Out there in the world it is a battle already lost. The Advent police are powerless against the consumerist forces of capitalism when, immediately following Hallowe’en, carols start being heard in malls and store windows are decorated. But in the Church, the Advent police still have real power, especially if they are the rector of a parish. When the first sign of giving way to the sin of early celebration begins to rear its ugly head, the Advent police begin their self-righteous admonishments and superciliously explain the purpose of “Advent waiting.”

“Advent is a time of preparation, of anticipation,” they explain to the faithful members of the altar guild on the first Sunday of Advent, who simply want to make the church look nice with some fresh cedar garlands. This unwelcome catechesis goes something like this: “So much of the world gives in to instant gratification, but we as the Church must not! It is a spiritual discipline to wait, as the rest of the pagan world is already celebrating the birth of a child they do not believe in, we are waiting in anticipation for his coming!” The look of saddened and frustrated faces does nothing to sway the Advent police. The Advent police are a heartless and hardened bunch. No tidings of comfort and joy, no peace on earth or good will to men must ever be proclaimed in Advent. They explain that traditionally Advent was something of a mini-Lent. We ought not to be celebrating, but considering our sinfulness, repenting, as John the Baptist directs us, lest we find ourselves fleeing from the wrath that is to come. We must be readying our lamps like the wise virgins. We must be preparing for the coming of the bridegroom. While the rest of the world is getting excited, we ought to solemnly reflect on things like the last judgement.

Our friend Mr. Perkins was an ardent defender of this policy, so much so that in addition to the elimination of the Gloria in Excelsis, he also banned the use of “Alleluia” as one does in Lent. Somewhere along the line, in utter devotion to Advent solemnity, he fell under the mistaken impression that this was required of the faithful.

This all fell apart one year for Mr. Perkins one Sunday in Advent in the early years of his ministry. The service had ended with the favourite Advent hymn, “Lo, he comes with clouds descending, once for favoured sinners slain.” The word “Hallelujah” is used no fewer than seven times in that hymn. Having forbidden the use of the word during Advent and replaced the Gloria with the Kyrie, he had preached vociferously on waiting and preparing and holding back on Christmas until Christmas Eve. As the little line of people exited his tiny parish church, Miss Lillian Littlestature, a spinster of 92, looked up at him and asked him quizzically, “Mr. Perkins, if we aren’t allowed to say ‘alleluia’ how come we get to sing it in the hymn?” Mr. Perkins was stymied. He had been singing the hymn lustily and with good courage, as John Wesley might have said, and had forgotten himself all the while. This was one of those rare occasions in which he was speechless on a matter of theology. He tried for an answer but could not find one. He simply did not know what to say.

After the service, he hurried back to his study and counted up the number of times “Hallelujah” was used in the hymn. Yes, seven times. Then he went through the Advent section in the hymn book and realized just how many Advent hymns included alleluias. Was he wrong all these years? It couldn’t be. He held a Master of Divinity from Trinity College. Surely, he knew what he was doing with respect to liturgical planning. But there it was, in black and white, in the sung tradition of the Church, again and again, alleluias in Advent. Celebration in Advent. In his own mind, and amongst all of his colleagues, at least the ones he respected, Advent was a time of deep reverence, solemnity, preparation and waiting, not celebration. Now, he was questioning everything he held sacred, his liturgical world had been turned upside down. What was he to do? Was he a fraud? That night he could not sleep as he pondered these things over and over again in his heart and mind. What had he gotten wrong?

Monday was his day off, and although he was sleep deprived, he drove into the neighbouring town for a trip to the mall. (In those days, Hampton’s Corners had not yet quite acquired that status of having a mall, although I am now told that there are several big box stores on the outskirts of town.) He hated trips to the mall. It felt to him like a trip into pagan territory. But Mr. Perkins had nephews and nieces to buy presents for, as well for his mother and for his brother and sister. Mr. Perkins took heart, stirred up his courage, and faced the inevitable and discouraging duty of Christmas shopping.

After some time of walking around the mall aimlessly, looking in store windows, he finally steeled himself for the task, and after a couple of hours his arms were full of packages and bags, and Mr. Perkins found himself feeling pretty satisfied about how well he had done with his Christmas shopping. He decided he should stop at the Tim Hortons in the food court and have a cup of coffee as a reward for his efforts. And so he did. Mr. Perkins placed his parcels and bags on the table and floor, breathed a sigh of relief, and began to take drink his coffee. Over the loudspeaker he could hear Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney…

Busy sidewalks, city sidewalks dressed in holiday style
in the air there’s a feeling of Christmas.
Hear the snow crunch, see the kids bunch, this is Santa’s big day
And above all this bustle you hear…
Silver bells, silver bells,
It’s Christmas time in the city…

Mr. Perkins found himself humming along, and finally, quietly singing the lyrics. His heart was warmed and he felt satisfied.

Then suddenly, he felt horrified. He was enjoying Christmas, and it was only December 13th. It was still Advent! In this consumerist frenzy, he had been led astray! He had let himself slip into the joy of the season that was reserved only for Christmas Eve and the twelve days that followed. Here he was, in this temple of pagan consumerism, enjoying Christmas! What had he done?

But then he looked around and saw the faces of the shoppers, and he realized that Bing and Rosemary were right, in the air there was a feeling of Christmas. Then, in the distance, he heard the silver bells of the Sally Ann kettle ringer. People were happy, excited, both anticipating and celebrating at one and the same time. Then, over the PA system, he heard Perry Como sing, “Hark the Herald Angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.” And for the first time, he realized that Advent was really something of a show, not a bad show, perhaps even a necessary show, but it was a show, a piece of theatre. It is not ultimately what is real. What is real is that two thousand years ago, a babe was born to us. And so, Christ has come, and while it is true we await his coming again in glory on the last day, and while it is true we wait for him to be born again in our hearts, the hearts of all, he has actually come. The waiting is over, and it has been over for a long time. The time to celebrate is now.

Here, in the profane setting of the food court of the mall, drinking his “Timmy’s,” Mr. Perkins realized for the first time that Advent is simply a sacred drama in which we ritually re-enact the waiting – a waiting that points to a sacred truth: Christ has come. We can both celebrate and anticipate at one and the same time. The faces of the people said it all. From the elderly woman placing a folded bill in the Sally Ann kettle to the little child skipping along, licking his candy cane. In the air there was a feeling of Christmas, and it was really quite wonderful.

It was on that Monday in Advent, many years ago, that Mr. Perkins turned in his membership card as an officer of the Advent police. Never again was he anxious about singing alleluias in Advent, and while he did hold back on the use of the Gloria in Excelsis till Christmas Eve, in subsequent years he permitted the tree to go up in the church, and yes, even to be lit. He allowed poinsettias to sneak their way into the chancel in mid-December. He allowed carols during the pageant on Advent IV, and when participants filed out of church on that last Sunday of Advent and wished him a “Merry Christmas,” he wished them a Merry Christmas back.

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When the pandemic lockdown started in March 2020, the food bank leadership, in cooperation with the church leadership, made the decision to remain open so that guests would not go hungry. The shopping and market model changed to a hamper handed out at the church door or by delivery. While other food banks were forced to close, the Avenue Road Food Bank continued to stay open until this March, when it converted back to the shopping and market model, and we welcomed our guests back into the church building.

Throughout these challenges, our volunteers remained loyal, hard-working and dedicated. Our guests tell us that they value not just the food they receive but also the kindness and respect they are shown. We greet them by name, we listen to their stories, we share hospitality by giving them water, sandwiches and sweets as they wait in line to enter our market, located in the nave of the church. We are currently seeing more 300 households at our doors, with new registrations every week.

The Daily Bread Food Bank, one of our partners, nominated the Avenue Road Food Bank as a finalist for its 2022 Outstanding Food Program Award, as part of its Best in Class Awards. This award “recognizes a community food agency in Toronto that has made significant efforts to implement best practises to provide services to clients with choice, dignity, and respect. The Outstanding Food Program embodies inclusivity with a volunteer cohort reflecting the community they serve, and actively creates a welcoming and supportive environment for clients.”

The Avenue Road Food Bank has also been recognized for its contribution to the local community, in its attempts to ease the burdens of its guests. It received the Annex Association’s 2022 Community Builder Award “for the exceptional dedication of its staff and volunteers in safely ensuring no one in our community had to go hungry during the pandemic.” The office of Jessica Bell, MPP, University-Rosedale, gave the Avenue Road Food Bank her 2022 Community Leadership Award “for working to improve the lives of those in our community.”

Submitted by Liz Gilbert

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Submitted by the Rev. Canon Dr. Philip Der

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Following some research and discussions, organizers decided not to relaunch the full theatrical production with a cast just yet but are offering a combination of experiences for Christmas Story audiences.

There will be three concerts that bring back the live readings and gorgeous music of the 85-year-old Toronto tradition. Professional singers, whose voices in past years were only heard from the church’s choir loft at the back of the nave, will now be onstage.

The concerts will take place on Dec. 10 and Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. and Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. at Holy Trinity, located behind the Eaton Centre.

For audiences that want a more visual experience, the 2020 “Pandemic Pageant” film will be screened in the Holy Trinity nave on Dec. 9 and Dec. 16 at 7 p.m., to be watched in person. The film will also be available online from Dec. 1 through Jan. 7.

The suggested donation for all events will be $10 for adults and $5 for children.

Other churches across Canada – and beyond – are invited to host a group screening of the “Pandemic Pageant” film in their communities. Holy Trinity will be able to provide access to a download of a high-resolution file. Interested churches are encouraged to reach out to The Christmas Story at: christmasstory@holytrinity.to.

“The ongoing uncertainty around the pandemic and a looming winter wave is the reason the Christmas Story committee decided against the full production this year,” says Susan Watson, director of The Christmas Story.

“We heard through the grapevine that the Stratford Festival and Broadway had very challenging theatre seasons with both actors and tech crew off sick, resulting in cancelled shows. With this arrangement, we can share The Christmas Story experience widely, but also respond easily to any potential restrictions.”

For more details on how to view The Christmas Story online, or to reserve seating for one of the film screenings or concerts, visit The Christmas Story website at www.thechristmasstory.ca or phone: 416-598-4521 ext. 301.

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The workers begin arriving in January, mainly from Mexico as well as the Caribbean, and the numbers swell in May and June. In previous years, the Rev. Augusto Núñez, the incumbent of St. Saviour, Orono, would deliver meals, non-perishable foods and clothing to the farms, sometimes working late into the night to reach all the farms. However, the number of farms and workers served by the ministry continues to grow each year.

“We just keep growing in regards to numbers,” says Mr. Núñez. “Either I get invited because people know me and tell me there are some migrant workers in this farm, or sometimes the fellows move from working in one farm and end up in another. I continue to be in touch with them through Facebook, text messages, phone calls or WhatsApp. They let me know where they are, and when I arrive at a new farm, I meet other workers who are interested in the ministry.”

In 2022, the ministry served about 350 men. To continue growing and ensure the ministry is sustainable in the long term, Mr. Núñez’s vision has been to turn St. Saviour’s into a “hub.” The church has started to offer drive-through hot meals once a month, where workers come to St. Saviour’s to collect their meal instead of having them delivered to the farms. The meals are cooked at the church, and partners working with the ministry take turns to prepare them. On average, the ministry provides about 70 hot meals each month, and Mr. Núñez tries to ensure that each month a farm is selected to receive the meals so that everyone is taken care of. The hub also provides donated clothing and other items.

In addition to helping the workers with practical needs, Mr. Núñez is available to discuss any pastoral concerns with them. He invites them to join the Sunday service at St. Saviour’s. The service is bilingual, with parts of the liturgy and sermon translated into Spanish.

Before the pandemic, Mr. Núñez organized large monthly gatherings for workers from different farms to come together, eat and play sports. The gatherings stopped during the pandemic and have yet to be revived, but Mr. Núñez continues to visit the farms and has been able to join the workers for their own celebrations, such as Mexican Independence Day. As the ministry moves towards being a hub for the workers, it will provide additional opportunities for the men to meet and socialize.

The ministry is also growing in terms of the number of parishes that want to support it — and not just Anglican parishes but also United, Presbyterian and Evangelical churches. Other partners have also come on board, including ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency), which sponsored one of the hot meals.

ADRA has proved a useful connection, as Mr. Núñez hopes that next year the ministry will provide the workers with access to a doctor, who will be available once or twice a month. Through their relief network, ADRA is supporting the ministry in finding a doctor. This idea was partly inspired by the Diocese of Niagara’s Migrant Farmworkers Project, led by the Rev. Antonio Illas.

The workers themselves continue to express their gratitude for the ministry. “Usually, at the end of the season, I collect testimonies from them and they express their thanks to the ministry and the partners for remembering them,” says Mr. Núñez. “They’re far from home and it’s nice for a group of people to remember them and offer them a sense of community. Some of the workers are on small family farms that can be isolated.

“We can see how the Lord is using us to pray for them and to encourage them,” he adds. “That’s, at the bottom line, what our work is: to bring Christ’s love to them, to be the hands and feet of Jesus. That’s what he has told us to be and that’s our mission in this ministry.”

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We have recently finished our first Mission to Seafarers Canada in-person conference in three and a half years, during which we shared information on how much our world – and the world of the seafarers we serve – has changed. We noted that because of COVID-19, the term “supply chain” and its effect on humanity officially brought seafarers to the attention of many in the world. However, seafarers have somehow dropped out of our consciousness while the supply chain remains front and centre. We call that “sea blindness.”

Now it’s Christmas time. For us at the Canadian Missions to Seafarers, our concern is less with the supply chain and more with the seafarers and what we can do to help them at this extremely stressful time of the year. Some are entering a third year with limited, if any, shore leave and contract extensions that have kept them away from their families for many extra months. Others face the horrors of a war at home and not knowing where their families are. We are faced with bringing some semblance of Christmas into the hearts and lives of these brave men and women, no matter what their faith or culture.

Seafarers count on us to bring Christmas spirit on board each year, and it’s never been more important than it is now. We deliver hundreds of “Ditty Bags” to the arriving ships; they are filled with a variety of treats, but none are more welcome than the hand-knitted goods such as hats, scarves, mittens and bunk-sized quilts and afghans that find their way into every bag.

It’s not the items themselves that the seafarers appreciate the most but the act behind them. As one seafarer explained to me, it is the fact that a complete stranger took up knitting needles (or a sewing machine or crochet hook) and made a gift for another complete stranger. There is time and love in each item, an expression of hope that is profound. Think of it this way: the craftsperson doesn’t have an image in mind of what the seafarer looks like; they just make the item to be received. And likewise for the seafarer: they don’t have any idea who the craftsperson is, or what she or he looks like, but they are thrilled to be the recipient of the gift.

The source of all this is generosity, given and received, without any expectation on either side. These particular craftspeople spend 12 months of the year knitting, creating and setting aside each item, and when they run out of room around the end of October, I get a call asking when they can make their delivery. Hundreds of items – all handmade, all cherished. And after they deliver these items, these wonderful craftspeople start all over again. Sounds like what Jesus needs all of us to be doing.

On our packing day, a group of volunteers gathers to pack up the 800 or so bags filled with all kinds of toiletries, sweets, notepads, pens, card games and at least one handmade item. That goes on the top of the bag and is the first thing the seafarers see when they open them. When they wrap their scarves around their necks, or pull the toque over their ears, the smile that splits their faces is priceless, let me tell you. A thumbs-up lets us know that the gift is a hit – and will continue to be on every cold day.

To the dozens of knitters and craftspeople across Canada that the Mission is blessed to have supporting our ministry, please accept the collective thanks of both us at the Mission and the seafarers whom you bless with your gifts, your time and your unconditional love.

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The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine is a contemporary expression of the religious life for women within the Anglican Church of Canada. We were founded in Toronto in 1884. We are a prayer-and-gospel centred monastic community, bound together by the call to a vowed life in intentional community. Nurtured by our founding vision of prayer, community and service, we are open and responsive to the needs of the Church and the contemporary world, continually seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our life and ministry.

Called to be a sign of Christ, the Sisterhood witnesses to the power of God’s reconciling and forgiving love through the gospel imperatives of prayer, hospitality, spiritual direction, ministering to those in need, working for justice and peace, reverence for the whole creation, and promoting unity, healing and wholeness. Through our prayer and spirituality, outreach to others, pastoral and spiritual care, community life and stewardship, we are celebrating 138 years of prayer, love and service.

Having entered the Community in 1965, I have had a variety of jobs in nearly every area of our life. At present I am the director of western and overseas Associates and also fundraising. I am also on the Reverend Mother’s council.

The present work that I am doing provides deep joy and pleasure. The Associates are men and women who have joined us as part of our extended family following Jesus in a life of love, prayer and service. Keeping in touch with these committed men and women, lay and ordained, as they seek to deepen their spiritual life through following a rule of life, is for me a blessing and a joy. I write individual and general letters, prepare quiet days for Associates, and share weekly reflections with them and on our website. COVID-19 provided a challenge of learning to use Zoom to reach out, and it gave me, and continues to give me, the opportunity to reach out to many more Associates than ever before. I have been able to meet so many people and have seen how this opportunity enables folks from across western Canada (Manitoba to British Columbia), the western United States and overseas to share together and meet each other. It has been a means of deepening bonds across the distances.

The best thing about being a Sister is being able to answer the call to give my whole self to God in prayer and service within this intentional community of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, which I love and which is my joy. The most challenging thing about being a Sister is living within this intentional community of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, which I love and which is my joy, and learning to live together with differences

My father, Bruce, and my mother, Winne, were born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. My father worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and so he was moved around quite a bit during my lifetime. I was born in Verdun, Quebec during World War Two. We moved nearly every four to five years, first to Winnipeg, then Calgary, then Medicine Hat and finally to Vancouver, where I went to university.

What led me to become a Sister with SSJD? When I was about eight years old, the family living in Calgary, our parish church of St. Barnabas invited a Sister to speak to the Sunday School class. What I saw and heard was someone who had given their whole life to God, and that made a profound impression upon me. I told my parents that I knew what I wanted to be, someone who gave their whole life to God! I really only knew the mystery of that, not what it really meant, until we moved to Medicine Hat and in high school. Our parish church of St. Barnabas, being involved in Guides and then Rangers, and surrounded by wonderful role models and Associates of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, I began to understand that giving my whole life to God might be a call to the religious life. I had my own dreams as well – to teach school, to marry and have children, and so was involved in many activities throughout high school and university, but always there was this inner call to give my whole life to God. After graduating from university in May 1965, I visited the convent in Toronto for the first time and knew that I had come home to the place where I could answer God’s call to give my whole life to God.

Five years from now, I would really like to be doing much the same as I am doing now – a life of prayer and service within this community in whatever way God seems to be calling me and us. Here is my greatest joy!

I have many favourite passages, but I think that at present my most favourite are Luke 1:28, 30 and 37 in The Message translation of scripture. I believe that we, throughout our lives, are confronted with many annunciation events; God has surprises for us throughout our lives.

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The mini-sabbatical program was announced in a letter to the diocese from Bishop Andrew Asbil on June 24. “Pastoring congregations and maintaining community through the pandemic took a significant toll on the mental, physical and spiritual health of our clergy. The College of Bishops believes that every cleric – priest and deacon – is in need of a Sabbath rest,” he wrote.

Every cleric currently serving in an appointment in the diocese who worked a minimum of 12 months between March 2020 and June 2022 is entitled to 10 days of paid sabbatical, including one Sunday. The days must be taken when the liturgical colour is green (during “ordinary time”) before Aug. 31, 2023. Clergy have the option of taking all 10 days at once or dividing them up.

The Rev. Canon Susan Climo, incumbent of Holy Spirit of Peace in Mississauga, may have been one of the first to apply for a mini-sabbatical when she decided to take some days of rest in August. “I tried to think of various things that would feed me and tried to do a little bit of each thing,” she says. “I appreciated what the bishops said about it being different for everybody – that there is no one-size-fits-all for what the mini-sabbatical will be able to offer people.”

She spent a day at a spa to take care of her body and two more resting at home to refresh and revitalize herself. She also invited a close friend to visit, wanting to respond to the sense of isolation she’d felt during the pandemic. They spent a day at St. John’s Convent, joining the Sisters for mid-day Eucharist and taking the opportunity to walk the labyrinth. “I’d been raving about it to him for years and I wanted to share it with him,” says Canon Climo. “We talked a bit about what our experience of the past couple years had been like for us, about our hopes for the future and what we had learned from the time we had spent in pandemic.”

On the Sunday morning, she decided to visit her home Lutheran parish, reuniting with people she’d known for years and being a participant in worship rather than leading it herself. “It’s nice to be able to lose myself completely in that moment of worship; it’s a real gift that I received,” she says.

The lay leaders at Holy Spirit of Peace enthusiastically supported Canon Climo in taking her mini-sabbatical. They decided to use the morning prayer rite provided by the diocese, including a pre-recorded sermon from Bishop Asbil. “They actually quite appreciated the opportunity and relished the chance to lead worship,” says Canon Climo. “It just models beautifully the fact that liturgy is the work of the people, and there’s no reason why members of the parish cannot be key actors in leading worship and crafting worship.”

As she and her parish move from one phase of the pandemic to a new reality, she says she greatly appreciated the opportunity to rest. “I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that I was both physically and mentally drained by the years of COVID-19,” she says. “It’s not like it was a week or two; it was a long haul. It really did tax me in so many different ways.”

Some clerics, like the Rev. Maria Nightingale, have decided to travel during their mini-sabbaticals. Ms. Nightingale, the associate priest at St. Peter, Erindale, decided to use her 10 days in early October to walk the Camino Nova Scotia, a week-long pilgrimage organized by the Atlantic School of Theology. She and nine other pilgrims walked 110 kilometres from Grand-Pré to Annapolis Royal, N.S.

“It was absolutely marvellous. I was really grateful that the bishops came up with this program, because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to entertain doing this pilgrimage. I’d been wanting to go on pilgrimage for about five years,” she says. “There’s a lot of stuff that’s been going on, and I was getting to the point of feeling just exhausted. This was a really good time of renewal.”

Like Canon Climo, she says she’s glad that the program is open to any kind of sabbatical experience a cleric might need. “For me, walking in nature has been the way I’ve kind of survived the pandemic. That’s my way of recharging, of praying, of meditating,” she says. “I did not take my computer with me, I didn’t check my email, I wasn’t reporting on Facebook what I did every day. It was a complete time apart.”

Her most profound revelation came on the last day of the pilgrimage. She recalls that she started her experience sure that God would give her clarity about the next steps in her ministry. “The last day of walking, it was extremely foggy in the morning. You couldn’t see five metres ahead of you,” she says.

Though initially disappointed to miss what was supposed to be the most beautiful part of the pilgrimage, she decided to incorporate the fog into her reflections as she walked. “I realized that the fact that I didn’t have any more clarity about what’s next didn’t matter, that the fact that it was foggy and I couldn’t see the path didn’t matter. I just needed to trust that the path was there, that I had the instructions that I needed, and that eventually the fog would clear. When I didn’t have to be anxious about when the fog was going to clear, I could focus on the beauty of what was up close in front of me.”

The fog on the trail did, in fact, clear, and Ms. Nightingale says she’s carrying that lesson into her ministry as she jumps back into parish life and deadlines.

Canon Climo also hopes to bring aspects of her mini-sabbatical into her ongoing ministry. “That’s always the challenge, making these once-in-a-lifetime experiences last beyond their expiration date. I think probably the one that will be the most manageable for me is to remember the tremendous resource that we have in the convent here in the diocese,” she says. “Just that separation, that entering into the rhythm of their life there and their prayer and their silence is restorative for me.”

She says she hopes her colleagues will make plans for their mini-sabbaticals before too long. “I realize how hard it is for many clerics to see their way clear. There just seem to be so many things – the to-do list keeps getting longer and longer,” she says. “I would encourage them to be brave and to start the conversation with their leaders. I certainly hope they will find that there is great support.”

Ms. Nightingale echoes that idea. “If you don’t look after yourself and take that time to rest and renew, it will be more detrimental to your parish than just continuing to slog along,” she says. “We are in a different place than we were two and a half years ago, and we need the strength to keep going and to figure out how to keep going during this time.”

For her part, Canon Climo planned to use the rest of her sabbatical days in November to visit the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Mass., something she’s always wanted to do. “I love the rhythm of monastic life. I love the regularity of prayer, and I think that’s what will be a highlight for me,” she says. “I don’t need to accomplish anything while I’m there other than to be restored. I’m sure that the Spirit will lead me in the direction I need to go to have that happen.”

More details about the mini-sabbatical program, including the morning prayer rite and a sermon from Bishop Asbil, can be found on the Clergy Leaves page of the diocesan website.

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“Young people are leading the way on a number of things, on climate issues, Indigenous issues,” said Ms. McGlynn. “Young people are in a place to lead us. They know this stuff. How do we walk alongside youth in that work?”

She noted that climate activist Greta Thunberg and American congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both young, have said that if you’re over 40, you need younger mentors in your life. And if you’re under 40, you need to share your experiences in your life. She encouraged Anglicans to connect with young people and find out what they’re thinking. One way to do that is by learning about the issues and reading novels such as The Marrow Thieves by Métis author Cherie Dimaline.

A youth group leader at the workshop echoed the point that young people are already active on social justice issues but often don’t think that the Church cares about the issues that young people care about.

Ms. McGlynn pointed to planning for the next Canadian Lutheran Anglican Youth (CLAY) gathering, slated for next August in Waterloo as an example of how the Church can improve its work with Indigenous youth. It’s always been difficult to involve Indigenous youth in this event, which attracts several hundred young Anglicans and Lutherans from across Canada. However, thanks to a generous donation from the Anglican Foundation, funds will be available to support participation by young Indigenous participants at the next CLAY conference. “I’m really excited about that,” said Ms. McGlynn. Conference plans include a visit to the nearby First Nations community of Six Nations, near Brantford, Ont. The Ven. Val Kerr, an Indigenous elder and Archdeacon for Truth, Reconciliation and Indigenous Ministry in the Diocese of Niagara, is helping to plan the conference.

Ms. McGlynn put forth a number of action ideas that Anglicans could consider: listening to the voices of youth; encouraging action on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action; and reviewing the 270 recommendations of the report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and then acting on them. Other activities a parish could take include showing the film Doctrine of Discovery: Stolen Lands, Strong Hearts or showing Indian Horse, another excellent film about a residential school experience, and using the film’s study guide.

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