On the threshold of glory’

Waterloo, Ont.

THE Canadian Anglican church is not “teetering on the point of ruin, but standing on the threshold of glory.”

This message of hope and admiration was delivered in simple native oratorical style by U.S. bishop Steven Charleston, president and dean of Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass., at General Synod’s opening service.

At the heart of hope for the future of the Anglican Church of Canada is its ability to face the effects of past colonialism, he said.

About 400 worshippers, who moments later packed St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, were greeted outside the church’s front doors by Archbishop Michael Peers, the primate, Bishop Bruce Howe of the diocese of Huron, Bishop Charleston, cantor William Cliff and native deacon Marion Shafer.

An acclamation inviting everyone into the church was called out in Oneida and English. The three bishops were shimmering and resplendent in their best copes of raw silk needlework. The primate was primarily in shades of blue, the bishop of Huron in gold and Bishop Charleston wore blue, golds and green.

Bishop Charleston, who is part Cherokee and part Irish, and a member of the Choctaw nation of Oklahoma, said he sees himself as “that cultural bridge between two communities.”

He described a special bond with the Canadian Anglican community, a calling “to turn my eyes toward Canada, and in my prayer life to discern what the meaning of God’s witness here in this church which all of you share together.”

(Bishop Charleston is a former Bishop of Alaska and the second native American to be elected a bishop. He has been a partner to the Council of General Synod and participated in a House of Bishops dialogue with representatives of the Anglican Council of Indigenous People.)

Bishop Charleston said there are always people who do not wish to see what is happening around them or what has happened in their own history.

“Because if we look truly into the depths of what is happening ?We’d have to catch a glimpse of cruelty. Of lost opportunity. Of damaged lives. Of bigotry. Of prejudice. Of misunderstanding. The list could go on and on. And we, as people, do not often like to see those things,” he said.

Bishop Charleston added that the U.S. church also prefers “not to see the racism which haunts it?and continues to do so to this day.”

Parts of the service were delivered in different languages, and throughout the service people lined up on the chancel behind microphones to give readings and greetings in ten languages, including Cantonese, Cree, Russian, Spanish and Inuktitut. Synod members described the service as “relaxed” and “more fun” than those in recent years.

During the renewal of baptismal vows, the three bishops soaked juniper branches in water at the baptismal font and then moved through the congregation, showering people with water. Returning to the font, led by the primate, they then threw water on one another, as the church rocked with laughter.

Bishop Charleston closed his sermon with a prophecy about the Anglican church in Canada. He said it will be “reborn and revitalized and stronger than ever before. And one that has been through the fire and tested by times of trouble. ? Not a church caught in a past that it seeks to avoid or control, but a church reborn afresh and made fresh and new as God has said.”

he Canadian Anglican church is not “teetering on the point of ruin, but standing on the threshold of glory.”

This message of hope and admiration was delivered in simple native oratorical style by U.S. bishop Steven Charleston, president and dean of Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass., at General Synod’s opening service.

At the heart of hope for the future of the Anglican Church of Canada is its ability to face the effects of past colonialism, he said.

About 400 worshippers, who moments later packed St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, were greeted outside the church’s front doors by Archbishop Michael Peers, the primate, Bishop Bruce Howe of the diocese of Huron, Bishop Charleston, cantor William Cliff and native deacon Marion Shafer.

An acclamation inviting everyone into the church was called out in Oneida and English. The three bishops were shimmering and resplendent in their best copes of raw silk needlework. The primate was primarily in shades of blue, the bishop of Huron in gold and Bishop Charleston wore blue, golds and green.

Bishop Charleston, who is part Cherokee and part Irish, and a member of the Choctaw nation of Oklahoma, said he sees himself as “that cultural bridge between two communities.”

He described a special bond with the Canadian Anglican community, a calling “to turn my eyes toward Canada, and in my prayer life to discern what the meaning of God’s witness here in this church which all of you share together.”

(Bishop Charleston is a former Bishop of Alaska and the second native American to be elected a bishop. He has been a partner to the Council of General Synod and participated in a House of Bishops dialogue with representatives of the Anglican Council of Indigenous People.)

Bishop Charleston said there are always people who do not wish to see what is happening around them or what has happened in their own history.

“Because if we look truly into the depths of what is happening ?We’d have to catch a glimpse of cruelty. Of lost opportunity. Of damaged lives. Of bigotry. Of prejudice. Of misunderstanding. The list could go on and on. And we, as people, do not often like to see those things,” he said.

Bishop Charleston added that the U.S. church also prefers “not to see the racism which haunts it?and continues to do so to this day.”

Parts of the service were delivered in different languages, and throughout the service people lined up on the chancel behind microphones to give readings and greetings in ten languages, including Cantonese, Cree, Russian, Spanish and Inuktitut. Synod members described the service as “relaxed” and “more fun” than those in recent years.

During the renewal of baptismal vows, the three bishops soaked juniper branches in water at the baptismal font and then moved through the congregation, showering people with water. Returning to the font, led by the primate, they then threw water on one another, as the church rocked with laughter.

Bishop Charleston closed his sermon with a prophecy about the Anglican church in Canada. He said it will be “reborn and revitalized and stronger than ever before. And one that has been through the fire and tested by times of trouble. ? Not a church caught in a past that it seeks to avoid or control, but a church reborn afresh and made fresh and new as God has said.”