"Anglicans across Canada are being called to demonstrate -- in the 22 days following the closing event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission -- that this ending is only the beginning of healing and reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous people. Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald have issued a call to the whole church today to participate in #22days, a campaign that will stretch from the start of the closing of TRC event in Ottawa on May 31 [2015] to National Aboriginal Day on June 21 [2015]. 22days was first conceived of by a group of cathedral deans from cities in which a national TRC event was held and was 'heartily endorsed' by the House of Bishops" (p. 10). "The General Synod communications team has created a web page -- 22days.ca -- that will offer resources, including 22 videos featuring former residential school students and staff describing their experiences in the schools. The videos are not the typical 30-second sound bytes people are used to viewing on television, they are about 15 to 20 minutes each, in order to tell the stories in a more whole and sensitive way, said Anglican Video senior producer Lisa Barry. One video will be added daily to the website during the 22-day period and each will be accompanied by a prayer, written by various people in the church" (p. 11).
"Bishop Sue Moxley, of the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, said her life changed in 1993 after listening to former residential school students talk about their experiences. It was then, said Bishop Moxley, that she realized 'The church I loved as this great big black blotch on its history'. In another forum, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, offered an apology to students 'for the years of lost love' and for 'the aggressive efforts to remake you in our image'. 'I am sorry for the bruising of your bodies, the crushing of your spirits and the violation of your innocence', said Archbishop Hiltz. "I am deeply sorry for the terrible pain we inflicted, and for the terrible memories that many of you still carry today. I, and my church, must listen to your stories, your hurt, the humiliation and the burden of our sins on your lives'. The Anglican church first offered its apology to students in 1993". [Text of entire article.]
"Archbishop Fred Hiltz .. primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and Chaplain General Karl McLean .. met with Governor General David Johnston this spring [2012] while the primate was in Ottawa to visit leaders of the Anglican Military Ordinariate". [Text of entire article.]
"Federal cuts to refugee health care will deter church groups from sponsoring refugees, Anglican Church of Canada officials have warned. 'Clearly it would cut down on the number of refugees that we are able to accept because church groups just don't have the resources to pay [for the medical care]', said Bishop Don Phillips of the diocese of Rupert's Land, where more than 2,000 refugees have been sponsored. Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and Adele Finney, executive director of the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund, have expressed 'deep concern' about the cuts to the Interim Federal Health program. Previously, private sponsors assumed the cost of food, shelter and transportation for a year, while the government provided health care. Under the revised rules, which took effect June 30 [2012], church-sponsored refugees will not longer have access to government-funded health care. One June 26 [2012], the diocese of Rupert's Land and the Hospitality House Refugee Ministry, which sponsors refugees with funds from the Anglican diocese of Rupert's Land and the Roman Catholic Archiepiscopal Corporation of Winnipeg, announced plans to file a lawsuit against the federal government. 'We're treating those [sponsorship agreements] as legal contracts', said Phillips. 'Our basic action in court is to say that the government breached its own contract'." [Text of entire article.]
"Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, calls human rights violations against Canada's aboriginal peoples 'a blot on the soul of this country'. Referring to the ongoing intergenerational impact of residential schools, Hiltz says the church needs to play a role in supporting initiatives that help heal aboriginal families. 'We were part of tearing families apart', he told more than 200 aboriginal Anglicans attending the Seventh Sacred Circle, held Aug. 5 to 12 [2012] in Pinawa, Man. 'We must be part of .. helping them move to a place of health and happiness'. One in four indigenous children live in poverty compared with one in nine in the rest of Canada, Hiltz pointed out. Many native communities receive 25 per cent less in resources per person to support education than other Canadians, and the scarcity of fresh fruits and vegetables has led to health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. Ted Quewaezance, executive director of the Residential School Survivors' Society urged the church to focus on rebuilding families within their communities". [Text of entire article.]
"Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, emerged from his Dec. 6 [2012] meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury-elect, Justin Welby, feeling 'very optimistic about his leadership'. The visit which took place at Auckland Castle, in County Durham, England, was part of Hiltz' annual visit to Lambeth Palace and the Anglican Communion office. Hiltz also met with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who retired on Dec. 7 [2012]". [Text of entire article.]
"Four Advent devotions, written by four leaders of the Anglican and Lutheran churches in North America, have been made available to members of all four churches". "On October 12-13 [2016], Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, met with National Bishop Susan Johnson, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC); Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, of The Episcopal Church (TEC); and Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The meeting, held at the ELCA office in Chicago, was the four bishops' latest four-way dialogue, a tradition of informal annual meetings begun in 2010". "The [Advent] devotions are on the theme of next year's 500th anniversary of the Reformation: 'Liberated by God's Grace', and three of the theme's sib-headings: 'salvation not for sale, human beings not for sale and creation not for sale'." "The four also heard reports on the progress of the two Anglican-Lutheran ecumenical bodies in Canada and the U.S., the Joint Commission for Anglican Lutheran Communion in Canada and the Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee".
"In a soaring glass hall at the Museum of Anthropology, under the watchful eyes of a dozen huge totem poles, church, native and government leaders on March 5 [2008] pledged that the upcoming Truth and Reconciliation Commission will lead to healing as it hears the painful stories of Indian residential schools in Canada. The event, which included a walk to the museum led by native drummers, was part of a four-city tour by the leaders that was called Remembering the Children and was designed to draw attention to the commission and its work" (p. 1). "Archbishop Hiltz, the Anglican primate (national archbishop), reiterated the church's 1993 apology for its role in the system, which operated across Canada from the mid-nineteenth century into the 1970s" (p. 1). "Gloria Moses, co-chair of the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples who attended St. George's residential school in British Columbia from 1949 to 1959, said in an interview before the event that she had mixed emotions about her experience in the school and about the commission" (p. 6). "The commission's interim executive director, Bob Watts, said it is a 'journey of great promise', but noted that 'there are many, many truths' about residential school experiences and 'reconciliation will happen at many levels'" (p. 6). Phil Fontaine, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said the commission "will 'provide an opportunity to expose lies that we were forced to live with for too long' ... it will be an opportunity to 'shine a light on Canada's darkest chapter and expose not just to Canada but to the world what was done to a people that didn't deserve it'" (p. 6).
Full-page colour advertisement for Giving with Grace. At head of title: "Donate or find out more at anglican.ca/giving". [Photo of Archbishop and Primate Fred Hiltz being embraced.] "Giving with Grace. The Anglican Church of Canada. 'Among the greatest of blessings has been to join Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples as we walk together on a journey of healing and reconciliation. We are in this, as I and others have said so often, "for the long haul".' -- Archbishop Fred Hiltz. Support this journey today with a gift to the Healing Fund". Giving with Grace. The Anglican Church of Canada. The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, 80 Hayden Street, Toronto ON M4Y 3G2 416-924-9192 1-866-924-9192 www.anglican.ca".