News

A Word to the Church: Considering the proposed amendment of Marriage Canon XXI This Word to the Church was passed by consensus by the Council of General Synod on March 16, 2019.BY GENERAL SYNOD COMMUNICATIONS ON 16 MARCH 2019 NOTE: The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada is comprised of lay and clerical representatives…

The truth about St Patrick’s Day James Farrelly — Religion News Service 15 March 2019. Republished from The Conversation under Creative Commons Licence. In 1997, my students and I traveled to Croagh Patrick, a mountain in County Mayo, as part of a study abroad program course on Irish literature I was teaching for the University…

Ashes: Should they stay or should they go? By SCOTT GUNN, Executive Director, Forward Movement · Published 5 March 2019. Used with permission. There are a few predictable moments on churchy social media. You can expect that ’round about November, people will start arguing about how to keep Advent and what colors to use for vestments.…

Pancakes and Shrove Tuesday? What’s the connection with Shrove Tuesday and pancakes and what about ‘mardi gras’ According to Wikipedia, “The tradition of marking the start of Lent has been documented for centuries. Ælfric of Eynsham‘s Ecclesiastical Institutes from around 1000 AD states: ‘In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess…

New Social Justice Resource Page A collection of resources for learning about social justice issues As a parish, we take very seriously Jesus’ teachings about caring for the poor and those in need in our community and beyond. The Diocese of Toronto provides a Poverty Reduction Page for research and to learn more about the…

Acknowledging the painful errors of our past BY MARK MACDONALD  January 29, 2019 The Anglican Journal A few decades ago, I heard a classmate-friend give a comparison and an example that has been clinging to me since. He had been a conscientious objector serving as a medic in Vietnam. Speaking of the intense preparations to be ready for…

Primate reflects on annual meetings of vestry Archbishop Fred Hiltz encourages parishes to engage in ‘Heartbeat’ of the Church While the thought of the parish annual meeting, or vestry as it is known in some dioceses, does not thrill everyone’s heart, I confess to being one of those people for whom it actually did! Even…

Seven reasons you should not become a Christian (and one that you should) By John Bowen  8 January 2019, The Institute of Evangelism. (Used with permission from The Institute) The world divides into two categories: those who divide the world into two categories and those who don’t. I’m one of the first. So the people reading this…

“Twelve Days of Christmas” — the song Recent urban legends about this song not accurate Christmas actually begins on The Feast of the Nativity — 25 December. The period prior to Christmas is known as Advent which precedes Christmas by four weeks. From 25 December until 5 January marks the Twelve Days of Christmas. That…

Christmas Eve at ‘the church in town’ in Buckhorn Things to ponder in the Twelve Days of Christmas Christmas Eve at St Matthew – St Aidan Parishioners, neighbours, friends, and families gather at quaint, little country church in Buckhorn Our profound thanks to The Kraus Family for their gift of music to us. And to…