When General Synod meets in Halifax this June, there will be lots of work to do. Anglican Journal staff writer Leigh Anne Williams spoke with with Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, to find out what tasks lie ahead.
Vision 2019: The Vision 2019 Task Force, which surveyed Anglicans about priorities for the church in the years ahead, will report back to the Council of General Synod (CoGS) in March. If CoGS approves the report, it will be presented to General Synod.
Issues of sexuality: At its last meeting, CoGS appointed a working group to recommend a process to discuss issues of sexuality. “I think…people feel the process should be driven more by conversation and discernment than by resolution and debate,” Archbishop Hiltz said.
These conversations will begin, he added, with updates from a Faith, Worship and Ministry committee as well as the Primate’s Theological Commission and the House of Bishops.
The role of the primacy: General Synod will hear recommendations from a task force examining the office of the primate in the Anglican Church of Canada.
The size of General Synod: Resolutions on reducing the size and membership of both General Synod and CoGS, as recommended by the Governance Working Group, will also be presented. Based on the recommendations from that group, CoGS will also present a resolution on incorporating indigenous ministries into the canon.
In addition, there will be a wrap-up of the 50th anniversary of The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) and a celebration of the 300th anniversary of the first Eucharist in Annapolis Royal. Special guest Bishop Suheil Dawani of the Episcopal diocese of Jerusalem will address the synod. Bishop Miguel Tamayo Zalidvar of the Episcopal diocese of Cuba will attend, as well as Susan Johnson, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.