Archdiocese of Toronto modifies Eucharist rite to observe safety protocols

From Canada-

For the past three months, the Archdiocese of Toronto has worked on different ways to serve its parishioners safely when the time came for Ontario to reopen.

But the Eucharist, one of the most important sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church, remains a difficult rite to navigate.

It traditionally involves a priest placing a wafer of bread on a congregant's tongue or in their hand, then serving them with sacramental wine from a communal goblet.

Neil MacCarthy, director of public relations and communications for the Archdiocese of Toronto, said the organization wanted to make sure the ritual could be performed safely.

"It would be difficult for someone to look at (the Archdiocese's safety protocols) and say, 'These guys aren't concerned about this,"' MacCarthy said in an interview.

More here-

https://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1010/news/archdiocese-of-toronto-modifies-eucharist-rite-to-observe-safety-protocols-1.12818734

For less than the price of an average house in St Thomas, you can buy a house of God

From Canada-


For less than the price of an average house in St Thomas, you can buy an historic house of God.

Built in 1877, Trinity Anglican Church is one of the city's oldest congregations and on Thursday the 143-year-old house of God will go up for sale on the province's Multiple Listings Service. 

Faced with mounting bills and a declining membership, Trinity Anglican Church made a decision to sell 18 month ago, once it secured a merger with St. John's Anglican Church on Flora Street, to become the St Thomas Anglican Church. 


The merger and the forthcoming sale is part of a larger trend, as churches test their ability to hang on amid changing demographics, rising real estate prices and developers looking to pay top dollar for prime land.

Given the mutual benefits, it makes the prospect of selling too tempting an option to turn down for some churches. 

More here-

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-st-thomas-ontario-real-estate-church-for-sale-1.5617794

Christ Church Cathedral only Anglican church to remain open on Vancouver Island

From Vancouver-

Victoria’s Christ Church Cathedral is the last Anglican church to remain open on Vancouver Island, following an announcement made by the Anglican Diocese of B.C. Monday that said all its other churches in the CRD would be closed for 60 days.

While the historic cathedral will remain open amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the church’s services have been cancelled and new protocols have been put in place.

The cathedral adds that it will abide by the provincial health authority’s ban on public gatherings larger than 50 people, and will limit the number of people inside the church at one time.

More here-

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/christ-church-cathedral-only-anglican-church-to-remain-open-on-vancouver-island-1.4858514

Communal cups suspended at Anglican churches amid COVID-19 outbreak

From Toronto-

Anglican churches in Toronto are changing liturgical practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 ahead of the gathering of large congregations for Easter ceremonies.

Effective immediately, the Diocese of Toronto is suspending the sharing of communal cups at celebrations. It is also advising people to alter the Exchange of the Peace by sharing words and smiles only, as opposed to handshakes or hugs. In churches where holy water is used, the basin will be emptied after every service.

"Our normal liturgical customs are important to us, and we hope to reinstate them as soon as we are advised that the risk of transmission has been better contained," the Bishop of Toronto Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil said in a letter to the clergy and members.

More here-

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/communal-cups-suspended-at-anglican-churches-amid-covid-19-outbreak-1.4838818

Man seeks damages for alleged sexual, physical abuse in 1980s at Anglican school in Selkirk, Man.

From Canada-


A Manitoba man who says he was sexually and physically assaulted by a teacher at an Anglican boarding school nearly four decades ago is now seeking damages from the teacher and the organizations he says supervised the school.

In a statement of claim filed in Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench on Jan. 14, the man says he has suffered from suicidal thoughts, depression and alcoholism, following abuse he alleges was perpetrated decades ago by Kenneth Mackinnon Mealey, then a teacher at St. John's Cathedral Boys' School in Selkirk, Man.

The school closed in 1990 because of declining enrolment.

The statement of claim says the man, who now works as a labourer in northern Manitoba, was a student at the boarding school for grades 9 and 10.

More here-

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/lawsuit-sexual-abuse-anglican-boarding-school-selkirk-1.5437595

Vancouver Island’s Anglican bishop retires this spring

From Canada-

An Anglican bishop known for his progressive attitude towards reconciliation and the LGBTQ community is retiring after six years of leadership.

Logan McMenamie has been the bishop of the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia – comprised of parishes across Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the community of Kingcome – since 2014. Prior to that title, McMenamie was dean of Victoria’s Christ Church Cathedral.

Set to retire in April, the bishop is well known for his commitment to reconciliation and healing. In 2015, while standing at the site of the the demolished St. Michael’s Indian Residential School, McMenamie made a formal apology to survivors of the residential school system.

“Reconciliation is a journey,” McMenamie says. “The work we’ve done with de-colonizing ourselves, realizing we came as a colonial church, and what does it mean to de-colonize ourselves and how will that be different in the future?”

More here-

https://www.vicnews.com/news/vancouver-islands-anglican-bishop-retires-this-spring/

The changing face of church

From Canada-

On October 2, 2019, the congregants and friends of St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Fruitvale, B.C., took a last look at the building that had served them well over the years. They fell in line behind Lynne McNaughton, bishop of the diocese of Kootenay; dressed in her cope and mitre, crosier in hand, McNaughton led the procession out of the church, and into a motorhome that was waiting outside.

“It was the symbolism that we were on the move, and had a home worshipping,” says the Rev. Elizabeth Lewis, St. John’s deacon. “There’s a lovely picture of her sitting in the driver’s seat,” she adds.

The October service was a deconsecration of the building that had housed the church until July of this year, after the United Church of Canada congregation that co-owned the building decided to close their church and wanted to sell the property, Lewis says. Without full ownership of the building, St. John’s had to sell.

More here-

https://www.anglicanjournal.com/the-changing-face-of-church/

Take dire statistics with a grain of salt

From Canada-

In biblical times, God sent plagues to get human attention. Today, God "sends statistics." 

That’s what former United Church of Canada moderator Gary Paterson told me five years ago when his denomination was grappling with challenging news about decline. 

That comment came back to me when I read the recent report that there may be no members left in the Anglican Church of Canada by 2040. 

The Anglicans aren’t alone in getting that stark message. Other denominations in Canada are in a similar situation, including the United Church of Canada. According to Rev. Neil Elliot, who authored the Anglican report, that denomination is also facing a "zero-member date" in 20 years. 

More here-

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/faith/take-dire-statistics-with-a-grain-of-salt-565922061.html

Why it matters that Canadian Anglicans are having a near-death experience

From Get Religion-

Years ago, while I was still an Episcopalian, I tried to get a circle of clergy and journalists to collaborate on what I thought would be a classic work of religion-marketplace humor.

The basic idea: The creation of the definitive collection of jokes about Episcopalians and their unique approach to Christian life and culture. As one priest put it, the Episcopal Church is “NPR at prayer.”

The book never happened, but I learned lots of jokes that I didn’t know in all of the basic categories, from “how many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb” quips to jokes featuring “Episcopalians at the gates of heaven and/or hell.” But here was my favorite joke, as I heard it in 1993 (but with a few updates):

The year is 2030 … and two Anglo-Catholic priests in the back of National Cathedral are watching the Episcopal presiding bishop and her incense-bearing wife, an archdeacon, process down the aisle behind a statue of the Buddha, while the faithful sing a hymn to Mother Earth.

"You know," one traditionalist whispers, "ONE more thing and I'm out the door."

More here-

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2019/11/21/why-it-matters-that-canadian-anglicans-are-having-a-near-death-experience

'Dire' report projects near end of Anglican Church in Canada

From Canada-

By 2040, there may be no Anglican Church members left in Canada. 

That’s the finding a new report commissioned by the Anglican Church of Canada and delivered to leaders at the Council of General Synod meeting last week in Mississauga, Ont. 

The document by Rev. Neil Elliot, an Anglican priest in Trail, B.C., shows the church running out of members in 20 years at the current state of decline. 

"Projections from our data indicate that there will be no members, attenders or givers in the Anglican Church of Canada by approximately 2040," the report says. 

More here-

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/faith/dire-report-projects-near-end-of-anglican-church-in-canada-564814062.html

Trials adjourned for Anglican priest accused of multiple sexual offences

From Canada-


Trials for an Anglican priest accused of sexual offences against several teen boys will not go ahead in the new year.

Gordon William Dominey, 67, faces a slew of charges related to alleged abuses against boys aged 14 to 16 who were inmates at an Edmonton youth jail in the 1980s. 

But on Tuesday his lawyer brought an adjournment application, citing his client's poor health.

"Mr. Dominey will not be in a position to travel in 2020," defence lawyer Kent Teskey told Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paul Belzil during a brief hearing.

Dominey, who lives in British Columbia, was not in attendance. In 2018, court heard he was undergoing treatment for cancer.

More here-

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/dominey-anglican-priest-sex-offences-court-alberta-1.5340354

Long road to priesthood for family man

From Canada-

When newly ordained Fr. Robert Assaly refers to seeking help from “Mother,” the term is just as likely to refer to his wife Nancy as it is to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
 

With his family of six children, it’s a natural fatherly thing for the first married Catholic priest in the Montreal archdiocese to say. Such was the case last week during an interview when one of his sons popped into the study in the rectory at St. Thomas More Church in suburban Verdun to ask a question.

“Mum will have it,” Assaly assured the young man.

It was a small, lived moment that illustrated the enormous difference between him and his brother priests. Its daily ordinariness showed the truly unusual character of Assaly: how usual he makes the unusual in his life. 

The evidence? His marital status is but one dimension of that. His ordination on Sept. 20 at age 59 came after 10 years of discernment. That discernment came after 35 years as an Anglican priest, during which he married and began his family with Nancy. It doesn’t end there. The Anglican priesthood beckoned when he was in his mid-20s and an avowedly atheist millionaire stockbroker.

More here-

https://www.catholicregister.org/features/call-to-service/item/30389-long-road-to-priesthood-for-family-man

'Long past time,' Anglican priest says of permission to perform same-sex marriage

From Canada-


Some Anglican churches within the diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador have been given the green light to perform same-sex marriages.

The decision comes after the Anglican Church of Canada voted against equal marriage at its General Synod in Vancouver, and opted instead to allow each diocese to make its own independent decision.
Eight local parishes made requests to Bishop Geoffrey Peddle, and late last week he sanctioned the requests and immediately authorized those parishes to perform same-sex marriages.

The Rev. Jonathan Rowe of St. Michael and All Angels Church in St. John's says it's likely that there will soon be even more local churches within the diocese offering equal marriage.

More here-

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/anglican-church-eastern-newfoundland-authorize-equal-marriage-1.5302006

Anglican priest plans 55-hour sermon for charity

From London Ontario-

It seems like a good idea, but his wife is calling him mad.

Preach for 55 hours straight; how hard could it be? After all, Rev. Kevin George managed to bicycle 2,200 km for charity last year, although neither his body nor his wife want him to repeat that endeavour.

Still, George, the parish priest at St. Aidan’s Church in west London, is restless.

“I believe the church should engage in the community outside its doors,” he said. “I began thinking about what (else) I could do to attract attention.”

An idea struck George during a recent trip to his native Newfoundland. His father, a handyman, asked for some help with a task and while George did his best, he said manual labour isn’t his strong suit.
“My father said, ‘It’s a good job you can talk. If you couldn’t talk you wouldn’t eat.’”

More here-

https://www.thelondoner.ca/news/local-news/anglican-priest-plans-55-hour-sermon-for-charity

Vancouver sewing group stitches clothing for homeless children

From Canada-

After 20-some years of sewing clothes for homeless children, the Helping Hands Sewing Group has noticed some changes.

Fabrics have gotten thinner and contain more polyester than they used to. What little ones like to wear has changed. Volunteer seamstresses have come and gone. The group’s formidable founder, former social worker, gerontologist and activist Betty Plank, died in 2012.

“Some of us move. Some of us get old. Some of us couldn’t make it down the stairs,” said Sandy Hubbard.

The group comprises eight primarily retired, senior women who have the free time to sew Thursdays in the basement at St. Luke’s/San Lucas Episcopal Church in Vancouver.

The large church hosts all sorts of groups from narcotics anonymous to single seniors to clutterers anonymous.

“This is really a niche ministry,” said St. Luke’s rector, the Rev. Jaime Case.

More here-

https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/state/vancouver-sewing-group-stitches-clothing-for-homeless-children/article_846d1c8b-4210-5d27-a6c1-29d3e91defc8.html

Vancouver-area Anglican bishop approves same-sex marriages, despite national vote

From Canada-

The Anglican bishop for the Metro Vancouver region has approved same-sex marriages in her diocese, beginning Thursday.

Bishop Melissa Skelton made the decision despite delegates of the national Anglican Church narrowly defeating the proposal during a July 12 vote at their general synod in Vancouver.

In the latest move in a worldwide Anglican conflict that has gone on for decades, Skelton seized on a compromise that the national church’s bishops offered a few days after the defeated vote, which would allow individual dioceses to adopt a “local option” on same-sex marriage rites.

Many of the country’s Anglicans had been bitterly disappointed when the motion to allow same-sex marriages lost by the slimmest of margins earlier this month.

More here-

https://www.thewesternstar.com/news/canada/vancouver-area-anglican-bishop-approves-same-sex-marriages-despite-national-vote-338337/

Anglican Church of Canada to remove prayer for Jewish conversion

From Canada-

The Anglican Church of Canada’s move to expunge a prayer for the conversion of the Jews from its liturgy is being hailed as a milestone.

Meeting in Vancouver, the church’s General Synod – its governing body – approved a measure on July 16 to delete an invocation calling for the conversion of Jews from the Book of Common Prayer, and replace it with a prayer entitled “For Reconciliation with the Jews.”

Successful resolutions before a synod must pass in all three of the church’s “houses.” This one was approved with near unanimous support: Among the laity, it passed by a 99 per cent plurality, and by 100 per cent among both clergy and bishops.

The amendment will require ratification at the next General Synod in 2022. But Edward Simonton, the church’s Vicar General of Quebec, told The CJN the resolution’s passage at the next synod will be “just a formality,” given its overwhelming support this time.

More here-

https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/anglican-church-of-canada-to-remove-prayer-for-jewish-conversion

No decision yet on same-sex marriage for local Anglicans: Bishop says more consultation needed

From Canada-

Earlier this month, a motion to add same-sex unions to Anglican Church of Canada laws was narrowly voted down at its General Synod. 

To pass, the resolution required "yes" votes from two-thirds of each of three orders — lay, clergy and bishops.

Eighty per cent of the lay delegates voted to adopt the motion, as did 73 per cent of the clergy. But the bishops were two votes shy of what was needed to enter the proposal into law.

But at the same national gathering, the church also decided to allow individual dioceses — including the local Diocese of Algoma — to make their own determinations on the matter.

Some Anglican dioceses have already issued statements, saying they're going ahead with same-sex marriages, while others have already allowed same-sex marriage for the past three years.

More here-

https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/no-decision-yet-on-same-sex-marriage-for-local-anglicans-bishop-says-more-consultation-needed-1599173

At national gathering, Arctic Anglicans say no to same-sex marriage

From Canada-

Anglican bishops representing the Arctic and other Indigenous and northern regions played a crucial role earlier this month in blocking a resolution that would have amended the Anglican Church of Canada’s canon law to permit the solemnization of same-sex marriage.

Anglican delegates from every corner of the country took part in a passionate debate on the issue this past July 12, during the church’s triennial synod, or national assembly, in Vancouver.

The resolution would have replaced the words “man and woman” and “husband and wife” with “the parties to the marriage” and would have extended the marriage sacrament to all persons able to get married under civil law.

One of many supporters of the resolution, lay reader Robert MacMillan of Nova Scotia, said he and his partner waited 20 years to get married. But to do that, they had to go to the United Church of Canada—because his local Anglican rector refused to marry them.

More here-

https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/at-national-gathering-arctic-anglicans-say-no-to-same-sex-marriage/

Canadian Anglicans to Continue Same-Sex Ceremonies, Even After Failed Vote

From Christianity Today-

Though the Anglican Church in Canada last week failed to amend its canon to sanction same-sex marriages, in the wake of the narrow vote, dioceses have opted to continue with them anyway.

The amendment, first passed in 2016, required a two-thirds majority vote among lay delegates, clergy, and bishops at two triennial general synods in a row. While it met the threshold among lay and clergy (80.9% and 73.2%) during this year’s synod, the bishops’ vote last Friday fell just short of two-thirds (62.2%).

On Monday, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the Primate of Canada, read a statement to the delegation saying the bishops “are not of one mind” on the issue, but that “we are walking together in a way which leaves room for individual dioceses and jurisdictions of our church to proceed with same-sex marriage,” according to Anglican Planet.

More here-

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/july/anglican-church-in-canada-same-sex-marriage-vote.html