Leigh Anne Williams

  • Leigh Anne Williams joined the Anglican Journal in 2008 as a part-time staff writer. She also works as the Canadian correspondent for Publishers Weekly, a New York-based trade magazine for the book publishing. Prior to this, Williams worked as a reporter for the Canadian bureau of TIME Magazine, news editor of Quill & Quire, and a copy editor at The Halifax Herald, The Globe and Mail and The Bay Street Bull.

ARTICLES

A lifetime of giving

For much of her 75 years, Mary Teya has been a voice for the church and for people in her home community of Fort McPherson, N.W.T., and far beyond.

The Rev. Canon Judy Rois says she has tried to “uphold women in theological education and in the ministry of the Canadian church.” Photo: Contributed

Rois listed in top 100

The Rev. Canon Judy Rois, executive director of the Anglican Foundation, has been named as one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN).

Archbishop Fred Hiltz and Bishop Susan Johnson lead Anglican and Lutheran members of the 2013 Joint Assembly in prayer at the Ottawa Convention Centre. Photo: Art Babych

Joint Assembly planned for 2019

The Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) have approved in principle a plan to hold a second joint assembly in 2019.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said he was encouraged by the commitment expressed by the bishops at their recent meeting. “We are not going to agree on everything but we can do that in a way that doesn’t fracture the body.” Photo: Leigh Anne Williams

‘We can hold that diversity’

When the House of Bishops met at the Mount Carmel retreat centre in Niagara Falls, Ont., from Nov. 17 to 21, the agenda included discussion of some big issues-the controversial proposed amendment to the marriage canon to allow for same-sex marriage, end-of-life issues and the role of the house itself in the church.

The Rev. Andrew Wesley offered CoGS members some insights into aboriginal spirituality. He and Archbishop Terence Finlay (right) gave a briefing about the work of the Primate’s Commission on the Doctrine of Discovery, Reconciliation and Healing. Photo: Leigh Anne Williams

Primate’s commission sees long road ahead

On Nov. 15, Archbishop Terence Finlay and the Rev. Andrew Wesley updated the Council of General Synod (CoGS) on the work of the Primate’s Commission on the Doctrine of Discovery, Reconciliation and Healing.

Diocesan representatives from across the country met in Peterborough, Ont. last fall to learn more about PWRDF’s work. While visiting a farm to learn about local food security issues, they also got a more global view while talking with a migrant worker from Mexico. Photo: PWRDF

PWRDF strengthens volunteer network

On Nov. 15, Carolyn Vanderlip briefed the Council of General Synod about the aims of its new Canadian Anglican Partnership Program, of which she was appointed director in May.

Council of General Synod chaplain Sister Elizabeth Rolfe-Thomas records the thoughts of those sitting at her table about what has been achieved and what challenges remain in relation to the aspirations outlined in Vision 2019. Photo: Jesse Dymond/General Synod Communications

Hiltz offers view of church midway to 2019

Accompanying a written report about his work and travels recently, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, used his address to the Council of General Synod (CoGS) to focus attention on where the church is at in relation to the priorities and goals outlined in Vision 2019.

Dean Peter Wall, chair of the General Synod Planning Committee, updated CoGS plans for General Synod 2016, which will be held at the Sheraton Parkway North hotel in Richmond Hill, Ont. from July 7 to 12.

CoGS approves General Synod seating plan

Mississauga, Ont.
Dean Peter Wall, chair of the General Synod planning committee, updated the Council of General Synod (CoGS) on plans for General Synod 2016 and put forward a resolution proposing that during that meeting members of General Synod will be “seated, at times, in diocesan groups, and at other times, in mixed table groups,” depending on the agenda items.

CoGS members discuss what their role might as the Anglican Church of Canada prepares for some difficult discussions about proposed changes to the marriage canon. Photo: Leigh Anne Willliams

CoGS focuses on constructive role in marriage canon debate

Mississauga, Ont.
Members of Council of General Synod (CoGS) meeting here Nov. 15 were asked to consider what role they might have as the Anglican Church of Canada begins to prepare to discuss the contentious issue of proposed changes to the marriage canon that would allow for same-sex marriages.

Commission clerk Bruce Myers and member Bishop Linda Nicholls at the Council of General Synod meeting in Mississauga on Nov. 15. Photo: Leigh Anne Williams

Commission considers impact of proposed canon change

The Commission on the Marriage Canon’s final reportwill incorporate not only the submissions received from Anglicans acrossCanada, but will also reflect consultations about how changing thechurch’s law to allow for same-sex marriage might affect relationshipswithin and outside of the Anglican Church of Canada.

General Synod Treasurer Hanna Goschy presents the 2015 budget, which projects a surplus of $59,000. Photo: André Forget

CoGS approves balanced budget for 2015

Mississauga, Ont.
On the first morning of its fall meeting, Council of General Synod (CoGS) members unanimously approved a balanced 2015 budget of $11.95 million for General Synod.

Participants at the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, which took place at UN headquarters in New York at the end of September, celebrated the unanimous adoption of a document recommitting nations to the objectives of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Photo: UN Photo/Yubi Hoffmann

Indigenous well-being integral to planet’s

Reflecting on his experience at the UN WorldConference on Indigenous Peoples, National Indigenous Anglican BishopMark MacDonald said that in spite of the reservations expressed by theCanadian government about the document that renewed the internationalcommitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of IndigenousPeoples, there was much to be celebrated and heartened by.

Hope Air has helped Grace, 11, and her father, Wade, travel from Stratford, PEI, to Ottawa, where she has received treatment for profound hearing loss since she was a toddler. Photo: Contributed

Foundation gives kids a lift

The Anglican Foundation has formed a new partnership with Hope Air to help children and youth in need of medical care fly to the cities where they need to go for treatments.

Canon (lay) Robert Falby, chair of the Commission on the Marriage Canon: “I am pleased that so many people, both lay and cleric, made the effort to make a submission.” Photo: Art Babych

Commission reviews opinions on same-sex marriage

When the deadline for making submissions to the Commission on the Marriage Canon passed at the end of September, 222 individual Anglicans, two dioceses, seven parishes, one theological college, one ecumenical partner and several Anglican organizations had shared their views about the possibility of altering the marriage canon to allow for same-sex marriages.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, thinks this Remembrance Day in particular should not be “business as usual” and encourages Canadians to take some time to remember and pray. Photo: Leigh Anne Williams

A day to remember

Stepping away from what is typical practice inOntario, the national offices of the Anglican Church of Canada willclose for Remembrance Day on Nov. 11.

Noah Njegovan was executive archdeacon for the diocese of Brandon from 2009 to 2012. His responsibilities included payroll and preparation of budgets and financial statements.

Former archdeacon’s assets frozen

As a part of a $350,000 lawsuit filed by the diocese of Brandon against its former executive archdeacon Noah Njegovan in March, a Brandon court has granted the diocese’s request to extend a temporary freeze of Njegovan’s assets until the case is settled.

“You need to be able to have a voice that will articulate the voice of the church, particularly on behalf of those who don’t have a voice themselves with people who have power,” says the Rev. Laurette Glasgow, the Anglican Church of Canada’s special advisor for government relations. Photo: Art Babych

The Interview: Ambassador for Christ

Before being appointed in 2012 as the Anglican Church of Canada’s special advisor for government relations, the Rev. Laurette Glasgow spent 37 years working for the federal government.

(L to R): Paul Latour thanks volunteers Dave Meade and Kent McFadyen. Photo: Jacqueline Rimmer

A moving spirit

Compassion can be a powerful force for change. The Anglican Journal takes you to three communities where it is at work for and with youth.

Jackson Chevarie prepares lunch at Church of the Redeemer. Photo: Contributed

Finding compassion in the big city

Cultivating compassion was the goal that the Rev. Jeffrey Metcalfe and his wife, Julie Boisvert, a teacher at Grosse-Ile School, had in mind when they created a youth pilot project called the Social Justice Club in their parish in the Magdalen Islands, a small archipelago in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, walk among other bishops on their way to Lambeth Palace at the start of the 2008 Lambeth Conference. Photo: Marites N. Sison

Primate says 2018 Lambeth unlikely

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said he hasn’t heard directly from the Archbishop of Canterbury whether the next Lambeth Conference will be postponed, but “it’s pretty obvious that in all likelihood it would not be in 2018 because it takes three, four, years to plan.”

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