Finding solace in the wake of grief and loss, providing help to those in need, and seeking to right wrongs are themes that pervade the October issue of the Anglican Journal.
In introductory remarks at the 10th Indigenous Anglican Sacred Circle, National Indigenous Archbishop Mark MacDonald named two major recent sources of trauma: the destruction of Lytton, B.C. in a wildfire and the discoveries of unmarked graves at former residential school sites. The Journal expands on these two stories in our latest edition. We detail the experiences of Anglicans who lost their homes and all their possessions in the Lytton inferno, and the acts of kindness from those who sought to help them in the aftermath.
Grief over Indigenous children who died in residential schools is the focus of a reflection by Nii K’an Kwsdins (Jerry Adams), retired missioner for Indigenous justice ministries in the diocese of New Westminster, in this month’s Anglican Voices column. The latest instalment of our Companions in Faith series—which explores different aspects of the full communion partnership between the Anglican Church of Canada and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada—finds MacDonald and Lutheran scholar Matthew Anderson discussing the shared journey of Anglicans and Lutherans towards reconciliation and Indigenous self-determination.
Our October issue also shines a light on efforts by Anglicans to help those suffering from chronic illness and poverty. We explore the “sock ministry” of Ottawa parishioner and teacher Jessica Baird, whose online appeal led to the donation of thousands of fun socks to help lift the spirits of the chronically ill. In Manitoba, a small-town parish tackled “period poverty” by making menstrual products freely available to those who could not afford them through a special red mailbox outside the church, inspiring other churches to follow their example.
The persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes an enduring global trauma, yet here too Anglicans are searching for healing. In our report on the Anglican Foundation of Canada raising $110,000 for post-pandemic children and youth ministry, we document how the generosity of Anglicans is charting a path ahead for young people whose mental health has suffered during the pandemic.
As Thanksgiving approaches, Archbishop Linda Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, invites Anglicans to consider what they are grateful for even in such difficult times. “Gratitude,” she writes, “is part of healing ourselves and the world.” MacDonald in his own column calls on us to oppose the “false powers that seek to inhabit the world” and to live with Jesus as our sovereign, as embodied through the Cross and Resurrection.
Read the October issue of the Anglican Journal at anglicanjournal.com or in digital PDF.