June issue offers snapshot of COVID-19 responses

The June issue of the Anglican Journal is now online.

In this issue of the Journal, we explore the impact of COVID-19 on Anglicans and the Anglican Church of Canada’s response to the pandemic.

In the midst of uncertainty and suffering, Archbishop Linda Nicholls reminds readers “that God is with us.” Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, reflects that the decisions and choices that follow COVID-19 will be framed by “the presence of God, guided by the Holy Spirit, in the name and power of Jesus Christ.” She also invites Anglicans to a special celebration of Pentecost—”and of our unity in diversity with our Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada colleagues and Indigenous Anglicans”—on May 31 at anglicanlutheran.ca/pentecost.

Archbishop Mark MacDonald, national Indigenous Anglican archbishop, considers how organizations might balance chaos with efficiency, especially in light of the pandemic. “Anyone who has been a parent has learned that eliminating chaos is impossible,” MacDonald says. “While I am not advocating using parenthood as the only model for ministry, there are aspects of parenthood that are a bit closer to the Jesus way than organizational expectations imported from business and modern secular institutions.”

We also hear from Ryan Weston, the church’s lead animator for public witness for social and ecological justice. Weston offers a public witness of his own, noting that COVID-19 has impacted people in very different ways. “The onset of this pandemic has laid bare some of the ways particular communities of people in Canada and around the world have been left especially vulnerable to the impacts of this disease and the economic and social upheavals that have come with it,” Weston says.

In addition to these original pieces, the June issue offers readers—especially those without access to the internet—a sampling of the Journal‘s recent coverage of COVID-19. The Journal‘s April 9 story on Eucharistic fasts, a recap of steps taken by some dioceses to provide financial assistance during the pandemic and the way the church’s Global Relations ministry has responded to COVID-19 all take focus within this issue.

We also hear from attorney and church warden Donald C. Murray, Q.C., who shares how the legal system has responded to COVID-19—and how it might do more to ensure the health and safety of prisoners. And Bishop William Cliff of the diocese of Brandon asks one of the significant questions raised by COVID-19: “What is the church’s ministry to the dying?”

 ♦ ♦ ♦

As editor Matthew Townsend pointed out in the May issue of the Journal, content for the print edition of the Journal is assembled more than a month in advance. As the novel coronavirus crisis emerged, the Journal began prioritizing timely online publication of news and views. For the latest news, see anglicanjournal.com.