Anglican communicators representing dioceses across the country, from B.C. to Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Anglican Church of Canada, gathered in person in Edmonton, and online on the Zoom videoconferencing platform, from June 16-18, for the Anglican Editors’ Association Annual (AEA) Conference.

Although AEA members continued to meet online during the COVID pandemic, this was their first opportunity to meet in person as a group since 2019. Many participants gathered at the conference venue, Trinity Lutheran Church. At the Indigenous Peoples’ Experience in Fort Edmonton Park, conference attendees received a powerful introduction to the culture and traditions of the Saulteaux, Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Nakota Sioux, Dene, Métis, and Inuit peoples.

Bishop Stephen London and the Rev. Stephanie London welcomed all to a banquet hosted by the Edmonton diocese at a hotel in the heart of Old Strathcona. Over a meal of roast chicken with Saskatoon berry sauce, Bishop London gave a candid and encouraging address. Since his consecration and installation as the 11th Bishop of Edmonton last September, London says he has gained a deeper understanding of the role of communications in the church beyond the parish level.

Widely acclaimed local journalist and scheduled guest presenter Senator Paula Simons was unable to attend the conference due to a flight cancellation. However, she has offered to lead a communications webinar for the AEA. The date has yet to be determined.

Former priest of the Edmonton diocese, the Rev’d Dr. Thomas Brauer, who holds a PhD from the University of St. Andrew’s in Scotland and the Institute for Theology, Imagination, and the Arts, led an informative session on “Picking the Perfect Picture.” Brauer, whose research looked at the experience of photographs and how that experience can be understood from a Christian theological perspective, guided an exercise in reading a photograph, selecting a photograph for a given story, and captioning a photograph to enrich a reader’s experience.

Members of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) communications team, including web manager Brian Bukowski, communications manager Alicia Brown and communications director Joe Vecsi, made virtual presentations at the conference. Bukowski and Brown demonstrated AnglicanNews.ca (https://anglicannews.ca/), a national, digital communications platform that is being developed with a core team of diocesan communicators. Several diocesan publications, including The Messenger, are in the process of joining the platform alongside the Anglican Journal (AJ). The new digital communications network will enable editors to easily share content, in a timely manner, with other publications while reaching a wider audience.

AJ Editor Tali Folkins led the AEA in a conversation about the editorial independence of diocesan and national church communications; a topic of intense discussion since the stipulation that the AJ be editorially independent was removed in a 2019 AJ governance policy adopted by General Synod (https://anglicanjournal.com/off-on-the-wrong-track/)

In addition to highlighting local ministry and connecting members of church communities through stories, diocesan publications are a means of garnering support for ministry made possible by the Anglican Foundation of Canada (AFC) and the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF). Janice Biehn, PWRDF Communications and Marketing Coordinator; and Michelle Hauser, AFC Development & Communications Consultant, spoke at the conference about current international partnerships and youth ministry initiatives supported in part by the Wild Ride (https://pwrdf.org/wild-ride/) and Say Yes! To Kids (https://www.anglicanfoundation.org/say-yes-to-kids/)  fundraising campaigns.

Gathering for the Closing Eucharist, led by Fr. Matt Koovisk and the Rev’d Erin Thomas of Trinity Lutheran Church, conference participants gave thanks to God for three full days of fellowship and information-sharing.

The AEA expressed appreciation for past president, sometime conference host and outgoing treasurer Mark Hauser, editor of Dialogue and communications officer for Ontario diocese, who is stepping down from the executive board. Returning to the role of secretary is Gisele McKnight, editor of the New Brunswick Anglican and communications director for Fredericton diocese. Fr. Matt Koovisk, formerly secretary, will now serve as treasurer. Returning to the executive for one more year as president is Margaret Glidden, editor of The Messenger and communications director for Edmonton diocese, and as member-at-large Emily Rowe, editor of Anglican Life, Newfoundland and Labrador dioceses.

God willing, Fredericton diocese will host the next AEA conference in May 2023.

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The Rev’d Dr. Kevin Goodrich OP, sometime rector of the Pelly Plains Parish and Archdeacon of Brandon, published his most recent book earlier this summer, “Mystic Bonfires: Walter Hilton and the Development of Practical Spiritual Theology.”

The book has many formal endorsements, including from Dr. Julia Gatta, the Bishop Frank A. Juhan Professor of Pastoral Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee: “Mystic Bonfires revives Hilton’s tradition to work in tandem with a creative and contemporary practical spiritual theology. Its integration of spiritual theology with pastoral theology points a way for pastors, spiritual directors, Christian educators, and church evangelists to recover this living contemplative tradition at the heart of the church’s mission.” The book is available on Amazon in paperback and kindle formats.

“We humbly beseech thee most mercifully … to receive these our prayers, which we offer unto thy Divine Majesty.”

So says the Intercession that forms part of the service of Holy Communion in the Book of Common Prayer. And it is those words that lay at the heart of a new book, These Our Prayers, created by the Rev’d Robert Mitchell, the sixth Rector of St. Olave’s, Swansea in the Diocese of Toronto. A graduate of Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto, Fr. Mitchell was ordained priest in 2002 and has served in several parishes in the Diocese of Toronto (including as the Associate Priest at St. Thomas’, Huron Street, where Fr. Matt Koovisk was a chorister for a period of time during Fr. Mitchell’s tenure.)

Private prayer is a mainstay of the Christian life. It is a pathway to God and personal faith for many people. Over the centuries, the Book of Common Prayer has opened that door for both clergy and lay people alike, using rich, poetic language that connects us to our forebears.

Combing through the 1962 BCP, the Canadian Book of Occasional Offices, and a few other sources, Fr. Mitchell has compiled and organized hundreds of prayers according to when they might be most needed. Whether it’s a time of anxiety, sickness, or celebration, you will find a tried and tested prayer for any need in this collection. For more info, please visit stolaves.ca/these-our-prayers.

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Christ Church, The Pas
as submitted by the Rev’d Jann Brooks

“If you go out to the woods today, you are sure of a big surprise…”*

The Pas had a great surprise on Sunday, June 26th when Christ Church organized a free old-fashioned Teddy Bears’ Picnic for young families! With balloons and bunting, over 100 people enjoyed everything from face painting and arts & crafts to 3 legged and wheelbarrow races where everyone won a prize! There was even a First-Aid Station for Teddies who needed TLC, whether it was Well-Bear Exams with “COVID-19 vaccinations” to plastic surgery. Eighty-year-old teddy bear, Brother Ben, lost his eyes 75 years ago when Grant’s sister tried to steal him. Brother Ben received new eyes and many “bears” received stitches and bandages. For sustenance hot dogs, popcorn, freezies, cake and drinks were served. The Pas Animal Shelter brought live puppies (who were all adopted that day) to assure laughs and giggles. Next year’s Teddy Bears’ Picnic is planned for double the people and sponsors.

“And that’s the day, the teddy bears had their picnic…”*

*words composed by Jimmy Kennedy in 1932.

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The Editor was privileged to act as the camp chaplain to the intermediate camp once again. It was an incredibly busy week for the staff, counselors and campers. There were water activities, night games, crafts, “Jesus time” (which did include some interactive sessions, as you can see below), chapel services, but probably most importantly (to the kids), lots and lots of food. In case you ever wondered if there is life in this Diocese, spending time at our Diocesan camp shows that there is life here – during the week where I was camp chaplain, there was joy all around. The campers were  having a good time doing all sorts of different activities (and were expressing these feelings very loudly, as kids do) and the counselors and staff were having a good time accompanying the campers in the varied activities.

I could tell you more about the joy that I saw in each and every face that was at my camp (and I would assume the other camps, too), but I think that photos are the best way to show the joy at camp. My thanks to the Rev’d Jann Brooks, the Rev’d Deacon Cheryl Kukurudz and Erica Longworth for the photos. I encourage you to check out AMC’s social media on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok (yes, even TikTok!)

For more information about the Anglican Memorial Camp, check out their website at anglicanmemorialcamp.com, on Facebook as “AMC”, on Instagram @amc_1950, and on TikTok @anglicanmemorialcamp!

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The Lambeth Conference of 2022 took place at the University of Kent in Canterbury, Kent, England from July 27 – August 7, 2022 (with the opening and closing services at Canterbury Cathedral.) The Diocese of Brandon was well represented at this conference, with Bishop William, as well as our assisting bishop, the Rt. Rev’d Larry Beardy, in attendance.

In addition to the bishops, we also had another member of the Diocese of Brandon in attendance: Nadia Sinclair, a member of Chemawawin First Nation in Easterville, was one of the stewards at the conference. Stewards of the Lambeth Conference are young people chosen from around the world, and are a vitally important part of the conference. Well done, Nadia! We’re all incredibly proud of you.

The story of the Lambeth Conference of 2022 is best told in photos, and you’ll find a collection of them on this page (as well as on page 6.) If you want to learn more about the Lambeth Conference, visit their website at http://www.lambethconference.org. The photos contained here are from the Lambeth Conference official gallery (lambeth.photoshelter.com) as well as from Bishop William’s personal collection.

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Growing up in school, I was taught by older teachers who drilled english grammar into our heads until we could parse and diagram a sentence in our sleep. I have a particular memory of my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Holbrook reminding us over and over again that the word ‘but’ negates everything that precedes it, so we had to be very careful in how we used it.

From the sixth grade perspective, that’s not hard to understand. Imagine a teacher breaking up a fight on the playground. The first defence is always “But he hit me first!” The word ‘but’ is meant to excuse the second punch in light of who threw the first punch. Mrs. Holbrook simply would not, in writing or in life, let us use the word ‘but’ in a way that tried to weasel out of responsibility or dismiss injury or injustice. I can hear her now in my mind saying,  “‘But’ is a word that can cause injury on top of injury because it may dismiss pain while trying to justify it.”

Many that try to defend the church from the injustices or injuries it has inflicted often begin the defense with a ‘but’. To those who are trying to heal from injustice or broken hearts, that ‘but’ that starts the statement is another layer of pain on top of the burden they are already carrying. An ocean of good

works the church has accomplished can dry up in the eyes of someone who has been injured, if the church fails to care properly.

Even on the flip side, when the church reaches out to those who are the guilty parties in our responsibility to care for all – the ‘but’ is often employed again in righteous indignation to suggest that we should cut people off – “But they are responsible for so much pain!”

These are the frail and human uses of the word ‘but’.

But there is another way to use the word. That is – the way it is used in scripture by God. The words ‘but God’ appear repeatedly in scripture to remind us of the true mercy, love and compassion on offer. The sentence structures are often the exact same as Mrs. Holbrook deplored, but the things that are being negated are all the failures we lay down.                                                      

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”               —Psalm 73:26

“When they had carried out all that the scriptures said about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead;”
—Acts 13:29-30

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” 
—Romans 5:6-8

I think Mrs. Holbrook would accept and applaud all these uses of the ‘but’ because they are all instances of how grace interrupts the cycle of death, or pain, or sin. This is the essential message we have to offer people that are deep in their own troubles or pain as they live them out. We can pour out before him all the reasons that we are unworthy, unready, unhappy, unloveable and unreachable. But God tells that inner storm “peace, be still” and we are made one with him again. We can all rejoice that we are living our daily lives after the but God. We can share this message with everyone who feels unworthy, unready, unhappy, unloveable and unreachable and we can become the living, breathing, incarnate but God to them.

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Fr. Chad McCharles was also present at this ordination, supporting another one of the deacons being ordained.

I wrote a reflection on the experience of attending ordinations from a priest’s perspective. I include it here in hopes that the members of the Diocese of Brandon will get something out of it.

One of the great joys of ordained ministry is being able to attend ordinations, especially if they’re people you know well. I was privileged to be at the recent ordinations in June at the Cathedral, where two classmates and friends from Trinity College, Toronto were ordained deacons.

At my own priestly ordination a few years ago, as the bishop presented the newly ordained priest and deacons to the congregation, he said: “the Church, as she renews herself…” I must admit that these words have stuck with me since. Whenever I attend ordinations, I feel renewed in my own vows as a baptized Christian, deacon, and priest (for when I became a priest, I did not renounce my baptismal and diaconal vows.)

As we celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi that day, that very feast where we celebrate the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, it seemed fitting to me to think about our own place within the Body of Christ, whether as baptized members, deacons, priests or even as bishops. Each of us has our own place within the body, and no one person is more important than the other. We need baptized Christians following their vows to love God and to love one another as we have first been loved; deacons following their vows to serve the other, especially those on the fringes of the church and society; priests following their vows to sanctify the Body of Christ with the sacraments; and bishops following their vows to uphold and strengthen us all in our varied ministries.

I left the Cathedral that night renewed once more to do my best to uphold my vows as a baptized Christian, deacon and priest. As we all go about our varied ministries as the body of Christ, may we be strengthened in those ministries by the vast and deep treasures that we find in the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ here on earth.

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In any case, it feels like just yesterday that I was sitting at my computer putting together the last edition of the Mustard Seed for the 2021-2022 publishing year. Yet, here I am, at the beginning of August, preparing September’s issue once again (remember, the Mustard Seed is prepared a month in advance, due to the fact that it has to be sent off to be printed, put with the Anglican Journal, and mailed to your door step (or PO Box!)

This issue of the Mustard Seed is bigger than the four pages it normally is. Things seemingly have come to a new normal, as we seek to live in a world that still has COVID-19 as a very real part of it. However, in spite of that, the Diocese was still able to operate the Anglican Memorial Camp (photos on page 4 and 5), and the Bishop (and others) were able to attend the Lambeth Conference

(click here for photos)

It has been a busy summer in these parts, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about that. The Mustard Seed is here to tell the stories of the churches and other ministries of the diocese.

As we begin another publishing year, I think it might be a good time for us to pause and reflect about things that we’re already planning in our parish for the fall season. Perhaps you could take a moment to submit something about what happened in your church this summer (or will happen in the fall.) One of the most common comments that I get is that people who read the Mustard Seed read it because it allows them to be able to see what’s going on in other churches. It reminds them that they are not alone – that there are other Anglicans in this area.

I want to remind you that the Mustard Seed is a way for us to keep connected as a diocesan family. I realize that sometimes, due to publishing deadlines or needs, the material may seem a little ‘out of date’ or may not appear at all (and for that, I truly apologize), but these are our stories, and are important (no matter how ‘out of date’ they seem!)

I look forward to another year of hearing the stories of the many, many things happening in this diocese. May God continue to bless each one of us in our beloved Diocese of Brandon.

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