Borders in focus for November issue

People who have crossed our border, and the people who live south of it, are a prominent theme in this month’s Anglican Journal. In this season of harvest, we take a look at the conditions of migrants and immigrants working in Canada’s food industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, and hear from some Anglicans who have been ministering to them. We update you on what Anglicans and their partners across the country—both ecumenical and secular—have been doing to keep would-be refugees to Canada from being turned back at the U.S. border. And in a column prompted by the upcoming U.S. election, Anglican Journal editor (and American citizen) Matthew Townsend reflects on injustices on both sides of the border—and what we can do about them.

The pandemic continued to affect the life of the church this fall, erecting boundaries and barriers that challenge normal patterns of Christian gathering. In Quebec, it spurred a return to restrictions on public gatherings in some parts of the country, which Anglican and other faith leaders said unfairly targeted places of worship. We report on their efforts to get the government to reconsider these rules.

Despite the stress caused by the coronavirus and the associated restrictions, Anglican leaders continued to meet and act—albeit virtually and across great distance. This issue includes reporting on deliberations by the Council of General Synod on church governance—talks which could potentially mean fewer bishops at General Synod. We also tell you about a statement made by Saskatchewan bishops, together with other faith leaders, calling for faith communities and government to work together to prevent suicide. We fill you in on a podcast on generosity recently launched by the Anglican Foundation of Canada, too.

There are aspects of Anglican life that exist beyond borders of time and space. Rounding out the issue are reflections by our national archbishops on Christian love and discipleship in action. Archbishop Linda Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, ponders the things we have to feel grateful for in Canadian society—as well as its injustices, and calls us to share and give. National Indigenous Archbishop Mark MacDonald writes about seeing, in the artifacts of an old Indigenous culture, a metaphor for the ways in which we glimpse the world to come. It’s among the poor, the incarcerated, the homeless and the sick, he writes, that we can find “artifacts of the future.”

Read the November issue of the Anglican Journal on anglicanjournal.com or in digital PDF.