The faith, worship and ministry committee gave General Synod members an overview of its work in the past triennium, and three resolutions relating to its work were passed.
“The role of faith, worship and ministry is to help Canadian Anglicans to live out our faith thoughtfully, prayerfully and with commitment,” said committee chair Canon Andrew Asbil, who compared its work to connective tissue in the body.
Bruce Myers, the church’s co-ordinator for ecumenical relations, highlighted a joint Christian education project with the Roman Catholic Church in Canada and dialogue with the United Church of Canada on new models of unity to which the two churches might be called.
Bishop Linda Nicholls said that in this triennium the ethics sub-group of the committee has worked toward developing policies on abuse, sexual violence and screening for ministry.
Canon Eric Beresford spoke about the strides that have been made in building relationships and trust between African and North American bishops in a series of dialogues intended to help heal divisions in the Anglican Communion.
A liturgical task force has been working to revise common texts and to gather new liturgies and resources . For example, said Louise Peters, the task force has been identifying liturgical needs around baptism, such as the need for an appropriate rite for an interfaith family or when a parent is not a Christian.
General Synod members approved three motions from the FWM committee:
* Resolution A140, which asked General Synod to receive the Final Report of the Primate’s Commission on Theological Education and Formation for Presbyteral Ministry and adopt Competencies for Theological Education for Ordination to the Priesthood in the Anglican Church of Canada.
* Resolution A141, which asked General Synod to receive the Jerusalem Report on diakonia (the ministry of service) of the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission and refer it to the Joint Anglican-Lutheran Commission to co-ordinate study and response. (The report has also been presented to churches in the Anglican Communion and Lutheran World Federation.)
* Resolution A142, which asked General Synod to receive The Church: Toward a Common Vision (produced by the Faith and Order Commission, World Council of Churches) and commend it for study to the Anglican Church of Canada.
