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Threat to pensions and benefits resolved - temporarily
At the end of December, after weeks of negotiation, the Diocese of New Westminster notified ACiNW parish clergy and staff that their ACC pension and benefits plan would be terminated within a matter of days if they did not immediately turn the payroll administration for the clergy over to the diocese. The reason given was a change to the ACC pension office software system. As a result, the ACiNW turned over payroll administration for its clergy to the diocese (for a fee) and kept the payroll administration for lay employees. With two ACiNW clergy wives in very poor health, the threat to the benefits plan was a grave concern.
Julie Walters, wife of the Rev. Dr. Trevor Walters (St. Matthew's, Abbotsford), is currently in a Florida hospital in very poor condition with pneumonia, congestive heart failure and ABPA tumors. Trevor writes, that while it is “…day by day and minute by minute… The great news is that the insurance company has agreed to pay all medical bills and my hotel.”
Nurturing and growing membership
Much has been happening within Network to support and encourage members.
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A new Network website will be launched very soon to align with the AEC's new website. |
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We've increased the frequency of e-newsletters to twice a month. |
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Network leaders are accepting invitations to speak to groups around the country. |
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Two clergy conferences have been held and a third is coming soon on Feb 27 - Mar 1. |
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Rev. David Short will speak at a preaching workshop at St Paul's Bloor St., Toronto (Mar 7-9). |
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In addition to our many individual members, 14 parishes have joined Network - most in the last year while many other parishes are considering membership |
What can you do to promote the work of the Network?
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How about inviting a Network speaker to meet with your parish or group? |
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Talk to friends about the Windsor process and the importance of our upcoming General Synod. |
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Check out the many information resources on both the AEC and Network websites and introduce others in your parish to these websites. |
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Encourage like-minded Anglicans to join - membership information is on the website. |
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Let Network leaders know how they can support members - contact info is our on website |
What's happening with General Synod preparations?
Anglican Essentials Federation members have been hard at work preparing for our Church's General Synod in Winnipeg this June 19-25. The Rev. Dr. Brett Cane, chair of Essentials Initiative General Synod 2007, reports that a very positive meeting was held the end of November with ACC General Synod staff to open lines of communication and address misunderstandings. Brett asks that we pray for continued mutually-respectful relations with Synod staff.
A key aspect of the General Synod will be the motions presented. Please pray for wisdom for Murray Henderson and rest of the Essentials Motions Committee as they build relationships behind the scenes and consider potential motions to go forward at General Synod.
Essentials Federation will sponsor “Encouragement 2007”, a series of events open to all delegates beginning the day before General Synod starts and continuing with evening presentations during General Synod. The Rev. Dr. Andrew Goddard, Tutor in Ethics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and an expert on the Windsor Report and the worldwide Communion, will be a featured speaker at these events. Brett will be sending a letter very soon to all General Synod delegates and alternates explaining Essentials purpose and inviting them to Essentials activities. During General Synod, AEC will provide support for delegates who identify with Essentials and wish to present or support motions. They will also produce a daily newsletter, host a display booth, feature a “book of the day” for sale, and provide email access as a service to delegates
Clergy conference
Don't forget the clergy conference, Feb 27 - Mar 1. Information is on our website.
Register by contacting Gary Stobbs at garystobbs@shaw.ca.
Archbishop of Canterbury to meet with Canadian bishops
The Anglican Journal website reports that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will meet with the Canadian house of bishops at the Mount Carmel retreat house in Niagara Falls, Ontario, April 16-17. The house of bishops meetings continue through to April 20th and will include the choosing of candidates for the office of primate. The election of a Canadian primate is scheduled to take place on June 22 at the ACC General Synod. Before visiting the bishops, Archbishop Williams is scheduled to deliver a lecture, at Trinity College in Toronto.
Source: Anglican Journal
Panel of Reference's performance on Primates' agenda
In an article on the website Stand Firm, David Ould addresses the Panel's “dilatory” performance, discusses the situation in the Diocese of New Westminster and quotes the Rev. David Short. See www.standfirminfaith.com
Three additional U.S. bishops invited to Tanzania
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has invited three additional Episcopal bishops to the February 14-19 Primates meetings in Tanzania:
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the Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson, Bishop of Western Louisiana and President of the Presiding Bishop's Council of Advice |
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the Rt. Rev. Robert W. Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh and Moderator of the conservative Anglican Communion Network |
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the Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, Presiding Bishop's deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations and retired Bishop of Iowa |
These three have been invited to join Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Archbishop Williams, Archbishop of York John Sentamu, and the 36 other primates for an extra-curricular session of the meeting of Anglican Primates, discussing the state of the Episcopal Church.
Please pray for the Primates and their meetings - and challenge your congregation to do the same. The outcome of these meetings could have profound consequences for our Anglican Communion. Among other topics of discussion, these sessions will address responses from the U.S. and Canadian churches to the Windsor Report's call for repentance. The website www.lent.classicalanglican.net will assist you in praying for the Primates.
The Living Church Foundation www.livingchurch.org
Anglican Mainstream www.anglican-mainstream.net
Disaster relief appeal
Famine and flooding have created a national disaster in the African nation of Burundi where the Anglican Province of Burundi is headed by the Most Rev. Bernard Ntahoturi. Prolonged, heavy rains have destroyed homes, schools, churches, roads, bridges and most crops. Diseases increase dramatically in these conditions. Two Anglican Relief and Development Fund projects are addressing the urgent needs in Burundi. One distributes food to starving people in the newly-formed diocese of Muyinga and the other provides grinding mills for cassava and corn in the diocese of Kakamba. See project details at anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/files/2007/01/burundi-h1-ardf.pdf and anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/files/2007/01/burundi-h1-ardf2.pdf
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