The ties that bind
Anglicans need the umbilical cord the Anglican Journal provides to pull us together-to be informed about reactions to events that affect us all. Thank you for your sterling efforts. We do appreciate them!
Ann Worthington
Toronto
Telling our stories
I want to thank the Journal for assisting the Anglican Military Ordinariate of Canada and indeed, our entire church family to tell our stories and to share with one another the hopes and possibilities that unite us in faithful ministry. That we in the Ordinariate were featured so prominently (Nov. 2010, pp. 7-10) is both humbling and gratifying. It is but one example of the positive new direction the paper has taken to share our church’s stories. May God continue to bless this vital ministry, which you exercise so devotedly, professionally and creatively.
Colonel the Venerable J.M. Fletcher
Ottawa
Nation of war criminals?
I was disturbed by the unquestioning pro-war tone and lack of emphasis on peacemaking in the supplement on military chaplains (Nov. 2010, pp. 7-10).
Chaplains have the difficult task of counselling armed service personnel to ignore the commandment Thou Shall Not Kill and Jesus’s command to love our enemies.
Now, Canada’s armed forces-without UN approval and in contravention of the Geneva Convention-are taking part in the illegal invasion and occupation of another nation. Indeed, there is an argument that we are now a nation of war criminals.
We can best support our troops and their chaplains by bringing them home and seeking peace and reconciliation with the families of the Afghans killed or wounded by our illegal actions.
Colin Miles
Vancouver, BC
Do you know this man?
St. Timothy’s, Agincourt (Ontario) celebrates 100 years of ministry in 2011. We are trying to complete our display of photos of past incumbent priests and a picture of the Rev. A.E. Balfour Bruce is the only one missing.
We know that Arther Edgar Balfour Bruce was born in London, England in 1876 and was ordained in Duluth, Minn. before coming to Canada and serving as the incumbent at All Saints, Winnipeg. He came to Toronto in 1914-1915 and was appointed an interim at St. Barnabas, Chester. In 1916, he became assistant at St. Stephen before being placed as the incumbent at St. George, Pickering. In 1923-24, he was responsible for three parishes in Scarborough mission: St. Timothy, Agincourt; St. Jude, Wexford; and St. Paul, L’Amoureux. In 1925-27, he was incumbent in St. George, Grafton, and St. John, Centreton. The diocesan record indicates that he retired in 1935. The Toronto diocesan file card notes that he died in 1949 in hospital in Victoria, B.C.
If you have any information or a picture, please email me at [email protected] or through St. Timothy’s, Agincourt, 4125 Sheppard Ave. E., Toronto, ON M1S 1T1.
Robert Saunders
Toronto
Much beauty
Thank you for the fascinating article on Christopher Wallis by Patricia McGee (Tapestries of glass, Dec. 2010, p. 2). We at St. Mark’s, Brantford are very grateful that Mr. Wallis was commissioned to create the outstanding stained glass windows in our worship space. To see and read about them, go to www.stmarks.on.ca, click on “who we are,” then “windows.”
Mary Ogilvie
Brantford, Ont.
Dog-gone shame
Re: The dog days of summer (Sept. 2010, p. 4). A dog receiving communion? Extending a state of grace? Animals have no original sin, so they are always in a state for grace. Furthermore they are not baptized, so should not receive communion. The church has provided for blessing animals, that’s enough!
Greig Scott
Carberry, Man.
Springhill Revisited
In the 1958 Springhill Mine disaster in Nova Scotia, 99 miners were rescued after an explosion killed 75. The Anglican Church of Canada provided support for all the families and helped the community rebuild. As a direct result of this tragedy, The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) came into being. The Mining Association of Nova Scotia is grateful for the efforts of PWRDF and offers congratulations for 50 years of selfless service.
Rick Ratcliffe
Bedford, N.S.
Unprecedented challenge
I commend the Anglican Journal for addressing climate change and environmental justice (Green your life, Oct. 2010, p. 1). The article describing a “moral-based social movement” (Nov. 2010, p. 6) was very helpful. Book reviews and further articles are urgently needed.
Diane Marshall
Toronto
Avalanche of misery
Ivan Hall’s description (Letters, Nov. 2010, p. 5) of the Green your life article (Oct. 2010, p. 1) as distorted, and his reference to the “politically rife debate over who/what causes climate change” are themselves a product of political distortion.
Scientists are near-unanimous in their support for the theory of climate change. Climate change is not the only ill to afflict the human race, but it is the most urgent: failure to act now will create an avalanche of misery.
Mr. Hall is right to suggest that we use resources more efficiently. But at least three other elements are needed: a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to sources of renewable energy; sustainable land-use practices that sequester more carbon and emit fewer greenhouse gases; and widespread conversion to a culture of self-restraint.
It is not yet too late to act, but almost. To act effectively, Anglicans will need to align themselves with our Creator God, and reject the deceitful claims of Mammon.
The Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard
Dr. Mark Bigland-Pritchard
Borden, Sask.
Wish it were so
At General Synod 2010 last June, the Primate said, “We’re no longer demonizing one another…. We’re regarding one another more patiently, more graciously.”
I wish it were so. Anglicanism has historically accepted a wide spectrum of views, something that has gone by the wayside in recent years. Why should one side wish to put whole congregations onto the street, when both sides worship the same heavenly Father?
Let us act according to the headline Embracing our differences (June 2010, p. 1) rather than paying slavish duty to Canon Law in order to victimize fellow Anglicans. At the time of the Reformation, one side hid behind such laws and we know what Luther’s response was: “If I had the fire, I would burn every book of Canon Law!”
John Ainslie
Niagara Falls, Ont.
