Canada briefs: Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario

Loyalists gather

The archives of the Diocese of Ontario in Kingston will be one of the destinations as descendants of the United Empire Loyalists visit the city in June. It’s the meeting of the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada. Many loyalists were Anglican, and some of the roots of the Anglican Church of Canada can be traced to the loyalist parishes formed by missionaries from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in England in the late 1700s.

Dialogue

United they worship

For three months, Anglican and United Church congregations in Bailieboro, Ont., just south of Peterborough, have shared clergy, choirs and buildings, as well as worshipping together. The experiment arose out of the success of a vacation Bible school in which the two congregations had participated which drew 65 children. Meanwhile, the Sunday schools of the Emmanuel United, and Christ Church Anglican were struggling. So the schools talked about amalgamating. That led to talks about sharing all worship and activities for a trial period. They worshipped alternately in each church. Rev. Susan Sheen, rector of Christ Church, says people realized what they had in common was greater than their differences. United Church people were glad to participate in a eucharist every other week.

The Anglican

Help for parishes in financial crisis

Helping parishes to deal with financial crisis is one of the most important challenges the Diocese of Niagara faces, says Archdeacon Ian Dingwall, the diocese’s executive officer. He said more than 13 parishes in the southern Ontario diocese are in debt, and going further into debt. A committee has been looking for ways to meet the challenge of parishes in crisis. Two models of working with parishes don’t work. One, the “jackboots” approach, has the diocese tell parishes what to do. A second, which program director Steven Hopkins labels the “don’t touch it, leave it alone, it hurts too much” approach also fails because when the problem is addressed, it’s too late to do anything. To date, no one has produced a successful model.

Niagara Anglican

Teddies from Lenten boxes

The children from All Saints’ Sunday school, Huntsville, used their Lenten box money to buy seven teddy bears. But far from being frivolous, the purchase will help local paramedics who work out of the ambulance department of Algonquin Health Services to provide comfort for children who have been injured in accidents, or whose parents have been injured.

Algoma Anglican

Rooting for St. John

A soup kitchen at St. John the Evangelist, Kitchener, will benefit from fresh produce thanks to a $1,300 garden project on donated land, funded by Waterloo Deanery. The plan is to plant organically grown vegetable crops and herbs. Joan Rawski, a soup kitchen volunteer, is co-ordinating the project on three acres donated by the Meadow Acres Nursery. The grant is made possible by a synod decision to put more money into local ministry initiatives.

Huron Church News

Ottawa diocese joins in Graham Crusade

When American evangelist Billy Graham brings his crusade to Ottawa’s Corel Centre June 25 to 28, Ottawa’s Bishop John Baycroft hopes many Anglicans and their friends will be out in force. The Diocese of Ottawa is participating actively in the mission, with Dean Peter Coffin serving on the mission executive committee and Rev. David Crawley serving on the general committee. More than 28 Ottawa-area Anglican churches are represented on the rolls of Graham mission volunteers. And many Anglicans have participated in Christian life and witness classes, men’s and women’s gatherings and youth events.

Crosstalk