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Sean Frankling

  • Sean Frankling’s experience includes newspaper reporting as well as writing for video and podcast media. He’s been chasing stories since his first co-op for Toronto’s Gleaner Community Press at age 18. He studied journalism at Carleton University and has written for the Toronto Star, WatchMojo and other outlets.

ARTICLES

“I [would be] basically telling you guys we would not be here in 2029” if asked to forecast national office finances for 2026-2029 given current trends, General Synod treasurer Amal Attia told CoGS. Photo: Matthew Puddister

General Synod starts cuts to Council of the North as ‘gloomy’ financial future foreseen

Sean Frankling January 3, 2025

The Anglican Church of Canada’s national office has a balanced budget ready for 2025, Amal Attia, treasurer of General Synod, told Council of General Synod (CoGS) at its latest meeting in November 2024. While a plan has been approved to draw on reserve money to keep the budget stable through the year, some cost-cutting measures have already begun—including a gradual plan to reduce funding to the Council of the North—and more cuts will be needed in the years to come, she said.

P.E.I. cathedral rector serves 3 days in prison after impaired driving conviction

Sean Frankling December 19, 2024

Canon David Garrett, dean of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Charlottetown has served a three-day prison sentence and paid a $1,500 fine plus a $450 victim surcharge following an Oct. 15 conviction for impaired driving, according to the Rev. Ann Turner, executive director of the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The conviction concerned an incident on Aug. 6 in which Garrett got into a collision that severely damaged the front of his vehicle at 1:37 pm and subsequently tested at 150 mg of alcohol in

Provinces push back on Council of the North cuts

Sean Frankling December 6, 2024

Two provincial synods have passed a resolution to call on General Synod to review the impacts of cuts to Council of the North funding. The resolution, passed this September by the ecclesiastical provinces of Ontario and British Columbia and Yukon, follow a 2023 decision which would see the council’s funding reduced by $100,000 yearly, beginning in 2024, until its annual apportionment is equal to 25 per cent of the donations the national church receives through diocesan proportional giving. 

“There are people in this country—and we’ve seen it already in the letters to the editor—who are deeply attached to the Journal,” the Rev. Cynthia Haines Turner, chair of General Synod’s communications committee told CoGS. Photo: Matthew Puddister

CoGS discusses future of the Anglican Journal

Sean Frankling December 3, 2024

“Do we still want a publication that holds up a mirror to the church?” the Rev. Cynthia Haines Turner, chair of General Synod’s communications committee, asked Council of General Synod (CoGS) in a Nov. 9 session on a primatial committee’s suggestion that the church stop funding the Anglican Journal. “Sometimes the picture we will see may not be flattering and sometimes it will be. But is that still a value for the church?” 

Indigenous church funding panel awaits new chair

Sean Frankling November 28, 2024

Church leaders are seeking a new chair for the Jubilee Commission, a group of Indigenous Anglicans tasked with examining possibilities for funding the Indigenous Anglican church. The commission’s previous chair, Judith Moses, stepped down in April. Speaking to the Journal in September, Moses cited her age, diminished energy levels and the difficulty of doing the commission’s work with limited resources.

Archbishop Chris Harper (left) praised the abilities of his fellow Indigenous ministries leaders, Archdeacon Rosalyn Elm (centre left), Rosie Jane Tailfeathers (centre right), and Canon Murray Still (right) at a Nov. 9 presentation on the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples' work. Photo: Sean Frankling

Indigenous church introduces mental health programs

Sean Frankling November 20, 2024

National Indigenous Archbishop Chris Harper has announced he will slow down his schedule of travel in 2025 following two years of extensive visits to church communities across the country. 

Voices of caution raised at CoGS discussion of church-changing ‘hypotheses’

Sean Frankling November 11, 2024

The church should stop to consider how the work done by General Synod or the ecclesiastical provinces would be replaced before it responds to a suggestion by a primatial commission to eliminate one of those levels of governance, Archbishop Anne Germond, acting primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, told members of Council of General Synod (CoGS) Nov. 9.

Both clergy and parishioners, Penner says, can be either perpetrators or victims of abuse and harassment. Photo: Gordenkoff

Sexual misconduct policy in spotlight across church

Sean Frankling October 31, 2024

Across the Anglican Church of Canada, governing bodies from the national to the diocesan level are in the process of reviewing, updating and in some cases introducing for the first time sexual misconduct policies.

While AI creators prophesy dramatic futures for their technology, the simpler generative AI tools already available are a source for enthusiasm for some in the church—and a source of suspicion for others. Image: agsandrew/Shutterstock

Anglicans wrestle with potential uses, pitfalls of artificial intelligence

Sean Frankling October 31, 2024

All across the bustling show floor at Collision 2024, startup companies display laptops, flyers and signs promising to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to security, data analytics, online shopping, code optimization—on and on it goes. Between quirky intro and outro music, panels of experts at the North American tech expo give prognostications ranging from the optimistic (AI will drastically increase productivity) to the very optimistic (AI will boost longevity to the point of making everyone immortal) to the catastrophic (AI will interfere with democracy or become a threat to human life)

Rupert’s Land asks for prayers after bishop diagnosed with terminal cancer

Sean Frankling October 25, 2024

Bishop of the diocese of Rupert’s Land Geoffrey Woodcroft has been admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of cancer shortly after announcing his intention to retire in June 2025. The diocese’s executive archdeacon Simon Blaikie told the Anglican Journal Woodcroft made the announcement on the final day of the diocesan synod, Oct. 19, then felt unwell and was in the hospital within 12 hours. He was diagnosed with cancer, said Blaikie, and has gone on sick leave, expecting to transition directly into long-term disability leave. Blaikie confirmed a Facebook post that the cancer had been diagnosed as terminal. The diocese is asking for prayers and held a mass for his healing and comfort Oct. 23. 

PWRDF to change name to Alongside Hope

Sean Frankling October 18, 2024

Members of the board of the Anglican Church of Canada’s global charity arm, until now known as the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF), have voted to rename it Alongside Hope.  

‘The most mind-blowing “I don’t know” I’d ever heard’

Sean Frankling August 20, 2024

The Rev. Ben Tshin is a priest at St. Paul’s Bloor Street in Toronto. Tshin says many of those who engage with St. Paul’s for the first time do so through its ESL program, which invites members of the communities in to hone their English skills and—perhaps more importantly—find a sense of belonging among people who have similar experiences as newcomers to Canada. Often, he says, it attracts people whose English is already very strong, but who are just looking for somewhere to make friends. In the process, he says, the program exposes them to the church’s sanctuary space, developing a sense that they are safe and welcome there even as they form community ties.

Members of the Moosonee synod gather in a circle to give thanks for God’s providence and their renewed hopes for the future as a diocese. Photo: George Cribbs

Moosonee votes to have its own bishop again

Sean Frankling July 23, 2024

The synod of the diocese of Moosonee voted unanimously June 26 to elect a dedicated bishop for the first time in a decade—a milestone in the history of the regional church, according to Archbishop Anne Germond, metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Ontario and currently the bishop ministering to Moosonee. 

It will likely take more than nine months to create a profile of the diocese’s demographics and ministries, select candidates for bishop based on how well they fit the profile and hold an election, Germond says.  

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