THIS MONTH AT ST JOHNS
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St John's Anglican Church
4821 50 Street Olds, Alberta T4H 1E4 Phone 403.556.3967 Church Email: stjohnsolds@oldsnet.ca Website: www.stjohnsanglicanolds.com Incumbent: The Reverend Dr. Robert Sears revrobert@olds.ca Honorary Assistant: The Reverend Inez Hannett Rental Information: To rent the church or parish hall for an event, contact St John's by email or phone 403.556.3967. Rental Prices: - $30 for Partial Day either morning, afternoon or evening - $45 for Full Day Prices subject to change by Parish Council. St John's Anglican Church reserves the right to accept or reject any booking request. |
IN THE DEANERY, DIOCESE AND CANADA
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Please Pray for General Synod
The 42nd General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada will be held from July 10-16, 2019 in Vancouver. The theme of the synod is “I Have Called You By Name” (Isaiah 43:1). In the Anglican tradition, the General Synod is the highest governing body in the church. Although the Anglican Church of Canada is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, it has final authority over its own affairs. It can pass, alter and strike down its own laws (or, in church parlance, “canons”). The General Synod meets every three years, unless otherwise determined by the Council of General Synod (CoGS), provided such meetings are not more than five years apart, according to the Constitution of the General Synod (CoGS is the governing body between national meetings of General Synod.) The General Synod is composed of clergy and lay delegates elected at the diocesan synods of every diocese in the Anglican Church of Canada. These delegates are divided into three orders: the Order of Laity, the Order of Clergy and the Order of Bishops. The Order of Bishops, whose members are automatically delegates to the synod, includes the primate, provincial metropolitans, diocesan bishops, coadjutor and suffragan bishops, assistant bishops who have been designated by the synod/executive of their dioceses and who exercise episcopal duties within those dioceses, the Bishop Ordinary to the Canadian Forces and the National Indigenous Anglican Bishop. Members of the General Synod can voice their opinions on the floor, and have a responsibility to vote on synod business, unless they have a conflict of interest such that they stand to benefit financially from the matter under consideration. While members are elected at diocesan synods, they are not considered to be their representatives; they are free to vote however they choose. [Editor's note: I don't agree with this!] The General Synod is a legislative body, which means it has the power to draft, change and enact laws through a process of voting. Its current body of laws are summed up in the 23 Canons of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada. These laws cover everything from the name of the church to the role and powers of the primate to the licensing of clergy and marriage, and can be changed (and have been on many occasions) by the General Synod. |
AFP during General Synod
The Anglican Fellowship of Prayer (AFP) has distributed the following letter to churches through the Diocesan office: "...the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer exists to support, serve, and encourage prayer. We believe in the power of prayer at all times, and delight as the entirety of our lives is infused with this divine gift. Our commitment at the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer (Canada) is that our prayers would always be apolitical and non-partisan, asking that the church may faithfully respond to God's will through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Especially at this time, as the church is preparing for General Synod, members of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer are being intentional about prayer. During the meetings, AFP members will be praying, by name, for the delegates and staff attending General Synod. We have established two formats to invite prayers surrounding this Synod; each will be monitored hourly during the meetings. Publicly on our website at www.anglicanprayer.org Privately and confidentially at PrayerGS2019@gmail.com We have invited our ecclesiastical provinces, through their bishops, to be intentional about praying for one day of these meetings: July 11 Canada, July 12 Ontario, July 14 Rupert's Land, and July 15 British Columbia/Yukon. We invite the entire country to be immersed in prayer on July 13, invoking the discernment of the Spirit for the election of our new Primate. To that end, we encourage you to provide leadership on that day, in the manner that is best for you; such as prayers posted by email or on social media, through prayer vigils in local parishes, written prayers distributed to the clergy, etc. The AFP executive is happy to work with our network of diocesan contacts and parish representatives to facilitate this request. Should you find Anglican Fellowship of Prayer resources helpful, they can be found at: http://anglicanprayer.org/index.php/2019/06/18/prayers-for-general-synod-2019/ Anglican Communion Alliance The June newsletter of the ACA is now available and has some great articles on the Marriage Canon and other issues that will be discussed at General Synod. Click here to read the full newsletter. The following is an excerpt from an open letter from The Rt. Rev. David Parsons, Bishop of the Arctic. The entire letter is available to read in the newsletter: "I would be rejecting my ordination vows if I were to agree to redefining marriage and comply with the erroneous decision made at General Synod in 2016. Synods may change the definition of marriage, but that doesn’t change God‘s definition of marriage. Synods may choose to walk without the wisdom of Scripture, but that doesn’t make those synods wise decision-makers. It would not be wise to think that General Synod and the 68.4% of bishops who voted in favour of changing the church’s Marriage Canon are a majority. The Anglican Church of Canada is marginal in size, representing only 0.65% of the Anglican Communion and only 0.025% of the Christian church worldwide. It is spiritually dangerous to follow this marginal segment of the Christian church, those who think they alone have this prophetic message from God--a message that calls us to turn from Scripture and follow them." For more information on the ACA, visit anglicancommunionalliance.ca/ |