[Report of the Task Force on the North]
https://archives.anglican.ca/link/official5142
- Date
- 1973 April 19
- Source
- Anglican News Service
- Type
- Press Release
- Text of motion
- Regina - Across the top of the world, in the vast belt of Arctic tundra and forest that stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic, lies the future of Canada, some Canadians say.
- There, too, may lie the future of the Anglican Church of Canada, says a report by the task force on the North going to the 26th general synod meeting here next week.
- The area geographically covers the political districts of Keewatin and Mackenzie, 5,000 miles east to west and nearly 1,000 miles south from the Arctic Ocean to the northern limits of six provinces.
- The task force, a special committee set up by the national executive council in 1970, was formed to meet the appeal of those in the North that they were not effectively being supported by the church in the south.
- The task force takes up the cudgels on their behalf in a report to general synod demanding action.
- It proposes a Church in the North, "self-determining and ministering appropriately with the people."
- By next January 1, an officer of the North would be appointed, with a "support group" of clergy, eight from the North and four from the south.
- By January 1, 1975, adequate personnel facilities for recruitment, training and development would be provided.
- By the end of 1976, the officer of the North would produce a program, developed and approved by the people of the North, a true Church of the North.
- In a preface to the report, Rt. Rev. J.T. Frame, Bishop of the Yukon, says:
- "The future of the North is the biggest question facing our country, and our church, today. Will greed and a high standard of living determine the outcome? Or will the North be allowed to decide its own future - not just politically and economically, but as a part of the church, too?
- For we must recognize that the church is in the North to stay - one way or another?"
- The task force report notes that those working in the North "must always contend with isolation, harsh climate and a high cost of living."
- With its report is a book-length report on research on the North by a Toronto researcher, Dr. J.W. Frei, whose research team conducted detailed surveys of the area.
- Dr. Frei met with diocesan bishops, representatives of government and advisers resident in the North and conducted personal and group interviews in many communities north of the 60th parallel of latitude.
- Says the report:
- "The church can no longer be satisfied with a ministry of picking up the wounded and of protest but must make a creative contribution to the building of a new society.
- However fundamental this change may be, the particulars cannot be worked out in the south, by the south. This can only be done by a healthy and strong church in the North."
- The task force said:
- "Finally, we must talk of money.
- Three kinds of assistance are required:
- For clergy and their families, simple justice calls for more sensitive support.
- (A minimum salary of $6,000 per annum by January 1, 1975, is recommended.)
- Progress towards self-determination requires extra funds in order to provide the person, the meetings and the projects which will help the church in the North to realize its own mission and strength."
- The report adds:
- "The wealth of the south depends on the resources of the North. Therefore a new way of sharing our funds will not be a form of generosity but a privileged expression of solidarity with each other."
- - 30 -
- For further information contact:
- Michael O'Meara, Director
- Division of Communications
- 924-9192
- or
- Shelagh Kendal
- Press Officer
- Subjects
- Anglican Church of Canada. Task Force on the North
- Frame, John (John Timothy), 1930-2017
- Frei, John W. (Jaroslav), 1904-1981
- Canada, Northern
- Canada, Northern - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- Anglican Church of Canada - Clergy - Training of
- Anglican Church of Canada. Primate's Council on the North