Provocative proposals stir debate in Canadian church

THERE CAN BE no doubt that the Anglican Church of Canada is in steep decline. Some would say collapse. Both membership numbers and financial resources have been dropping precipitously for some time.

In May 2023, Primate Linda Nicholls appointed a Commission to tackle the issue. Their report, called “Reimagining the Church: Proclaiming the Gospel in the 21st Century,” looked at possible structural changes to the denomination and proposed seven hypotheses designed to provoke discussion.

Posted Date : 2024-09-21 21:05:00

The Anglican Church of Canada

By Sue Careless

THERE CAN BE no doubt that the Anglican Church of Canada is in steep decline. Some would say collapse. Both membership numbers and financial resources have been dropping precipitously for some time.

In May 2023, Primate Linda Nicholls appointed a Commission to tackle the issue. Their report, called “Reimagining the Church: Proclaiming the Gospel in the 21st Century,” looked at possible structural changes to the denomination and proposed seven hypotheses designed to provoke discussion.

All seven proposals, but especially the first, have proven very provocative indeed:

Hypothesis #1 “It is time to dismantle the colonial foundations of the Council of the North to fully ‘embrace mutual interdependence with the Indigenous church.’ (Sacred Circle)”

Yet there was no one on the nine-member Commission from the Council of the North nor an Indigenous person. They themselves admit:

“The Commission notes, with regret, that its membership does not include people from Rupert’s Land Province [now known as the Province of the Northern Lights], nor the Council of the North and nor an Indigenous person from Sacred Circle.”

Instead, all nine commissioners are from southern dioceses and even then, are weighted: three are from the Diocese of Ottawa (including the Chair, Monique Stone) and two from the Diocese of New Westminster (Vancouver area). Why not nine members from nine different dioceses, including some from the north?  

The Commission explains that the Council of the North receives the largest grant from the denomination but asks whether it should be redirected:

The largest proportionate expenditure within the budget of General Synod is Council of the North, and this will remain the case in spite of planned modest reductions over the coming years. Does this expense accomplish the work needed now to strengthen the proclamation of the Gospel? Could a creative conversation between the Council of the North and the Sacred Circle help propel the transformational aspiration to “embrace mutual interdependence with the Indigenous church”?

The Commission, however, misrepresents the Council of the North:

“Yet the Council of the North’s membership is comprised of a majority of non-Indigenous bishops and does not include the National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop.” 

This is simply not true.

“There are presently 15 Bishops in the Council of the North,” said Bishop David Lehmann, the Chair of the Council of the North. “Of the 15, seven are in fact Indigenous. Not a minority but nearly half. The National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop is part of the Council too.

The National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop (NIAAb) sits on the Council of the North and has a voice but not a vote.

The Council is made up of 9 jurisdictions (7 dioceses, plus the Indigenous Spiritual Ministry of Mishamikoweesh and the Territory of the People). Each jurisdiction has only one vote each. The bishops of all 9 jurisdictions gather for mutual support and encouragement once a year.

Lehmann added: “In the Council of the North, the funds are distributed using objective and subjective variables that are agreed upon by the members.” 

“The funds shared with the members enable ministry in each region. Funding is from two sources—a block grant from the General Synod and gifts from Anglicans across Canada.  The former funds core ministry, while the latter is split to support Training and Ministry, Technologies, and Translation work. The majority of this diocesan-based ministry is to Indigenous peoples.  Each jurisdiction applies for funding from the Council and have to report annually on how it was spent. 

“The Anglican Church of Canada established the Council as a response to the disparity that exists in north-south ministry.  This disparity remains today.  Travel across the north is more expensive, along with utilities, housing, and groceries.  Amazon Prime does not exist for most parts of the Council, for example.” 

Lehmann is also the Bishop of the Diocese of Caledonia, which covers the northern half of British Columbia. He says, “the Executive Committee that forms the budget has Indigenous members. The Council of Indigenous Elders also has a voice in establishing policy and vision for the Diocese. To suggest that bishops in the Council [of the North] are not capable of ensuring an Indigenous voice in budgeting or worse, bishops are not capable of serving all people in their diocese, is rather inflammatory.  Or is the Commission stating that all bishops are part of a colonial model and that episcopal ministry is to be ended in the Anglican Church of Canada?

“There is an underlying premise with this first hypothesis—that all Indigenous communities want to leave their ‘diocese’ and join a nationally-based church program. Dioceses, like Caledonia, have been around for over a century and local identity is being part of a diocese. …This hypothesis does not start with curiosity about what people in remote northern parts of Canada need, but in a very colonial way directs them to accept a predetermined option.  Is it dismantling colonialism when only northern dioceses will be directly impacted by a dramatic shift in Anglican polity? 

“Being shaped by mission is being worked out in different ways,” said Lehmann. “During the pandemic, the Council of the North gave grants out to the members to enable them to acquire technological upgrades.  For some this was establishing hub teaching centres and for others it was purchasing Starlink devices to have stable internet.  Connecting the congregations together for a common mission was possible during very isolated months.  Creative training programs that do not require people to leave their communities for three years in order to be qualified for ordination is now possible.  Using the internet and programs from WECAN and Huron University, two options for Licentiate in Theology programs, are transforming theological education.

“Rural ministry is not given as much credit as it deserves for being innovative and creative. With limited resources, vast distances, and indifference from larger centres, rural and remote congregations have had to be adaptive. Partner organizations like On Eagles Wings is another excellent way to connect and serve one another across this vast land.”

The diocesan bishop of the Arctic, David Parsons, concurs: “On Eagle’s Wings Bible Camps have contributed to the spiritual development of northern children since its inception in 1999.” 

Currently three of the four Arctic bishops are Indigenous. Joey Royal, Suffragan Bishop of the Arctic, who has Mi’kmaq ancestry on his mother’s side, said, “Even regardless of who is or isn't Indigenous, the fact is that all bishops are voted in by members of diocesan synods. Is that not the definition of self-determination—letting lay people decide the future of the diocese? Even if the Arctic had all non-Indigenous bishops, the fact is they would have all been elected by a synod that is almost all Indigenous.”

The Commission notes that there are “many under-resourced and underserved communities across Canada not eligible for Council of the North funding from General Synod” and would like to free up that money for such southern communities.  

In the 2023 Budget, the Council of the North received just over two million dollars ($2,150,000) while the second largest item was well over $I million to Indigenous ministries ($1,367,917). The third and fourth items were for Administration and Governance which, when combined, come to $2,316,122—more than each of the first two items. 

“Whatever steps the Church takes going forward concerning the Council of the North and Indigenous Ministries,” Rev. Dr. Dane Neufeld, Rector of St. James, Calgary, said, “should emerge from within these communities, and from extensive consultation and consideration of their needs and challenges. I served for seven years in the Council of the North and some of that time was spent in Indigenous communities. There are so many incredible people and parishes in the North, I hope any proposed changes would honour and reflect their priorities, and what the Holy Spirit has been doing in their midst for a very long time.

“The folks in the Arctic have seen this coming for some time and have been trying to raise funds elsewhere.  I'm not certain what the Indigenous bishops think, but I would certainly like to hear it from them first, that it is an outdated, colonial model, and not just from people who would like to use the money elsewhere.”

Hypothesis #2 It is time to dismantle the racism and colonialism that is built into our governance structures in order to diversify participation.

Yet the Commission seems rather colonial itself since by its own admission it lacks any Indigenous members or members from northern dioceses where so many Indigenous Anglicans live and worship. 

Since 1989, there have been 18 Indigenous Bishops consecrated in the ACoC. Currently the House of Bishops has 37 members (one post is vacant.) Of those 37, nine are Indigenous, adding up to one quarter of the House of Bishops. For comparison, according to the 2021 Canadian census, five percent of the population self-identified as Indigenous.

Hypothesis #3 It is time to eliminate one level of structure—either General Synod or the Ecclesiastical Provinces.

The Anglican Church of Canada contains thirty-two jurisdictions, consisting of twenty-nine dioceses, one administrative region with diocesan status, one ordinariate (for military chaplaincy), and one national pastoral jurisdiction (for Indigenous people). The 29 dioceses and the special administrative area are organised into four ecclesiastical provinces.

The norm is that Provincial Synods meet triennially, the year before General Synod, which usually meets every three years. Provincial Synod membership is made up of all of the bishops of the Provincial House of Bishops plus three clergy and three lay delegates from each diocese, one of the lay delegates being a youth.

Dioceses are self-governing entities. They generally meet annually and have responsibility for those aspects of church life which do not concern doctrine, discipline, or worship. These latter matters are the purview of the General Synod of the national church, which meets triennially and at other times delegates its powers to an elected body of clergy and laity, called the Council of General Synod, and to the Primate of the ACoC.

“We have local governance in effect now,” said Archbishop David Edwards, Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada, and Bishop of Fredericton. “Neither General nor Provincial Synods have the ability to impose very much on dioceses. Subsidiarity is the rule of the day. Only things like the Discipline Canon apply from General Synod down. An example from history is that the ordination of women was not able to be imposed.”

“On a day-to-day basis – and a year-to-year basis for that matter – the Anglican Church functions at the diocesan level,” said Archbishop Greg Kerr-Wilson, Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of the Northern Lights (formerly Rupert’s Land) and Bishop of Calgary. He explained:

“Our current structure would most accurately be described as a federation of dioceses and provinces that cooperate at the General Synod level to accomplish those parts of ministry that are most effectively done together (production of prayer books and the like) and to share resources with those parts of the Canadian Anglican church that need more support to accomplish their ministry and mission (Council of the North and Indigenous Ministries, for example).

“Local parishes are primarily and very largely supported by dioceses already. The General Synod (national) level support comes by way of engagement with things like the Primates World Relief and Development Fund, grants from Anglican Foundation, etc. But, as helpful and good as those things are, they are a small percentage of the week-to-week functioning of parishes. Any of us would argue that this is so, not only by design, but because local needs and expression are best dealt with locally. 

When it comes to synods, Neufeld said that he would be hesitant to make any sweeping changes:

“On one hand synods are extremely expensive and in recent memory they have been very divisive, at least General Synod has. Gathering at great expense, to carry on bitter and divisive arguments, has only hastened our decline. Perhaps the frequency and format could be looked at and the overall purpose. I still believe synods are important for the Church to gather and take counsel together, for people to get to know each other, and for real connections and bonds to be formed. In both my experiences at General Synod and Provincial Synod I have formed important and lasting friendships, and this kind of connection is one of the great gifts of living together in communion.”

General Synods are extremely expensive, especially given all the transportation and accommodation costs for the 240 delegates plus staff. The last General Synod should have been held in 2022 but had to be postponed until 2023 because of the pandemic. Yet the next General Synod is being planned for 2025 after only a two-year gap. Given the great financial distress that the denomination is experiencing, one simple solution would be to postpone the next General Synod until 2026. This would actually respect the Synod’s triennial nature. 

Hypothesis # 4 It is time to examine returning to a model where the primate is also a diocesan bishop.

Kerr-Wilson strongly supports this proposal for both ecclesiological as well as practical reasons. “I think it can be done, and it would also assist in the needed downsizing and re-organizing of General Synod – which of course, means that I am also in favour of re-visioning Church House.”   

Hypothesis #5 It is time to (further) reduce travel and meeting costs, both financial and environmental.

Edwards said that the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada decided three synods ago only to meet online, unless there is a pressing need to do otherwise.

Hypothesis #6 It is time to re-vision Church House. 

Church House is the denomination’s head office located in downtown Toronto. It is planning to combine its office space and archives with two other denominations in the city.

Neufeld thinks pairing down the Church House staff “would provide some financial relief and those funds could be distributed back down the line where they are likely to be more effective at actually building and sustaining congregational life.

“It is possible that the centralization of our Church no longer serves our most immediate mission needs, especially as so many parishes are facing the prospect of closure. I can certainly see the case for returning resources to the diocesan and parish level, rather than running programs from Toronto, however useful and well meaning, that will seem distant to most Anglicans in this country. Now seems like as good a time as any to invest our resources as close to the ground as possible, and into initiatives that are related to the very heart of the gospel mission, to know and follow Jesus.”

Hypothesis #7 It is time to end independent editorial journalism funded by General Synod.

The Commission claims that the expenditure for the national newspaper, the Anglican Journal, is the third largest within the General Synod budget—but that was in 2022. In 2023 it fell to fifth place after Council of the North, Indigenous Ministries, Administration, and Governance. The Journal raises revenue in its annual appeal so in 2023 its expenditure of $883,473 was offset by donations and only cost $203,763 to produce. That said, there is a separate expenditure item for Communications of $835,778. The Commission proposes “telling the story of the church nationally but not seeking to cover it from a journalistic perspective.”

There are also 19 regional or diocesan newspapers that bring local news to parishioners. Edwards explained that the diocesan papers are usually funded locally. “The big issue for ceasing the Journal would be printing and distribution costs. The present ‘bundling’ arrangement enables this to happen effectively.”

The Journal “could have real value if it reflected the breadth and character of the whole Church,” said Neufeld, “otherwise people should just read the Anglican Planet.”

Kerr-Wilson would go further. “I believe that with the limited resources we have, and given the need for resources to encourage communication and sharing, a communication/newsletter style would be a good and helpful instrument to replace an independent editorial newspaper.”

Reimagining into Oblivion

Edwards is concerned that “the hypotheses do not lead us towards mission and evangelism in the radical way we need.”

Neufeld agrees. “The restructuring of organizations often comes to nothing, if it just amounts to reshuffling the deck or rearranging the furniture. Most of the structures we have inherited can be forms of unity or division, faithfulness to Christ or forums to pursue our own agendas. Without a renewed commitment to the love of Jesus Christ at the centre of all that we do, and a mission that is motivated by individuals and communities that have experienced this love, it is hard to imagine how any of this will amount to much.”  

Royal concurs. “Isn't it strange that the more the ACoC faces its own extinction, the more its leadership speaks in increasingly abstract terms? Last General Synod [2023], we approved five ‘transformational aspirations’ with very little understanding of what any of it is supposed to accomplish. I expect this latest initiative, like much that comes from Church House, means very little and will have minimal impact.

“The main problem with the ACoC it that for decades it has been ‘reimagining’ itself into the image of the prevailing culture, and not the gospel! More ‘reimagining’ will only make it worse! All of this is a big distraction from the core task our Lord has given the Church in the Great Commission: to evangelize all nations, to baptize new converts and teach them the Lord's commandments. The ACoC is determined to do everything but that—proof that they've lost their way.”

 

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