Update Regarding Choral Singing

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Update regarding choral singing (not congregational singing) from Executive Archdeacon Robert Camara, issued on July 5, 2021

“The Government of Quebec has recently made one significant change to guidelines around choral singing. As the COVID-19 situation in Quebec continues to improve, public health officials have relaxed the restriction on choir singing in places of worship.”

Read the letter in English & French below

English Letter

Version française

For all covid Updates , visit our Covid-19 Response Page HERE

Anti Racism Task Force Launches New Web Page

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To equip and enable members of the diocese to confront and dismantle systemic racism and white supremacy inside and outside the church.

A new page to resource, inform and keep you up to date on the Anti Racism Task Force of the Diocese of Montreal. Your feedback is welcome. Contact Co Chairs: Mr. Dion Lewis, Mr. Edward Yankie

Mission Statement

“ To educate and increase awareness in the Anglican Diocese of Montreal of the history of racism and the church’s participation and complicity in racist practices, that we may properly repent. To equip and enable members of the diocese to confront and dismantle systemic racism and white supremacy inside and outside the church. To honour Christ’s presence in every human by building bridges, and by promoting and celebrating diversity in the church and the world”

Visit their web page here / Find them on Facebook

Become a part of it: Help children and youth to a brighter post-pandemic future, coast to coast to coast: The Anglican Foundation's Fall 2021 Fund for Children, Youth and Young Adults

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Become a part of it: Help children and youth to a brighter post-pandemic future, coast to coast to coast: The Anglican Foundation's Fall 2021 Fund for Children, Youth and Young Adults

by Gwenda Wells

You may have read about it in the current issue of the Montreal Anglican: the Anglican Foundation is launching a major programme to support young people of all ages to regain their footing after this difficult year. Say Yes! to Kids/Dites Oui! aux jeunes will help fund programmes all across Canada beginning this autumn. Anglicans across the country are contributing generously to this fund, and a conversation has begun among a few people in our own diocese to see if we might launch a project within our own diocese. 

What is the Anglican Foundation? A longstanding funding organization of the Anglican Church of Canada with strong roots in our own diocese, the Anglican Foundation offers money for a wide array of projects, from church and hall renovations (that's the part you might know best) to on-the-ground outreach and education. Our Diocesan Theological College receives generous support for its students. Another key component of the AF is its funding for projects for young people. In past years grants have been made to both Mile End Mission and Tyndale Saint George's.  Projects benefiting special needs and at-risk populations are frequent recipients. There is a strong tradition of support to First Nations and northern communities. The AF website offers lots of information about recent projects. There, you will learn of some recent projects that have received AF support : after school programmes, homework clubs, respite care for children with serious health problems to name a few.   

learn more about AF Here

How can I contribute? A peer-to-peer portal on the Anglican Foundation website makes it very easy to give. Of course, traditional gifts by cheque are always welcome; just make sure you direct your gift to Say Yes! to Kids/ Dites Oui! aux jeunes

How can I be part of the conversation about possible local projects? Please contact the Rev'd Gwenda Wells, diocesan liaison person, gwells@montreal.anglican.ca  for more information and to connect with the local conversation. Proposals are due in September, but it's time now to work with each other and with the Foundation staff to ensure proposals meet AF requirements and receive the endorsement of the Bishop's Office.  


Bishop’s Message Anglican Montreal June 2021 edition / Message de l’évêque pour Anglican Montréal Anglican, Juin 2021

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Bishop’s Message Anglican Montreal June 2021 edition


Some of you may remember the children’s television show with a lamb puppet that would sing “this is a song that never ends” and the song went round and round to the frustration of everyone else! As I write, we anticipate that the restrictions to meeting together will be lifted as the summer progresses. We have patiently endured the measures that were deemed necessary to keep one another safe. Perhaps we will see the end of the virus spreading. We can pray and hope that this is the end of lockdown.

What will our churches in the Diocese of Montreal look like when we open up again? How have you changed? As I said in my Charge to Synod, God has not been in self-quarantine. Instead, God has been at work in our diocese, meeting us where we are, and speaking to us. What has God taught us during our time of isolation and meeting online that we can share with others? I invite you to think and pray as congregations about how your ministry will be expressed. What will you keep, what will you let go of, what will you do differently and what will you find new courage to try? 

I believe that we have new insight and faith about how to go forward as a church. We need to be praying to be open to what the Spirit is calling us to.

After his resurrection, Jesus met his disciples, the learners – often behind locked doors and sometimes in outdoor locations. He taught them that they would be filled with God’s power so that they could be his witnesses. Before he ascended into heaven, Jesus gave the disciples specific instructions: make learners of all nations and races, invite people in, talk to them, pray for them, love them with Christ’s love. 

Pray for God’s power to work in you and them. Want it! Look for it! Be ready to fail sometimes while trying to cooperate with God. Don’t stop changing and don’t try to go back to where you once felt safe. Ask God to use you each day. Be open to surprising ways. Be open to those who may need grace or hope. Be expectant. Pray and give thanks always. Let God’s power fill you and direct you. And Jesus will always be with you.

That’s the song that never ends – our call to be agents of Jesus’ power of transformation and love and hope.

Message de l’évêque pour Anglican Montréal Anglican, Juin 2021

Certains d'entre vous se souviennent peut-être de l'émission télévisée pour enfants avec une marionnette agneau qui chantait "this is a song that never ends" (c'est une chanson qui ne finit jamais) et la chanson tournait en boucle, à la grande frustration de tous les autres ! Au moment où j'écris ces lignes, nous nous attendons à ce que les restrictions aux rencontres soient levées au fur et à mesure que l'été avance. Nous avons patiemment supporté les mesures jugées nécessaires pour assurer la sécurité des uns et des autres. Peut-être verrons-nous la fin de la propagation du virus? Nous pouvons donc prier et espérer que c'est la fin du confinement.

À quoi ressembleront nos églises dans le diocèse de Montréal lorsque nous pourrons rouvrir nos portes ? Comment avez-vous changé ? Dieu ne s'était pas mis en quarantaine. Au contraire, Il a été à l'œuvre dans notre diocèse, il n’a cessé de nous rencontrer et de nous parler là où nous sommes. Qu'est-ce que Dieu nous a appris pendant notre temps d'isolement et de rencontre en ligne que nous pouvons partager avec d'autres ? Je vous invite à réfléchir et à prier en tant que congrégations sur la manière dont votre ministère sera exprimé. Que garderez-vous, que laisserez-vous tomber, que ferez-vous différemment et qu'est-ce que vous essayerez et qui nécessiterait de trouver un nouveau courage ?

Je crois que nous avons un nouveau regard et une nouvelle foi quant à la manière d'avancer en tant qu'église. Nous devons prier pour être ouverts à ce à quoi l'Esprit nous appelle.

Après sa résurrection, Jésus a rencontré ses disciples, les apprenants - souvent derrière des portes fermées et parfois dans des lieux extérieurs. Il leur a enseigné qu'ils seraient remplis de la puissance de Dieu afin qu'ils puissent être ses témoins. Avant de monter au ciel, Jésus a donné aux disciples des instructions précises : former des disciples – des apprentis de Jésus – de toutes les nations et de toutes les races, inviter les gens à entrer, leur parler, prier pour eux, les aimer de l'amour du Christ. Priez pour que la puissance de Dieu agisse en vous et en eux. Désirez-la ! Cherchez-la ! Soyez prêts à échouer parfois en essayant de coopérer avec Dieu. Ne cessez pas de changer et n'essayez pas de revenir à l'endroit où vous vous sentiez autrefois en sécurité. Demandez à Dieu de vous utiliser chaque jour. Soyez ouverts à des voies surprenantes. Soyez ouvert à ceux qui peuvent avoir besoin de grâce ou d'espoir. Soyez dans l'expectative. Priez et remerciez toujours. Laissez la puissance de Dieu vous remplir et vous diriger. Et Jésus sera toujours avec vous.

C'est la chanson qui ne finit jamais - notre appel à être des agents du pouvoir de transformation, d'amour et d'espoir de Jésus.


How will we Build Back Better? (a personal blog / reflection)

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How will we Build Back Better? (a personal blog / reflection) by Lee-Ann Matthews

We are in a liminal time that is both strange and uncertain. We can never go back to the “before” and we have no idea what the “after” will be. So now we wait, we wonder, we pray, we worry. Naturally, there is some real fear and anxiety in this space. But, we are God's people and as such, we are given explicit permission to dream, hope and wonder about a brave new future.

People around the world are addressing this sentiment using the slogan Build Back Better (originally used in 2015 by the United Nations then more recently adopted by Joe Biden). I am hearing it used by popular culture in marketing campaigns, politics and sports describing the post pandemic reality. It got me wondering about the Church.

How will we Build Back Better?

I am the host of a dinner church called “Supper Club”. We recently met to debrief this past year of pandemic and to dream about its future. Through this process, I learned that this ministry has been an important place of connection, friendship, formation, safety, freedom, support, rest, meaning, prayer and spiritual nourishment to its members. I am struck by these testimonies as well as the caring and generosity that is exchanged here. It is both humbling and inspiring to be a part of a Christian community that is capable of all this and at its heart, such genuine relationship and deep care.

And now we too are wondering about how Supper Club might build back better…

The pandemic has taught us so many lessons. How will we apply them?

Our roots are in an experimental dinner church model fostered by food & hearty face to face interactions. In the past 17 months, however, we have once again pioneered something new. A vital online community that expanded to serve participants from across Canada. So, when I dream of the future now and wonder how we will build back better, I am committed to launching something that has been shaped and inspired not only by what we have learned and who we have gathered, but honouring our roots in shared meals and face to face conversations too. We have no idea how this hybrid experiment is going to look but I believe that now is the time to be bold, imaginative and courageous. Even if it is just in your thought process or in small groups, now is the time to embrace possibilities and to be fearless!

I am genuinely excited and energized to be on this journey alongside this spirit led community. As I am listening to the voices around me, I feel a sense of call to host a new season of Supper Club that is rooted in unlimited possibilities. God continues to show up and remind us that our gatherings are holy, our time together is holy and our members have a sacred role to care for each other. I trust what God has done among us. Maybe the new “build” won't be bigger or even better, only God decides that, but there will be an abundance of unobstructed love, intention, energy and hope in this new ministry.

I wonder what build Back Better might look like in your ministry context?

1 Chronicles 28:20 David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.

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Aslan Is On The Move: Focus on Racial Justice Begins by Edward Yankie (co-chair of Anti Racism Task Force)

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Aslan Is On The Move: Focus on Racial Justice Begins

by Edward Yankie (co-chair of Anti Racism Task Force)

Excerpt from the Anglican Montreal June issue

I arrived at the cathedral on Palm Sunday to be a steward for the mere twenty folks who were allowed in. It was my first time back to church in person since Christmas morning, and I was wearing my Black Lives Matter mask. A friend I hadn't seen in months approached and said, rather adamantly, “ALL lives Matter.”

I looked at him and blinked. There was a Black Lives Matter banner hanging right behind us over the doors of the church.

“ALL lives matter,” he repeated with pronounced emphasis, as if to correct my mask.

“OK,” I said. “But you do understand, right?-- why people are saying black lives matter?” I couldn't help address him a bit like a child. I'm still a Christian in training.

“Yes.”

“Good.” Case closed. Moving on. I had been growing tired of exchanges like this, most of them outside the culture of the church. Another example of white people socially policing themselves.

“It's because of a few idiots!” he said, and turned and went back into the church.

This struck me at the time, as it does now, as the official Quebec narrative from the top down; Systemic racism is a figment of the imagination in misguided, militant, shrill people. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

At that time, the verdict of Derek Chauvin trial was still pending and that same week, here in Montreal, two separate and disturbing videos were circulating online. One was of an out-of-control police officer punching the face of a black man who was being held down on the ground in Mount Royal Park. The people watching the incident were shouting at the police and protesting. Then in another horrific piece of footage from in the Metro, an STM officer repeatedly punched a woman who was being held down. This time, bystanders not only protested but intervened. The officers were defended by their superiors. But in both incidents, the footage speaks for itself.

The conviction of the murderer of George Floyd brought shock and sighs of relief to many; the fact that we did not expect justice is in itself is a telling fact of history. But within twenty-four hours of the verdict, six more people in the U.S. had been killed by police. And the grim incidents in the past month have not abated. In Canada the violence involves fewer guns, but plenty of fists. And reading the comment section on the recent videos in Montreal is not an uplifting or edifying experience.

We still have a serious problem in our culture that goes way back. And historically, of course, the church has always been immersed in this culture.

Writing about this, talking about it, is not easy for anyone of any hue. Talking about the history of the sin of racism within the church, be it about slavery, social segregation, or the subtle microaggressions often experienced by many, is a difficult task, taking us outside our collective comfort zone. All of us, with our various backgrounds in the Anti-Black Racism Task Force, can agree on that. It's one of the easiest things to agree on. Nevertheless this conversation is taking place. Because the Holy Spirit so often pushes us outside our comfort zone - into the place where change for the good happens.

One evening, during one of our zoom meetings, Bishop Mary was with us as we were talking about our plans for racial justice work within the context of the challenges our church faces during the pandemic. During a pause, we asked her what she thought. She said: “Aslan is on the move.”

Aslan, of course, is the lion who represents Jesus Christ in C.S. Lewis's Narnia Chronicles. And he is pretty good at pushing people outside their comfort zone. In the face of all this social turmoil, change, and much-talked-about pandemic upheaval, Aslan is indeed on the move.

One of the things we've learned in the past year, as the great lion nudges us along, is that in order to be true Christians, we - all of us – must be anti-racist. And as Ibram X. Kendi points out in How To Be an Anti-Racist, there is no safe, neutral ground of simply “not racist” in the struggle between racism and anti-racism. Being anti-racist is active, not passive, and at the very least we need to speak out and not be silent (and thereby complicit).

Recently the Task Force sent out a survey to the clergy, lay leaders and students of theology to determine just where the diocese is on anti-racism work, and to what degree we are passionately engaging in it.

The results have come in; some churches, like the Cathedral, are examining themselves and their history with gusto; others would like to start, and have asked for resources, while a small minority think it's a non-issue - we hope to change their minds.

To answer the need for resources, among other things, the task force is creating an online resource (attached to the Diocesan website), and also a Facebook page, both called Montreal Anglicans for Racial Justice and Equity. The title indicates that we want to be for something and not merely against something. Along with this comes the following mission statement:

“To educate and increase awareness in the Anglican Diocese of Montreal of the history of racism and the church's participation and complicity in racist practices, that we may properly repent. To equip and enable members of the diocese to confront and dismantle systemic racism and white supremacy inside and outside the church. To honour Christ in all persons by building bridges, and by promoting and celebrating diversity in the church and the world.”

Yes, it's a mouthful. But it gets the idea (of the necessary work) across. And despite being serious, uncomfortable, and challenging, it's a joyful thing to repent. And do justice. And build bridges. Not to mention celebrate. To our delight, Bishop Mary and the Synod Planning Committee have decided that the diocese will focus on this particular mission with great intention over the next three years. And a diocesan learning session for church leaders is being prepared for early October. Something to celebrate indeed.

More recently, the Most Reverend Linda Nicholls, our Archbishop and Primate, reached out to my friend and co-chair Dion Lewis and invited him to speak at The Council of General Synod, along with other distinguished guests, on the topic of Dismantling Racism. She understood that for Dion to speak on a personal level regarding his own encounters with racism would take tremendous courage. But courage is not lacking in Dion. On May 8th he shared some personal stories with the Council and added:

“I have been affected by subtle racism from some very well-meaning people in my own parochial activities. These subtle biases, subconscious actions, and sometime conscious actions cause pain. Personally, I have had to learn how to just ignore and forgive these actions to continue to share my gifts and talents with the community at large. We need to stop causing this pain to each other and most importantly not do it again... Love is our greatest gift, but if we are called to clear the way for God, we all need to start levelling and clearing the path. Part of this shared task involves not throwing obstacles onto the cleared road.” He concluded by saying that we need to learn from what we’ve done and do better.

After the meeting, our Primate Linda responded with a beautiful letter of thanks which ended, “The only way forward for all of us will be by listening and learning together.”

I think Aslan would agree.