Annual observance celebrates freedom struggles, recognizes contributions of Black Anglicans in Canada
For the Rev. Tianna Gocan, a hug from a little girl sums up the significance of the Anglican Church of Canada formally observing Emancipation Sunday, which commemorates liberation struggles and recognizes the contributions of Black Anglicans.
Gocan, chair of the Emancipation Sunday task group that curated liturgical and educational resources which Council of General Synod (CoGS) approved on June 13, recalls her parish intern placement at Holy Trinity Kitchener, where the worship service included a children’s moment. A family who attended regularly, all recent immigrants from Nigeria, included a mother and her two children. One, a girl no more than six years old, “came up to me and gave me a big hug and was crying because it was my last Sunday there,” Gocan says.
“For me, that’s why this work is so important,” she says. “It’s so we can, as a church, empower young Black kids to be able to see themselves in their worship, in leadership … To be able to see someone who looks like you opens up a world of opportunities, and it’s not even a conscious thing.”
Gocan had a parallel experience last year when she attended a preaching conference in the United States and met Bishop Gayle Harris, assistant bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Virginia. “I just started crying, because I’ve never seen a Black female bishop before in my life,” Gocan says. “I just told her, seeing her in that role, how much that meant to me and how it shows what is possible for the church.”
In 2025, General Synod passed Resolution C002, which formally designated the last Sunday in July as Emancipation Sunday and directed the Faith, Worship and Ministry Coordinating Committee to develop related liturgical and educational resources for parishes. The observance reflects Emancipation Day, which marks the anniversary of the Slavery Abolition Act that came into effect on Aug. 1, 1834, freeing enslaved people throughout the British Empire, including in Canada. In 2021, a unanimous vote in the House of Commons recognized Aug. 1 as Emancipation Day across Canada.
Emancipation Sunday resources approved by CoGS include a liturgy for worship with recommended scripture readings and hymns, authorized for trial use, evaluation and feedback where permitted by the Ordinary. CoGS also passed a resolution to commend to the church Bible studies and educational resources for Emancipation Sunday. The latter include information on topics such as Emancipation Sunday in the Canadian context; singing historically Black music in predominantly white congregations; a guide to terminology in discussing the history of enslavement; and Black heritage organizations, history societies and museums that parishes can reach out to for guest speakers or for local and regional resources.
Resolution C002 also required General Synod to actively support initiatives addressing anti-Black racism within church structures and wider society, and to encourage dioceses to engage in dialogue with Black Anglicans to ensure meaningful and impactful observance of Emancipation Sunday.
Irene Moore Davis—past president of Black Anglicans of Canada, assistant curator at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum dedicated to Afro-Canadian history, and a member of the Emancipation Sunday task group—says Emancipation Sunday provides an opportunity for Christians to reflect on the history of emancipation and on systemic racism while discussing ways to move forward.
“Part of [Emancipation Sunday] is acknowledging and addressing the history that we have, even within our church, in terms of being complicit in or supportive of things that were not just or fair,” Davis says. “But also, it’s really about encouraging people to reflect on social issues in the present time and figure out what we can do, collectively or individually, to make things better out there in the world.”
Canon Stephen Fields, sub-dean of the diocese of Toronto and vicar at St. James Cathedral, moved Resolution C002 and helped write many of the Emancipation Sunday resources, such as prayers and Bible studies. Also a member of the task group, and set to retire at the end of June after 45 years of ordained ministry, Fields calls Emancipation Sunday a time to “set the record straight and recognize that we all are members of the church.”
“For too long we have been on the margins or have been sidelined … I think it is important that the church comes on board and do what is right by the people of the Black community, indeed of all Canada,” Fields says.
Task group members say they stood on the shoulders of Black Anglicans and others of African and Caribbean descent who laid the foundation for their work. Fields highlights the Rev. Romney Mosley, a Barbadian-born theologian whose report No Longer Strangers laid the foundation for the Anglican Church of Canada’s policy on multiculturalism.
Gocan says she would like more Black Canadian theology to emerge from the Anglican Church of Canada’s observance of Emancipation Sunday, as well as to see more clergy and lay people of colour in church leadership positions.
“My hope really is just to empower those of the African diaspora and of the Black communities in the Anglican church to see themselves in their worship, in their church, and be able to step into that leadership position,” Gocan says.
Emancipation Sunday resources are available at anglican.ca.
