Informing and reporting the Life of the Church across Northern British Columbia since 1907

Caledonia TimesJune 2012 (Volume 46, Issue 6)

The Diocesan Section of the Anglican Journal

Diocesan Executive Spring Meeting dealt with many property, finanical issues and Primatial Commission on Marriage

Members of the current Exectuive Committee hard at work in during a recent meeting.

On May 9th 2014, the Diocesan Executive Committee met in Terrace for their annual Spring meeting. The Diocesan Execu-

tive Committee (DEC) operates as the Synod of the Diocese when the Synod is not in session and has representatives from every region of the Dio-cese, both clergy and laity. DEC is chaired by the Bishop and has the Dean and the Archdeacons as ex-officio members.

After prayers, the first matter to be attended to was the finances of the diocese. Secretary-Treasurer Audrey Wagner noted that there are a number of parishes that have paid their insurance in full by the end of March for the year. There are also a few parishes that have given their Diocesan Fair share for the year. Over all giving to the Diocese from the parishes is up $17,000 dollars over this time last year. The Bishop noted that there will not be a reduction to the National Block Grant for 2014 because of a generous bequest to the Council of the North by a donor. The five percent per year reduc-tion in the Block Grant will continue in 2015.

The Bishop then spoke about insurance and some issues that have come up again recently. In particu-lar, the Bishop reminded DEC to make sure that people who are volunteering with children and oth-er vulnerable groups in the parish have Criminal Record and background investigations done before they are permitted to proceed with ministries in the Parish. Failure to ensure that people are properly investigated can cause the loss of liability cover-age and for the Diocese, the Parish and various members to be corporately and severally sewed. This includes anyone who is leading worship in a parish. The Purpose of having licensed people lead services is to make sure that the person in charge is qualified and is able to be responsible for what happens in connection with the service. Therefore, no unlicensed person is permitted to lead worship.

The rest of the morning was taken up with dealing with different property matters around the Diocese.DEC heard that an offer for all of the land that be-longs to the congregation of St. Martin’s, Fort St. John has been made. There is an updated appraisal for the buildings and land being done for both the Diocese and the potential purchaser. DEC support-ed the idea that once the value of the properties is assessed and agreed upon that the Bishop negoti-ates a potential deal with the purchaser. The con-gregation is on side with the potential sale. When a deal has been reached, this will be communicated with the Executive Committee by conference call or email for approval.

Next, the DEC heard that lots have been sold in Terrace near St. Matthew’s and through that sale, has allowed the congregation to pay off loans for St. Matthew’s Centre. The Bishop also learned, during the process of the sale that there is a poten-tial for St. Matthew’s Centre to be sold. An evalua-tion of the property and its value is in process. The

bishop will consult with the parish and the DEC before a sale is formalized.

The last of the property issues raised was around the roof of the Cathedral in Prince Rupert. The Par-ish has been fundraising and also experiencing a few leaks on the South side of the roof in the Nave. There was discussion around soliciting help from the rest of the diocese in the form of a fundraiser or appeal. It was suggested that the parish look into applying to the Skeena-Queen Charlottes Regional Gas Tax Rebate Grant. The Bishop also noted that he has both written and spoken at the Annual meet-ing that he intends to investigate the sale of the cur-rent properties in favour of relocating to a smaller and more manageable situation. That investigation is about to begin.

The Bishop commented to members of DEC that he wanted to have this meeting if for no other rea-son that reassure people in the diocese that there is not going to be a “fire sale” in terms of divesting of buidlings. There simply has been a lot happening all over the past while and he called this meeting to have everyone up to date.

In Parish Issues, the Bishop notified DEC that upon the conclusion of the ministry of the Rev. Luke Anker in Kitimat that the congregation of Christ Church would become a mission of St. Matthew’s Terrance and under the direction of Archdeacon Ernest Buchanan. There was a discussion about outstanding stipend owed to clergy in Greenville, the ongoing search for clergy for the Bulkley Val-ley, and the possible cessation of ministry in Fort St. James. Attendance at divine worship has been

in the single digits and there is interest in attending the service in Vanderhoof

The final item of the day was to discuss a re-sponse to the call for submissions to the Primatial Commission on Marraige. The Commission was brought togather by the Primate in response to a motion that was made at the last General Synod in Ottawa. The Commission is charged with working out the issues around chaging General Synod Can-on 21 and dotrine around marriage to permit same sex marriage. The Bishop noted that there has been much ado over the people on the commission and that there is not one person on the commission who would dissent to the idea of same sex marraige.

After some lengthy discussion concering how the Diocese might respond, it was concluded that the Bishop should send on behalf of the Diocese, the motion that was made at our last Diocesan Synod in Prince Rupert in 2012. In essence, we are com-municating that we are going to remain faithful to Scripture and will not enact any changes to our canons or teaching that would allow us to be drawn away from the Church catholic.

The Bishop, in closing the meeting, invited the parishes to remember in prayer and thanksgiv-ing Archbishop Douglas Hambidge. On May 11th 1969, Archbishop Douglas was consecrated to be our 7th Bishop and served here for many years be-fore translating to New Westminster and becoming our metropolitan. Greetings and wishes can be sent to All Saints, Ladner where the Hambidges cur-rently worship

Page 2 Caledonia Times — June, 2012

Bishop’s Notes

Caledonia TimesA Publication of the Diocese of Caledonia

Editor: The Dean of CaledoniaPublished monthly, except July and August by:Diocese of Caledonia, 200 – 4th Avenue West

Prince Rupert, BC V8J 1P3(250) 627-1143 or (250) 600-7143

Address correspondence and copy to the address above or to caledoniatimes@gmail.comSubmissions must be received by the 1st day of

each month for the following month’s issue.

Send subscription orders, address changesDiocese of Caledonia

c/o Anglican Journal 80 Hayden St.Toronto, Ontario M4Y 3G2

Printed and mailed by:Webnews Inc., North York ON.

Becoming a family

Can we take time off from God?

By Bishop Mark MacDonald

This article first appeared in the April issue of the Anglican Journal.

Colonial govern-ments and First Na-tions certainly saw the treaties from different cultural perspectives. For co-lonial governments,

treaties were an exchange of land and authori-ty on the First Nations’ side, for the protection of certain “reserved” rights and territories on the colonial side.

For First Nations, I have heard our elders say that the process was seen in a religious and spiritual light, and involved making a fam-ily and clan relationship between First Na-tions and the colonial governments and their peoples. This was to be confirmed by sharing, mutual accountability and a self-determining freedom for all parties that could only be con-strained to the common benefit of the new family.

This difference in perspectives still disturbs the relationship between indigenous peoples and modern colonial institutions at multiple levels. Western institutions, such as churches

and governments, tend to look at indigenous peoples through bureaucratic and program-matic eyes: what kind of program must we develop to help these people?

Indigenous peoples tend to ask: what kind of relationship must we have in order to help each other?

There is value in both viewpoints, but from a church perspective, the indigenous perspec-tive has to have priority—not only by the log-ic of our own Christ-centred faith, but also by the promise of this new relationship implicit in our religious, ceremonial and spiritual presence at the treaties.

Churches have often acted as other Western institutions do, importing models from other institutions—government, business and the military—to guide their policies and proce-dures and to provide measures of value and efficiency. Though this process is well hidden in many of our most basic assumptions, par-ticularly among those of us who are trained and authenticated institutional leaders, the assumptions of these adopted models is the source of some frustration, both for the feel-ings of many of our members and, it seems, for our hopes for a better future.

Summer is again with us and with

summer people think about holidays and travelling. Time at the cottage, or working in the garden become priorities as folks seek to enjoy the outdoors and the sunshine as much as possible.

I remember forty years ago, the priest who supervised my training in Montreal, express-ing puzzlement at the North American habit of Christians taking the summer off. He was an Irishman who had also served in South Af-rica where it seems things are done differently than here. His question was simple; “How does one take time off from God?”

I tend to remember that question every year as this season comes around and our attendance numbers drop and activities grind to a halt. It is as if we have institutionalized our answer to his question across our church.

It’s summer time, so we cancel choir (in those few places where we still have them). We can-cel Sunday School classes (again, in those few places where we still have them). We cancel Bible Study programs and training programs. In some parishes we cancel services altogether for one or more of the summer months. And many people view these cancellations as jus-tification for cancelling attending Church as well as for cancelling their financial contribu-tions to the work of the Church.

All in all, we have developed, over several decades, some pretty effective ways of taking time off from God.

But looked at from this perspective, I can’t help asking the question the other way around; “Do we want God to take time off from us over the summer months?”

How happy would we be if God decided to mirror our behaviour in the months ahead? What if we pray for healing and the answer comes back- “Sorry, I’m not here - Pray in the Fall when I return”.

What if we need protection now and the an-swer is, “Sorry, not available for the summer months – come back again at a later date.”

Well, of course this seems silly. God doesn’t take vacations. After all, it’s not in His job de-scription, is it?

And yet we often assume that we, who are fol-lowers of Jesus Christ, can take the summer off while expecting God to do what we don’t wish to do- that is, be faithful every day.

The reality is that through the summer months there is work to be done. People still need prayers for healing and protection. Travellers still should be able to find hospi-tality in our parish Churches when they visit.

The bereaved still require comforting, and the shut-ins still need visiting. In short, the needs of the world continue – they do not take a vacation.

So as we enter into this summer season please consider how and what you can con-tinue to do to carry out the Work of God in your parish as well as wherever your travels may take you.

+William Caledonia.

Caledonia Times — June 2012 Page 3

Hey, What about....

Books on the Way: Open mind, Open heart

The need for holy living to tell the Good News ?I don’t remember what I said. I do remember the screeching of the street cars, smell of burnt fuel and the hissing of the air brakes on buses. Then, suddenly I was having a wonderful conversa-tion with somebody who wanted to know why I thought God makes a difference in the world. It was hard. It was fearful. It was terrifying. Never-theless I think every Christian should have the op-portunity to talk with someone else about Jesus. Please understand that I am not talking about doc-trine or the Church’s stance on the latest hot button issue. What I hope for each and for every person in this diocese is that they get the chance to share their faith with someone else. Hopefully it will be with someone they trust and someone whom they can encourage to live the life that we as Christians are all called to live. Giving voice to our faith will make us bolder but it does not mean that we have to go and try dragging people to the kingdom (and thus to church) kicking and screaming. That is not testifying or witnessing.

The important part of evangelism is not necessarily the technique of bring a person to Christ - though having a technique to guide you can be helpful. The important part of evangelism is living the mes-sage and showing the hope that is within you be-cause you believe in Jesus Christ. There is a need for the Church to be the Church these days and for the Church to live a life that is worthy of the call of God. We need to be people of holiness... that is we need to be people who live the way we ought to live according to the Scriptures. We need to be people of faith who are going to take risks to step out and reach out to other people who are mired in the morass of our modern North American culture .

I recently read something that the current Arch-bishop of York, The Most Rev. John Semantu,

wrote on his own website that should help us in understanding how Anglicans do evangelism. He said this about sharing our faith: Evangelism is about enabling personal awakening of faith in Jesus Christ. It involves sharing that faith person to person so that people have the opportunity to respond freely to the Gospel (good news) of God’s love in their own setting. It is a key part of the wid-er Christian mission. In the 1990s, the “Decade of Evangelism”, the church explored appropri-ate ways to share faith in God in our culture and context, so that people might hear and respond to the good news of Jesus in ways that made sense for them, and so that their questions and problems could be honestly faced and discussed. Now, in the new millennium, the lessons of the Decade are be-ing refined and put into practice as we learn to-gether how to fulfil St Peter’s words: “...in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Peter 3:15,16 NRSV)

Jason+

Editor, Caledonia Times.

By Ruby McBeth

In preparation for our trip to Iceland I have been trying to learn Icelandic. I listen patient-ly to a set of teaching records knowing that Icelandic would take a very long time to mas-ter. I just trust that by regular listening I will gradually learn. Learning to pray has some-thing in common with learning a language. If we want to get a meaningful beginning we need to put listening at the center. By humbly and persistently listening to God we can learn to pray.

In his book Open Mind, Open Heart: the Con-templative Dimension of the Gospel Thomas Ke-ating makes a strong case for a kind of prayer which is centered on listening to God. This prayer called “contemplative” has a long his-tory in Christianity, but in the past few cen-turies it has become a discipline exclusive to monks and nuns. Keating feels it is time to change that. By opening up contemplative prayer to all Christians he thinks that not only could it promote Christian unity, but also gain Christians the respect of other world religions. Keating presents the idea that con-templative prayer can grow out of other tra-ditional prayers used by the laity such as lec-tio divina (meditation on scripture) and the

Jesus Prayer. He calls his bridging of the gap between spoken prayer and contemplative prayer “centering prayer.”

The subject of silent prayer is not easy to wrap our minds around. Keating helps the reader by using many comparisons and by includ-ing answers to some very basic questions that came up in retreats which he conducted. Ke-ating’s book moves from general discussion-type essays to a more textbook-like approach. In the first two-thirds of the book the essays teach about quiet prayer with such topics as “The History of Contemplative Prayer in the Christian Tradition,” “First Steps in Centering Prayer,” and “The Unloading of the Uncon-scious.” Two central concepts of the book are the need to empty oneself in order to listen to God and the idea of a true self and a false self. The false self he sees as the self that acts out of fear - out of a need to protect the ego. Ke-ating’s aim is for us to let God rule our lives so that we can become our true selves. By placing ourselves intentionally before God, we allow God to heal us from the inside out. A belief in God’s unconditional love for each person is a recurring theme in the book.

The last third of the book consolidates the in-formation on centering prayer. Included are a

format for a weekly centering prayer support group, a meditation to prepare for center-ing prayer, essentials of the centering prayer method, a brief history of how the author got involved, and a glossary of terms.

Thomas Keating is a Cistercian priest who lives at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Colorado. He is one of the founders of the Centering Prayer movement. Recommended for Chris-tians feeling the need to go deeper with their prayer life. Keating, Thomas. Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel. New York: Continuum, 1986.

Lately, there has been a lot of conversation with and around me about evangelism. For

those in the diocese who may not be aware, I was once and remain an evangelist. In fact yesterday was the 23rd anniversary of my commissioning as an Evangelist and as a Church Army Captain (in the National society). I was commissioned on May 3rd, 1991 with three classmates to work on and be-yond the borders of the Church to reach people for Jesus Christ. And it was through this that I learned what it was to have the heart of a pastor and to dis-ciple others in the life and way of Christ.

Many of these chats about evangelism were about the fears that Anglicans always have about evan-gelism. They see other churches being very ag-gressive towards people who do not believe and trying to force people to be Christians and thus to members of their particular church. All of the people who mentioned this to me pointed out that they could not and would not do that, even if they could. I can understand what they were saying. I remember my introduction to evangelistic preach-ing. I had been in Toronto for only about 48 hours. I went with the rest of the body of the Church Army College in Toronto to the corner of Bloor St. and Dufferin Ave. I discovered later that we were on a Baptist Church’s property right next to the Dufferin Subway Station where the travellers come up to get on North and Southbound buses. After listening to some of the officers and more experienced students get up and preach, my turn came. I was shoved (politely of course) up on to the cement block and told I had 45 seconds to get people’s attention and to get somebody to come and talk to me about Jesus.

Page 4 Caledonia Times — June, 2012

Beyond Caledonia: Wider Church Life Climate change workshop calls for faith-based response

Though many feel paralyzed by the enormity of the global environmental crisis, about 75 people gath-ered at Toronto’s Cathedral Church of St. James on March 8 to discuss the challenges and ways that faith communities are called to respond in a work-shop called “The Earth is the Lord’s.” Journalist Alanna Mitchell, author of Seasick, described the dangers for the world’s oceans, the chemistry of which she said is “changing faster than at any time in the history of the planet.” But professor and en-vironmental advocate Stephen Scharper held up the example of changes in the use of the chemical DDT that followed publication of Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring. “Never think that our little actions cannot lead to stronger actions, “ he said.

The Anglican

Walk with us

Linda Rosier of All Saints Erin has written that she is still overwhelmed by the experience of walking with First Nations people in their Healing Walk through the tar sands near Fort McMurray, Alberta, last July. Land, which was once covered with great boreal forest and pristine lakes, is now a wasteland the size of England and Wales combined, covered with toxic tailings ponds.

Walking the 14 km Syncrude Loop while praying for the healing of the land with Elders, Rosier says the quiet walk, which was not intended as a pro-test, was punctuated by “frequent blasts of propane cannon-fire used to keep the birds from landing in the deadly water of the tailings ponds.”

She added, “Surely there is more sustainable profit and job opportunity to be gained from an economy

that is good for the health of us, our earth, air and water on which we all depend.”

Rosier encouraged everyone who can to partici-pate in the 5th Annual Tar Sands Healing Walk gathering June 27 to 28, two days of spiritual and educational events on the Fort McMurray First Na-tions Reservation. The walk is slated for June 28.

Niagara Anglican

Advocating for refugees

The Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) has launched a campaign with the slogan “Proud to Protect Refugees” to counter myths and miscon-ceptions about refugees coming to Canada and to emphasize the positive contributions refugees of-ten make to their new country if given the opportu-nity, Coleen French of the CCR told a gathering at St. James the Apostle Church in Montreal in April.

The council is organizing a Canada-wide event “walk with refugees for a stronger Canada,” June 16 to 22, with local marches across the country.

Pia Zambelli, a leading refugee lawyer in Montre-al, said important Canadian legal precedents that granted refugees many of the same rights as other residents of Canada are now being undermined and “garbled” by the current federal government’s rhetoric about “bogus” refugees and by restrictions and clampdowns.

Montreal Anglican

Huron to be a companions with Amazonia

In March, Bishop Bob Bennett and his wife, Ka-thie, as well as Stephanie Donaldson, St. John’s, Grand Bend, travelled to the diocese of Amazonia, in the heart of the Amazon River delta, to attend its

synod, where the bishop signed covenant to create a companion relationship between the dioceses of Huron and Amazonia.

Huron Church News

Licensing lay readers

The diocese of Qu’Appelle plans to re-introduce a licensed lay reader program by the beginning of September, possibly commissioning the first lay readers in the fall. The Diocese of Ottawa recently amended its lay reader program and shared its ma-terials with Qu’Appelle. Drawing from those ma-terials, Qu’Appelle has produced its second draft of a manual for the program. “This is a ministry that will compliment and enrich the ministries of the diocese offered by clergy and laity alike,” said Bishop Rob Hardwick.

Saskatchewan Anglican

More funding for Syrian crisis needed

Before the civil war, Syria had a population of 21 million, but about nine million have since left their homes, and about two million are now refugees in countries such as Lebanon, Jordan Turkey and Iraq, David Mayberry of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank said in a presentation hosted by the Ottawa Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund di-ocesan working group.

Of the $13 million the bank has provided for the Syria crisis, a little more than half “has already been used up,” he said. He encouraged Canadians to write letters to their MPs, urging the federal gov-ernment to make a new commitment of funding.”

Crosstalk

Comic Life A Co Adjuator Bishop for Fredericton Electedalso step down as Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada, which consists of the dioceses of three dioceses in the province of Newfoundland & Labrador as well as the dioceses of Nova Scotia & Prince Edward Island, Fredericton, Quebec and Montreal. A new metropolitan will be elected by the provincial synod later this year.

Born in 1960 in England, Archdeacon Edwards was ordained to the diaconate in 1995 and priesthood in 1996 in the Diocese of Chelmsford, where he served his curacy and as incumbent at St. Mary High Ongar with Norton Mandeville. His also served as Bishop’s Adviser in Evangelism, and Mission and Education Minister for Ongar Deanery. In 1998 he was appoint-ed principal of the Church Army’s Taylor College of Evangelism in Saint John, NB In 2002 he was ap-pointed rector at Stone Church in St John and in 2010 appointed Archdeacon of Saint John. In 2011 he be-came development officer for the Diocese of Fred-ericton and later acting Archdeacon of St Andrews.

Author: George Conger

A Church Army Captain and former clergyman of the Church of England has been elected Bishop of the Dio-cese of Frederic-ton in the Anglican Church of Canada. On 10 May 2014 a special session of

the diocesan synod elected the Ven. David Edwards, Archdeacon of St Andrews and the diocesan Parish Development Officer as 10th bishop of the diocese that serves the Province of New Brunswick.

Archdeacon Edwards was elected on the fourth ballot from among six candidates and will succeed Arch-bishop Claude Miller, who will retire on 23 June 2014 – his 70th birthday. Archbishop Miller will