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During January, to accommodate staff vacations, the ANiC newsletters will focus primarily on ANiC news. We also will send you the weekly American Anglican Council newsletter to provide you with additional international and US news.
Handle with prayer!
News – ANiC and AEN
ANiC Plant and Grow Conferences
Regional
church planting conferences are being organized in different areas across the country.
Clergy, laity and prospective church planters at any stage of the planting process
are welcome. More church planting information is on the ANiC website. (Dates
and locations may change as plans develop)
Short-term mission trips planned. You are invited!
The
Asian Mission in Canada (AMiC) was established in November 2009 to facilitate
the growth of Asian Anglican churches in Canada and to care for the poor. AMiC
aims to help marginalized immigrants with poor English-language skills and low
paying jobs, and Mainland Chinese satellite families in transition. AMiC is
also committed to partnering with International China
Concern (ICC) and the Anglican Church in
Thailand, which is a deanery in the Diocese of Singapore. As part of these friendships, two short-term missions have been
organized to China and Thailand.
1. China, Love Mission to Special-needs
children – Working with ICC, the Asian Mission will send a team in
early July to assist ICC’s ministry to orphans who have been abandoned because
of their disabilities. The team will help run a summer camp for the children.
Team leader is Isabella Shen.
2. Thailand, Anglican Missions partnership – Working with the Diocese of Singapore, deanery of Thailand, this
mission team will help in Karen refugee camp in early June. Team leader is Nona
Leung. You can help! Please pray about becoming involved either by going or
supporting those who do go. The application deadline is March 1st, 2011. The Initial Interest Meeting will be held on Sunday, January 30th, 2011 at Anglican
Network Church of the Good Shepherd. See the Asian Mission announcement
here.
Asian Mission in Canada (AMiC) Inaugural conference, March 21-22
AMiC’s
conference, Discerning contemporary
culture: Challenges and Christian ministry in a permissive age, is being
organized by Bishop Stephen Leung. Great speakers will include Dr Brian
Stiller, the Rev Warren Lai, the Rev Ken Shigematsu, the Most Rev Dr John Chew
(to be confirmed), the Rev Dr David Pao, Dr Toni Dolfo-Smith, Mr Daniel Komori
and Dr James Houston – and more. For more information see the Asian Mission
Website. Early bird registration lasts until January 16.
Feeding on God’s Word
At
synod 2010, Bishop Charlie introduced the Navigator’s Topical Memory System of
the Bible (NTMS). Now available on the ANiC website, Christ the King, Victoria,
has arranged a Bible memory system based on the NTMS. It was originally
intended to assist the members of their own parish to memorize 50-60 scripture
verses in the coming year This
very helpful tool is now available
to all ANiC parishes to assist them in “going deeper in the Bible.”
Christ the King parish writes: “It
assists ANiC members in attaining strategic priorities for all parishes in
2011. Specifically it assists in fulfilling the vision of equipping ANiC
members to embrace ANiC’s mission and become Biblically faithful, Gospel-
sharing Anglicans.”
Anglican information night in Winnipeg
St
David’s the Faithful, an ANiC community, is sponsoring an Information evening
for Manitobans in the Winnipeg area. The speakers are Bishop Dr Trevor Walters
and the Rev Canon Dr Brett Cane who will address questions regarding the
Anglican Communion, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Network in
Canada. See flyer posted on ANiC’s website.
ANiC parishes appeal to Supreme Court of Canada
The
Trustees of the four Vancouver area parishes filed an application for Leave to Appeal
to the Supreme Court of Canada on January 14, 2011. The News Release said in
part:
“The
Trustees submit the Court of Appeal was correct in holding that the church properties
are held on religious purpose trusts for Anglican ministry, but that it erred
in finding that Anglican ministry is as defined by a majority in the ACC, and
in awarding the properties to the ACC Diocese.
“The
Court of Appeal acknowledged that the awarding of these properties to the Diocese
of New Westminster could well mean that the churches would have “vastly reduced
or non-existent congregations””, said Cheryl Chang, Special Counsel to ANiC.
“But this result actually serves to defeat the religious purpose and results in
the trust property being empty or underused. The evidence at trial showed the
awarding of the properties to the ANiC congregations would mean that the
original purposes of Anglican Ministry would continue to be fulfilled in those church
properties. In contrast, the Diocese is in a process of closing and selling churches.”
To
read the full release, see ANiC’s
website and read the full Trustees’
Memorandum of Argument.
Subscribe to ANiC news RSS feeds
A new RSS feed has been
added to the ANiC website. Subscribe and receive ANiC news as it happens.
Welcome into ANiC!
The Rev Andy Leroux and the LivingHope Christian
Church (Scarborough ON) – On
January 6 , LivingHope
Christian Church became ANiC’s newest parish. The church meets at
1100 Bellamy Road and is under the leadership of the Rev Andy Leroux, former
rector of St Ninian’s (ACoC), Scarborough. Bishop Don licenced Andy as a priest
in ANiC on January 4.
The Rev Robin Guinness was officially welcomed as a priest in ANiC on January
10, 2011. Read his reasons for
leaving the Anglican Church of Canada posted on the ANiC website.
Robin and his wife Sandy are members of ANiC’s Christ the King, Toronto.
St James’ (Lennoxville, PQ) – On January 1, ANiC welcomed St James’ (Lennoxville), a
church plant in the Eastern Townships of Quebec St James’ meets at 43 Queen Street and is under the
leadership of the Rev Jess Cantelon as priest in charge.
Calendar of upcoming events – for your interest and prayer support
Jan
9 – Bishop Don visits The Epiphany, Hamilton, for a 1st anniversary
celebration
Jan
16 – Bishop Don to St Georges Ottawa, installation of Mike Donison, new
Chancellor
Jan
16 – Bishop Charlie visits LivingHope Christian Church, Scarborough
Jan
21 – Anglican
Information Night, at St David’s the Faithful, Winnipeg
Jan
23 – Bishop Don to Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Marlborough,
Confirmation service
Jan
25-27 – ACNA 2011
church planting summit in Plano, TX; speaker Tim Keller
Jan
25-31 – Anglican Communion Primates Meeting (Dublin, Ireland)
Jan
30 – Bishop Don visits Christ the King, Toronto, welcome Robin Guinness+
to ANiC
Jan
30 – Bishop Don to visit LivingHope Christian Church, Scarborough
Jan
30 – Asian Mission short-term mission trips meeting, Church of the Good
Shepherd
Feb
9-12 – theAM Winter
Conference, Greensboro, North Carolina
Feb
19 – Victoria, BC church
planting workshop
Feb
25-27 – Good Shepherd (Vancouver) revival
conference
Feb
(TBD) – Brandon, MB church
planting workshop
March
2 – Burlington, ON church
planting workshop
March
5 – Langley, BC church
planting workshop
March
14 – St John, NB church
planting workshop
March
21-22 – Asian
Mission’s Discerning contemporary culture conference, Vancouver, BC
March
29-31 – ANiC’s 2011 pastors’ retreat near Abbotsford, BC
April
2 – Ottawa, ON church
planting workshop
April
30 – Montreal, QC church
planting workshop
June
(TBD) – Marlborough, MA church
planting workshop
News – Anglican Church in North America (ACNA)
Diocese of New Jersey sets new precedent
St
George’s Anglican Church (Helmetta, NJ), which is under the Convocation of
Anglicans in North America (CANA) Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns, has amicably
settled its property dispute with Diocese of New Jersey in the Episcopal Church
(TEC) Prior to this case, the
liberal diocese had taken aggressive legal action over any parish attempting to
leave TEC. A statement from Bishop Minns posted on the CANA website says, “We are extremely grateful that
the congregation of St. George’s Anglican Church is able to retain its
property. This is an incredible blessing and witness to others that Christians
can resolve these matters amicably. We are also thankful that the church has
been able to maintain a cordial relationship with the Diocese of New Jersey.” CANA News also made note that,
in this case, the rector, Father William Guerard was permitted to join CANA
without renouncing his TEC ordination vows, adding that it is not the case for
many other priests leaving other TEC dioceses for CANA and other Anglican
groups.
The Anglican Mission in the Americas (theAM) Winter Conference
TheAM
-- a missionary outreach of Rwanda and Mission Partner of ACNA -- is hosting
its Winter Conference,
February 9-12, in
Greensboro, North Carolina. TheAM
wrote in the American Anglican Council (AAC) newsletter: “We seek to discover where God is moving and
then join him as collaborative partners, with each congregation developing its
unique approach to reaching the unchurched and de-churched.”
Sure Foundation Project
The
American Anglican Council (AAC) newsletter reports the launch of the Sure
Foundation Project This pilot project is intended “to
equip local Anglican churches to grow in evangelism, discipleship, church
planting and local outreach ministries that will change the cities and
communities where our churches live.”The Rev Canon Phil Ashley asks for prayer for the 70+
people who gathered for the launch and that God would use this project as a
resource to build up Great Commission Anglican Churches throughout our province
(ACNA).
News shorts – Canada
Toronto diocese pastoral guidelines for same-sex blessings
The
diocese of Toronto recently released
pastoral guidelines that counsel clergy on how to “offer a generous pastoral response to
stable committed same gender relationships in our diocesan family seeking a
blessing of their commitment.”The AEC blog
reports that three Toronto clergy responded to the pastoral
guidelines, saying:
“We recognize the difficult road our bishops are
called to walk today, in finding a path that responds to the pressing pastoral
needs of our gay and lesbian people and seeks also to be faithful to “the
doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this Church has received them.”
“We do not believe that these guidelines find that
path, the middle way that is both pastoral and faithful, and that is therefore
truly Anglican. Indeed, we are concerned about the damage they may do, in this
diocese and in the Anglican Communion, to our common life in Christ.
On behalf of the many people in the pews who cannot
accept these guidelines and who are, like us, deeply troubled, we ask our
bishops to reconsider.
The Rev. Catherine Sider Hamilton
The Rev. Canon Dr. Dean Mercer
The Rev. Murray Henderson Toronto
Dr Ephraim Radner also addressed the
matter earlier and the Bishops of
Toronto responded.
Other news -- Canada
The
Economist – Jan 6, 2011 – Faith in courts [An editorial on the the BC court of appeal decision]
LifeSite
News – Jan 10, 2011 – Canadian
Court: Marriage officials must marry homosexuals
News shorts – USA
Other news – USA
Yahoo
News – Jan 3, 2011 – Historic lesbian
marriage … unites top clergy of Episcopal Church
The
Christian Post – Jan 4, 2011 – 2 lesbian
Episcopal clergy marry on New Year's
Christian
Today – Jan 5, 2011 – Marriage of
lesbian priests is another act of TEC 'defiance'…
News shorts – International
Primates’ meeting moves ahead
The
CofE Newspaper reported that the January 25-31 Primates Meeting in Dublin is scheduled
to move ahead despite threat of boycott by ten primates (one quarter of the leaders
invited). The article mentioned that while Jan Butter, director of
communications for the Anglican Communion, said he still hopes all primates
will attend, Canon Kenneth Kearon acknowledged that some primates were not
coming.
In
the same article, the Rev Canon Chris Sugden was said to have written in an
article to be published in next month’s Evangelicals Now, “This refusal of his invitation calls into question
the ability of the Archbishop of Canterbury to fulfil his role as gatherer of
the Communion,” …“The real problem is that all the decisions made at
previous meetings, have been ignored, undermined or overturned.”
Related
articles from the Anglican Communion Institute:
Jan
4, 2011 -- How Shall we Hope for the
Anglican Communion?
Jan
4, 2011 -- Unity, Order
and Dissent: Addressing Dissent Within A Communion of Churches
News in brief from around the world and the Communion
Sudan -- On
January 7, citizens of Sudan began to cast votes in Sudan’s historic seven day referendum,
which will decide whether or not the mainly Christian South Sudan will separate
from the mainly Muslim Northern Sudan and form an independent state. In a report on
Anglican Mainstream, The Most Rev Dr Daniel Deng Bul Yak, Episcopal
Archbishop of the Sudan, said, ‘We have been waiting fifty five years for this
day,’ ‘This is the day, this is our time.’ The report concludes: “The Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) fully
supports a credible and peaceful self determination referendum and remains
behind the cause of national unity and democracy. The Church also acknowledges
the challenges that lie after the referendum, especially if southern Sudan
becomes an independent state.” …“Whether in the case of unity or succession
then, the ECS is ready to lead again, as it has led throughout the years.”
Egypt -- In
what has been called the worst sectarian violence in Egypt in decades, CNN reports that at least 27 people were
killed and 97 others were wounded in an explosion at a Coptic Orthodox church
in Alexandria on New Year’s Day. It was believed to be a suicide bombing. The
report included that The Church of the Two Saints was on a list of targets
posted on a radical Islamist website. Anglican
Mainstream posted an anonymous
letter from an Egyptian Christian requesting prayer. The writer said, “…one Pastor in Alexandria received a letter
asking him to prepare 250 coffins for his members on the Egyptian Christmas
Day, which is the 7th of January.” “…Please pray for the safety of the Christians
including our members in the days ahead as every one is really scared.” Archbishop Mouneer Anis has also written a
report here.
Nigeria – On
December 24 at least six explosions in two different locations were detonated
in Jos. The Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, Archbishop Metropolitan and Primate of
All Nigeria, told The Nation (Nigeria) that
those behind the recent bombings are attempting to derail peaceful transition
of power to take place in May. He said, “The
recent detonation of a bomb at a military barracks in the nation’s capital as
well as other bombing incidents in parts of the country are part of a grand
plan to signal insecurity. The perpetrators intend the scenario to force the
military to take over power before the forthcoming general elections.”
In
a letter reprinted in
the American Anglican Counsel newsletter, the Archbishop of Jos, the
Most Rev Dr Benjamin A. Kwashi, expressed disappointment that, “The media was
quick to say that one bomb was in a Christian area and another in a Muslim area,
thereby immediately making insinuations and pitching the two different
communities against each other,” “…We now have a difficult situation on our
hands.” He wrote that “Christmas services were scantily attended, our
celebrations interrupted and no-one is happy”, but responded with encouragement
from scripture: “Though the fig tree
may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labour of the olive may
fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the
fold, And there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I
will joy in the God of my salvation.” (Hab 3:17-18)
Israel – Two
women from Christ Church Ministries Jerusalem (CMJ), Kristine Luken and Kay
Wilson were brutally stabbed on
December 18 while hiking in the Jerusalem Forest.Luken was killed, Wilson suffered severe wounds to the upper
torso and chest. In the Jerusalem
Post, police called the assault by two young Arab men a probable
terrorist attack. ANiC has special ties to Christ Church as Rev Sharon Hayton
from St Mary’s Open Gate, Victoria, is the director of CMJ Canada, and Rev Jess
Cantelon from St James church plant in Lennoxville, served as the curate of
Christ Church Jerusalem last year. CMJ’s prayer co-coordinator requested that
we pray for them. Please pray for the community of Christ Church and their
rector David Pileggi in their grief, and especially for the family of Kristine
Luken and for Kay Wilson who is still suffering from pain.
Other news – International
Catholic
Online – Dec 29, 2010 – Anglicans
will feel 'Rite' at home with 'Book of Divine Worship'
Independent
Catholic News – Jan 4, 2011 – Bishops'
statement on reception of former Anglicans
Soul Food
Just for Fun…
The World Junior Hockey Championships… “not even the attendance of Bishop Charlie Masters
at an earlier tournament game could save the Canadians from their fate.”
See December 29 Toronto
Star photo. Bishop Charlie is in the second row, second from the right.)
Sports
commentator Steven Noble reported for ANiC: “Hockey fans from around the world were looking on recently as the
annual IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships wrapped up with Russia facing
Canada in the gold medal game in Buffalo, NY. It was a classic matchup,
slamming two bitter, historic rivals into a head-on collision After knocking off the tournament
favourite Americans, Canada looked like they would continue their undefeated
run, having already beaten the Russians once earlier in the tournament. When
the boys got off to an early 3-0 lead in the final, it looked like the victory
was anointed.
The Canadians got ahead of themselves though,
leaving a window open for the Russians to prove a "never-say-die"
attitude is as vital as their world-class skills. The feisty Russians scored
three quick goals in less than a five-minute span in the third period. With the
Canadians reeling, the Russians pushed on to take a 5-3 victory as the final
buzzer sounded. The Russian comeback earned them their first gold medal in the tournament
since beating the Canadians for gold in 2003. It turns out, not even the attendance
of Bishop Charlie Masters at an earlier tournament game could save the Canadians
from their fate.”
Please pray...
For our bishops and clergy and their families – especially those battling illness
For ANiC
projects, church plants and parishes, and for their proclamation of the Good
News to those in their communities who desperately need new life in Christ
For the Supreme Court of Canada.
For other ongoing legal challenges faced by ANiC parishes, including:
• |
The mediation process involving St George’s & St Alban’s (Ottawa) and their former Anglican Church of Canada diocese |
• |
The ongoing litigation involving St Aidan’s (Windsor) and the ANiC
parishes that were formerly in the Diocese of Niagara – and their
mounting expenses |
For all the congregations involved in court proceedings and
disputes. Pray for a continued
focus on, and blessing upon, their ministry in the midst of this turmoil. Pray for peace for the wardens and
trustees who are on the front lines and bear the burden of risk and
responsibility
For the leaders and parishioners of the ACoC dioceses pursuing eviction
of and legal
costs against ANiC congregations and wardens
For donations to the ANiC legal defense fund supporting
parishes in disputes with their former dioceses
For funding of the ARDFC’s malaria
prevention project in Kenya
For persecuted Christians, especially in Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia,
Cyprus and other Muslim lands
For the Sudan and especially the January 9th referendum on independence for the
South. Pray for a fair and
peaceful referendum, for lasting peace, and for wisdom for
Church leaders. Pray also for our ANiC parishioners – especially at St
John’s Surrey – with family and friends in the Sudan.
For Rev David Pileggi and Christ Church
Ministries Jerusalem as they grieve the loss of Kristine Luken. Pray also for the full recovery Kay
Wilson.
For repentance and revival in our hearts and in our nation – as
well as a hunger for God and a thirst for His Word
For all those in positions of leadership and influence in the Anglican
Communion, that they would seek to honour and obey God above all else
For the Primates of the Anglican Communion as they wrestle with
decisions related to the upcoming Primates’ Meeting in Ireland (at the end of
January)
And now a word from our sponsor
O Lord, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants!
Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so
we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
Give us gladness in proportion to our former
misery! Replace the evil years
with good.
Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our
children see your glory.
And may the Lord our God show us his approval and
make our efforts successful.
Yes, make our efforts successful!
Psalm 90: 13-17, NLT
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