Camp Brookwood ministry a council priority
by Ana Watts
Members of the Camp Brookwood board presented an overview of the camp’s needs for the coming season to the Diocesan Council when it met in Woodstock Nov. 7. Archbishop Claude Miller congratulated the seven members in attendance for their show of solidarity and assured them their vision and ministry for the camp is a priority of council. “You’re not out there working by yourselves,” he said. Read the story.

Note: Vandals recently damaged the craft hut and some pool equipment and stole archery supplies from Camp Brookwood.

Stewardship Conference DVDs ready
DVDs of the 2009 Stewardship Conference with Bishop Edward Salmon are in the hands of the archdeacons for distribution to parishes. Each incumbent should receive a set soon. Copies are also available at the Diocesan Resource Centre in Saint John.
 

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Appointment
The Rev. Neville Cheeseman was appointed to ministry and pastoral oversight as interim priest-in-chare of the Parish of Prince William on Nov. 29.

Ordination anniversaries
Congratulations to

Tom Smith 55 years a deacon on Nov. 30.
Donald Hamilton 10 years a priest Nov. 30.

Announcements
View an up-to-date list of diocesan appointments and announcements.

Temporal Transactions

View an up-to-date list of property transactions within the diocese.

Open incumbencies

* Appointment process status:
     H - On hold
     P - In parish profile preparation
     E - Accepting expressions of interest
     I - In the interview process
     A - Awaiting appointment

Diocesan openings

The Nominating Committee currently invites nominations for the following positions:

• Diocesan / Synod Nominating Committee Chair
• Investment sub-committee (one member)
• Human Resources Committee (two lay positions)
• Nominating Committee Member (one lay and one cleric)
  
  

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RCL Lectionary (Year C)

Sunday, Dec. 6

Second Sunday of Advent (Violet or Blue)

Propers 269; Baruch 5:1–9 or Malachi 3:1–4; Canticle 19 (Luke 1:68–79); Philippians 1:3–11; Lk 3:1–6; Preface of Advent

Cycles of Prayer
Almighty Father, lover of souls, who chose your servant Nicholas to be a bishop in the Church, that he might give
freely out of the treasurers of your grace: make us mindful of the needs of others and, as we have recieved, so teach us also to give; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

West Texas — Province VII, USA) the Rt. Rev. Gary Lillibridge; Suffragan Bishop of West Texas, the Rt. Rev. David Mitchell Reed.

Visit these links:
Anglican Cycle of Prayer
Provincial Prayer Care
Diocesan Intercessions

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Prepare a Different Way
The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love.
So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists. And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas? What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?
Welcome to Advent Conspiracy.

AST Course
The Atlantic School of Theology has a few remaining places in its Internet course PT 2104 (Int) - Seeing God in All Things: Creation in Christian Spirituality. Explore topics in Celtic, Franciscan and Creation spirituality as well as a topic of your choice. There are no prerequisites for this one-credit course, a Biblical Foundations and/or Theological Foundations course is recommended.
For information on these and other courses, contact the academic office at <academicoffice at astheology.ns.ca>.
 
Remembering the forgotten ways

Revolutionize your thinking on the church with a Taylor College on-line discussion based on the book The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch with instructors, Alan Hirsch and Reed Fleming. Explore the concept of Apostolic Genius and harness the power of the early church Jan. 11 through June 11, 2010. Hirsch takes the reader through a dynamic mixture of passion, prayer, and incarnational practice to rediscover the dormant potential of the modern church in the West. Details and registration. Registration deadline is Dec. 18.

Camp Brookwood
Clergy interested in spending a week at camp next summer — with their families if they like — are encouraged to check out the summer 2010 camp schedule and then reserve their week with Mary Lee Phillips <dphillips at aernet.ca>

ANGLICAN HOUSE
Christmas giftware and boxed cards
Anglican House

116 Princess St.
Saint John E2L 1K4

Order by mail, phone 506-693-2295 or e-mail <angbk at nbnet.nb.ca>.

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Dec. 2, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Advent Day of Reflection with David Goss and Jim McKenna at the Villa Madonna Retreat House in Rothesay. Carols and songs of Advent and Christmas will explore the season. The fee is $40 and includes snacks and lunch. There will be a celebration of the Eucharist at 11 a.m. for those wishing to participate and there will be time in the full day program for periods of reflection, strolling about the extensive grounds, or visiting the well stocked library. For further information, contact David Goss at <gosswalk at nbnet.nb.ca>>

Dec. 2, 12:30 p.m. Luncheon and card party at St. Luke's Church Hall, corner of Metcalf and Lansdowne, Saint John. Tickets are $10 per person and available from the church office (693-1452).

Dec. 3, 9:30 a.m.  Stewardship strategy planning meeting.

Dec. 3, 6 p.m. (This event was postponed from Nov. 26 because the presenter was ill.) Faith Forward, Round 4: The Holy Spirit in the Church, St. Mary's, York, Fredericton North. This week is the final study and the Rev. Canon Jon Lownds talks about the sacraments of reconciliation and healing. The evening begins with a light supper followed by teaching and discussion and ends with Compline, guaranteed to finish by 8 p.m. St. Mary's is at 780 McEvoy St. -- turn off MacLaren Avenue beside the hole in the ground where the Devon fire hall used to be.

Dec. 4, 12:10 – 12:50 p.m. Advent Organ Recitals at Christ Church Cathedral, corner of Brunswick and Church Streets in Fredericton. Today’s concert features Dr. Sharon Pond, the cathedral’s associate organist.

Dec. 5, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Christmas bazaar and chicken casserole luncheon, St. Margaret's Church, 775 Forest Hill Road, Fredericton. Everyone welcome. Tickets at the door.

Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. Saint John Chorale 16th Annual Christmas Gala. Spencer Belyea. Director. The chorale will be joined by the Loch Lomond School Choir, the 3rd Field Regiment Band, the KV Blunotes Jazz Choir, the District 8 String Ensemble as well as the Symphony Chorus. This is a delightful way to celebrate the Christmas season. Tickets $22 - $24, available at the Imperial.

Dec. 7, 4 p.m. Companioned Spiritual Formation, Synod Office board room, Fredericton.

Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m. Archdeaconry of Chatham Greater Chapter meeting, St. George's, Bathurst.

Dec. 8, 11 a.m.  Archbishop Claude Miller officially opens an exhibition and sale of 10 evocative new paintings by artist Dale Cook and based on photographs by the Rev. Marian Lucas Jefferies and Carolyn Vanderlip at the Kennebecasis Public Library in Quispamsis. Proceeds of this fundraiser support the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB).

Dec. 8, 7:30 p.m. Carleton Choristers present Sing Fa La La for Christmas at Carleton Kirk United Church, West Saint John. Tickets $8 available from David Goss at Trinity Church, Saint John; Heather DeGrace, 632-0997. They can be set aside at the door.

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Church bells around the world to ring for ecological justice through climate action
At 3 o'clock on Dec. 13, New Brunswick churches will ring their bells 350 times for climate justice during the international climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark. Please ring the bells in your church, and pray the world emerges from Copenhagen with a just, binding, science-based climate treaty.
PWRDF, as a member of KAIROS, joins churches and Christian organizations throughout the country to deliberate on issues of common concern, advocate for social change and join with people of faith and good will in action for social transformation.
Anne Walling
Diocesan PWRDF
<pwrdfnb at gmail.com>

Art of Sharing exhibition and sale

Archbishop Claude Miller will officially open this Art of Sharing fundraiser on Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 11 a.m.

The exhibition and sale of 10 evocative new paintings by artist Dale Cook, based on photographs by the Rev. Marian Lucas Jefferies and Carolyn Vanderlip, began on Dec. 1 and continues until the end of the month at the Kennebecasis Public Library in Quispamsis. The paintings (scroll down the page to find them) all depict life in African and Asian countries like Bangladesh, Sir Lanka and Ethiopia, where a stable food supply is often illusive. A single painting sold at silent auction during the Diocesan Synod last June was the inaugural Art of Sharing event in support of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) through the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF).

More PWRDF links:

PWRDF New Brunswick Blog
justgeneration.ca.

Diocesan PWRDF

PWRDF National

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Dec. 11, 12:10 – 12:50 p.m.  Advent Organ Recitals at Christ Church Cathedral, corner of Brunswick and Church Streets in Fredericton. Today’s concert features Dr. Willis Noble, the cathedral’s organist and choirmaster.

Dec. 12, 1 p.m. Carleton Choristers concert at Brunswick Square, Saint John.

Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m.  Community Ecumenical Choir Service, Trinity Church, Saint John under the direction of Spencer Belyea. The superb music includes a brass ensemble as well as organ accompaniment by Michael Molloy. Choristers interesting in joining the choir may call Trinity Church, 693-8558, to find out times of practices. Lessons will be read by local clergy and dignitaries. All denominations welcome.

Dec. 15, 7 p.m. Carleton Choristers at Carleton Kirk's annual Christmas service for lodge residents. Everyone is welcome.

Dec. 18, 12:10 – 12:50 p.m.  Advent Organ Recitals at Christ Church Cathedral, corner of Brunswick and Church Streets in Fredericton. Today’s concert is the Fredericton Organist’s Association Christmas Special.

 Dec. 19, 4 p.m. Monthly Taize service at Christ Church (Parish) Church, Fredericton. A service of prayer, contemplation, music and silence.

Dec. 20, 3 p.m. The Fredericton Ladies Choir, with Dianne Wilkins, Peter Steeves and Julie Maston, presents  A Celebration of Christmas Concert in St. Dunstan's Church, Regent Street, Fredericton.

Dec. 21, 7:30 p.m.  Handel’s Messiah presented by the Symphony Chorus and Orchestra at Trinity Church, Saint John. Adult advance tickets $30, seniors and students $25. Call the church office, 693-8558 or any chorus member. If you want to reserve a ticket to be left at the door, call Marje Harrison, 832-3033.

April 20-22, 2010, Clergy Spouse's Conference, Villa Madonna in Rothesay. Please reserve these dates.

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Job listings for the Canadian church.

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Archbishop of Canterbury's World AIDS Day message 'a space for hope'
Anglican Communion News Service
Dec. 1, 2009
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has released his 2009 World Aids Day video, in which he speaks with Rev. Patricia Sawo, a church leader and mother from Kenya, about her experiences of living with HIV. The video highlights the plight of expectant mothers who are HIV positive and the support they need to prevent the transmission of HIV to their babies.  Read the story.

Faith groups told they have key role in AIDS fight
By Fredrick Nzwili
Ecumenical News International
Dec. 1, 2009
Nairobi  In advance of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, Kenyans living with HIV gathered at Nairobi's All Saints Anglican cathedral to send 10,000 Thanksgiving Day postcards to U.S. President Barack Obama. The cards express gratitude for Obama's support to the Global Fund for AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, while urging the U.S. president to take a lead in ensuring increased funding for the initiative. Read the story.

Anglican/RC statement warns of human trafficking at 2010 Olympics
Anglican Journal
Dec. 1, 2009
The recent Anglican-Roman Catholic Bishops’ Dialogue held in Vancouver has produced a joint statement outlining concerns about human trafficking at the February 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver-Whistler. Calling the Olympic Games “a celebration of human development through sport,” the statement also made it clear that the bishops are united as they “stand together to call attention to the profound social ill of human trafficking.” Read the story.

Kairos mourns partners murdered in Philippines massacre
Anglican Journal
Nov. 28, 2009
Kairos, a Canadian ecumenical social justice organization, has issued a statement expressing its grief, and outrage over the murder of 57 people in a massacre on November 23 in the province of Maguindanao, in the island of Mindanao. Two of the victims, attorneys Concepcion Brizuela and Cynthia Oquendo, were members of the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao, a precursor of the National Union of Peoples Lawyers, a Kairos partner in the Philippines. Read the story.

House of Bishops issues statement on Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill
Anglican Church of Canada
Nov. 27, 2009

The Anglican Church of Canada's House of Bishops has issued this statement regarding the proposed Private Member's Bill in Uganda called "The Anti-Homosexuality Bill": The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada, along with the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, express our dismay and concern over the draft proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill currently before the Parliament of Uganda.  Read the story.

Bell-ringing campaign to raise alarm on climate change
by Ali Symons
Anglican Church of Canada
Nov. 27, 2009

The 1,000 or so residents of Kaslo, B.C. are used to hearing the pleasant chime of church bells on Sunday morning, inviting them to worship at St. Mark's Anglican Church. On the afternoon of Dec. 13, however, St. Mark's church bells will ring out 350 times-for several minutes-as a call for world leaders to negotiate a new climate change plan in Copenhagen. "Ringing church bells served a great number of purposes historically and one of them has been warning of problems, of disasters, and of challenges to the community," said the Rev. Dr. Mark Mealing of St. Mark's. "We're ringing it because we're all at risk at present."  Read the story.

Court rules church properties remain with diocese of New Westminster
Anglican Journal
Nov. 26, 2009

The Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled yesterday that the Anglican Church of Canada’s diocese of New Westminster retains possession of four church properties worth an estimated $20 million. Members of congregations in these churches, who voted to leave the Anglican Church of Canada and join the more conservative Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC), claimed these properties were held in trust for them. Justice Stephen Kelleher did, however, rule that a $2.2 million bequest from a parishioner at one of the four churches should be held in trust for the building fund of the ANiC congregation. Read the story.

Handwritten Bible sells for $15,000 in United States
by Angela Abbamonte
ENI/RNS
Nov. 26, 2009

The first handwritten copy of the New International Version Bible has sold on eBay for more than US$15,000. Zondervan's handwritten Bible Across America project marked the 30th anniversary of the popular New International Version translation. Bible publisher Zondervan went on a nine-month tour across the United States to give people a chance to write one verse of the Bible for the edition, Religion News Service reports. Read the story.

Anglican-Roman Catholic relations: a statement from the informal talks
Anglican Communion News Service
Nov. 26, 2009

Following the meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, at the Vatican on 21 November 2009, at which they reaffirmed their desire to strengthen ecumenical relations between Anglicans and Roman Catholics, a preparatory committee met on 23 November 2009 to prepare the third phase of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). It has been decided that this phase will begin within the coming year. This third phase will deal with fundamental questions regarding the Church as Communion—Local and Universal, and how in communion the local and universal Church comes to discern right ethical teaching.  Read the story.

Faith leaders want end to 'private armies,' after Philippines massacre
by Maurice Malanes
Ecumenical News International
Nov. 25, 2009

Manila: The massacre of more than 50 people in election-related violence in southern Philippines has shocked Christian and Muslim leaders, who have called for the government to disarm private armies. "Disarming the private armies of warlords is of paramount import in the course of the coming elections," Bishop Felixberto Calang of the Philippine Independent Church told Ecumenical News International from the southern Philippine city of Cagayan de Oro. "Let us call for the repudiation of private armies and work for a people-friendly and just environment so that we can have fair, free and honest elections."  Read the story.

Pope and Anglican Communion leader give dialogue a go ahead
BY Luigi Sandri
Ecumenical News International
Nov. 24, 2009

Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury have said relationships between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion will not be obstructed by a recent Vatican offer to allow disaffected Anglicans to maintain some of their traditions if they convert. An official communiqué issued after a Nov. 21 meeting at the Vatican between the two Christian leaders said that they reiterated, “the shared will to continue and to consolidate the ecumenical relationship between Catholics and Anglicans.”  Read the story.

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Daily Advent reflections

Generation — Summer jobs in performing arts for ages 18 and older

Draft Vision 2019 report now online

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Romans 12:1

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

From the Ven. John M. Robertson, National Gift Planning Officer, Department of Philanthropy
Anglican Church of Canada

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Preaching on the text of Ananias and Sapphira to a large congregation, the priest pounded his fist on the pulpit and roared, “God doesn’t strike people dead for lying like used to happen. Why, if God had continued to do that, where would I be?”
When the congregation stopped snickering, he roared back, “I’ll tell you where I’d be. Right here preaching to an empty church!”

From Ralph Milton's RUMORS, a free Internet ‘e-zine’ for Christians with a sense of humor."
To Subscribe:
* Send an e-mail to: rumors-subscribe@joinhands.com
* Don't put anything else in that e-mail

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