News and information

Hundreds of Indigenous Anglicans are expected to walk to Pinawa, Man. to attend the national Sacred Circle gathering Aug. 5 to 12. The "Walking the Dream" initiative is designed to raise awareness about crises in Indigenous communities as well as the Covenant and Journey of Spiritual Renewal, a call for self-determination and partnership.

You can't say no to Jerusalem. It's like saying no to your mother. That's how Padre John Organ said he felt when the bishop of Jerusalem first asked him to be his chaplain in the Holy Land. On July 14 the Ottawa-based military chaplain, 55, will move to Jerusalem with his wife Irene. For the next three years they will support Indigenous Christians in the Diocese of Jerusalem.

Calling all Anglican photographers! Pull out your cameras, your fancy lenses, or your smartphones for our new photo contest. Capture an image that depicts one or all of the Marks of Mission and send it in to the General Synod office by January 1, 2013.

It took a lot of colour, coordination, and thinking like a kid, but after months of preparation, General Synod is launching the Compendium of the Church Mice, a free, year-long Sunday school curriculum that weaves in the Marks of Mission.

General Synod Treasurer Michèle George has announced her resignation, effective October 1, 2012. Ms. George, who was hired in 2009, said she wishes to retire and spend more time with family. 

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper to re-commit funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency so it can continue to support Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. The hospital is run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and serves about a million people, regardless of religious or ethnic background.

The Anglican Foundation is managing finances in a whole new way. Dr. Daphne Rixon, accounting professor at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, has been appointed as the foundation's first external, pro bono treasurer.

Anglicans have long marked National Aboriginal Day, June 21. Some celebrate it on the day or the closest Sunday. Others celebrate it as part of a Month of Healing and Reconciliation, May 26 to June 21. Here are some ways you and your parish can launch or add variety to your own celebrations, as recommended by Henriette Thompson, General Synod's public witness coordinator for social justice.

One man's generosity is helping a parish in St. John's, Nfld., move from an expensive downtown building to a new church in a growing subdivision. When Victor LeRoy Ash died last year at 91, he left a gift of annuities set up through General Synod's Resources for Mission Department—a total of $145,000 for his church's new building.

On one level, the first wedding held at the Anglican Church of Canada's national offices will resemble many other weddings, with finery, music, and celebration. But it is a moment of Anglican Communion harmony that might not have happened 10 years ago: the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, will conduct the marriage service for the Primate of the Church of Central Africa, Archbishop Albert Chama, and his childhood friend Ashella Ndhlovu, a resident of Toronto.