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 An Anglican from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
Sent to us on September 2nd, 2009Message from Jennifer C., Ottawa ON
Sent to us on September 2nd, 2009Here is my dream:
+ that we quickly and effectively get out the news that there is a rich tradition of spiritual practice within Christianity, and then help people to discover and to practise it. So many are seeking to grow spiritually but, as you know, do not turn to Christianity, only knowing of Buddhist practice. We are losing people we might otherwise gain. Let’s tell people that we also meditate, do Centering Prayer, whatever, and let’s invite them to join us. We are not only about sitting in pews and following liturgy in books!!
+ We have to get out of the old way which has led people (my grown up children for example!) to think that being a Christian or an Anglican is about coming to church on Sundays. For many that church has to remain fixed as it “always” has been. Good liturgy is terribly important but if most of what/ that /means is about worn out custom and past tradition, we cannot move forward. We need people with living faith, who are then willing to move the font if it needs to be moved, use chairs if it means a labyrinth can be painted under it, whatever….
+ What I am saying means we have to ensure that the spiritual lives of our future leaders and clergy be nourished during their postulancy and that they be shown how to help others grow in theirs.
+ Look at really effective ways of being with children. Why do we insist on programs that seem to be superficial and cute and ignore the ones that are really profound and deeply respectful of who and where children are, like the Good Shepherd Catechesis?
(Our Episcopal sisters and brothers seem to do better in this regard than we do!) I am willing to explain/promote Good Shepherd Catechesis to anyone out there who is interested!
That it be welcoming to *all.* That neither colour, sexual preference or any other issue be one that keeps us apart. I understand Jesus to be One who did not let the barriers of his day get in the way. If the first century A.D.had had the understanding of human behaviour and sexuality that we do, then possibly He would have said something about it. We can only act faithfully as we believe Jesus would have us do — and He constantly broke down barriers. Our religion is permeated with hospitality, the O.T. injunctions are a constant refrain. Can we do less?
That we seek more imaginative worship spaces. If the old model (medieval primarily) no longer works, then we must make sensitive and well-informed change. Gothic churches like Wells Cathedral, Salisbury etc. are breath-taking but adaptations in the parish church no longer adequately express our worship. Parishes need to look at their space and see if it meets their needs. Many younger seekers I imagine find that worshipping in rows is not a helpful configuration. Of course, it is hierarchical. Perhaps that no longer fits how we think of ourselves? Movable chairs might be more appropriate? Possibly different kinds of worship need a differently configured space: a morning Eucharist, a Taize type service, one involving movement like dance or a labyrinth walk etc.?
I think I have shared the heart of my dreams for the future. Thank you for listening.
Message from Al R., Wellington ON
Sent to us on September 2nd, 2009Dear brothers and sisters and friends,
God willing, in 2019 I will be 91 and able to look back on 67 years as a priest.
Assuming that God reverses the current decline in membership, then ten years from now I will expect to see a branch of his Church showing the following marks:
- Seminaries that emphasize training in personal prayer and the importance of personal Bible study.
- As much emphasis on the person and work of the Holy Spirit as on the Father and the Son.
- A general recognition that only bishops have the responsibility for settling doctrinal issues.
- Priests who declare that Jesus is the incarnation of the only true God.
- Many Alpha courses and much emphasis on mentoring and discipling new Christians.
- Many local in-depth Bible study and prayer groups.
- General availability of the sacrament of reconciliation (ministry of private confession).
- A return to orthodox teaching on the sacrament of marriage.
- General acceptance of tithing as the normal method of support for both missionaries and parish clergy.
- Increased understanding of and cooperation with Christians in other churches.
- A general understanding that Christians are involved in spiritual warfare against demonic forces and therefore we should expect misunderstanding and persecution.
I was present at the 1963 Anglican congress in Toronto where someone said, “The church that lives to itself dies by itself” and I heard a Canadian bishop say, “It may be that the Anglican Church should die so that the (whole) Church should live.”
So far, although we teach that death and resurrection are built-in principles of God’s creation, I see little evidence that Christians of any branch are willing to let their denomination die so that the greater Church may flourish. But as one who was ordained during a period of church building, I see the current increase in church closings and wonder if the 1963 statements are prophecies coming true.
Anglican scholarship and practice have much to offer to the other branches of Christ’s Church, and some denominations are already incorporating aspects of Anglicanism into their theology and liturgy; but we cannot offer anything if we are dead, and I believe it is as we emphasize the points above that new life will come back into this dying branch.
Yours respectfully,
(Rev.) Al Reimers, B.A., L.Th., M.Ed.
Message from Dawn L., Nova Scotia
Sent to us on August 30th, 2009
Rev. Dawn Leger answers the question “Where is your church now, and where do you think the Anglican Church of Canada should be in 2019?”
Message from John F., Military Ordinariate
Sent to us on August 24th, 2009“Where is your church now?”
I am an Anglican priest who has been serving for the past twenty years as a military chaplain, and I am so grateful for our Church’s involvement in, and support for, this unique and vital ministry. Our sailors, and soldiers and air personnel face many challenges as they attend to their duties in defending Canada. They and their families deserve the very best spiritual support we are able to offer them, and our Church has an important role to play in providing that support. At present, Anglican chaplains make up about twenty-two percent of Canadian Forces Chaplaincy, with approximately seventy-five of us Anglican clergy serving in the Regular and Reserve Forces, alongside our colleagues from more than a dozen different Christian denominations, and together with Jewish and Muslim chaplains as well.
All of our military chaplains, regardless of what faith tradition they come from, are expected to be able to provide a comprehensive ministry for the diversity of military personnel and families entrusted to their care. This unique approach to Chaplaincy in the Canadian Forces has led to the continuing development of a truly a multi-faith approach to ministry, which is focused on “ministering to our own, facilitating the worship of others, and caring for all.” As a result of this the CF Chaplaincy is becoming recognized throughout the world for its ecumenical and interfaith approaches to ministry within a pluralistic military environment.
In order for any our chaplains to be truly effective within this ecumenical and multi-faith ministry context, it is essential that they remain thoroughly grounded in, and well connected to, their own religious traditions and faith communities. Key to this for those of us who are Anglican Chaplains is the ministry of our Bishop Ordinary. The Bishop is kind of like a chaplain to the chaplains, and a chief pastor to the Anglican service men and women and their families. The Bishop prays for us, visits us, and cares for us pastorally and spiritually, and also keeps us well grounded within, and sustained by, our Anglican tradition. The Bishop represents the wider church to us, and of equal importance also represents us, and our stories, within the life and witness of the wider church.
“Where do you want the Anglican Church of Canada to be in 2019?”
As a military chaplain I have too often served in operational contexts where religious forces — either through complicity or complacency — have contributed (if even unwittingly) to the repression of their own people, or to the persecution of others. I have witnessed the consequences of religious extremism and intolerance, and have seen some of the malevolence that can be perpetrated in the pursuit of righteousness. It is my hope for the future of our Church, therefore, that we would seek continually to become a more effective force for healing and reconciliation within our own communities, and within our world, which desperately needs such humble witness and faithful service.
It is my sense that Jesus sought, throughout his ministry, to break down the barriers that separate us from one another, and from God, and I believe that he calls us to do likewise. The Apostle Paul, at many points in his writings, holds up for us an image of the Church as a model of reconciliation. Paul was convinced that in Christ all ethnic and racial distinctions had become obliterated, and by extension, all gender and social distinctions as well. In Christ a new humanity is created, one that is characterized by peace and reconciliation. Christ sought to move the “aliens” and “strangers” from the fringes of society into the inner circle, and not in order to displace those already in the inner circle, but that all might be one, together. Christ welcomed everyone into the household of God, but all too often, we appear to have forgotten these principles, and seem instead to be hard at work redefining “aliens” and “strangers”, and building new walls designed to separate and exclude.
My vision for the church in 2019, therefore, is that we would become a broader, and more welcoming and hope-filled church; one that celebrates diversity and embraces inclusiveness; one that focuses less on maintaining church buildings and structures, and more on building and maintaining church communities. My vision is that we would strive more fully to meet people where they’re at, and to journey more intentionally with them to where they are heading, learning to communicate the faith to them in ways that help them to make sense of their lives and encouraging among them the development of a practical and creative sense of their own nature as spiritual beings. My vision of the Church is that we would focus less on seeking to define right human belief, and more on seeking to defend a believer’s human rights. The Covenant that we need to breath new life into, and to embrace more fully, is the one we make in Baptism: to continue in the Apostle’s teaching and fellowship; to persevere in resisting evil; to proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ; to seek and serve Christ in all persons; and to strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.
Colonel Rev Canon John Fletcher Military Ordinariate
Message from Phyllis R., Gabriola Island BC
Sent to us on August 23rd, 2009The front page of our weekly parish bulletin proclaims our Mission Statement: “We are a people of God, followers of Jesus, open to the Spirit”, and the back page declares, “The service of the church into the world – begins again this week.” Rooted and grounded in the Triune God, we commit to a continuing mission to and presence in the world. I think this is a good place for us to be now, and ten years from now. Yet, I need to examine what we mean by our statement, and especially what we mean by “open.”
In one important sense, this openness signifies an advance within our parish, which has sometimes, partly because of our smallness and survival instinct, been inclined to keep to ourselves, with the occasional charitable outreach around Thanksgiving or Christmas. During the past few years, we have acquired a community presence, all the more remarkable considering our lack of a physical building to call our own. Our people are our presence. Our task when we do find a suitable property will be to hold on to this archetypal church, “a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” [IICor.5:1] Meanwhile, we are seen to exist and to serve, demonstrating that, in the words of our Newsletter editor, “We would like to have a contagious faith that will influence and encourage our entire community, one life at a time.”
But our web-page, after repeating the Mission Statement, attempts to welcome by assuring ourselves and others that “we are an inclusive community of open-minded, fun-loving, Christian families and individuals.” We use the word “community” in three different senses: the specific parish community, the local and global secular community, and the worldwide Christian community, especially but not exclusively the Anglican communion.
We need to take care that in opening one door, we do not allow another to blow shut. In our eagerness to be open-minded and fun-loving, are we in danger of rejecting our communal memory, theology and tradition? The Book of Common Prayer is still authorized for use throughout the Church. Yet we use it only one Sunday per month, at an early morning service – much better than never, as in some parishes, but not often enough. The Anglican liturgy is one of the living glories of world culture; we should nourish it, practise it and share it.
When we open our doors and arms to people who have been scorned by church and society, do we impatiently shut out those of our communion/community who continue to struggle with the implications of such openness in the light of Scriptural tradition? Do we let one issue or cause blow everything else off the table?
As we look towards 2019, let us open all our doors, taking time to find doorstops so that none slam shut, understanding that some of the gusts may be overpowering and that members of the Community will need to shelter and comfort one another. Let’s continue to go out, through the open doors, taking “the service of the church into the world”, engaging in the complicated and heartbreaking search for peace and social justice. Let’s be ever more “open-minded” and ready to explore communities beyond our cultural and spiritual borders. In the words of T.S. Eliot in “Little Gidding”: “We shall not cease from exploration.” But we must remain “a people of God, followers of Jesus, open to the Spirit,” a community with both a past and a future. So, as Eliot continues: “the end of all our exploring/ Will be to arrive where we started/ And to know the place for the first time.”
I recently read “Communion, Covenant and our Anglican Future: Reflections of the Episcopal Church’s 2009 Convention from the Archbishop of Canterbury for the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful of the Anglican Communion.” http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2009/7/28/ACNS4641 I re-read ”Statement of Anglican Primates of the Doctrine of God; Report of the Meeting of Primates of the Anglican Communion: Appendix II. “17 April 2002. http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2002/4/17/ACNS2960
Message from Jenna J., Burlington ON
Sent to us on August 14th, 2009There exists in the Anglican Church, at least in North American, some very deep, fundamental problems that have been pervasive for some time. Among them are:
1. Anglicans in the pew do not know their Bible. They rarely read their Bibles or take them to church services. I know, as I was one of them for years, until I began studying with Bible Study Fellowship International. It is shameful that very few Anglicans can even find their way around the Bible or know what it says exactly. The leaders and shepherds of the church have failed in this regard to teach the Scriptures to the congregants; therefore, they need to encourage Biblical knowledge and study.
2. Anglicans do not hear the Gospel message; they are just served up cute homilies by their rectors. It wasn’t until I went to an evangelical camp one summer as a youth that I heard the gospel message that I was a sinner, that Jesus died for those sins, and that I could have eternal life through Him. I had never heard that truthful but simple message before from my Anglican church or camp experiences, yet that message opened to me a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, the gospel message needs to be proclaimed in Anglican churches on Sundays throughout our nation, as this has eternal consequences.
3. The Anglican church is too worried and too focused on being politically correct instead of being concerned about being Biblically and Spiritually correct. Culture changes, swinging from left to right, but the Word of God does not change. We are to please God and not society, listen to God and not other voices, and be open to the movement of the Spirit and not the movement of others’ agendas. God’s wisdom is far superior to our wisdom, and we do not have the right to rewrite His commands as we so please or as is convenient for us. The church, then, needs to focus on following God and preaching the gospel message instead of following cultural and social philosophies.
Message from +Douglas Hambidge
Sent to us on August 13th, 2009Since the Primate’s letter arrived I have been very reluctant to respond. I have been retired since 1993, and I did not want to sound like someone still longing for the “good old days”. It is so easy in retirement to spend far too much time looking back. I have been reminded more than once to “remember Lot’s wife”!
Let me begin by saying that the Church looks very different from the pew where I spend much of my time, from the view I had from an Episcopal chair. From that chair I used to imagine that congregations hung on every word that came from the Synod Office and the Bishop. I now discover that many congregations have very little awareness of belonging to a diocese, much less a national church. The Anglican Communion meant and still means a great deal to me. It is very far removed from the consciousness of many of the Anglicans I meet today.
My present Christian journey takes me into many different congregations across Canada; to some in the United States, and to some Lutheran congregations. When I am not travelling elsewhere I worship with a small, elderly congregation in the Diocese of New Westminster.
Two impressions stand out.
I meet congregations that are vital and healthy. They have a strong sense of mission, and look for ways to serve the wider community and the world. Their worship is alive, and there is an openness to change. There is a conscious determination to be inclusive and welcoming. They spend more time engaging in mission and less time talking about it.
Then there are congregations threatened with extinction; fearful of change, and focused on survival. Clergy are dispirited – even defeated, and the surrounding community is seen more as a threat than a field of opportunity. Archbishop Somerville once described this kind of attitude as “the drawbridge mentality”, which closes its eyes, its mind and its purses to the world around it.
Much of my current interest lies in teaching and preaching in the area of stewardship. Two responses are significant. The healthy faith communities ask, “What do we need to engage in mission more fully?” The other group asks, “How can we survive another year?” The first are looking outward; the second are turned inward – on their property, their building. The first know what has been entrusted to them by God; the second lurch from fund-raise to fund-raise; from raffle to raffle; from bazaar to bazaar.
My dream for the Church is a faith community not motivated by its budget; not giving to prop up the building and not turned inwards on itself, and not merely in a survival mode. But rather a Church aware of what has been entrusted to it; alive to the community and world around it; consciously seeking the mind of Christ as it engages in Christ’s mission.
I look for leadership at the national level – General Synod; House of Bishops; CoGS, and at the diocesan level – in helping us become what we could be as a church. The answer is not fund-raiding campaigns, but a new and fresh approach to what stewardship really is. We all need to be reminded that everything we have and everything we are, are not possession we own, but things we hold in trust for the “benefit” of God. If the Parable of the Talents has any meaning at all, it means at least that. It also insists that what we have does not permit a constant reference to scarcity, since none of it belongs to us, and is only entrusted, and we are accountable for it. So we would celebrate the incredible “wealth” that has been put into our hands.
Over the decades I have watched, and been part of, a Church that has shied away from stewardship. I have been as involved as any in allowing stewardship to degenerate into a way to meet a budget. When finances failed we invariably launched a campaign for more funds, and in so doing set back our understanding of stewardship.
I believe the time has come to discover again who we really are: A listening Church; a serving Church; a mission Church.
If this is all too negative, I apologise – put it down to my advancing years.
+Douglas Hambidge
Archbishop of New Westminster retired
Message from David M., Chester Basin NS
Sent to us on August 10th, 2009Apropos the just received email distro from Ali Symons, here are my wishes.
A Church which unconditionally welcomes all who seek God. /God judges.
A Church which accords all individuals respect without regard to race, creed or sexual orientation or physical-mental condition, as all are children of God.
A Church which deals with reality. People are different, always have been.
A Church which is truly Christ centred. Love and understanding is the quest.
A Church which is community oriented. Not cliquish, nor fixated on the individual, but balanced since we are social beings. A church relevant to the secular world is appropriate if outreach and mission is an objective.
A Church which treats the Bible as an imperfect but deeply significant record of human experience with the sacred; one which challenges us to discern the holy life through study, contemplation, discussion and prayer . Why does the Bible have to be wholly considered as The Word of God?
A Church which celebrates its evolution and provides forms of worship which reflect both our traditions and our continuing discernment.
Those are my personal wishes. This grandfather believes the current drift of the Church guarantees the disinterest of the younger generations. But based on my attendance to a number of Synods, there appears to be a considerable gulf between the clergy and laity on the matter. Dealing with that will be quite a challenge. By the same token, I suspect that most congregations will not deal with your question in plenary. Leadership of such a discussion would have to be experienced and respectful.
Best wishes
Message from Barbara S, Sorrento BC
Sent to us on August 10th, 2009I am a female Anglican priest living in Sorrento, B. C. I served in the Diocese of Keewatin, where I was ordained, and then in the Diocese of Kootenay. I retired to Sorrento 5 years ago. Since coming to Sorrento I have done some interim work and help out in Kootenay and in APCI. The main work I have done in my time in Sorrento is at Sorrento Centre. This is an Anglican Retreat and Conference Centre. It is a great place to work or volunteer as there is always cutting edge Anglican learning happening. Change is the main happening at Sorrento Centre! As a result it is hard to attend the main stream parish church on Sunday where inclusive language is frowned upon and music is 500 years old.
So – to your questions. Where is my church now? By “my church”I mean the Anglican Church of Canada.
My church is lost in childish arguments and tantrums, in upholstering the pews, in excluding those who are different, in protecting the status quo. The male bishops of the church have no clue what it is like to be a woman, either lay or ordained, in the church today. They are afraid of change, of losing their power and of letting the Gospel of love lose in the world. I weep for the church which is so far from where Jesus calls us to be.
I have little hope that there will be any change by 2019. I`m not sure the church will survive. However, if there is a miracle and the church will allow change, perhaps some of the following will happen.
People will read the bible and have a real working knowledge of scripture. That includes children who will be welcomed with deep love and sincerety into worship services.
All people will be welcomed into our church. Gay and lesbian folks will be blessed and married in our church. There will be no issues around women as incumbent priests or as diocesan bishops.
We will truly care about the poor, the hungry and the homeless. We will consider our first work to care for the marginalized people in our society. All churches will have made the necessary changes for disabled people to come to worship and be part of the church community.
We will be a church that forgives easily and quickly. We will respect every human being and treat them carefully and gently.
We will simplify our church buildings. Get rid of the buildings that drag us down and use up our resources. We don`t need them.
Every single member will have a real ministry and be enabled and encouraged to fulfil it.
I have little hope that any of this will happen.
