2016 EPISCOPAL ELECTORAL CANDIDATES

Use this link to learn more about the candidates for Bishop.

Nominees for Bishop of the and watch the videos as we discern and elect the next Bishop of Algoma at the Electoral Synod, October 14, 2016.
Diocese of Algoma were asked to provide information about themselves, their experience, and to respond to a series of five questions. Nominees were also asked to respond to any two of these questions in a video. Please take time to review the provided information and responses.

Celebration of New Ministry for
the Rev. Jonathan Blanchard (St. Thomas)

“It is good to be here in Thunder Bay. Deanery members and others are welcome to come to The Celebration of New Ministry Service Sunday Oct. 2, 2016 7pm at St. Thomas.

God Bless,
The Rev. Jonathan Blanchard (Incumbent of St. Thomas)”

Together in Hope Report now available!

The 2nd Interim Report of the Together in Hope Committee is now available in hard copy at your parish or at https://thunderbay-northshoreanglicans.com/our-deanery. Please read the report and provide your feedback to Chair Scott Martin or your parish rep (contact information is on p. 16 of the report).

The Together in Hope Committee was formed in July of 2015 at the request of some parishes concerned about their future viability. It is a lay-driven committee, consisting of lay representatives of all parishes in the City of Thunder Bay (the City) and West Thunder Bay and the Ven. Deborah Kraft, Archdeacon of the Thunder Bay – North Shore Deanery (the Deanery) of the Diocese of Algoma (the Diocese).

The job of the Committee is to report on the situation of the Anglican parishes (Parishes) in the City and West Thunder Bay, including the wishes of the people, and to make recommendations going forward. The Committee is advisory only; it has no decision-making powers.

This Second Interim Report contains a large amount of information gathered by the committee about the situation of the parishes, including a Church Buildings and Facilities Evaluation, Financial Information and Parish Statistics. It also sets out the Organizational Models under consideration for Parishes. It is hoped that this report will be widely circulated and stimulate discussion about the future among Anglicans in Thunder Bay and West Thunder Bay. Feedback to the committee is welcome and Town Hall meetings are being held in all Parishes.

Based on the information in this 2nd Interim Report and the feedback we receive, the Committee will make a Final Report, including Conclusions and Recommendations, to Deanery Council by the end of 2016, and its work will then be complete.

Kyiv Symphony Orchestra & Choir
Hope Church 1315 Crawford Street
Wed. Sept. 21st @ 7 p.m.
Featuring 35 singers & 7 instrumentalists from Ukraine

Mission to Seafarers

We are not busy quite yet, however, as you can tell by the ships at anchor there is grain to ship, it’s just on its way.

• We would like to invite the community to visit the Mission to Seafarers Centre during our Open House 1:30 – 4:00 pm Sunday, September 25. A light lunch will be provided. If you know someone who might be interested in volunteering, this is a good opportunity to check the Centre out as people are needed to staff the Seafarers’ Centre and drive the van. The Centre is located at Keefer Terminal, 100 Main St., just follow the Harbour Expressway east until you get to Keefer Terminal. We have been ministering to seafarers in the Port of Thunder Bay since 1962.
• After a busy summer, the port is getting ready for the fall harvest coming into the port. The Mission to Seafarers would appreciate donations of warm, small to large size men’s clothing. Many of the sailors on ocean-going vessels come from warmer countries and find our fall weather rather cold. Donations can be put in the drop off box outside the Seafarers’ Centre or given to the Mission to Seafarer Rep at each Anglican parish.
• Donations for Christmas Gift Bags are needed that will be given to seafarers in December. Donations need to be at the Seafarers’ Centre by November 21. Suggested donations include mittens, gloves, writing paper, and wrapped candy.

For further information go to www.missiontoseafarers.ca/thunderbay or call (807) 344-8241.

FREE CLOTHING EXCHANGE

When: Saturday October 1st , 2016 Time: 9-1 pm

Where: St. Michael’s and All Angels Church
Location: 675 Red River Road

Scavenger Hunt

St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church
675 Red River Road

Saturday, October 8, 2016
Hunt starts at 4:00 p.m.
Dinner 5:30 p.m.

Tickets $12.50 or $15.00 at the door

Lutheran Community Care Centre’s

28th Annual Harvest Festival
321 Hilldale Rd.
Sat. Oct.8/16, 12:00-3 PM
Tickets $5.00 at door,
or from Kathleen Koivu (683-5808) or LCCC (245B, Bay Street (345-6062)

New Indigenous native priest named in diocese of Toronto

BY TALI FOLKINS ON SEPTEMBER, 20 2016

A Saskatchewan-born son of a residential school survivor has been chosen to lead Indigenous ministry in the diocese of Toronto.

The Rev. Chris Harper, a Plains Cree man who has served as rector of St. Michael and All Angels in Thunder Bay, Ont., for the past four years, began his term September 1 after being named to the position earlier this year. He succeeds Canon Andrew Wesley, who has retired.

One of Harper’s first moves has been to change the name of the position. Wesley was known as an Aboriginal priest for the diocese, but Harper prefers the title of Indigenous native priest, because it combines terms for First-Nations people that are current in both Canada and the U.S.

“It’s my way of saying I don’t see borders,” he says. The Canada-U.S. border, which now separates Mohawk families, for example, did not exist before the arrival of Europeans, he points out.

One of his main tasks, he says, will be to help parishes of the diocese understand the needs of Indigenous ministry, especially in terms of implementing the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Harper says he wants to help churches see and acknowledge the Indigenous people that sit in the pews around them—“or else, if not that, why they’re not in the pews around them. Because Indigenous people are everywhere.”

According to the diocese of Toronto, there are an estimated 60,000 Indigenous people in the city of Toronto. Within this population, whose members are drawn from first peoples across the country, there is at the same time both diversity and a strong sense of community, Harper says. It’s one reason, he says, why he doesn’t think it will be a challenge for him to adapt to big-city ministry, despite his rural origins.

“The wonderful blend of all First Nations congregating in one city brings this wondrous diversity of tradition and practice,” he says. “You don’t see yourself as an individual from your reserve, but you see all the other First Nations [people] as brothers and sisters…I think this affords a wondrous opportunity, especially in ministry. Doors naturally open.”

The diocese also includes Curve Lake First Nation, outside Peterborough, Ont.

Harper says he also wants to raise awareness in the diocese of Indigenous spirituality and worship, to find areas of common ground with non-Indigenous spirituality and worship, and “bring the two worlds together.” It’s a role, he says, for which his background as an Indigenous Anglican priest has prepared him well.

“In some senses, I guess you could say trying to bridge two worlds—that’s something I’ve always done all my life…I’ve always walked two worlds,” he says.

Harper was born in Saskatchewan and grew up there and in Alberta, with an Anglican upbringing. He has worked as an emergency medical technician and served as head of Emergency Medical Services at Onion Lake Cree Nation, Sask. He studied theology at James Settee College in the diocese of Saskatchewan and Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto, earning his master of divinity degree there in 2005. He was priested in the same year, serving for a time as r`ector of a multi-point parish in the diocese of Saskatchewan. For the past four years, Harper has served as rector of St. Michael and All Angels in Thunder Bay, Ont.http://

In an article on Harper’s appointment published this summer on the diocese of Toronto’s website, Archbishop Colin Johnson said at least half of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people of the diocese are Anglican.

“That’s a huge population, so this offers an opportunity to serve them more effectively,” he said.

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Websites:
Thunder Bay Deanery
Camp Gitchigomee

Mission to Seafarers
Anglican Journal online

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