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The story of Jacob Marley worthy of Christmas tradition status
A book review by George Porter
On 17 December 1843 Charles Dickens published a short book called A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. I cannot recall the exact date in the late 1950s or early 1960s that it entered my world, but this story secured a lasting place in my heart and my Christmas observations. I read it, or watch a dramatization of it, every year and have written a poetic take on the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, his visit by the ghost of his late partner and three Christmas spirits. In 2011 R. William Bennett wrote a short book called Jacob T. Marley. Bennett’s book easily won a place in my heart as well and will, no doubt, be part of my Christmas observations for years to come. Read the story.
Who will replace the faith-based donors?
by Erin Anderssen
Globe and Mail
Dec. 2, 2011
When Governor-General David Johnston, who has made philanthropy a focus of his tenure, was asked earlier this year for his first childhood memory of generosity, he named, without pausing, his grandparents. They were Methodists and poor, but they still tithed, giving 10 per cent of everything they earned to their church. “The first 10 per cent,” he stressed. “Not the last.” These days, we’re more likely to think about “paying ourselves first” with that 10 per cent off the top. But not much beats the weekly passing of the plate in church for getting people to open their wallets to the cause. The donors are captive in the pews, ideally having just been primed with a sermon about generosity, and surrounded by a community of like-minded givers who will set the example for each other. Heaven for a charity. But each year in Canada, fewer people are passing the faith-based plate, and the ones still dutifully handing it around are aging fast. Read the story.
A message from Jarvis de Condé re
The Diocesan Insurance Program
Please note that the Diocesan Synod of Fredericton’s insurance program has been bound and renewed for the term of December 1, 2011 to December 1, 2012 at the following terms:
• For the All Risks, including equipment breakdown coverages, the limits and/or values for all parish owned buildings and contents are increased by 3 percent to reflect the normal increase in costs of labour and materials. This increase is an effort to keep the values up-to-date and is ultimately in the best interests of parish corporations and congregations. The applicable rates are as expiring, therefore there is no increase in these rates.
• The Commercial General Liability and all its extensions — third party pollution liability (if applicable) and the comprehensive crime coverage — are also renewed on the same terms and conditions as expiring.
• Our broker, Marsh Canada Limited, is in the process of issuing the myriad of renewals, they will be sent to each certificate holder as soon as possible.
• There will be no change in the format of remitting payment to the diocese’s office in Fredericton as established by the late Canon Fred Scott.
• Under the present circumstances, all questions or concerns relating to your insurance should be directed to me: call my home office toll free, 1-866-727-8855, or email <jdeconde at eastlink.ca>.
Thank you
Attention parishes
Take your assessment in response to the Nicodemus Project to the next level.
Contact Archdeacon David Edwards, our Parish Development Officer, to focus and further develop your goals and ideas.
Reach him by e-mail at david.edwards at anglican.nb.ca or by phone at 506/693-7962.
Foundation For Life - Please send your donations
Foundation For Life
c/o Synod Office
115 Church St.
Fredericton, NB. E3B 4C8
by the end of December.
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Festival of Lessons and Carols
Trinity Church, Saint John
Saturday, Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m.
Combined church choirs from the area, a brass ensemble, organist Michael Molloy, and choir director Spencer Beyea combine for an inspiring evening. All welcome.
Handel’s Messiah
Trinity Church, 115 Charlotte St, Saint John will host Handel’s Messiah this Christmastide on Thursday evening, Dec. 29 at 7:30. Features the symphony chorus, orchestra and soloists directed by Maestro Spencer Belyea. This world famous choral work is based on Old and New Testament Scriptures, and the concert would make a wonderful Christmas gift for a music lover. Advance tickets $30 ($10 for students) available from Anglican House or the Trinity Church office, call 693-8558. Tickets at the door $35 ($15 for students). Come and support local talent and enjoy a superb evening of sacred music.
Advent Service of Lessons and Carols
Parish of Richmond
Sunday, Dec. 11, 4 p.m.
St. Mark's, Jackson Falls
Anglican House
Ten Thousand Villages
Beautiful, fair-trade gifts, Christmas decorations and jewellery at Ten Thousand Villages plus
Christmas cards, bags, and napkins at
Anglican House
116 Princess Street
Saint John
506/693-2295
angbk@nbnet.nb.ca
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Dec. 6, 4:30 - 7 p.m. Finance Committee, Synod Office board room.
Dec. 7, 12.30 p.m. Luncheon and card party at St. Luke's Church Hall, corner of Metcalf Street and Lansdowne Avenue, Saint John. Also, a new-to-you" table. Tickets $12 available from Marilyn Craft (652-1813), Pauline Long (672-8967) and the church office (693-4152). Please bring your own cards or table game. All proceeds in support St. Luke's ministries.
Dec. 7, 1 - 4 p.m. Synod Planning meeting, Synod Office board room.
Dec. 8, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Bishop's Counsel.
Dec. 11, 10.30 a.m. St. Luke's Choir presents the Christmas Cantata, "Celebrate His Name! Proclaim His Birth!" at St. Luke's Church, corner of Main Street and Lansdowne Avenue, Saint John. All are welcome!
Dec. 11, 2 p.m. Saint John area Ultreya at Church of Good Shepherd, 668 Manawagonish Rd., Saint John.
Dec. 11, 4 p.m. Advent Service of Lessons and Carols, Parish of Richmond. St. Mark's, Jackson Falls.
Dec. 11, 6 - 8 p.m. Victorian Tea & House Tours in Stanley. Tour two historic homes along with the 132 year old St. Thomas Church, all fittingly decorated in holiday splendour. Reception and silent auction follow at the church hall. Tickets $10, call the rectory 367-2013 or 367-2887. All proceeds support the Anglican Parish of Stanley ACW. (Please note change in date.)
Dec. 12, 12:15 p.m. The Bishop Bill Hockin and Dr. Barry Craig Advent Talks series at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Fredericton. This year's theme is "Finding the Missing Pieces for a Much Merrier Christmas"and today's topic is Finding A Love that Goes the Distance.
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Diocese of Ontario “suspends” newspaper
by Marites N. Sison
Anglican Journal
Dec. 5, 2012
On Nov. 29, the Synod Council of the Anglican diocese of Ontario “suspended” four of its programs and ministries to create a “credible, balanced budget” for 2012. Cuts include the diocesan newspaper, Dialogue, as well as the diocese’s summer residential youth program, Camp Hyanto. The decision is meant to “relieve the financial load on the diocese,” said the bishop of the diocese, Michael Oulton, in a letter issued to parishes Dec. 3. Read the story.
Curbside haiku for Christmas
by Diana Swift
Anglican Journal
Dec. 5, 2011
Just in time for Christmas shopping and sightseeing, New York City’s Department of Transportation has a special gift for distracted cyclists and pedestrians: safety promotion with a Japanese twist. More than 200 illustrated signs in 12 different designs, two in Spanish, have appeared at busy, high-accident hubs urging caution—not in the dull directives of traffic signage but in the 17 thought-provoking syllables of a haiku poem. Installed on light poles and in public parking lots, the poems remind drivers, pedestrians and cyclists of their interdependency on the streets. One sign, for example, reads: “Too averse to risk / To chance the lottery, yet / Steps into traffic.” Another: “A sudden car door/ Cyclist’s story rewritten/ Fractured narrative.” Read the story.
Christ’s death: for all or for many?
by Diana Swift
Anglican Journal
Dec. 5, 2011
In its renewed faithfulness to the Latin Vulgate, the new third edition of the Roman Missal has changed the wording in the mass around the beneficiaries of Christ’s death. Recalling Christ’s words as he took the cup of wine at the Last Supper, the revised version speaks of Christ’s blood being “poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (“For many” appears in the Anglican eucharistic liturgy as well.) This version, which was implemented around the world on Nov. 27, is true to the original Latin wording of “pro multis”—not “pro omnibus,” as it was translated in the two older post-Vatican II missals. Read the story.
2012 Budget commentary now available
Anglican Church of Canada
Dec. 5, 2011
In November 2011, the Council of General Synod (COGS) approved General Synod's 2012 draft budget with a forecast for 2013 and 2014, and a two-year trend (2015 to 2016). This budget commentary document, prepared under the direction of General Synod Treasurer Michèle George, provides a descriptive prose summary of the budget and forward-looking elements. It was originally prepared for COGS and covers the budgeting process, long-term trends, ministry commitments, and work to stabilize revenues. Read the story.
Who will replace the faith-based donors?
by Erin Anderssen
Globe and Mail
Dec. 2, 2011
When Governor-General David Johnston, who has made philanthropy a focus of his tenure, was asked earlier this year for his first childhood memory of generosity, he named, without pausing, his grandparents. They were Methodists and poor, but they still tithed, giving 10 per cent of everything they earned to their church. “The first 10 per cent,” he stressed. “Not the last.” These days, we’re more likely to think about “paying ourselves first” with that 10 per cent off the top. But not much beats the weekly passing of the plate in church for getting people to open their wallets to the cause. The donors are captive in the pews, ideally having just been primed with a sermon about generosity, and surrounded by a community of like-minded givers who will set the example for each other. Heaven for a charity. But each year in Canada, fewer people are passing the faith-based plate, and the ones still dutifully handing it around are aging fast. Read the story.
Russian government asks church for help in fighting AIDS
by Sophia Kishkovsky
ENInews
Dec. 2, 2011
Moscow – As the number of people suffering from HIV/AIDS continues to grow in Russia, government agencies are turning to the Russian Orthodox Church for help in stemming the epidemic, ministering to its victims, and fighting their stigmatization by society. In the latest example of such cooperation, officials in the Ryazan region, about 120 miles southeast of Moscow, announced on Nov. 30 that they have requested the local diocese's assistance in providing an approach to the crisis that is beyond the state's capacity. Read the story.
Obituary: The Rev. Canon Douglas Hodgkinson
by Marites N. Sison
Anglican Journal
Dec. 1, 2011
The Rev. Canon Douglas “Doug” Hodgkinson, who served in the national office of the Anglican Church of Canada http://www.anglican.ca/ and as regional dean in the diocese of Kootenay, died on Nov. 29. He was 70. Canon Hodgkinson suffered a heart attack and collapsed at St. Michael’s Cathedral, in Kelowna, B.C., on Nov. 27. Read the story.
The dream of getting to zero: a statement on World AIDS Day
by the Ven. Dr. Michael Thompson
General Secretary, Anglican Church of Canada
Dec. 1, 2011
Today, World AIDS Day 2011, is an occasion for reflection on the reality of AIDS in our world—its impact on those who have the disease and on those who care for them, its personal and social costs and the scourge of discrimination that too often surrounds it. For the years 2011-2015, the world focus is "Getting to Zero"—zero new infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths. "Getting to Zero" is a bold dream for the whole human family. "Getting to Zero" means a renewed commitment to compassion and justice. It means a deepening of our common prayer that God's Holy Spirit might empower us to live as citizens and servants of God's Kingdom. Read the story.
A wide-ranging agenda for House of Bishops
by Diana Swift
Anglican Journal
Nov. 30, 2011
When Anglican and Lutheran bishops of every theological stripe met in Niagara Falls recently, topics ran the gamut from open table and confirmation to human resources and standards of competency for clergy. Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, gave the Anglican Journal an overview of what dominated the bishops’ discussions over the course of the Nov. 20-24 meeting. Read the story.
Two motions on human sexuality approved
by Marites N. Sison
Anglican Journal
Nov. 30, 2011
The diocese of Toronto synod has approved two motions on human sexuality, none of which changes its current experimental guidelines limiting same-gender blessings to about 10 parishes with permission from the diocesan bishop. At its meeting on Nov. 25 to 26, the synod approved—by a narrow vote of 257 in favour, 229 opposed – a motion to send a memorial to General Synod asking that the marriage canon be amended “to allow marriage of all persons legally qualified to marry each other.” The church’s law governing marriage, Canon 21, defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Read the story.
Volunteer group will lead Jerusalem partnership
by Ali Symons
General Synod web writer
Nove. 30, 2011
A new group of volunteers will help advance the historic partnership between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. The Canadian Companions of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, whose terms of reference were recently approved by the Council of General Synod (COGS), will help connect the two regions through prayer, visits, and financial support. "It's an important relationship that we have an obligation to nurture," Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, told COGS. Read the story.
“People may die if nothing is done”
Anglican Journal
Nov. 29, 2011
General Synod Communications and the Anglican Journal, the church's editorially independent newspaper, have entered into a partnership to distribute stories of national significance. This story is shared through this arrangement.
The Canadian ecumenical justice group, Kairos, is seeking support for the Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario. The indigenous band, which declared a state of emergency as temperatures plunged in early November, has asked the federal government to consider a temporary evacuation of its community because of a lack of housing, heat, safe drinking water and other basic needs. Many families have been left out in the cold or are living in tents, shanties and other makeshift shelters that have no heat or indoor plumbing. Read the story.
Haiti elects Oge Beauvoir as bishop suffragan
ENS staff
Episcopal News Service
Nov. 29, 2011
A note from General Synod: Bishop-elect Ogé Beauvoir is a man with many Canadian connections. Born in Gros-Morne, Haiti, he is a graduate of Montreal Diocesan Theological College, and an ordained priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. From 1991 to 1996 he served in Haiti as a missionary jointly sponsored by the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada's Volunteers in Mission program. From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Beauvoir worked as General Synod's regional mission coordinator for Africa and the Middle East. We are delighted for him and the church in Haiti," said the Canadian Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz. "His leadership will no doubt be marked by great compassion and hope for the people he serves. We will make every effort to have someone represent the Anglican Church of Canada at his consecration."
The Rev. Canon Ogé Beauvoir, dean of the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Port-au-Prince, was elected Nov. 25 to be the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti's first bishop suffragan, pending the required consents from a majority of bishops with jurisdiction and standing committees of the Episcopal Church. Read the story.
Retrial for Iranian pastor sentenced to death for apostasy
The Anglican Planet
Nov. 14, 2011
IRAN’S SUPREME COURT has ordered a retrial for a pastor sentenced to death for apostasy. Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has refused to recant his faith in Jesus Christ in appeal hearings, despite being told that the death sentence would be overturned if he did so. The sudden turnaround by the Supreme Court reflects doubts surrounding the conduct of the initial investigation in the case. The court has now sent Nadarkhani’s case back to the lower courts to be looked at again. Read the story.
New malaria vaccine offers hope
The Anglican Planet
Nov. 14, 2011
Geoffrey York reporting in The Globe and Mail, Oct. 18, 2011
DRAMATIC new results from a malaria vaccine have raised hopes that the world might be on the verge of defeating a disease that kills nearly 800,000 people every year. If confirmed by future trials it could be a breakthrough: the world’s first successful vaccine against a human parasite, and a major blow against a disease that affects some 225 million people annually, killing primarily poor African children…. A new study by the World Health Organization predicts that, within a decade, malaria could be eradicated from one-third of the 108 countries where it is now endemic.… The first large-scale trials of the new vaccine, involving more than 15,000 children across seven African countries, show that it cuts the risk of malaria in half.
Christians in mourning after massacre
The Anglican Planet
Nov. 14, 2011
Voice of the Martyrs, Centre for Religious Freedom.
FUNERAL SERVICES were held in Cairo on Oct. 10 for some of the victims of a military attack against a group of Christian protestors that left at least 26 dead and 500 hundred wounded. The attack began the day before in the late afternoon, and was directed against Coptic Christians who were protesting the burning of a church. The Christians were marching through Cairo when they were pelted with rocks and other projectiles near an overpass that cuts through the downtown. As the protestors tried to make it to the Maspero Building, a television and radio broadcasting station, the army began shooting and ramming riot-control vehicles into the fleeing crowd. Read the story.
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