Health of Anglican Church in Canada good: primate

By Frank Flegel

REGINA — The health of the Anglican Church in Canada is good, said Canada’s primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz in an interview with the PM. Despite debates over the residential school and sexual orientation issues, Hiltz said the people of the Anglican communion are working at healing and reconciliation.

“I think it’s a good thing that we’ve tried to come to terms with the legacy of our involvement with the residential schools and it’s a good thing that our former primate made an apology and it’s a good thing that we’re working with First Nations peoples at efforts around healing and reconciliation,” he said.

The national church is supporting the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission established by the federal government to resolve residential school issues.

Hiltz admitted conversations around sexuality issues are difficult, but he believes there is as growing capacity across the church to listen to one another’s perspectives and to live with significant difference.

“People are less inclined to resolve the sexuality issues through resolutions and debate, who’s right and who’s wrong,” he said. Instead, they are saying, “Let’s continue in our conversation and try and discern in the midst of all our voices the voice of the Holy Spirit.”

The primate was in the diocese March 23-28 at the invitation of Bishop Gregory Kerr-Wilson. He visited with clergy, the church’s Habitat in Humanity project in Regina, the Gordon First Nation, and he held a prayer breakfast March 27 at All Saint’s Church followed by a eucharistic service.
Hiltz said he was moved by the anointing he received at the Gordon First Nation where he also received a star blanket, an honour given only to respected individuals.

There are 30 Anglican dioceses in Canada and the primate intends to visit them all by the end of his first trimester in office, which ends with the national synod in June.

At the prayer breakfast, he discussed the five Marks of Mission of the Anglican communion: to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom; to teach, baptize and nurture new believers; to respond to human need by loving service; to seek to transform unjust structures of society; and to strive and safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.

Hiltz noted that there is a momentum around the possibility of establishing an ecumenical secretariat office of government relations. “All faiths have to pool our passion,” he said.