The Writings include three books of the Wisdom genre. Last month, we looked at one of those books, Job. It is to the other two books, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, I would like to turn today. With Job, they form the Wisdom part of the Tanakh. All three books are very different, written from distinctly different worldviews.

The Wisdom tradition was international, with most of the tribes and nations in the Near East possessing their own Wisdom writings. These books usually outlined skills for living well, based on the experiences of the authors. Thousands of proverbs have been discovered in the Ancient Near East, containing guidance for living well and thus prospering.

Wisdom literature had little connection to the other major themes or the great formative historical memories in scripture. There is no mention of covenant, the Promised Land, the temple, the ancient ancestors or the Exodus.

Last month, in looking at the Book of Job, we saw that bad things happen to good people, and punishment is not always the result of living sinfully. God doesn’t seem to have an understandable moral order in life. Finally, we saw God telling Job that, as he was unable to understand the laws of creation or the order of nature, he could not limit God by deciding how God must act in the universe.

Proverbs is almost diametrically opposite to this worldview. The basic premise of this book is that good behaviour will lead to a good life, and if one behaves in a particular way he or she will be rewarded and prosper.

The Book of Proverbs is a series of sayings of a father to his son about the skills necessary in living well. If you expect to succeed in life, you have to act in a certain way. Proverbs is a set of skills for living a good life. Thus good behaviour is rewarded by God, and bad behaviour will lead to suffering.

The Book of Ecclesiastes is a very different response to leading a good life. This book may have originated with Solomon (the son of King David), who was the last king of the united kingdom in Palestine. It would have been written in his old age. After his death, the kingdom of Israel divided into two parts. If this book originated with Solomon, it has undergone much revision and rewriting at the hands of the scribes and redactors, especially in the third and second centuries BCE.

Ecclesiastes appears in a section called the Book of the Five Scrolls, containing five short stories that are read at the five major festivals in the Jewish Year. Ecclesiastes is the fourth book and is read at Sukkot, the festival of the late harvest or in the late autumn.

The message of Ecclesiastes is simple: “There is nothing new under the sun” (1:9) and “vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (1:2 and 12:8). All wisdom is like chasing after the wind. This is mentioned some five or six times in Ecclesiastes. You can’t catch it. It will always evade you. Nor can you understand what it is all about. (Remember, this was written 3,000 years ago!) Thus, for the author of Ecclesiastes, “all is vanity.” Life really has no meaning; it is irrelevant and empty. What we do is useless and of no significance.

But the author of Ecclesiastes ends with the statement, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for that is the duty of everyone. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing whether good or evil” (12:13-14).

Actually, this epilogue may have made it possible for this book to be included in the canon of scripture. It does suggest a dichotomy in Ecclesiastes. Although life is meaningless, nevertheless we need to be obedient to God in all things to live a good life. This is another fascinating read and is only 12 chapters in length. As you read this book, try to consider the people for whom it was written and the reason for its composition, and then how its teachings applies to your life. Enjoy the dialogue.

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Ms. Goar believes churches and other non-governmental organizations working on issues of poverty, homelessness and the gulf between the rich and the poor have made incremental changes possible.

She cited the increase in the minimum wage, the creation of the Ontario Child Benefit and the increase in social assistance payments to single adults, as positive results of the social justice movement.

“These are small things, I acknowledge, but they have made a material improvement in people’s lives,” she said. “And they wouldn’t have happened if people like you hadn’t led by example and stood with those who couldn’t afford basic necessities in a rich, advanced nation.”

Ms. Goar’s keynote address at the conference, held in Richmond Hill, kicked off a day of discussions and workshops. Workshop topics included reconciliation with First Nations, Biblical storytelling, restorative justice, ethical investing and whether the Gospel is political.

The conference brought together clergy and lay people who are engaged in outreach work in the diocese. This year’s theme was “Repairing the Breach: Signs of Healing.” (Isaiah 58:12).

Despite the incremental changes, many challenges remain, said Ms. Goar. “The biggest, in my view, is that millions of Canadians – good people who help their neighbours, donate to charity and belong to your congregations – sincerely believe we can’t afford to do more than we’re doing for people in need.”

Over the past 20 years, she said, political leaders at all levels of government have systematically re-shaped public opinion, convincing Ontarians that increasing social assistance rates is dependent upon reducing the province’s deficit.

She said governments and special interest groups use different ways of measuring poverty to suit their own goals. These conflicting messages create confusion in the minds of people.

The third biggest challenge, she said, is the current political fixation on the middle class. She said the next federal election will be dominated by appeals to the middle class, leaving little room for others. “Unless voters demand it, poverty will be an afterthought – if that.”

She finished by saying that probably the toughest challenge is for people not to feel overwhelmed by the needs and complexities of those in poverty. “Most of us don’t feel equipped to deal with this daunting snarl of pathologies. Even if we could, it would be hard to bring others along. So what can one person or one church or one group do?”

She encouraged people to keep helping and advocating for those in need. “No matter what has gone wrong in a person’s life, he or she still needs a meal, a safe place to sleep and wash and the knowledge that they’ll be welcome somewhere.

“You can show it’s possible to treat everyone with dignity regardless of their mental health, addiction, appearance or behavior. You don’t have to know how to deal with their problems to listen respectfully. You don’t have to be a therapist to offer marginalized people the humanity that is usually missing from their lives.”

She said there are lots of ways that people can help the poor, from assisting them with paperwork to attending rallies. She said church groups can launch a speakers’ series, hold an all-candidates meeting, and produce easy-to-read facts on poverty. Individuals can urge their family members and friends to speak out and vote to send a message about the kind of province and country they want.

Group fights against ‘wage theft’

A group that worked on a recent campaign to increase the minimum wage to $14 an hour is broadening its effort to increase legal protection for low wage workers in Ontario.

Beixi Liu, an organizer for the Workers Action Centre, outlined the group’s efforts to convince the provincial government to strengthen Bill 18, the “Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act” which is being studied by the legislature.

Mr. Liu, speaking at a workshop at the Outreach Networking Conference, said stronger measures are needed to address “wage theft,” when workers don’t get paid for the work they do. Wage theft happens in a number of ways, he said: not paying overtime or vacation pay, issuing bad cheques, denying access of CPP, EI, and worker’s health and safety compensation.

The Diocese of Toronto supported the drive to increase the minimum wage to $14 before the last election. Many vestry meetings last winter approved the call for the increase from $10.25. However, the government increased the minimum wage to $11.

Mr. Liu said his group still believes that minimum wage increases are necessary. A participant in the workshop noted the minimum wage in Australia is $17, which is above the poverty line, so it can be done.

Now the group’s focus is on a comprehensive bill that addresses working conditions and protections for non-unionized workers. Mr. Liu said Bill 18 needs strengthening in a number of ways. Deadlines for reporting wage theft need to be increased to two years. Government must take more responsibility for enforcing compliance, rather than waiting for complaints. Another challenge is dealing with temporary workers, hired by agencies, who are paid as much as 40 per cent less than other workers. “We need equal pay for equal work,” said Mr. Liu. He added that barriers that prevent temporary workers from being hired permanently need to be lowered. Also, documents outlining workers’ rights must be translated into other languages, for Ontario’s diverse work force.

Local pipeline for tar sands oil raises concerns

A pipeline that opened in 1975 to ship oil from Montreal to refineries in Sarnia has become a symbol of the potential dangers of climate change caused by the use of heavy oil from the Alberta Tar Sands.

Environmental activist Lynn Adamson told a workshop at the Outreach Networking Conference that Line 9, which passes through southern Ontario, is set to carry three million barrels a day of tar sands oil.

What worries environmental groups, local politicians and academics is that Enbridge, which is responsible for Line 9, has a record of 610 spills, including a massive oil spill in 2010 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which was the largest in United States history.

The pipeline running through southern Ontario has about nine million people living within 15 km of it.

Participants viewed a film on the Line 9 controversy, which showed the efforts to stop the Enbridge plan, and how they have been ignored by governments and the petroleum industry. At this point, the pipeline change in direction, which will carry the tar sands oil from Sarnia to Montreal, is likely to be approved soon by the National Energy Board.

The Rev. Maggie Helwig, who is the priest-in-charge of St. Stephen in-the-Fields, Toronto, has been part of protests against line 9, chaining herself to heavy equipment. She has been present at “integrity digs” to inspect the pipeline.

Ms. Adamson says Line 9 crosses every river that feeds into Lake Ontario, so an oil spill would be devastating. She says 18 First Nations within 50 km of the pipeline have not been consulted.

The Line 9 issue is also linked to current climate change discussions. The heavy oil from the tar sands is more dangerous to ship, even by pipeline, and it is the same type of oil as was involved in the Lac Megantic train derailment. It takes 350 gallons of water to produce one barrel of heavy oil, or bitumen, and carbon emissions are huge.

Ms. Adamson said it is easy to “throw up our hands,” considering the immense implications of climate change. “But we have a prophetic mandate, because it is God’s creation we are talking about.”

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Where does that leave those of us who have struggled along our faith pilgrimages with doubts and fears – sometimes feeling very close to God, while at other times only too keenly aware of his absence?

Are there lessons we can learn from the Bible that will help when the faith journey is all up hill, with no crest in sight?

We are all too familiar with the giants of faith like Abraham, Joseph, Ruth and Esther – and so many others who never seem to have any doubts, no matter what difficulties they encounter. But do we sufficiently remember “Doubting” Thomas or the fearful Peter, who actually denied even knowing Christ, only to again become a leader among the apostles?

We should also consider the numerous Psalms that cry out to God and wonder where he is. Some of the best examples might be 10, 13, 22 and 74. See particularly psalm 13:1-2:“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Given the events surrounding the birth and ministry of John the Baptist, related in the first chapter of Luke, it is quite a shock to see him sending disciples to Jesus in chapter 7, to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Previous to this, John had fully embraced his ministry as Christ’s forerunner, had baptized him and seen the Holy Spirit descend on him, and had specifically pointed him out as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John. 1:29). Yet we find him subsequently expressing these doubts about him. If such a thing could happen to John the Baptist, is it any wonder that we too sometimes experience a lack of faith?

In 1 Kings 19, we find the great prophet Elijah, who, with God’s direct intervention, has just won an astounding victory over the prophets of Baal in the preceding chapter, now filled with fear and deep depression. Notwithstanding God’s repeated protection and provision for him, he is now petrified at the thought of possible revenge by the wicked Queen Jezebel. Even after escaping possible capture at her hands, he actually lays down and asks God to let him die! Only when God then sends ravens to bring him food does his spirit revive.

How many times have you confronted an overwhelming circumstance where you were doubtful of any possible help from God, despite many past examples, only to have a completely unexpected resolution suddenly appear? How much we are so often like the father of the apparently epileptic boy, who is healed by Jesus in Mark 9; when asked if he really believes that the Lord can cure his son, he responds, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Indeed, we are blessed to have a God who is a God of second chances: “For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). We are also promised that “a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench” (Isaiah 42:3).  For those of us who still struggle along the journey of faith – even when discouraged – it is God’s gentle hand which will lead us to our true and eternal home.

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Here are 10 good stewardship habits that need to be encouraged by our parish leadership if stewardship is to be more widely embraced in our parishes:

1. Preach about stewardship. While it might seem obvious that we need a dialogue about generosity, there is a general reluctance to preach on this topic. A good sermon, preached seasonally, will help reinforce our understanding of stewardship as being inherently biblical.
2. Promote stewardship education in all parish media. This includes newsletters, parish bulletins, bulletin boards, social media and websites. Include some sort of testimony, lay witness, reflection or ministry update. It all helps to keep the stewardship message relevant.
3. Celebrate volunteerism. Single out a parish ministry each week and celebrate its work in front of the whole congregation.
4. Say thank you. The church benefits by having one of the most captive audiences in the not-for-profit sector, and they should not be taken for granted. Think of ways to publicly acknowledge the giftedness of others.
5. Encourage your parish to tithe to outreach. The tithe remains the measure of generosity that is most widely admired and yearned for, and it is a challenge for most of us. It is precisely because it is such a challenge that parishes should lead by example and endeavour to donate 10 per cent of their revenue to outreach, including 5 per cent to FaithWorks.
6. Talk about leaving a legacy of faith. Legacy giving is not a well-established tradition in the Anglican Church. If we made a commitment to dedicate one Sunday each year to promote gifts through wills and estates, an important foundation will be laid for future generations.
7. Encourage pre-authorized giving. By making a monthly gift to the church through our bank account, we demonstrate the important role the church plays in our lives and the value we place on ensuring that the ministry needs of the church are met.
8. Lead by example. Churchwardens and clergy need to be examples of good stewardship. Their enthusiasm for stewardship education is essential. Incumbents need to be seen as financial supporters of the parish as well.
9. Develop an annual narrative budget. A narrative budget shows what ministries were supported by the previous year’s offerings and how the vestry is budgeting resources to carry out the congregation’s mission. It helps the vestry demonstrate its accountability to the rest of the membership so that its accountability inspires trust, and trust inspires commitment.
10. Conduct an annual intentional giving campaign. Christian disciples need to be moulded and fashioned. They need to be taught about what it means to be generous and then be invited to give of their own time, talent and treasure.

Stewardship is more than an intentional giving campaign held in the weeks after Thanksgiving. If stewardship is to become a way of life – that is, a lived-out example of how we profess our Christianity – then we need to find ways of incorporating it into our daily lives.

Too often parishes seek a quick fix for their financial stewardship decline. They mistakenly believe that if they implement a giving campaign in the fall – and experience the anticipated 15 per cent increase in giving – then all will be fine. But what is wrong with aiming for robust growth and transformation by implementing a year-round process? Change takes time, patience, energy and a willingness to trust the process. Our most successful parishes are examples that growth is possible precisely because of the investment that leadership makes.

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The Hon. Kathleen Wynne
Room 281,
Main Legislative Bldg, Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON   M7A 1A4

Dear Madame Premier:

On Sept. 3, 2014 the Ontario government released the long-awaited second phase of its Poverty Reduction Strategy, Realizing our Potential. The document provides an important opportunity to focus public attention on the continued prevalence of poverty in our province. Anglicans in the Diocese of Toronto have been actively working to address poverty in our communities for decades, and we welcome any effort by the government to engage with this issue. This latest phase of the Poverty Reduction Strategy contains several ambitious proposals to root out poverty, including a bold goal to end homelessness, a commitment to expand health and dental care programs to all low-income Ontarians, and a continued focus on reducing child poverty levels across the province.

While these proposals are admirable, the lack of a firm timeline or concrete goals in the strategy are cause for concern. The first phase of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, released in 2008, contained concrete, measurable goals and plans for implementation, such as the central commitment to reduce child poverty in Ontario by 25 per cent over five years. Although this ambitious goal was not met over the first five years of the strategy, the stated commitment and timeline were important in moving the issue forward and achieving real successes in this effort. Over the course of the first phase of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, low-income families saw significant increases in the Ontario Child Benefit, the implementation of full-day kindergarten across the province, and an increase in the minimum wage. According to the government’s own statistics, these initiatives helped to lift 47,000 children out of poverty in the first three years of the strategy, and prevented 61,000 children from falling into poverty. Without the firm commitments contained in the first strategy, it appears that the second phase of this strategy will struggle to achieve comparable developments.

It is encouraging that the new phase of the Poverty Reduction Strategy expands its focus beyond child poverty to address poverty issues for all Ontarians. The government’s commitment to end homelessness in Ontario is especially positive news. Anglican parishes throughout the diocese have long been actively involved in supporting our neighbours who are homeless or precariously housed through the development of affordable housing projects on church lands, advocating for increased funding for supportive housing, or supporting Out of the Cold programs. We welcome the renewed attention this strategy will provide to this issue.

We see the new Poverty Reduction Strategy as a positive step toward addressing poverty in our province. We now look for some concrete action plans on the part of the government to achieve the important goals they have laid out in this strategy. The Diocese of Toronto is committed to working with the government, and with our partners such as the 25in5 Campaign and the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition, to move towards taking action on poverty in the province. Together, we can live out our commitment to embody “God’s reconciling love, justice, compassion and liberation” in our communities and make a tangible difference in the lives of our most vulnerable neighbours.

I would welcome the opportunity to speak to you about this, as I hope that we can continue to work together in solidarity to the benefit of all of the citizens of Ontario. Please be assured of my ongoing prayers for the work that you do.

Yours faithfully,

The Most Rev. Colin R. Johnson
Archbishop of Toronto

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The covenant was inspired by a similar arrangement between two congregations in Rochester, N.Y. The Peterborough churches also drew inspiration from team ministry work in the Church of England and from the fresh expressions movement. The covenant was developed in consultation with Bishop Linda Nicholls, the area bishop of Trent-Durham.

The Rev. Geoff Howson, the priest-in-charge at All Saints, explains that all five churches are facing challenging times, with smaller congregations and tighter budgets. “Doing this forces us to ask how we can be creative and find a new way of being the church, so we can use our resources and not get hung up on being maintenance-oriented,” he says.

A major benefit has been that the five clergy are able to work as a team, rather than as “Lone Rangers,” he says. They meet weekly and offer support to each other. As trust builds, they discuss difficult situations and seek insight and advice from each other.

The five churches will remain distinct, governed by their own corporations and annual vestries, and will worship in their own locations. However, they hope the covenant will open the door to opportunities to better serve the needs of Peterborough.

As an example, says Mr. Howson, on issues of social justice such as poverty and homelessness, the five voices representing a large part of Peterborough can be powerful. “By joining together, we’re able to have a more profound voice in a city that does have a fair number of social issues it needs to confront,” he says.

The churches will share programs and worship as well. A Covenant Choir has been formed from 28 singers drawn from the five churches, and they are singing at special events. As well, there was a joint outdoor worship service in September and a joint Blessing of the Animals service in October.

The churches may also band together to sponsor a refugee family. “All five churches are trying to be missional, becoming more aware of our neighbourhoods,” says Mr. Howson. “How can we reach out and be a presence there?”

A covenant council has been established, with equal representation from each church, comprising the incumbent, churchwarden and two members of each congregation. The council will advise incumbents on worship, pastoral care and Christian education, and make recommendations to the churchwardens on shared opportunities in administration and property management. The council has also established several working groups that will focus on family ministry, education and training, worship, health, communications and shared events.

Peterborough is in the midst of significant change, and Mr. Howson believes the covenant offers an opportunity to be a new kind of church in the city. What that church will look like, no one knows, he says. “Maybe this will become the Anglican-Lutheran parish of Peterborough, where you have a team ministry,” he says. “I think that’s a possibility.”

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“People are increasingly using their mobile devices to communicate and access information, and we wanted to make sure that our website could respond to that,” said Canon Stuart Mann, the director of Communications. “At the same time, we wanted the site to be accessible to those with special needs.”

People who view the website on their mobile devices will be able to access everything that is on the desktop version. A simple homepage and easy-to-use menu helps people get to the information they want.

“We tested the website on as many tablets and smartphones as possible, including the Blackberry Q10 and Z10, iPhone and Android devices,” says Canon Mann. “The website can also be viewed on older models, such as the Blackberry Bold, but people who use them will have to keep in mind that their devices do not have the ability to display websites to the same degree that modern devices do.”

People can donate to FaithWorks through a mobile-friendly webpage. In the coming months, all of the Diocese’s funding programs on the website, including Our Faith-Our Hope, the Bishop’s Company and the Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation, will be optimized for mobile devices.

“People can continue to give to all of these important programs through the desktop version, the same as they have always done,” says Canon Mann. “Now they can also give to FaithWorks on their mobiles. We’re already working on making the other funding programs mobile-friendly as well.”

Those who have special visual needs will be able to adjust their mobile devices for better viewing. On the desktop version of the website, a new Accessibility bar is displayed across the top of the homepage, allowing people to adjust the size of the type and the screen’s contrast to meet their needs. Other changes have been made throughout the site to make it easier for people who are visually impaired. These improvements make the website compliant with WCAG 2.0 Level A requirements.

The improvements to the website were made possible by a grant from the Our Faith-Our Hope campaign. “The Communications department is grateful for the funds to do this work” says Canon Mann. “The campaign is about re-imagining the church, and these improvements to the website will help Anglicans do that in a very real way.”

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Called Spirit of Invitation, the resource draws on stories from people’s lives today and from stories of invitation in the Bible. It includes original videos, shot on location in the diocese.

“We hope people will be excited by the course and grow in comfort with sharing the good news of the Gospel,” says the Rev. Canon Mark Kinghan, the incumbent of St. George on Yonge, Toronto, and co-chair of the group.

Spirit of Invitation consists of six sessions, each about two hours long, ideally for groups of six to eight people. Each session includes discussion, prayer, a video and a study of scripture. People will be encouraged to reflect on their own experiences and why they want to share their faith, and how sharing is a form of invitation.

The course material was written by the Rev. Judy Paulsen, professor of evangelism at Wycliffe College, and the Rev. Canon Susan Bell, the diocese’s canon missioner.

The group wants to make Spirit of Invitation as accessible as possible. Early next year, 10 parishes will be asked to run the course as a six-week pilot project. However, the videos will be available on the Internet before the end of December, with the course materials following in January. At that point, parishes and individuals can start using them right away.

“It doesn’t matter to us how a person receives the material or even how they use it,” says Canon Kinghan. “The important thing is getting it out there with a message that says invitation is really good and it’s not all that hard.”

He adds that by being available online, the course could spread from Toronto to other dioceses in Canada and even overseas. The Diocese of Huron has already asked if it could run the pilot project at the same time as Toronto.

“In some respects, Spirit of Invitation can become a gift from the Diocese of Toronto to the wider church,” says Canon Kinghan.

The introduction to the course materials asks participants to see the six sessions “as a way to begin a different conversation, one that will put us in a creative space – one that will get us moving out into our neighbourhoods and cities to find out what God is doing in the lives of all his children.”

The course is based on the following assumptions: “We offer the love of God out of the abundance of what we ourselves have been given; we offer this invitation from a community into a community – this is not an individualistic evangelism course; the process of invitation is grounded in relationships; invitation is a process that often happens over time; invitation is not a program, it is an attitude of heart and mind; offering an invitation is grounded in the Christian family story.”

One of the most engaging parts of the course are the videos. “They’re going to surprise people,” says Jeff Potter, pastor of outreach and evangelism at the Church of the Transfiguration, Toronto, and co-chair of the group. “They explore a range of topics, things that Anglicans and Christians in general, experience, and they relate these things back to what it means to engage in the kind of invitation that’s open and unforced and doesn’t at all smack of solicitation.”

The first video in the course tells a personal story of invitation, and the joy of how invitation is experienced in a shared meal and the Eucharist. Other videos look at joy in greater depth and reflect the theological thrust of invitation.

“The videos and the course material are inviting the participants into a moment, and that in itself teaches people what invitation’s about,” says Canon Kinghan. He predicts that once people view a video, they will want to share it with others, and use it as a resource to engage in conversation.

Spirit of Invitation grew out of Back to Church Sunday, which has been run in many parishes in the diocese for the past five years. Canon Kinghan said Spirit of Invitation is not a substitute for Back to Church Sunday; rather, it is a different way to look at invitation, for those who want to.

“Back to Church Sunday focuses on specific Sundays when we invite people to church with the hope that they will stay,” he says. “Spirit of Invitation has taken a broader look, saying we’re always about invitation and it’s not limited to this Sunday or that Sunday. It’s how we make it part of our life, and our relationships, all the time.”

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