banner photo by Janet Best
New Anti Black Racism Task Force Announcement
/A Message from the Task Force:
"A motion on Dismantling Anti-Black Racism was passed at our November 15th Diocesan Synod. The motion instructs Diocesan Council to appoint a task force which will engage the Diocese in a formal process to address systemic anti-Black racism. The purpose of the task force will be to develop and implement an action plan to equip our members to be agents of positive change."
View this video with a reflection on racism by Bishop Mary.
Thanks be to God for this new day
"Une motion sur le démantèlement du racisme anti-noir a été adoptée lors de notre synode diocésain du 15 novembre. La motion charge le conseil diocésain de nommer un groupe de travail qui engagera le diocèse dans un processus formel pour traiter du racisme anti-noir systémique. L'objectif de ce groupe de travail sera de développer et de mettre en œuvre un plan d'action pour permettre à nos membres d'être des agents de changement positif".
Merci à Dieu pour ce nouveau jour
View Highlights from Our Digital Synod 2020
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Here are some highlights from our Digital Synod including ... Worship Bishop Mary's Charge Dr. Dom Ruso's presentation on the Challenges of Evangelism / Q & ...
NEW! A Video Message from Bishop Mary about the Bishop's Action Appeal 2020
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Our local missions need your support As you might know, the pandemic has adversely affected the financial situation of the diocese. Yet, we are committed to ...
Dear Friend,
The past few months have been difficult as we have all been affected, in one way or another, by this pandemic. I hope that you and your loved ones are healthy and that you might be in a position to give to this year’s Bishop’s Action Appeal. Your gift will help those whose needs have grown so much during this time.
Thanks to your generous response to last year’s appeal, there has been significant progress in the construction of St. Catherine Girls Secondary School in rural Tanzania, which will provide a safe environment for girls to receive an education. Thanks to you, we were also able to provide bursaries for our Lay Readers, who offer vital ministry throughout our Diocese.
Our local missions need your support
As you might know, the pandemic has adversely affected the financial situation of the diocese. Yet, we are committed to support our three much-loved local missions that lift up the most vulnerable in our midst. I invite you to help the Diocese fulfill our commitment to:
The Mile End Community Mission: For most of their members, the pandemic has added a tremendous financial strain to already limited budgets and has left many feeling even more vulnerable and isolated than they were before. To answer the need, the mission has been providing free hot take-out meals, a weekly food bank service and grocery delivery.
Action Réfugiés Montréal: For some newcomers, huddling at home, not being able to work with children out of school, brought memories of their time in exile before coming to Canada. The situation has made it essential for staff at ARM to provide ongoing support to the people they serve.
Tyndale-St Georges Community Centre continues its commitment to the community of Little Burgundy. Focused on preventing isolation during the pandemic, the Centre is offering new outreach programs, including an online children’s library, remote family support and emergency food security.
Helping disabled children overseas
This year we are also asking you to support a special appeal in conjunction with the Compass Rose Society: the Princess Basma Hospital in Jerusalem. A project of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem, the Hospital provides rehabilitation and educational assistance for Palestinian children with disabilities. They are urgently appealing for our help to continue their vital work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unless you specify otherwise, half of your donation will go to Giving with Grace which funds projects at the national church level, including The Healing Fund, military chaplaincies, indigenous ministries and more.
With my thanks and every blessing,
The Rt. Rev. Mary Irwin-Gibson
P.S. Please give as generously as you can. Gifts of $25 or more are eligible for a tax receipt, which will be issued in February 2021.
A Tale of Two Church Signs - Blog by Neil Mancor
/A Tale of Two Church Signs
I give you Exhibit A. The Church sign, long out use, I came across when I was visiting my friend at St John the Baptist, Pointe-Claire. My first thought was: they don’t make them like that anymore! It’s hard to believe our many parishes could once sustain such a complex liturgical calendar of three services per Sunday with other weekday services as announced. It’s even more amazing that anyone could be expected to interpret the sign and ever know what kind of service they were going to encounter! Holy Communion at 8, Choral Eucharist and sermon at 10, 1st, 3rd & 5th Sundays; Matins and sermon 2nd and 4th. Evensong with sermon at 7:30pm. I guess they thought this would never change as the lettering was painted on the sign. Of course in those days everyone had curates so the preaching load could be shared. Note that they had Sunday School AND Nursery. But they had the people to run that kind of thing then. They probably had classes for every age. The Church was comprehensive in its coverage of every possible age group.
It might be hard for many of us to believe, but it was only fairly recently that weekly Holy Eucharist at the main service became the norm in Canada, and that even this was resisted well into the 70s. When I grew up during that era of liturgical experimentation, my church had a whole week cycle: 1st Sunday BCP Communion; 2nd Sunday Matins & Eucharist; 3rd Sunday Modern Rite Eucharist 4th Sunday Family Service; 5th Sunday Sung Matins. You never quite knew what you were going to get when you showed up. This was a compromise to ease us away from Sung Matins, but old Mr. Chutter at the church fought for Matins until the end. I started out as a choirboy and later became an organist and I always enjoyed Matins and Evensong because of all the music. Those were great times. But that was then.
This is now. I give you Exhibit B. I was walking Basco the Pug through my neighbourhood the other day and came across this Church sign. I have never seen a Church sign so of the moment. Closed during COVID-19 and like many of us surviving with online worship, this Church decided to create a sign that expresses their sense of mission in this moment right now. Someone in that Church was thinking clearly about the challenges faced by so many in the community right now and so expressed their desire to serve their community. They are not asking anything of anybody. Not expecting people to interpret what they were trying to say. Just offering help to the people around them.
Times have changed so dramatically and we need to read the signs of the times. Have a look at your church sign and all the ways you communicate, and ask yourselves what it says to the community in which you are placed. Think about the sense of mission it expresses, or do you still expect passersby to interpret Church language from another age? Because one thing I know is that it is worth making the effort to keep on reaching out beyond ourselves; to find ways to impact the communities in which we are placed. Not waiting for people to come to us we reach out to them. It’s what the Church is called to do: it is our passion and our hope. As Paul says in Galatians 6: let us not grow tired of doing good.
JOB OPPORTUNITY: Incumbent of the parish of Christ Church, Beaurepaire.
/The Bishop of Montreal invites applications for the position of Incumbent of the parish of Christ Church, Beaurepaire. This is a full time position.
Christ Church is a vibrant parish in Beaurepaire Village in the City of Beaconsfield about a half-hour West of Downtown Montreal. Founded in 1924 and drawing on people from different communities and neighbourhoods, the parish is searching for a priest who will help them to stretch and grow in their faith and in their community.
The bishop is looking to appoint a priest to serve the parish as it continues to grow in their sense of mission and purpose, a priest who will be an enabler to assist and encourage all members in their ministry, a priest who will share God’s welcome and be inclusive to all, a priest who is prayerful and Spirit led.
A copy of their Parish Profile is available here
A letter from the CCB Search Committee is available here
Interested applicants, with their bishop’s permission, may submit a cover letter including a CV to the bishop’s office by mail to:
The Rt. Rev. Mary Irwin-Gibson
1444 Union Avenue, Montreal, Qc H3A 2B8
Or by email to:
bishops.office@montreal.anglican.ca
514-843-6577
Closing date for applications: November 27, 2020.
