Category Archives: Why we do what we do

The Lambeth Conference – What is it?

Posted on
Archbishop Justin Welby

Archbishop Justin Welby

While not a governing body of the Church, per se, (being neither Synod nor Council), the Lambeth Conference is a significant moment for the Anglican Communion, drawing together spiritual leaders from around the world about once every decade since the mid 1800's.

Lambeth is scheduled for this year - 22 July - 02 August 2020.

The Lambeth Conference has always discussed church matters and issues of global concern, including: the persecuted church, refugees, faith and order issues, marriage, the family, human sexuality, the ministry of women, racism, war and peace, Christian ethics and the Christian way of life.

The Lambeth Conference dates back more than 150 years; the first was held in 1867 with 76 bishops present and has happened about every 10 years since.

  • The Lambeth Conference in 2020 will welcome over 1000 active bishops and spouses from across the Anglican Communion.
  • In the 1860s a dispute in South Africa prompted Canadian bishops to petition the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley, to call a gathering of senior leaders.
  • Fourteen Lambeth Conferences have met since, about every 10 years, with breaks during the two World Wars.

the Lambeth Conference dates back more than 150 years

Despite having no legal powers, Lambeth Conferences gradually gained respect and influence. Christian unity was addressed from the outset. The pastoral letter signed at the end of the first Conference declared Anglicanism was part of something bigger. It began, “We, the bishops of Christ’s Holy Catholic Church…” The ‘Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral,’ approved at the conference of 1888, remains the Anglican statement of the fourfold essential basis for a reunited Church.

Find out more about the Lambeth Conference
Website of the Archbishop of Canterbury
The First Lambeth Conference and Medley's Charge of 1868, Lenten Studies 2009, Canon Ross Hebb

Why we do what we do – the Anglican Communion

Posted on

What is the Anglican Communion?

The Anglican Communion is one of the world’s largest Christian communities. It has tens of millions of members in more than 165 countries around the globe. Anglicanism is one of the traditions or expressions of Christian faith. Others include Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Baptist.

The Communion is organised into a series of provinces and extra- provincial areas. The provinces are subdivided into dioceses, and the dioceses into parishes.

There are 40 provinces and, from March 2019, five extra-provincial areas. See here for a full list. Some provinces are national, others are regional. All are in communion – or a reciprocal relationship – with the See of Canterbury and recognise the Archbishop of Canterbury as the Communion’s spiritual head.

But there is no central authority in the Anglican Communion. All of the provinces are autonomous and free to make their own decisions in their own ways – guided by recommendations from the four Instruments: the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Primates’ Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.

from the Anglican Communion website anglicancommunion.org

The Sacrament of Holy Unction

Posted on

Holy Unction

There are seven Sacraments recognized in the Anglican Church. Two are referred to as “Gospel” or “Greater” sacraments, the other five, of which Unction is one, as “Lesser” sacraments. All operate according to the Book of Common Prayer definition: “a sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.”

Learn more about the Sacrament

Why we do what we do – Translating the Bible

Posted on

The Holy Bible is a compilation of various writings over many centuries, eventually agreed upon by the historical Christian Church to be included in the “canon of scripture.” The books included have been carefully curated and believed to be the holy word of God. WikipediA states that, as of October 2017, the full Bible has been translated into 670 languages, the New Testament into 1,521 languages and Bible portions or stories into 1,121 other languages.

Apart from what writings are and are not included in the canon is the matter of translation into modern English of texts originally written in various ancient languages including Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Latin and. variations of those depending on the time and location.

The issue of translation, as one might imagine, becomes significantly complicated. A translator (or translators) need to determine what rules are being followed in expressing ancient words in modern ways. Is the policy dynamic or formal? Is it a word for word translation or is an overall sense of meaning the goal? How do current understandings, cultural influences of time and place influence the task of understanding these texts impact how they are placed on the modern page?

A word that meant one thing in the Middle Ages can mean something quite different in the 21st century.

Readers of biblical texts will often gain important perspective when returning to the original languages to decipher the literal “word” of God being uttered. This makes the study of the ancient languages an invaluable tool in the task of interpretation. But nuance of language, both ancient and modern, make this a time consuming endeavour. A word that meant one thing in the Middle Ages can mean something quite different in the 21st century. All of these factors makes accurately translating and interpreting holy scripture challenging indeed. Often comparing one translation with others can help in gaining a wider understanding of a specific concept.

The Anglican Church tends to rely primarily on translations considered to exhibit a great degree of agreement among scholars, leaning more toward word for word translations than those depending on cultural idiom and nuance. Bishops of Anglican dioceses throughout the world authorize the scriptural translations to be used in public worship. In the Diocese of Fredericton, and generally in the Anglican Church of Canada, the preferred biblical translation is the New Revised Standard Version, but an entire list can be found as a Bishop’s Directive . (1. General Liturgy and Worship –> 1.4 Biblical Translations Recommended for Public Reading) The NRSV is a modern example and product several decades in the making with various versions having been produced during its development. It generally holds to a policy of literal translation while paying attention to current acceptable linguistic expression in terms of gender neutrality.

There have been many popular bible translations in recent decades. Some may remember the Good News Bible or Eugene Peterson’s The Message, each having been looked upon as Bibles “friendly to the ear.” Difficulties that present themselves with popular versions of biblical texts are often both theological and doctrinal. Do these versions of scripture agree with official doctrinal (teaching) positions of the Church and/or specific denominational expressions of that church body?

Read more about bible translations on WikipediA: Bible translations

GMH

Do I Have to Kneel? – info about Anglican customs

Posted on

Approximately 30 people gathered at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, January 27th to hear the answer to the question “Do I Have to Kneel?” The afternoon session, which was something of an Anglican primer, included presentations by Hank Williams, Cheryl Jacobs and Dean Geoffrey Hall and was hosted by the Christian Formation committee.

The first speaker, Hank Williams, gave a brief but interesting overview of the Cathedral structure, the correct names for the different areas of the Cathedral and some of its history. He explained that the term Cathedral is used to denote the Bishop’s church and is the main church of the Diocese. Hank provided lots of dates and places of origin relevant to various items in the Cathedral including the font, windows, lectern and pulpit. Most of these items date back to the mid 1800’s. It was interesting to hear that the Cathedral clock began life as the prototype for the clock at Westminster Abbey and that it dates back to 1854.

Cheryl Jacobs

Cheryl Jacobs shares about the church liturgical year and colours in 'Godly Play' style

Next up was Cheryl Jacobs who explained the Seasons and Colors of the Anglican Church. Cheryl used a banner produced for Godly Play to show the purple, red, white and green colors and their accompanying seasons. She explained that hangings in the church are changed to reflect these seasons. Purple is considered the color of kings as well as being representative of prayer and penitence. White is for joy and celebration. Green represents growth and new life and white represents joy and celebration. Epiphany, Christmas and Easter are all represented by white and red, the color of the Spirit represents fire and is used for the Passion, Pentecost and for Christian martyrs.

The final presentation was given by Dean Geoffrey Hall. He pointed out that the church calendar walks us through the life of Christ. Anglican worship is primarily “liturgical” – liturgy means work of the people. The Anglican church is a product of the Reformation of the 1500’s, when many Protestant denominations were formed. The Anglican church endeavoured to bring balance in worship to word and the sacrament. Read an article about Henry VIII and the Anglican Church.

The afternoon was full of Anglican factoids! And yes, an answer to the question “Do I Have to Kneel” was provided. According to Dean Geoffrey, the Book of Common Prayer 1962 (BCP) and the Book of Alternative services (1985), offer “rubrics,” directions which are written in red. Recommended Prayer Book postures: sit to listen, stand to praise and kneel to pray. The Book of Alternative returns to suggesting, by way of rubric, that we return to an older Christian custom of standing for prayer. While there is always a recommendation that most will follow, its never inappropriate to sit, stand or kneel as any one of those is more possible or comfortable.

Lots of other questions regarding the Anglican customs were asked by attendees and interest was shown in more sessions of this nature. If you are interested in participating in the future, please contact a member of the Christian Formation committee or our Christian Formation Director, Kurt Schmidt.

Gail MacGillivray

Why we do what we do – Eucharistic practice and the risk of infection

Posted on

Why we do what we do - eucharistic practiceAt Christ Church Cathedral, we take health and safety seriously.

From time to time there are questions about precautions followed to reduce the risk of infection in the administration of the Holy Eucharist.

First and foremost, we follow our own diocesan Bishop's Directive 3.4 on the Administration of the Sacrament. This includes making intinction (dipping) of the host (bread) available for those who wish not to drink from the common chalice (cup). In following the practice of intinction, it is important that only the administrator of the host touch the host prior to it coming in contact with the contents of the chalice. Those who are making Communion are required to indicate their wish for intinction to the administrator BEFORE taking the host.

These instructions are included on church bulletins each Sunday.

For more information on Eucharistic practice and the risk of infection, see the article on the web site of the Anglican Church of Canada.

 

Eucharistic practice and the risk of infection - Anglican Church of Canada

By David H. Gould, BA, MD,CM, FRCPC, FICA, A.Th Introduction With the discovery of AIDS a number of fears have arisen regarding the risk of the infection being spread by the use of the "common cup" at the Eucharist. This in turn has led to a re-examination of Eucharistic practices and their potential for transmission ...