As we get ready to turn the calendar page to September, amidst the news of rising COVID case counts and a return to increased restrictions, there is still much to be grateful for here in the diocese of Islands and Inlets. 

Although many of our plans are likely to be adjusted to reflect the increased safety protocols required to keep each other safe, parishes across the diocese are finding ways to connect and reach out; from participating in community meal programs in Port McNeill and Campbell River and celebrating St Peter's 130th anniversary with historic walking tours through Comox, to art installations at St Phillip and St Matthias in Victoria, to informal social gathering in Central Saanich, we are blessed to be community at this time. 

There is lots going on this fall. We hope you will participate in some of the diocesan events coming up. With COVID restrictions, we may only be able to gather online, but being together to celebrate events like the upcoming ordinations or the investiture of new appointees to the Order of the Diocese of British Columbia are ways we continue to strengthen our bonds as Anglicans across this vast and diverse region.

We are also entering the Season of Creation and many of our parishes will be focusing on the current ecological crisis and our call to be faithful stewards of God's creation in the midst of so many challenges facing our Earth. We hope you will find ways, in prayer and action to recommit to this work during this season. There is more information below about opportunities to engage, including a new video series we're calling "Root" that we hope you'll find helpful.

In all of this—in the joys and the challenges of this liminal time in our life together as people of faith, "continue encouraging each other and building each other up, as indeed you are doing."
— 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NRSV)

Be safe!

Catherine Pate

Christians around the world are invited to give particular attention to praying and caring for God’s creation as part of the global Season of Creation, observed from September 1 to October 4 every year.

This five-week series (beginning Wednesday, September 1, 2021) follows a similar format as the popular “Dignify” videos. In this series, five reflectors, including Bishop Anna, consider our origins in creation and our call to reconnect with our rootedness in it, towards finding our way through the ecological crisis at hand. 

To subscribe to "Root" and receive it via email click the "subcribe" button below. Follow the prompts and select the series from the list of subscription options. Note: You will receive an email as part of the process which will confirm your subscription.

Cynthia Moe-Lobeda's Resisting Structural Evil: Love as Ecological-Economic Vocation. Taking place on Zoom over four Wednesday evenings (Sept 15, 22, 29 & October 6) this reading group will be hosted by Bishop Anna with sessions offered by John Thatamanil, Matt Humphrey, Juli Mallet and Brendon Neilson. Together we will engage Dr. Moe-Lobeda's work to draw us into a deeper understanding of the ecological crisis we face, and its interconnections to racial and economic justice.  

We recommend joining this reading group with a small group of folks from your community or parish, to deepen your engagement.  

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The book is available electronically or in paperback from several local and online retailers.

More information about the study available September 1 on the diocesan website. 

The author will be joining us in December as a part of the John Albert Hall lectures hosted jointly by the University of Victoria’s Centre for Studies in Religion and Society and the diocese of islands and inlets, and this book study will be a great preparation for her lecture and workshop.   

Join us, in person (public health orders permitting) or online at bc.anglican.ca/live or christchurchcathedral.bc.ca/live, as Bishop Anna ordains Marion Edmondon, Colleen Lissamer, John Thatamanil and Stephanie Wood to the sacred order of deacons. 

Watch for more information on the cathedral and diocesan websites regarding in-person capacity.

The ecclesiastical province meets as a synod (a governing body) every three years, while it's executive council meets twice a year. Please pray for our delegates.

ABOUT THE ECCLESIASTICAL PROVINCE

The Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon is one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada, the other three being Rupert's Land, Ontario, and Canada.   

Before the national church was created, the Anglican dioceses in Canada began to gather together in what they called “provinces”. Just as the Church of England was organized into two provinces, York and Canterbury, each with their own archbishop, so were the dioceses organized into two ecclesiastical provinces - the ecclesiastical province of “Canada”, formed in 1861 (covering the Maritimes, Quebec, and most of Ontario) and the ecclesiastical province of “Rupert’s Land,” formed in 1875 (covering the Prairies and the Arctic).

When the ACC was created in 1893, General Synod received the power to create new provinces, subject to the consent of the dioceses and provinces affected. The ecclesiastical province of “Ontario” was carved out  of the province of “Canada” in 1912, and in 1914, after the diocese of Caledonia decided it was Canadian after all, the ecclesiastical province of “British Columbia and the Yukon” came into being.            

Each of the ecclesiastical provinces has an archbishop, who is one of the bishops within the province, and who is elected by the provincial synod. They are called “metropolitans” because in Europe the archbishop is always the bishop of the oldest and/or most important diocese, which is usually quite a metropolis, like Rome, Venice, Paris or Cologne.

In Canada, the archbishop can be from any diocese within the province. Our current metropolitan is The Most Reverend Dr Lynne McNaugton, the tenth bishop of Kootenay. 

Although we hope to be able to celebrate in person with our recipients, it is likely that numbers will be limited. Please plan to join us online. The service will be live streamed on the diocesan and cathedral websites. 

A list of 2021 recipients will be published in early October. Look for more in the Diocesan Post and on the diocesan and parish websites then.

What is the role of clergy in the 21st century church? How is this vocation changing with the times? Who is called to this sacred order?  Join Bishop Anna, along with 11 other speakers (postulants and clerics), each with a unique story to tell about how God called them to ordination and how God has been using them since. Each member of the panel will speak for 12 minutes, with opportunities for questions and comments throughout the day. 

Whether you might be discerning a call to ordained ministry or you are an active member of your parish and want to know more about what your parish can be doing to raise up people for ministry, you are encouraged to attend.

Speakers: Ruth Dantzer, Gyllian Davies, Wally Eamer, Leslie Flynn, Anna Greenwood-Lee, Craig Hiebert, Jim Holland, Juli Mallett, Bill Tarter, Lon Towstego, Ansley Tucker and Stephanie Wood.

Please bring a bag lunch.

If public health orders restrict our ability to meet in person this event will be held online via Zoom. Watch for more information closer to the date.

Congratulations to the Rev Canon Brenda Nestegaard Paul (Trinity Anglican + Lutheran, Port Alberni) and the Rev Canon Eric Partridge (St Andrew, Sidney), who have both accepted the bishop's appointment and commission to be one of six canons of Christ Church Cathedral. Cathedral canons automatically become members of the Cathedral Chapter, and as such, are accorded a stall in the cathedral, and the dignity of the honorific “canon.”

They normally serve until their retirement from active ministry in the diocese. Cathedral canons take an active interest in the affairs and mission of the cathedral, and as possible, contribute to the same.

As friends of the cathedral, members of the chapter promote and advocate for the cathedral’s role within the diocese. They may also called upon to advise upon matters relating to the care and maintenance of buildings and grounds of the cathedral precinct.