• Those who are sick, suffering or in need: Bill, Rhea, Erin, Megan, Grayson, Heather, Eddie, Bob, Sheila and Meredith.
• Those who are struggling with physical or mental illness due to COVID-19; for "bending the curve" and bringing down the number of cases in Alberta; for all who are doing their best to serve others in this time.
• Those who have died: Joan, Bishop Jane Alexander's mother, and those who mourn: Bishop Jane and family, in Canada and the UK.
• Bishop Sixbert and the Diocese of Buyé (Twinned Parishes).  
• Our brothers and sisters in Christ from Treaty 6 and Treaty 8 First Nations, from the Métis Nation of Alberta, and from the Métis Settlements in Alberta.
• Click here if you would like someone's name included in this prayer list. We will use first names only. Names are kept on the list for two weeks.

What's happening this week as we move through the process of electing the 11th Bishop of Edmonton? The push is on for two aspects of this process, with the deadline being March 11!

1. To collect nominations for the Search Committee. Executive Council will approve three lay people and three clergy to prepare the diocesan profile and seek out candidates. Follow this link for more information on how to nominate.
2. To collect input from around the diocese that the Search Committee will use to prepare the profile. Follow this link to an interactive video of the Very Rev. Alex Meek that allows you to provide input by video, audio or text.

If you prefer to send nominations or provide your input by email, you can send it to the Search Committee ℅ admin@allsaintscathedral.ca If you prefer to write a letter you can send it to the Search Committee ℅ All Saints’ Cathedral, 10035 103 Street, Edmonton, T5J 0X5.

Please note: nominations for bishop are not being accepted yet!

Download the March 2021 edition of The Messenger or view online as a flipbook.

Click here to subscribe to The Messenger or to change your subscription address. Print editions of the Anglican Journal and The Messenger are now mailed to confirmed subscribers only.

St. Saviour’s rector the Rev. Elizabeth Metcalfe and church warden Rita Barr delivered two cheques of slightly more than $1,500 to Vermilion schools in support of their lunch programs. The cheques were received by Brandon Tupper, president of the Vermilion Elementary School Hot Lunch Society, and Sarah Dewing, representing St. Jerome`s School Lunch Program, on February 25.

St. Thomas', Sherwood Park has launched a new website: https://www.stthomas-sherwoodpark.ca Check out the podcast series for St. Thomas and St. Columba's, Beaumont! 

The Rev. Billy Isenor and St. Augustine Parkland are hosting a lenten series each Wednesday at 7:00pm, which remains available tobe accessed anytime. It is called "Heart of the Word: Reflections on Lenten Practices." All are welcome to use thjis resource. It can be found on the St. Augustine YouTube playlists.

St. Augustine Parkland invites families to tune in to "Li'l Disciples," a Sunday bible story with Brother Billy posted each week for little disciples and their families. Look for it in the St. Augustine Parkland YouTube playlists!

The March Anti-Racism Book Club, hosted on Zoom by Good Shepherd Anglican Church, will be discussing Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad. If you plan to attend, please register in advance by emailing Archdeacon Jordan Ware at rector@goodshepanglican.org. She will send you the Zoom link. If you want to buy the book, Glass Bookshop is a locally owned/operated book store that focuses on Canadian writing and writers who focus on social justice. They offer free delivery within Edmonton, Sherwood Park, and St. Albert.

St. George's College in Jerusalem has kindly shared this six-part series with Edmonton diocese. These Lenten reflections explore the geography of the Holy Land, following Jesus from Galilee to Golgotha, through the Desert, the Well, the Mountain, the Sea, the Road and the Garden. Click here to link to the material, or sign up for yourself at resources@sgcjerusalem.org

View details on this POSTER.

For Lent 2021, Rev. Sue is running a daily Bible reading challenge for tweens and teens of the Edmonton diocese. Sign up by emailing admin@christchurchedm.ca, then check your email daily for Bible verse challenges. There will be weekly Zoom check-ins, fun, games and prizes! Don't have a Bible? Contact your parish priest and he or she will hook you up! 

In this book, N.T. Wright argues that every world view must explain seven “signposts” of Justice, Spirituality, Relationships, Beauty, Freedom, Truth, and Power. Using the Gospel of John as his source, Wright shows how Christianity defines each signpost and illuminates why we so often see them as being "broken" and unattainable. You are welcome to join St. David's Anglican Church in Edmonton for this study on Wednesdays from 7:00-8:00pm, February 10-March 24. Please email the Rev. Dr. Renée Desjardins  at rector.stdavid@gmail.com for more information and the Zoom link.

St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in St. Albert has created a desert space in their sanctuary, which will be available for all to visit online through their Facebook page during Lent.

The Rural Ministry Initiative of the Edmonton diocese is hosting a Virtual Lenten Study, Feb 24 to March 31. All are welcome to join!

For more info, including the Zoom link, please visit the Rural Ministry Facebook page, or email Chelsy Bouwman, canon pastor for rural ministry. See attached POSTER.

The theme of justice pervades the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. But readers frequently miss a key source, a writing in which justice is actually the central concern: the book of Romans. Please join Rev. Myron Penner as he hosts Dr. Douglas Harink for a series of discussions during the season of Lent. This series more or less follows the text of Romans, aiming to help readers trace the theme of justice throughout Paul’s letter. For more information on how to tune in, please visit https://www.stpauls-anglican.ca/events/resurrecting-justice-talks.

Lent is considered a special time of focusing on our spiritual lives and drawing closer to Christ. Christ came to heal our souls, to bring us into spiritual wholeness. He wants you to be fully the person you were created to be. How do we draw closer to Christ? The answer is a life-long practice of discipleship.  In our Lenten study this year, we will break discipleship down to the six essential questions that every Christian needs to answer. Join us starting Wednesday, February 24 as we go deep into what a renewed spiritual life in Christ looks like. Sign up on the St. Columba Beaumont website.

Every Wednesday evening beginning on February 24, we will gather together to hear guest speakers from across the country, as we explore traditional Lenten themes with the help of Saints, theology and poetry.

• March 3: Rev. Helen Dunn | The Art of Listening in the Wilderness
• March 10: Bishop Jane Alexander | The Way of Love in the Wilderness
• March 17: Rev. Dr. Paul Freisen | Listening to St. Patrick in the Wilderness 
• March 24: Ms. Witty Sandle | Listening to Julian of Norwich in the Wilderness     

To register, please email David at the Christ Church office. We will send you the weekly readings and the zoom link.

Join Bishop Jane and PWRDF Representative from Ottawa, the Rev. Patrick Stephens, as they lead us through this season of Lent, focusing on Creation Care-Climate Action:

• 40 days of Lent
• 40 days of stories about PWRDF
• 40 prayers for the Earth

Subscribe to the "Creation Care: Climate Action Lent" resource, which will be sent to your inbox throughout the season of Lent, and check out the Lent 2021 Children's resource.

As people called into a covenant relationship of love and friendship with God, we are also called to "act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with our God." You are invited to explore this theme in a Zoom Quiet Day on March 13, 2021, from 10:00am – 1:30pm. This Lenten Quiet Day will be led by Sister Doreen, SSJD. To register, email Maureen Crerar at maureen.crerar@gmail.com no later than March 8. A Zoom link will be sent out when registrations are complete. POSTER

The Diocese of Edmonton is a "Partner for Life" with Canadian Blood Services. We have pledged to give 100 units of blood in 2021. As of March 1, "Team Anglican" has given 13 units. To check how we're doing: 

• Go to www.blood.ca
• Click on “Ways to donate” tab at the top
• Click on “Donate as a partner” (in red)
• Scroll way down the page to the “See How Your Team is Doing” section and click on AB Partner Report. Anlgican Diocese of Edmonton is part way down on the second page. 

Click here to find out more about the process and book an appointnment online. And be sure to remind them you're with Team Anglican. Our partner code is: ANGL696986. 

Just a reminder that Synod Office staff are working from home in compliance with current public health guidance in Alberta. The best way to get the help you need is by email. 

General office questions and communications
(Synod Scene, The Messenger):
Shelly King at reception@edmonton.anglican.ca

Questions regarding finances and giving:
John Gee at treasurer@edmonton.anglican.ca

Questions to the attention of the Bishop:
Jennifer Wirun at assistant@edmonton.anglican.ca
Bishop Jane at bishop@edmonton.anglican.ca

Contacts: 
*The Ven. Travis Enright, Archdeacon for Indigenous Ministry: rector@stfaithsanglican.org / 780-477-5931
*Fiona Brownlee, Aboriginal and Rural Communities Liaison: f.brownlee@edmonton.anglican.ca / 780-312-9070
*The Rev. Lori Calkins, Priest: loriinkster@gmail.com 

Please see the Indigenous Ministries section of the diocesan website for leaflets, web links and other resources to help you pray and take action for reconciliation. See also the Anglican Church of Canada Reconciliation Toolkit.

Nukskahtowin, the Indigenous Meeting Place of Athabasca University, invites you to its winter series of Indigenous films and documentaries. March's movie, Wahkohtowin: Cree Natural Law by Bear Paw Education,  invites us into discussion with four Cree elders who give insight into the differences between Canadian law and Cree Natural Law and why Natural Law is needed in contemporary society. Wahkohtowin means "everything is related." 

Online Bannock and a Movie is set up so you can self-enrol even if you do not have an Athabasca University account. Click the link below. Create a new account or sign in if you have already registered. Please contact Ivy Lalonde with any questions at ivyl@athabascau.ca

This page lists online opportunities for worship, learning and virtual community provided weekly by parishes throughout the diocese.

In this time of continued uncertainty, the Church, the Body of Christ, remains a loving and connected community. we hope to do all we can to support each other, and the diocese grateful for any and all donations we receive. If you are able, please continue to support the ministries of the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton. You can make a secure online donation through the diocesan website.

A Common Word Alberta invites you join them for upcoming "Continuing the Conversation" mini dialogues: 1-hour Zoom meetings (Meeting ID: 853 5013 7009), March 2 and April 6, 7:00pm. These conversations are an opportunity for Christians and Muslims to connect over their faith tradition's teaching and practice of hospitality (making room for the other in our context) and embassy (entering the other's context to bridge). 

The board of the Greater Edmonton Alliance (GEA) for the Common Good invites you to a virtual assembly on Thursday, March 4, 7:00 pm. At this community gathering GEA, which includes representatives from faith, community and labour organisations, will ask Edmonton City Councilors to adopt the "Canadian National Standard for Psychological Safety in the Workplace" as official policy. This is an opportunity for all to discuss the need for quality employment opportunities and a living wage in the greater Edmonton area. The Edmonton diocese is a member of GEA and all are invited to register for the virtual assembly via Zoom. POSTER

Many in Edmonton diocese would normally be attending the World Day of Prayer on March 5, 2021. This year, however, it will be celebrated on a Youtube video, available to view now until mid March. The highlighted country is Vanuatu, in the South Pacific Islands. Included in the prayers are prayers for those throughout the world impacted by COVID 19. Click below for the video link and here for the WICC World Day of Prayer 2021 webpage.

Sign up now for this seminar March 7 at 1:00pm, presented by World Wide Marriage Encounter. Registration is free but spaces are limited and the deadline is March 4!
To register, email Steve.Heidi.Prentup@wwme.org.

The distractions, conflicting messages, and misinformation we live with often block our awareness of how God’s grace nourishes and guides us. Fr. David Perrin, author of The 20-Minute Retreat, leads an online Lenten retreat on how your everyday life is part of God’s saving plan for you. Online cost: $90; live-in cost (limited): $250 Click below to register or call 780-459-5511.

This Lent, voices from a variety of Christian denominations share reflections on how scripture invites experiences of Divine providence. Listen to the weekly pre-recorded message (posted every Tuesday during Lent), and/or join other listeners and Providence Renewal Centre staff on Wednesday evening to listen and discuss what you noticed, wondered about, and appreciated. Wednesdays March 3, 10, 17, 24 from 7:00 to 8:00pm. Join whenever you are able. There is no charge, but pre-registration is required for Zoom access. POSTER

This year, the season of Lent will be observed Febuary 17 to April 3. The Anglican Church of Canada is compiling a collection of resources. Please click below to find the resource that will be most helpful to you and your parish.

For a few years now, Christians from various churches in High Prairie, Alberta have joined in a Holy Week Bible Reading Proclamation. St. Mark’s Anglican Church has led the way, organizing volunteers in the continuous reading aloud of God's Word from Passion Sunday until Maundy Thursday. This year, the Diocese of Athabasca will host the Proclamation on Zoom, for 100 hours non-stop reading of God’s word. It doesn’t matter where you are, you can sign up to read for one hour. Already, Primate Linda Nicholls, former Primate Fred Hiltz, and the Bishop of the Arctic have agreed to take part. If you would like to join, email Canon Peter Clarke at seens@telus.net   Proclamation Poster

Canterbury Foundation, a faith-based, supportive living seniors’ residence in Edmonton, has announced the first phase of its residence modernization and expansion is complete. Since Canterbury Foundation's formation more than 40 years ago, members and clergy from the Anglican parishes of Christ Church and St. Timothy's, Edmonton have served on its board of directors. Most recently, in 2018, the Edmonton diocese began offering dedicated spiritual care and emotional support to the residents of Canterbury Court. You can read more about how you can support Canterbury Foundation and its residents here.

The Edmonton Journal is inviting seniors and those who care for them to participate in "Groundwork," a project in engagement journalism, that will focus on seniors and COVID-19 through March. See the link for their online survey, or to sign up for the mailing list. Elise Stolte is the reporter coordinating the project. Contact her by email at estolte@postmedia.com or Facebook at facebook.com/elise.stolte .   

Hastings Lake Bible Camp would like to know what you're thinking about this coming summer. IF COVID-19 restrictions are lifted by then, they would like to know whether you and your family would consider attending camp and, if so, what protocols you would want in place to make you feel safe.