André Forget

ARTICLES

Ryan Weston (right) talks about the Anglican Church of Canada's environmental initiatives during a panel discussion with school trustee Gerri Gershon and MPP Andrew Potts. Photo: André Forget

Event brings secular, church leaders together to discuss climate change

At a day-long “creation care fair” held March 25 at St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church in Toronto’s Leaside neighbourhood, Anglicans and community members had a chance to ask church and secular leaders about how they were responding to the challenge of climate change.

(L-R) Kendra Wassink, Brian Tsang, Glen Rey, Avelina Pun, Andrew Au and Dorothy Wong take in the sights, sounds and smells of Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood as part of the Practices of Ministry in the City conference. Photo: André Forget

Church and the city

It’s one of the coldest days in March, and a bitter west wind whistles between the old community housing blocks of Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood, but Andrew Au and Dorothy Wong are focussed on the streetscape, on the incongruity of the new developments, the rush of the streetcars, the way pedestrians carefully navigate the slush and road salt on the narrow sidewalk.

Climate change induces permafrost melting, endangering the foundation of St. Mary with St. Mark Anglican Church in Mayo, Yukon, according to parishioners taking part in a Lenten project focusing on climate justice. Photo: St. Mary with St. Mark Anglican Church

Anglican parishes pledge to ‘give it up for the Earth’ this Lent

In a twist on the traditional practice of giving something up for Lent, Anglicans across Canada are pledging to make personal lifestyle changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—and challenging the federal government to match them by pursuing policy changes to fight climate change.

The Rev. Shawn Sanford Beck, education and training co-ordinator for the diocese of Saskatoon, says seminary-trained priests have a role to play in teaching locally-trained clergy. Photo: André Forget

Conference explores alternatives to seminary education

As dioceses struggle to provide adequate ministry to communities that cannot afford full-time priests, church leaders and theological colleges in the Anglican Church of Canada are exploring new ways to train priests and ministers locally, from mentorship programs to weekend classes to peer-to-peer learning.

Candidates for the priesthood must be nurtured "in such a way that their ministries are enriched by their holiness of life, their own devotion to Christ," says Primate Fred Hiltz. Photo: André Forget

Hiltz: Theological education must build ‘Christ-like character’

As Anglican educators, bishops and clergy debate how theological education should be adapted to meet the needs of the 21st-century church, they should not lose sight of the fact that the final goal is to produce ministers with a “Christ-like character,” said Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Archdeacon Bill Harrison, director for mission and ministry in the diocese of Huron, says Anglicans need to acknowledge that priests “serve the church, but they are not the church.” Photo: André Forget

Theological education at the crossroads

As the number of Anglicans in Canada decreases and churches close, the parish model-in which every church has a priest and every priest is full-time-is rapidly becoming a relic of the past. How can the Anglican Church of Canada train priests to serve in this new, more uncertain reality?

Rebecca Siemens (right), diocesan refugee program co-ordinator, speaks with a woman hoping to sponsor as refugees members of her family who are still in Syria. Photo: Contributed

Diocese of B.C. urges Canada to accept more refugees

In a public statement released February 7, the Anglican diocese of British Columbia called on the government of Canada to increase its targets for refugee resettlement to allow at least 7,000 more refugees to enter the country this year.

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