New rules for spending at Church House
General Synod voted June 29 to put a dollar limit on the amount of money officers of General Synod can spend on church business without approval from CoGS or General Synod itself. The resolution requires them to ask permission from CoGS or from General Synod before making any financial commitment for the church above a limit to be set by CoGS itself. The resolution is a response, said mover Archdeacon Noel Wygiera of the diocese of Calgary, to the surprise announcement that General Secretary of General Synod Archdeacon Alan Perry had signed a lease on a property owned by the United Church of Canada. That lease is projected to cost General Synod a total of about $8 million over 5 years.
“I suspect it highly likely that we do have policy and procedure related to financial controls, but if we do, the fact that we find ourselves in our current situation with this lease agreement would indicate that they have been forgotten or ignored,” Wygiera said. “This assembly now has an opportunity to both share in leadership and to take responsibility by directing COGS to make sure that it has in place financial controls that follow principles of good financial stewardship and to enforce those controls.”
It remains an open question whether the church will be legally bound to that lease, said Chancellor of General Synod Canon (lay) Clare Burns. Perry and General Synod Treasurer Amal Attia signed the lease without approval from CoGS, prompting an investigation, which Burns announced earlier in the week.
The resolution’s seconder, Connie Jensen of the diocese of Calgary, told General Synod it was necessary to ensure the resources parishioners across the country were donating to General Synod were cared for with rigorous prudence and transparency.
The resolution passed with a majority of 211 votes for to 4 against.
General Synod approves rule barring transferring of disciplined priests, bishops
A change to the church canons designed to prevent clergy or bishops from being transferred from one diocese to another in cases where they have been placed under disciplinary action has passed its necessary second vote at General Synod. It went into effect June 28, the day of the vote. The resolution, which was first voted on at 2023’s General Synod, adds a definition of “in good standing” to the church’s canons, a term which appears in several places, but was not previously defined. Now, a priest, bishop or deacon is in good standing if they are “not inhibited from, suspended from, deprived of or deposed from ministry due to a disciplinary matter” and if they have not “relinquished or abandoned the exercise of the ordained ministry without being reinstated thereto.” The resolution also prevents bishops from accepting transfers of bishops, priests or deacons who are not in good standing.
Burns referred to the latter change as “the ‘we don’t dump dead cats over the wall’ clause.” This was reference to a practice the Anglican Journal has reported on before, in which clergy are transferred to another region in order to remove them from a parish where they have caused a problem, had a complaint filed against them or otherwise lost favour with parishioners. This change would prevent transfers for bishops, clergy or deacons who have already been subject to any of the listed disciplinary actions. However, it would not prevent the transfer of any such employee who has been the subject of a complaint but has not been disciplined.
The resolution passed with 99, 77 and 32 votes for it in the orders of laity, clergy and bishops respectively and 3 votes against in the order of clergy.
CoGS to look into allowing future primates to remain diocesan bishops
General Synod has directed Council of General Synod (CoGS) to investigate what canonical changes would be needed to allow future primates of the Anglican Church of Canada to remain diocesan bishops. Currently, the primate is required to resign all other ecclesiastical offices upon their installation as primate, making the national church their sole focus. However, as the resolution’s mover, Bishop David Greenwood of the diocese of Athabasca, told General Synod June 28, the Anglican Church of Canada is one of only two provinces of the Anglican Communion with this requirement. He argued the benefits of grounding the primate in the daily life of a local church community and the potentially prohibitive expense of moving to Toronto for bishops who live elsewhere presented strong reasons to reconsider this requirement.
The resolution asks CoGS to investigate all that would be necessary to change the wording of Canon III, which governs the primacy, to say that primates “may at their discretion” resign their other roles instead of “shall” do so. This could include changes to disciplinary canons to clarify who a primate who was also a diocesan bishop would answer to for any instances of misconduct related to their work at either the diocesan or national levels. A version of what those disciplinary changes may look like is included in the motion asking CoGS to investigate the change.
Typically, changes to canons that deal with disciplinary matters must be voted on at two consecutive General Synods and succeed with a two-thirds majority in each of the three houses of laity, clergy and bishops.
CoGS to review Council of the North funding
Council of General Synod (CoGS) has a mandate to review the financial effects of cuts to the Council of the North over the next three years and investigate how funding to the council can continue “at a sustainable level” per a resolution General Synod passed June 28.
Officers of General Synod announced in November 2024 the Council of the North, a group of dioceses in Northern Canada which receives funding from the national church, would have its funding cut by $100,000 every year until it had reached 25 per cent of annual proportional giving from all dioceses. This was part of a previously agreed-upon plan of gradual funding reduction from 2007, which the church put on pause when it was able to hold its finances reasonably steady from 2014 to 2024, General Synod treasurer and chief financial officer Amal Attia explained at November’s CoGS meeting. As revenue continued to fall, however, it was becoming necessary to resume the reductions, according to a document church leaders submitted to CoGS last fall.
The resolution’s mover, Noah Skinner, youth member from the diocese of Toronto, told General Synod the Council of the North was an important part of the church’s ministry to Indigenous communities throughout northern Canada.
“By reducing funding to Council of the North, we risk robbing these parishes of the infrastructure by which they survive,” he said.
Other members of General Synod spoke of the importance of bringing the gospel to all parts of Canada and the difficulty of ministering in the North, where cost of living and transport are often extremely high and where a majority of clergy are non-stipendiary, meaning they receive no salary for their work.
The resolution passed with an overwhelming majority of 213 votes in favour to 3 against. The discussion did not clarify what the “sustainable level” of funding mentioned in the resolution would look like.
Emancipation Sunday to commemorate struggles, contributions of BIPOC Anglicans
The last Sunday in July will now be known as Emancipation Sunday in the Anglican Church of Canada in commemoration of the struggles faced by Black Anglicans and Anglicans of colour and a recognition of their contributions to the church. Canon Stephen Fields of the diocese of Toronto told General Synod June 28 that despite these contributions, Black Anglicans have too often felt marginalized and excluded from the church communities they are a part of.
“While our church has acknowledged its complicity in racism and has made strides towards healing, Black Anglicans have yearned and still yearn for authentic inclusion,” he said.
The resolution which established Emancipation Sunday also contains clauses directing the Faith, Worship and Ministry Coordinating Committee to develop liturgical and educational resources to go with it, calling for ongoing support for and dialogue on anti-racism initiatives and encouraging dioceses to do the same. And it recognizes the work of the diocese of Toronto’s Black Anglicans Committee, which. it says, “for over 25 years, was a prophetic voice in the church and community advocating for the full inclusion of Black Anglicans in the life of our church and has now been succeeded by the Black Anglicans of Canada, a national organization, from coast to coast to coast.”
Several members of General Synod spoke in favour of the resolution, including Wilson Akinwale of the diocese of Rupert’s Land and the national president and board chair of Black Anglicans of
Canada; and National Bishop Susan Johnson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Bishop Helen Kennedy of the diocese of Qu’Appelle proposed an amendment from the floor to remove a quote from the mission statement of Black Anglicans of Canada from the end of the resolution. She cited concerns that the acronym BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of Colour), which appeared in it might lump together several groups who all experience racism and discrimination in widely different ways. The amendment was defeated 132 votes to 72. The unaltered resolution succeeded 200 to 7.
Alongside Hope’s Resilience Fund makes $500,000 target
Alongside Hope, the Anglican Church of Canada’s global relief and development charity, reached a major fundraising goal for its Resilience Fund, said Will Postma, Alongside Hope’s executive director, told General Synod June 27. One of the charity’s supporters had promised to match $250,000 of donations to the fund, which Alongside Hope created to fill gaps left by massive cuts to USAID earlier this year, with a deadline of January 30, said Postma. As of June 26, he announced to General Synod, other donors had hit the $250,000 goal, which meant the anonymous supporter would be matching those donations for a total of $500,000.
The money will go toward Church World Service’s efforts to help refugees in Tanzania who were stranded after the U.S. government suspended the resettlement program they hoped would get them out, said Postma, as well as a relief program called Village Health Works feeding malnourished children in Burundi and a program working to prevent gender-based violence and help victims of it in Uganda.
Alongside Hope is also launching another program, Coming Alongside Hope with Light, which will provide self-contained solar panel kits, called solar suitcases, to clinics in Mozambique and Madagascar to provide light and vital sign monitoring for women giving birth there. Another Alongside Hope partner has reached out, said Postma, offering to match $150,000 in donations for a campaign which will run for several months.
Currently, medical staff are making do in clinics with no electricity using any light sources they can find, including holding up flashlights or cellphone lights, sometimes balancing them in their mouths.
“How much more inviting and safe is it for a mom or a mom-to-be to go to the health clinic in the middle of the night when there is electricity?” he said. “It’s good for the mom, it’s good for the newborn, it’s good for the nurse and the midwife.”
Postma also highlighted Alongside Hope’s support for Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, partners in Ukraine and South Sudan and wildfire relief here in Canada.
Anglican Foundation of Canada exceeds Say Yes! to Kids fundraising target
The Anglican Foundation of Canada (AFC), a nonprofit which raises money for the Anglican Church of Canada’s infrastructure, restoration, ministry and charitable work within Canada, had collected $128,000 in donations in a fundraising drive for its Say Yes! to Kids programs, AFC’s executive director Scott Brubacher told General Synod in a June 25 presentation. An update provided on July 14 as this story was nearing publication by Michelle Hauser, the charity’s development and communications officer, put the tally at $153,000—over the campaign’s goal of $150,000. Though the campaign was now closed, donations were still being counted and may go as high as $160,000, Hauser said.
The Say Yes! to Kids provides funding for faith formation, outdoor recreation and arts and education for children across the country,. Brubacher emphasized the importance of planning for the future of the Anglican Church of Canada, highlighting AFC’s increased focus on making the grant application process accessible to Anglicans everywhere. This includes the introduction of Category C grants, which offer large one-time infusions of up to $50,000 for use in a single project—such as the Huron Migrant Farmworkers Ministry which received the first such grant in 2022.
Brubacher also discussed the previously-announced Anne Germond Legacy Fund in the diocese of Algoma, named for former acting primate Archbishop Anne Germond in her home diocese. The fund will help pay for the position of bishop in Algoma, reducing the financial strain on parishes there, according to its website. But it also serves as a pilot project, said Brubacher, for partnerships with other dioceses to create similar ongoing funds to meet their local needs.
As part of its vision to provide for the church’s future, AFC is also working on new resources and recognition for people who leave legacy gifts to the Anglican Church in their wills, said Brubacher. This includes a booklet titled Grow Your Legacy and the online Legacy Talk Toolkit aimed to help parishes start conversations about legacy giving—as well as the Anglican Foundation Legacy Society, which honours people who have committed to leaving money to the church in their wills.
This story has been corrected to reflect Bishop Lydia Mamakwa’s correct title.
