Emmanuella House of Prayer, in the diocese of Kootenay, celebrated its first anniversary as a retreat center last October. In the first year, visitors have come from Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria, the Okanagan and the Kootenays.
The Highway
Bishop of New Westminster Michael Ingham, in a letter to clergy and church wardens, asked that a single issue – the blessing of same-sex unions – not dominate the selection of lay delegates to June’s diocesan synod. “It is important that people be selected for their wisdom, spiritual maturity and good judgment, rather than for their position on any single issue,” he wrote.
Topic
The diocese of Calgary’s first Powerhouse of Prayer workshop drew 63 people from 14 parishes and three denominations to St. Paul’s, Calgary. The day-long session, focusing on various prayer issues, was led by Archbishop Barry Curtis and his wife Pat, co-directors of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer (Canada).
The Sower
The colleges of Emmanuel and St. Chad in Saskatoon, the Lutheran Theological Seminary Saskatoon and the United Church’s St. Andrew’s College have agreed to form a partnership for ecumenical theological education.
The Mustard Seed
The Church of the Epiphany, Scarborough, Ont., in the diocese of Toronto, is hosting a clinic providing free medical care to people not covered by government health insurance – new immigrants, refugees and homeless people. Newcomers cannot receive health coverage until they have been in the province three months and homeless people often never apply for medical coverage. The clinic is a project of the Canadian Centre for Women’s Education and Development, a tenant of the church.
The Anglican
The diocese of Ottawa has formed a focus group to prepare a strategy for church plantings, especially in areas of projected population growth such as Kanata, Barrhaven, Morrisburg and Pembroke.
Crosstalk
Atlantic School of Theology faces an uncertain future after the province of Nova Scotia said it plans to cease funding 35 per cent of the school’s $2.2 million budget. Education Minister Jane Purves last fall said it was time the school “became more efficient.”
The school hired consulting firm KPMG to prepare a report on options for the future. The college was founded in 1971 by the Anglican, Roman Catholic and United churches to train lay and ordained ministers in Atlantic Canada.
The Diocesan Times