Council of the North Month Turns Three

September 2011 marks the third annual Council of the North Month– four weeks of back-to-church celebrations that have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars toward increasing awareness of the challenges of ministry in the North. The festive month is a partnership initiative with Anglican Appeal.

“We choose September because in northern communities, this is the time for people to come together in hunters’ festivals and give thanks to the Creator for another successful harvest,” said Archbishop David Ashdown of the diocese of Keewatin and Council of the North chair, in a press release. The Council of the North was established in the 1970s.

The September fundraising celebration first got the nod at General Synod in 2007 as a way to help stabilize financing in the face of grant cutbacks scheduled for 2012, according to council spokesperson Fiona Brownlee. “The 2009 celebration raised $125,000. The amount for 2010 is still being tabulated,” she says.

While many churches choose to raise funds in September by hosting meals with traditional menus such as local stews and homemade bannock, there are other options. “One church that couldn’t hold its event in September did it December instead,” says Brownlee. “It put up a Christmas tree and people hung stars and other items on it during the first three weeks of Advent.”

Event resource kits will be mailed to parishes later this summer. In the meantime, resources-including a recipe for homemade bannock-can be downloaded on line here. Order forms for print materials can also be downloaded from this site.