns in the pews,” but that nurtures the qualities of true discipleship in the hearts of believers. To be a church that prayerfully serves Christ in the society that He has put us in. My hope is that we would seek His Kingdom first, and trust in His promises for the rest.

Message from the Diocese of Calgary | No Comments »

Message from St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Golden, BC

Sent to us on September 29th, 2009

Responses from Parishioners at St. Paul’s Anglican Church Golden, British Columbia!

My prayer for the Anglican Church of Canada in 2019 is

• That the church will either marry gay and lesbian couples or get out of the marriage business altogether and bless civil unions.
• One Church under God, with Our Lord Jesus Christ reigning on Earth in Jerusalem.
• Is still in existence
• That the church will shine as a place of love and inclusiveness and will preach and act for love, justice and peace.
• That it is vibrant, alive and influencial in the broader community. More people …. young and old, families also. Mostly, that the joy that is experienced with faith is obvious and abundant!
• That we have a beautiful full congregation full of enjoymnet for all who attend: young and old.
• Financially stable
• Following radical charge of the Sprit- guiding us in ways we could never imagine.
• Challenge!
• For continued love and help to all.
• That Christ will have come; that his thousand year reign will have begun.
• I pray that the Anglican Church preaches the Gospel in Canada and the world. In Christ Jesus name. Amen.
• A large enough congregation to be financially self-sustaining.
• That we will build a happier and healthier community within the church and build a closer family.
• I pray that we shall have accord among all parts of the Anglican Communion, allowing us to go ahead in our mission to serve Christ in this world.
• I pray that we will continue to serve our communities, our country and the world in the guiding and guarding light of Christ and continue to discern Jesus’ radical call with integrity, humility and gracious love.

Message from the Diocese of Kootenay | No Comments »

Message from Deborah L., East Dalhousie NS

Sent to us on September 29th, 2009

As I have pondered with the idea of what our church will look like in 2019, I hope and pray that we will be a community committed to living out our call to be God’s visible presence in our world. I hope we will be an inclusive Christian community, open to all with no reservations. I hope we will be focused on helping all our members deepen their personal spirituality and prayer lives so we can empower each other to reach out to those in need in the world. I hope we will seek and proclaim justice for all peoples…. that we will boldly lead, not meekly or tentatively follow justice seekers in the secular world. I hope we will have overcome the pettiness of squabbles over sexuality and who can be a full member of the church. I hope that by 2010, we will not have found a new group of people about whom to debate and be suspicious as we have done in the past…. with people of colour, aboriginal people, the divorced, women, and now homosexuals.

There are so many people hurting in the world, in our own country and in our very communities. I hope we will be a church which is on the front line of helping those who are hurting, those who are marginalized, those in pain. I hope we will be brave in putting people before buildings and using our limited financial resources for ministry rather than to maintain buildings from another era. I hope that when small rural communities cannot afford to support a building, that when their “church is closed and deconsecrated”, new ways of ministering to the remnant of people in such communities, who are the church, will be found and supported financially by the wider church.

I hope that we will not be so focused on the letter of liturgical law, theology and tradition that we miss new ways of being church. I hope that we will find ways of making opportunities for prayer and retreats available to people in their daily lives…. people who want to deepen their faith, their lives of prayer but who cannot go off to expensive retreat houses in distant places due to family and employment responsibilities. I hope we will be ministering to people in the ordinary circumstances of their lives in ways that are meaningful and available. I hope that we will be focused on drawing forth the God-given gifts of ministry in all people.

I believe we as a church have so much potential, but so little focus right now. We are using so much energy on pettiness and inward gazing rather than focusing on how God is calling us in the world. While we debate the issue of this day, I believe we are failing to notice those in need around us or at the very least we are unable to adequately respond because our energy has been spent. I hope by 2010, we will have grown into the church we have the potential to be with God and in God.

With Respect, I am,

Deborah L.
member of St. Cyprian’s Church
East Dalhousie, Parish of New Ross
Diocese of NS PEI

Message from the Diocese of Nova Scotia and PEI | No Comments »

Message from Ian H., Diocese of Huron

Sent to us on September 29th, 2009

VIEW FROM WINDSOR & ESSEX COUNTY:

1) Dynamic Growth from Evangelical Churches: Windsor Christian Fellowship (10 full time pastors); Lakeshore St. Andrew’s (2500 adherents, started as St. Andrew’s Presbyterian by the Lake with very small budget and parish, all of which changed under Chuck Congram); Parkwood Gospel Temple (large congregation, and initiator of “Celebrate Recovery”); plus numerous other smaller churches.

WHY: dynamic messages reflecting the needs of the 21st. century!!

2) Islam: dynamic growth: appeals to the abandoned, the poor, and disenfranchised. Have replaced the Roman church with 6.2 children per family;

1.2 million worldwide, and growing. Did the Archbishop of Canterbury endorse the principle of Shariah Law? If so, is this not extremely dangerous? Is there is a world wide Jihad against us, “the Infidels”. Read book by Brigitte Gabrielle, it is both shocking, and relevant if there is even partial truth!!!

Possible Solutions:

- remove “polical correctness” from our collective vocabularies. It used to be called diplomacy. Since when is it good business to bend over backwards

for minority left-Liberal thought at the expense of the majority who want to know God more with respect to current times.

- have the Bishops, local Ministers, and Deacons visit the other churches that are growing to see if there is a message there that will encourage us

to amend our liturgy.

- cut back on our “missions” temporarily and transfer the funds removed to help our local crises.

- review why we are not attracting more Men to the ministry.

- strongly encourage more input from our parishioners on their concerns, not philosophical ideas.

- we can use many of the ideas of the “religious right” without losing sight of our major strength as Christians.

- we have an epidemic of alcohol drug use, and must get more involved as Christians.

Opinion: We will continue to experience negative growth to 2019 as Anglicans, unless some dynamic changes are made.

Trust the foregoing is helpful,

Ian H.
Parishioner, All Saints Church

Message from the Diocese of Huron | 1 Comment »

Message from Norm F., Ottawa ON

Sent to us on September 29th, 2009

Rather than have a list of complaints or short comings I have made a list of goals and activities that would engage me and meet some of my felt needs

1. Face to face contacts with all identified parishioners 4 times a year. I have semi regular visits from other denominations who know me by my first name, make a quick assessment of my well being, wish me well then move on.

2. Eucharist, prayer and or music services four times a week in all parishes. A few minutes of prayer in church once a week does not meet my spiritual needs

3. An expectation that eighty- five per cent of all parishioners attend church services weekly is not an unreasonable expectation

4.Each parish to have an active web page with the content to be up dated weekly. There should be a complete list of all parishes by diocese..

5. Each priest should have sufficient training to be computer literate.

6. The national church should organize, play a leading role or participate in at least annually a forum to review common issues with active religions in Canada. This would address understanding, and identify administrative efficiencies.

Thank you for this opportunity.

Norm F of Ottawa

Message from the Diocese of Ottawa | No Comments »

Message from Nina C., Calgary AB

Sent to us on September 29th, 2009

Well now I only have one day left.Apparently the parish I attend did not send anything in either.I hope in ten years our whole church will be deeply alive, Deeply alive as Jesus was to injustice,living as he lived non violently but never keeping silent,always speaking out so that peace has a chance.A deeply prayerful body of Christ praying and acting so that we will see our own mistakes more quickly. A reconciling church,so that oppressors,we and the other,the enemy we have not loved enough may awake to their,our oppressions,willing to stand actively beside the persecuted and confess our own missing the mark.

The 5 marks of mission have been around so long and we didn’t do too much for the Kindom and we missed the main thing. Now that we have included it at long last let’s see the difference it will make,if we dare.Then we may see with joy God making all things new in us and through us.Do we believe yet what we pray “Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinately more than we can ask or imagine.Dare we love that much.We did that Bible study on the marks last Lent,sadly we did it without the justice it was hardly a resurrection but then for a resurrection you have to suffer and die a bit too.

Kudos for the much reduced chuch house staff. May God Bless us and keep us and wake us up.Thanks for listening!

Nina C., Calgary

Message from the Diocese of Calgary | No Comments »

Recent Posts

View responses by diocese

Message from Coline B., Dauphin, MB

Message from Lois H., Shawnigan Lake, BC

Message from Archbishop Anderson Memorial Church, Cochrane ON

Message from Vanessa R., Toronto ON

Message from Jonathan H., Calgary AB

Message from St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Golden, BC

Message from Deborah L., East Dalhousie NS

Message from Ian H., Diocese of Huron

Message from Norm F., Ottawa ON

Message from Nina C., Calgary AB

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