Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, becomes the first Canadian national church leader to engage members of the church and the public in conversation through the internet tomorrow.
The first of regular segments entitled +Andrew: Conversations with the Primate will be posted to the Anglican church's national web site www.anglican.ca. It will be reachable from the web site's home page and viewable with easily available software. The webcast can also be downloaded and saved to CD for distribution.
The logo designed for the webcast features the primatial cross which is carried in front of the Canadian primate in formal ceremonies and Archbishop Hutchison's signature. The "+" sign in front of his name is the traditional signature used by archbishops and bishops. Though the signature might informally be read as "Plus Andrew", the more formal reading in this case would be "Archbishop Andrew".
The webcast which will be posted tomorrow is approximately 12.5 minutes in length and features Archbishop Hutchison speaking from his office on what he considers to be his top priorities as he begins his primacy. Viewers may respond to the Primate through e-mail by writing to Andrew@national.anglican.ca.
Archbishop Hutchison, former Bishop of Montreal and Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada, was elected Primate by the Anglican General Synod (the church's highest governing and legislative body) meeting in St. Catharines, Ont., last June [2004].
Archbishop Hutchison hopes to tape segments for the web regularly at the rate of about one every three weeks. Each web cast will be announced in advance.
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For more information, please contact: Vianney (Sam) Carriere, Director of Communications, 416-924-9199 ext. 306, scarriere@national.anglican.ca OR
Paul Feheley, Principal Secretary to the Primate, 416-924-9199 ext. 277, pfeheley@national.anglican.ca
The Rev. Canon Dr. Neil Elliot, Chair of the Communications and Information Resources Coordinating Committee, presented The Anglican Church Communications Review, a review of the Church House Communications and Information Resources Department, undertaken at the request of the Primate and General Secretary.
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That the Council of General Synod receive the Anglican Church Communications Review and refer it to the General Secretary, the Communications and Information Resources Coordinating Committee and the Anglican Journal Coordinating Committee for consideration and request Council receive periodic updates.
"The Anglican Church of Canada and its Council of General Synod (CoGS) are preparing for the issue of the blessing of same-sex unions to come before General Synod in June of 2004. For this discussion to occur in the most helpful way, CoGS mandated the Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee (FWM) to `consider ways in which the church may be prepared for the discussion'. This report profiles the process and results of a research and consultation project initiated by the Faith Worship and Ministry Committee to inform the planning and design of the General Synod conversation on the blessing of same-sex unions". .... "FWM determined, in large part, how the consultation should take place, and how the research information would be gathered, and contracted the consulting firm of Linda Graff and Associates Inc. to finalize the research design and implement the broad-based input process." .... "This report lays out the key findings of the consultations. It ends with a final discussion of key themes accompanied by eleven recommendations." -- Executive Summary, pp. iv, v.
Report presented to the Council of General Synod meeting 4-7 March 2004.
Contents: Acknowledgements dated Dundas, Ontario, 27 January 2004 / Linda Graff, Linda Graff and Associates Inc. -- Executive Summary -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Consultation & Research Process -- 3. Research Findings: Context -- 4. Research Findings: Key Themes -- 5. Discussion and Recommendations -- 6. Appendices.
Separate compilation of 17 page Executive Summary containing title page, acknowledgements, table of contents, executive summary and recommendations laid in.
Available for download from General Synod website, Faith, Worship and Ministry section: http://generalsynod.anglican.ca/ministries/departments/fwm/graff/
Advertisement. "The General Synod (national office) of the Anglican Church of Canada seeks an accomplished individual to meet the unique demands of communication leadership in a dynamic church role. The new Communication Director will be responsible for setting and guiding strategy for all communications and public relations messages to support the Church's ministries". "Individuals ... are invited to forward their resume by email to acc@optimussbr.com on or before March 20, 2015".
The Anglican Church of Canada today launches a series of online databases to facilitate research on Anglican policies, resolutions and books.
The databases, called "ASK -- Anglicans Seeking Knowledge", are part of the General Synod Library's web page and are, as of today, available to the public without charge at: http://www.anglican.ca/search/databases.htm
The online package consists of five major databases and their accessibility through the internet makes ASK a valuable new resource for the entire Anglican Communion and for researchers world-wide.
The databases include a full text database of General Synod policy resolutions dating back to 1924, a full text database of all resolutions of the Lambeth Conferences (1867-1998) and Anglican Consultative Council meetings (1971-2002), a book catalogue database of more than 4,000 titles and an article database containing more than 32,000 articles. Journals indexed include `The Anglican Journal', `Anglican World', `The Church Times', `Episcopal Life', `MinistryMatters' and `The Tablet' and others.
The Content Server/WebPublisher software (also known as INMAGIC) used to create the online databases allows researchers to search and print material from the various databases using the internet.
The project, which has been four years in development, demonstrates a commitment to corporate transparency and offers an example of mutual information partnership and reciprocity, said Karen Evans, General Synod Librarian.
"We see this project as an example of partnership in mission, and information and communication offering to the wider Anglican Communion", said Ms. Evans
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For more information, please contact: Diana Mavunduse, General Synod Communications, 416-924-9199 ext. 352; dmavunduse@national.anglican.ca OR Karen Evans, General Synod Library, 416-924-9199 ext. 291; kevans@national.anglican.ca
Chair of the Communications and Information Resources Coordinating Committee, the Rev. Dr. Karen Egan, and the Rt. Rev. William Cliff, Chair of the Anglican Journal Coordinating Committee, presented the final report from the joint working group on print publications. Before speaking to the report’s key recommendations, Dr. Egan reminded Council why the joint working group was formed, of its mandate, the approach taken to the work, and the findings of their research (see document #004-05-18-06, pages 6-7, and document #004-06-18-11, pages 3-4).
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Be it resolved:
That this Council of General Synod recommend to General Synod the adoption of the transition strategy for national and diocesan print publications during the coming triennium, as proposed in the report of the Joint Working Group on Print Publications.
ADOPTED #CoGS 03-11-18
Notes
Bishop Cliff spoke to the key recommendations from three areas in the report:
The future of print publications (see document #007-05-18-11, page 5),
The mandate and governance of the Anglican Journal (see document #007-05-18-11, page 6), and
The mandate and structure of coordinating committees (see document #007-05-18-11, page 6).
At the end of the presentation, which was one of two this day, Council members received a preview of the questions they would be asked in the next presentation. Canon Ian Alexander, member of the joint working group, previewed the following questions:
1. Print Transition Strategy:
What are the pros and cons?
What will be necessary for success?
2. AJ Mandate:
Suggested changes to the draft mandate?
(See document #007-05-18-11, page 15)
Additions to the journalistic guidelines?
(See document #007-05-18-11, page 16)
3. Governance Structure:
Comments on the committee mandate?
(See document #007-05-18-11, page 19)
Editorial Board: Pros and cons? Keys to successful implementation?
In the second part of the Anglican Journal and Communications and Information Resources Joint Working Group presentation, Council members had the opportunity to respond to the questions previewed at the end of the first presentation.
Discussion followed in table groups and responses shared with Council. See Appendix A. Each table’s written responses were turned in to Canon Ian Alexander to share with the joint working group.
The motions from the joint working group’s report were presented.
During the consensus process, it was determined additional discussion on the first motion was required. Council members shared concerns with Canon Alexander who in turn stressed that the motion is not a ruling that print publications stop.
Be it resolved:
That this Council of General Synod recommend to General Synod the adoption of the policy and recommendations with regard to distribution of the Anglican Journal.
ADOPTED #CoGS 04-18-11 [04-11-18]
Be it resolved:
That this Council of General Synod recommend that General Synod endorse in principle the investment in an enhanced digital presence at the national and diocesan levels.
ADOPTED #CoGS 05-18-11 [05-11-18]