United by Amazing Grace

How “sweet the sound,” indeed! Anglicans across Canada enthusiastically participated in the Amazing Grace project to celebrate unity in the church and to raise money for the Council of the North.

They sang renditions of the classic hymn and sent video recordings to the General Synod church office in Toronto, where all 500 submissions were posted on YouTube and edited into a compilation DVD, hosted by Lynne Samways-Hiltz, wife of Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. More than $32,000 has been raised and donations continue to come in.

Anglican Video senior producer Lisa Barry said excerpts of all of the submissions received by Dec. 1, 2008 would be included in the compilation, and links to all of the submissions (except for a few that had technical problems) will be posted on www.anglican.ca and can be viewed on YouTube in their entirety. “There’s been some really cool ones,” said Ms. Barry. “One was from a prison in B.C…. There was one from Kandahar…. They had musical instruments and arrangements. There’s been liturgical dance. It’s just amazing.”

ON THE WEB at anglican.ca/amazinggrace