The important issues raised at the Council of General Synod Meeting May 22-24 will have to be reported in my next column because of our Highway publishing deadlines. This month I will highlight several church developments and once again remind you to visit the excellent Web site: http://www.anglican.ca/index.htm if you can.
Three groups in March started work on behalf of General Synod in the areas of Planning, Governance and the role of the Primate. Last month I detailed the issues around the amendment of our Canons and Rules and Regulations. Another important matter that Governance is taking on is how we are represented at General Synods; is there fairness in the number of lay diocesan votes; are there proportionately too many clergy; are episcopal votes (bishops) weighted fairly between large and small dioceses? Currently the numbers of delegates going to GS are based on the number of licensed clergy in a diocese; would the standard be better based on the number of active Anglican members? Surprisingly, there is no agreement nationally as to who is actually a member of the ACC. One idea to be carefully considered is using average Sunday attendance figures as a more equitable and representative standard of the true constituency of a diocese.
The Governance Working Group is also studying the governance changes necessary to permit Indigenous Anglicans in Canada to achieve long sought-after self-determination, jurisdiction, and authority, yet still remain as full members of the Anglican Church of Canada. That is an exciting and challenging file on which I am privileged to be actively working. There is essential close dialogue with our National Indigenous Anglican Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, as well as the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples. The clock for this file is running faster because the Synod of the Diocese of Keewatin has already voted to form an Indigenous Diocese as well as to recognize new Area Ministries. My concern is that if the GS does not grapple with the issues concerning our Indigenous brothers and sisters once and for all, they will increasingly feel the need to walk apart, to everyone's loss.
The Faith, Worship, and Ministry Standing Committee has been very active, and is bringing several matters to COGs. You may know that the GS 2007 passed a resolution asking that a process be initiated for the purpose of the possible revision of Canon 21 (On Marriage) by "discerning whether there is a theological rationale for the marriage of all legally qualified persons." This is a hugely contentious issue but I expect in my next report to say that COGS has given "a green light to seek advice from theologians across and beyond our church." Moreover the whole issue of the blessing of committed same sex relationships will almost certainly be coming to our next Diocesan Synod in May of 2009 and it behooves all of us in the Diocese of Kootenay to be informing ourselves at all levels of the debate.
Internationally the Anglican Communion remains in considerable turmoil and the Lambeth Conference begins this June impaired by the boycott from some conservative bishops. At home we are sadly faced with some Canadian parishes moving the agenda from the governance of the Church, to rulings in the secular courts. Division is occurring with conservative evangelicals who wish to remove themselves from the Anglican Church of Canada, those who consider themselves to be orthodox conservatives but who wish to remain in the ACC, and those who are described as 'liberals' and wish to see significant changes in our present ecclesiology and theology.
This is not only a time for thoughtful education but also a time for earnest prayer. Let us first pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit at Lambeth. Secondly please ensure that Bishop John is in your prayers and ask God to grant him grace as he attends. Finally let us pray that all of us in the Diocese of Kootenay will "seek justice, love, kindness, and walk humbly with our God."
by Randall Fairey
