CoGS backs Vision 2019

Council of General Synod (CoGS) has voted to recommend the Vision 2019 report be adopted by General Synod 2010 when it gathers in Halifax in June.

Written as a strategic plan for the Anglican Church of Canada, the report lists priorities that include developing leadership education for mission and ministry, supporting the Council of the North, journeying with indigenous peoples, working for peace and justice, engaging with young people, enlivening worship, and becoming leaders in the Anglican Communion and in ecumenical actions. The report incorporated input from CoGS, which met March 11-14 in Mississauga, Ont., as well as the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples and National Anglican Indigenous Bishop Mark MacDonald.

“What we were seeking to do in Vision 2019 was to lift our sights and say, ‘This church has the potential of a great future if we grasp our core mission and live into that with creativity and imagination,’ ” said Dean Peter Elliott, chair of the Vision 2019 task force.

During the past year, the Vision 2019 team surveyed more than 1,000 Anglicans across the country asking “Where is your church now and where do you want it to be in 2019?” Stakeholders such as committees, councils, General Synod management team, CoGS and the House of Bishops were also consulted.

Priorities for Vision 2019 have been framed with the Anglican Communion’s Five Marks of Mission: (To proclaim the good news of the Kingdom; to teach, baptize and nurture new believers; to respond to human need by loving service; to seek to transform unjust structures of society; and to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.)