The 163rd Diocesan Synod took place in Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday, June 18th; the first time the Synod has met in person since June of 2019. The day opened with worship, followed by Bishop Mary’s charge.
The Bishop’s Charge
Bishop Mary reminded us of the Five Marks of Mission “as a way of orienting and understanding our life and mission as a church”. She said that, while all of the Marks are involved in the theme for this year’s Synod, number four is foremost: To transform unjust structures of society—(and of our Church), to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation.
The theme for the next three of our Synods will be Racism: Listening, Naming & Reconciling. The bishop suggested that we start this year by listening which she described as “an action which opens up and transforms the heart, soul and mind of the believer and enables us to repent and grow as believers.” She talked about the activities of the Anti-Racism Task Force.
Bishop Mary described the challenges of the upcoming Lambeth Conference (which took place in July of this year after a 2 year delay due to the pandemic) with nearly 1,000 bishops of the Anglican Communion, gathering to discuss church and world affairs, and explore what it means to be “God’s Church for God’s World”. It is hoped that the conversations and involvement will continue afterwards, with a better understanding of the Anglican Communion and its rich diversity.
She went on to inform us about current affairs in the diocese, including a number of retirements, appointments and transitions.
And, finally, as the bishop will be leaving on sabbatical at the end of September she assured us that the diocese will be in the capable hands of Archdeacon Robert Camara. (For the complete charge, in both languages, go to www. montreal.anglican/synod.)
Listening, Naming: Reconciling
The bishop introduced the Venerable James Bennett who gave a presentation on Racism. Part history lesson, testimony and personal reflection, Archdeacon Bennett first put things in a historical perspective describing the discrimination the Irish suffered under the wealthy Montrealers when they immigrated here in the 19th century. Soon after the Irish
discriminated against those from the West Indies who came in the 50’s to replace the Irish. According to Archdeacon Bennett, racism is another form of discrimination which takes on many pictures in life. People incorrectly lump all people of pigmentation together. He said “I was never a slave in the way you talk about it. I might have been a slave to sin, to disobedience against God. But I was never a slave to you.” If you look at scripture you see discrimination has always been.
Archdeacon Bennett came to this diocese from Guyana, South America in 1984 and became a regional dean in 86. Since that time he has heard the following:
No little black boy can tell me what to do
Don’t try it they won’t accept you
You can’t use our teacups, saucers and cutlery – bring your own.
Who do you think you are?
No black priests should be in charge of anything because black people are immoral.
You better get a banana for him
Our parish is not ready for a black
Rising above it all he said he learned that its good to be quiet, smile and don’t create a ruckus but silently work for things to happen. God works through each and every one of us. We can all change. He invited us to read Romans, Chapter 5. By suffering, we can all boast of our suffering.
Finance Presentation
Mr Ron O’Connell gave his final presentation as Diocesan Treasurer, as he is retiring this year after serving seven years in that position.
2021 Financial results – last year due to covid and suspension of assessments our loss from operations was close to $829k. The loss would have been a lot higher without the generous donations, totalling $115K, from Christ Church Cathedral, All Saints by the Lake, Dorval, St Philips, Montreal West, St Paul’s Greenfield Park and the Church of St Mark and St Peter.
Along with the donations, we made $1.542M from the sale of two churches and $1M from return on investments. With these revenues, along with a reduction in in expenses, we had a net income of $1.861M.
Mr. O’Connell then noted that the Forecast for 2022 is tracking very close to plan and that the 2023 budget is almost identical to the 2022 budget.
Details on the budget can be found in the Convening Circular. Go to www.montreal.anglican.ca/synod.
Rev Deacon Jessica Bickford pointed out that we’re spending over 90% on what’s happening in churches as opposed to what’s happening in the community. She added that “We are in a time where we need to be in and of our community and we need to be visioning what our new reality needs to be.”
Mr. O’Connell responded by speaking about his own experience as a volunteer at Tyndale St. Georges, which receives 28K annually from the Diocese. A lot of the diocesan budget is given back to parishes, which in turn is used at the local level. We need to encourage parishioners to dig deeper and also think about taking care of others.
Following his presentation, Bishop Mary thanked Ron saying, in part “I want to thank you on behalf of the diocese for being our treasurer for these last seven years and for your gentle and generous way of guiding the ship and not taking offense everytime someone asked you why we were doing it that way.”
She offered appreciation for Ron’s composure, sense of humour and his gift of time and presented him with a gift.
Q&A with James Bennett and Neil Mancor
With the conversation being facilitated by the Rev Canon Dr Neil Mancor, the Archdeacon took several questions from those present at the Cathedral as well as from people online.
In answering the questions, he reminded us that the communities in which we live do not remain the same. They are always changing. So parishes have to stop looking inward and start looking out. If you don’t welcome others from the community, you are actually looking at your gradual death.
Bishop Mary thanked the archdeacon for all he has done in his many years of service and presented him with a gift.
Anti-Racism Task Force
Co-chair Edward.Yankie reminded us that white people need to take the burden of fighting racism off the shoulders of the Black community and bring change in the world. He spoke about the unique gifts and contributions of the other members of the Task Force and how each person contributes something unique and uplifting.
Co-chair Dion Lewis asked delegates to look at how we can change and bring hope in the future. He then revealed that The Task Force is planning an event in October as well as a “joy-filled” event next summer with music and food to celebrate cultural diversity. Watch for details on these events on the Diocesan Website.
The West Island Black Community Association (WIBCA)
The Rev. Canon Dr. Neil Mancor facilitated the conversation with Joan Lee and Veronica Johnson.
The WIBCA collaborates with St. Michael and All Angels Church in hosting an anti-racism discussion group (Anti Racism Circle, or ARC) for non-Blacks. Neil asked what people could do to begin helping to confront racism. Mrs. Johnson said we all can help by listening, learning and acting. Ms. Lee added that we need to stop staying silent when someone makes a racist comment. ARC is open to helping other Parishes start their own groups to do this important work.
They would like to see more collaboration between churches and community organisations, for the church to be more aware of what is going on outside its walls and to listen and work at reconciliation.
Following the Members’ Forum, members of L’Eglise de la Nativité lead Synod in Evening Prayer accompanied by uplifting music. Soon after, the meeting adjourned.
This editor would like to thank the secretaries of Synod, Valerie Taylor and Ben Stuchbery, upon who’s notes I relied heavily! For the recording of the Synod proceedings: www.montreal.anglican.ca/synod.
