The Nicodemus Project:
Support for parishes seeking meaningful change

By Jim Morell

The Nicodemus Project is on track and on task as it guides the diocese, through its teams and committees, toward transformational change as directed by Synod 2009. Earlier this month the Parish Support and Development Team spent a day training 10 facilitators to guide and support parishes through self-assessment, the identified first step in the change process. The Spiritual Growth Team is looking into establishing programs and opportunities for re-learning what it means to be Christian and Anglican, and the Episcopal Team is working on the idea of a leadership and learning weekend aimed at preparing our clergy and lay leaders for a different future. All this progress even before the project is officially launched in every parish in the diocese on Sunday, Jan. 31.  Read the story.

 

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Levee Cancelled

The Bishop's New Year Levee will not be held as planned, however the New Year's Day celebration of Holy Communion at 11 a.m. in Christ Church Cathedral will still be held. Archbishop Claude Miller would be pleased to see you at that service.

Parish Returns

2009 Parish Return and 2010 Officers and Contacts working forms have been posted to the Diocesan web site, available for download as a package or as separate files in PDF format.  Please remember that Returns are due by 15 March 2010.  Visit the Diocesan Information Managment System (DIMS) login page for those links.
 
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. 20

Fourth Sunday of Advent (Violet or Blue)

Propers 271; Micha 5:2–5a; Canticle 18 (Luke 1:47–55) or Psalm 80:1–7; Hebrews 10:5–10; Luke 1:39–45, (46–55); Preface of Advent

Cycles of Prayer
The Most Rev. Stephen Than Myint Oo, Archbishop of Myanmar and Bishop of Yangon
Suffragan Bishop of Yangon — (Myanmar) The Rt. Rev. Joseph Than Pe

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

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Work and Creativity Retreat
The Companioned Spiritual Formation Team invites you to this retreat led by retired Bishop Bill Hockin at Villa Madonna Retreat House in Rothesay March 5-7. Registration is $168 single, $248 double, contact Canon John Cathcart <john.cathcart at anglican.nb.ca>. Bursaries are available (contact Canon Neville Cheeseman <neville.cheeseman at nb.sympatico.ca>. The event begins with supper at 5:30 p.m. on Friday evening and ends with lunch on Sunday.

Anglican-Lutheran Biennial National Worship Conference

Taking Care of the Neighbourhood: Worship as Public Work for the Common Good with speakers Dr. Sallie McFague, Mr. Douglas Todd, Bishop Mark MacDonald, and Pastor Karen Ward. July 4 - 7, 2010, Vancouver School of Theology, Vancouver, British Columbia.

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.

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

Dec. 16, 2 – 4 & 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.  Blood Donor Clinic, KC Irving Centre, Bathurst.

Dec. 17, 2 – 4 & 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.  Eglise Du Plein Evangile, 41 ch Girouardville, Bouctouche.

Dec. 17, 12:30 – 3:30 & 5 – 6:30 p.m.  Blood Donor Clinic, NBCC, St. Andrews.

Dec. 17, 4:45 p.m. Investment Committee meeting, Synod Office board room.

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, 4 p.m.  Monthly Integrity Eucharist and fellowship at Unitarian Fellowship Centre, 874 York St., Fredericton.

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, noon – 4 and 5:30 – 7 p.m.  Blood Donor Clinic, Festival Place, 120 Westmorland St., Moncton.

Dec. 21 & 22, 2 – 4 and 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.  Blood Donor Clinic, Dieppe Market, Dieppe.

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.

Dec. 23, 2 – 4 and 5:30 – 8 p.m.  Blood Donor Clinic, St. Patrick Family Centre, 34 Providence St., Moncton.

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Small farmers big dreams
Dec. 13, 2009

Philippines

When your vegetable farm is a terraced crop on the side of a mountain, and the only available water supply is down in the valley, hauling water becomes a job for the whole family. For small farmers of Englanded in the mountainous Cordillera region of the Philippines, this was their reality. When the rainwater they collected was not enough, everyone went with their own containers—small for children, medium for women and large for men—and made the long steep climb to bring water to the crops. Until one day, the farmers approached the Episcopal Church of the Philippines (ECP) and asked for technical help to ease their labour. Read the story.

More PWRDF links:

PWRDF New Brunswick Blog
justgeneration.ca.

Diocesan PWRDF

PWRDF National

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Dec. 28, 2 – 4 & 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.  Blood Donor Clinic, Coverdale Rec. Centre, 50 Runnymeade Rd., Riverview.

Dec. 29, noon – 4 p.m.  Blood Donor Clinic, Paroisse Sainte-Anne-des-Pays Bas, 665 Priestman St., Fredercton.

Dec. 30, noon – 4 p.m.  Blood Donor Clinic, Moncton Lions Club, 55 Mark Ave., Moncton.

Dec. 30,  5 – 8 p.m.  Blood Donor Clinic, Island View Lions Club, Quispamsis

Jan. 30, 7 p.m. Dessert reception and silent auction fundraiser for the Cathedral Belize mission team at Cathedral Memorial Hall, Church Street, Fredericton.

March 5-7, Work and Creativity Retreat led by retired Bishop Bill Hockin at Villa Madonna, Rothesay. Registration $168 single, $248 double, contact Canon John Cathcart <john.cathcart at anglican.nb.ca>. Bursaries are available (contact Canon Neville Cheeseman <neville.cheeseman at nb.sympatico.ca>.

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

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Interim Provost
Queen’s College, St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, seeks an interim provost for a two year term beginning July 2010. The successful applicant will be an Anglican priest who has enjoyed a successful parish ministry and earned a graduate degree, preferably at the doctoral level. Applications and nominations should be sent with curriculum vitae by Feb. 15, 2010 to < assistant_dsown at nfiaibn.com>.

Rural Ministry Coordinator

The Diocese of Edmonton seeks a full-time priest to develop its rural ministry initiative under the direction of the bishop. Applications should be sent to Bishop Jane Alexander <bishop atedmonton.anglican.ca> by Jan. 31, 2010.

Job listings for the Canadian church.

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Devastating church fire met with strong community response
by Leigh Anne Williams
Anglican Journal
Dec. 15, 2009
Members of All Saints’ Anglican Church in downtown Whitby, Ont. gathered outside on Monday to mourn the loss of their 140 year old church that burned in a fire before dawn. Also lost in the fire were about 90 Christmas hampers that were ready to be delivered to needy families in the area, but the community is pulling together to help both the congregation and the families.  Read the story.

A 'full communion' Christmas greeting
Anglican Church of Canada
Dec. 14, 2009

Once again this year, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and National Bishop Susan Johnson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, come together to offer a reflection on the Christmas season and greetings to all Canadian Anglicans and Lutherans. In this year’s message, both church leaders reflect on Christmas in the context of recent trips to the Holy Land. The two church leaders are in frequent communication with each other and strive to give life to the special relationship that has existed between Anglicans and Lutherans since the Waterloo Declaration on full communion was signed in 2001.

Christmas card campaign in support of Harare
by Marites N. Sison
Anglican Journal
Dec. 14, 2009

This Advent, Canadian Anglicans are being invited to send a Christmas card as a show of solidarity to the new bishop of Harare, Chad Gandiya/Bishop Gandiya and members of his diocese continue to face challenges resulting from internal church divisions and political violence in Zimbabwe.  Read the story.

Copenhagen bells ring, candles flicker, archbishop links love to climate
by Peter Kenny
Ecumenical News International
Dec. 14, 2009

Bells pealed as a warning on climate change after the Archbishop of Canterbury told a church service in Copenhagen, attended by people from major faiths and Christian denominations, that humanity can only show love to all by making the earth a secure home. Archbishop Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the 77-million strong Anglican Communion, preached the main sermon before Danish royalty, Denmark's prime minister and religious leaders in a packed Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen's Lutheran cathedral. Read the story.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu joins thousands objecting to KAIROS’ funding cuts
by Marites N. Sison
Anglican Journal
Dec. 11, 2009

South African Nobel Peace Laureate and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu has joined thousands of other Canadians who have sent letters to Prime Minister Stephen Harper decrying the cuts to government funding for the Canadian ecumenical justice group, KAIROS.  Read the story.

Obama's peace prize speech prompts debate on ethics of war
by Chris Herlinger
Ecumenical News International
Dec. 11, 2009

New York: Observers in the United States had varying reactions to the address by U.S. President Barack Obama, when, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, he condemned religious-inspired violence but also offered a defense of the just-war tradition. In his Dec.10 speech, Obama said that, "given the dizzying pace of globalization, and the cultural leveling of modernity, it should come as no surprise that people fear the loss of what they cherish about their particular identities - their race, their tribe and, perhaps most powerfully, their religion."  Read the story.

New bishop for Cuba to be announced in January
by Marites N. Sison
Anglican Journal
Dec. 9, 2009

A new bishop will be appointed for the Episcopal Diocese of Cuba. This, after two special electoral synods failed to elect a successor to Bishop Miguel Tamayo Zaldivar, who plans to retire early next year after serving as interim bishop for six years. Read the story.

Anglican priest arrested for child porn
Anglican Journal
Dec. 9, 2009

An Anglican priest in the diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador was arrested Tues., Dec. 8, and is facing charges of possession and distribution of child pornography. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said Rev. Robin Barrett, 50, of Conception Bay South, was arrested following an investigation by the Toronto Police Service. Read the story.

'A moral imperative to defend human rights'
by Art Babych
Anglican Journal

Dec. 9, 2009
Diocese of Toronto suffragan Bishop Philip Poole of the Diocese of Toronto says, "Canadians have a unique opportunity and I would argue a moral imperative to defend the human rights of others." He was speaking at a news conference in Ottawa December 8 that called on the government to renew $7-million in funding for KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives. Read the story.

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Anglican Military Ordinariate site

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Heavenly Father,

you see how your children hunger for food,

and fellowship, and faith.

Help us to meet one another’s needs of body, mind and spirit,

in the love of Christ our Saviour.

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

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Actual children's versions of Christmas Carols:

Sleep in heavenly peas

Joy to the world, the Savior rains

This is he whom Sears of old...

Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o'er the plane

While shepherds washed their socks by night

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