In the online reports by Marites N. Sison on the May meeting of the Council of General Synod, it is good to read the opening comments about “clearly understanding the current issues that General Synod is facing.” But after that, what happened? Much chat and administrative stuff but very little talk of 2011 revenues coming in $808,000 under plan. It seems to me that:Whether the attractor is God or community or whatever, this Anglican church of ours has much to offer.We are oh-so comfortable with hymns and prayers and fiddling with meeting formats such as “World Cafe.” We are oh-so uncomfortable noting that our average level of giving is just too low.Our church is in transition; the end game will be relative to the positive impacts we have on this world. To increase impact, we need to actively address the issue of increasingly low average giving.Nothing comes close to personal asks. Why not call on Archbishop [Fred] Hiltz and his bishops to go into a room and not come out until they define (on a maximum of two to three pages) the level of support the church needs and why and what this means to levels of personal giving. Then, they should videotape the primate explaining these facts and talking about stewardship, show it in every church and send it to every parishioner.What will it take for our leaders to shout out “increase average giving to this, and we can do that…increase average giving to that, and we can do this…”?Steve Varey
Hamilton, Ont.