Let’s get representative

Published April 1, 2012

In the March issue of the Montreal Anglican [p. 4] a picture with the caption read in part, “More than 40 women priests from across Canada attended a service at St. John’s Church in Lunenburg, N.S.” All the women priests in the picture were white Anglo-Saxon Canadians. Conspicuous by their absence were visible minority women ordinands to the priesthood in the Anglican Church of Canada. “We were edified and encouraged by the fellowship and being able to connect with our sisters,” Canon Borden Taylor said.What of those sisters, those visible minorities, who comprise more than 40 per cent of regular churchgoers? In the dioceses of Montreal and Toronto, respectively, visible minorities comprise the majority of worshippers in most churches today. It can be said that had it not been for visible minorities, there would be more church closures.Our primate, in his comments about the residential schools, said, “Racism is endemic in Canada, even in our churches today as well.” The church has to seriously address this issue if it is to survive. The Anglican church has lost hundreds of its members, particularly those from visible minorities, who have experienced some form of alienation.

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