That the General Secretary be instructed to place Plan of Union on the agenda for the 1975 General Synod, and take whatever preliminary steps that are required to implement this decision, including wide publicity throughout the Church. CARRIED
That the National Executive Council, concurring with the House of Bishops, requests the Committee on Union and Joint Mission to spend more time developing particular alternatives for Joint Mission in accordance with the Lund Principle, and less on promoting Plan of Union.
That the reports of the Joint Anglican/Roman Catholic Study Commissions on Ministry and The Eucharist be circulated, for information and study, to the United Church and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and to members of the Committee on Union and Joint Mission. CARRIED
Chancellor Ryan, a member of the Committee on Union and Joint Mission, spoke to the following Motion passed at the December, 1973 meeting of the Committee.
"That in accordance with the mandate, 'to develop a climate for a true and lasting union' given by the Churches to the Committee on Union and Joint Mission; in the spirit of Lund Principle, 'that we should do together everything which conscience does not compel us to do separately'; and recognizing the need for practical and symbolic actions at the national level to undergird and complement local and regional initiatives in the area of joint mission, this Committee requests the National Executive Council, the All Canada Committee and the Executive of the General Council, to deal jointly during 1974 with the following matters:
a) the creation of a new publication to take the place of The Canadian Churchman, the Canadian Disciple and the United Church Observer;
b) the unification of administrative units at national levels, eg. Christian Education, Communications;
c) co-operative use of space in national headquarters buildings."
Moved by Shepherd, seconded by Goodings,
That this Motion be accepted.
Moved by Graham, seconded by Cook,
That we move into a Committee of the Whole. CARRIED
The intent of the above Motion was to allow discussion of the Motion of the Committee on Union and Joint Mission in relationship to the report of the Canadian Churchman to the National Executive Council.
Text
That we move out of the Committee of the Whole. CARRIED
Notes
It was agreed to vote on the three proposals from the Committee on Union and Joint Mission separately.
Moved by Shepherd, seconded by Goodings,
a) That the National Executive Council consider during 1974 the creation of a new publication to take the place of the Canadian Churchman, the Canadian Disciple and the United Church Observer. DEFEATED
b) That the National Executive Council consider during 1974 the unification of administrative units at national levels, eg. Christian Education, Communications. DEFEATED
c) That the National Executive Council consider during 1974 the cooperative use of space in National Headquarter buildings. DEFEATED
The following opinion of the Assessors was reported:
"A United Church minister could be a communicant of the Anglican Church of Canada, and, if he regarded himself and was accepted in the diocese as a member of our Church, even if he was also regarded as a member of The United Church, could be elected as a lay member of General Synod. However, if he has been presbyterally and not episcopally ordained, he cannot be a clerical member unless changes are made in the provisions relating to membership in our clergy.
Moved by Graham, Seconded by Downey,
That the National Executive Council authorize that an appropriate footnote be drafted for inclusion in the Handbook. DEFEATED
Text
That this footnote not be included in the Handbook, but that the opinion of the Assessors be kept on record. CARRIED
That Bishop Stiff be appointed to the Committee on Union and Joint Mission, and that Bishop Arnold be appointed as an alternate member of the Committee on Union and Joint Mission. CARRIED
At least six major issues will highlight the 25th Session of General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada next month in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
General Synod will convene at 9:30 am, Monday, January 25th in the Sheraton-Brock Hotel, with the opening Eucharist and the opening address by the senior Metropolitan and Acting Primate, the Most Reverend William L. Wright. The Session begins January 25th and continues to February 3rd.
According to the Executive Director of Program, National Office, the Anglican Church of Canada, Canon J.C. Bothwell, some of the major issues include: the election of a new Primate, the approval of a new joint hymn book for the Anglican and United Churches, the reception of the report of the Commissioners on Union, the full reconsideration of the Anglican Church of Canada's policy regarding overseas work, a discussion on the implications of the integration of the national structure of the Anglican Church Women with the structure of the whole church, reports and policy decisions on such matters as youth work, Coalition for Development and the implementation of the Hendry Report (dealing with native peoples).
Canon Bothwell says the reason for holding the Anglican General Synod and the General Council of the United Church at the same time and place, is to make sure the two national Churches will be on the same time schedule when an eventual Plan of Union is developed. Thus they would not be faced with the problem of one church having to consider such a plan before the other. He says, "I think there is general agreement that, although we are meeting in the same city and at the same time, for the most part, the two national bodies will function separately. On the other hand, there is much to be gained from the information sharing of the delegates of both churches."
General Synod is the national parliament of the Church and decides the policy for the work of the National Office at 600 Jarvis Street in Toronto. However, the Anglican Church is a "federation" of 28 dioceses and part of the job in the implementation of General Synod policy will be to make sure that the dioceses are adequately consulted and informed.
The last General Synod met at Laurentia[n] University in Sudbury in 1969.
With the exception of a few meetings at the Sheraton-Brock Hotel with the United Church of Canada, the Anglican sessions are being held about 75 yards away at the Sheraton Foxhead Inn.
"After producing a joint church calendar with the United Church of Canada for more than 40 years, the Anglican Church of Canada has decided to go it alone. Work is underway to produce the 2010 Canadian Church Calendar which will feature Anglican-only photographs of church settings across Canada. .... The calendar is more than a century old, with the first edition being published in 1905 by the Missionary Society of the Church of England. The early versions depicted the work of missionaries and also provided information on the church year. In 1964, the missionary society selected 'Canadian Churchman', forerunner of the 'Anglican Journal', to take over the calendar. It was first promoted and sold across Canada through the Woman's Auxiliary and later through Anglican Church Women. The decision to produce an Anglican-specific calendar was endorsed by the 'Anglican Journal' board. Larry Gee, advertising business and financial manager of the 'Anglican Journal', says that 'the newspaper's share of proceeds from the sale of the Canadian Church Calendar represents approximately 10 per cent of its total revenue'."