• Those who are sick, suffering, or in need: Jayesh, Joan, Blossom, Christabel, Selena, Dorothy, René and family, Anne, Walter, Gail, Sheila and Meredith.
• Those who have died: Edward, and those who mourn: all of Edward's family.
• Those who continue to battle COVID-19 in Alberta, especially our health care workers.
• Archbishop Sixbert and the Diocese of Buyé (Updated list of Twinned Parishes).  
• Our relations 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 unless intentionally renewed.

The synod office will be closed from December 24 until January 3. We will be checking our voicemail and email periodically. 

We pray for blessings and peace this Christmas season for you and all those you love and look forward to serving our diocese together in 2022.

The Honourable Judge Kenneth Holmstrom announced, at the start of 2021, his intention to retire from his duties as Chancellor of the Diocese of Edmonton, and he will step down at the end of this year. 

Bishop Steve London is deeply grateful for his excellent advice and help during the time of transition, and for his kindness, good humor and welcome. "The diocese," he says, "has been blessed to have Holmstrom in the role of chancellor through some big changes."

Lois MacLean, who has been serving as vice-chancellor, will become chancellor in the new year. Bishop London is also grateful for her ministry in this position and looks forward to continuing working with her in this new role. 

Holmstrom is pictured here, in February 2014, with former Bishop of Edmonton, the Rt. Rev. Jane Alexander, and Ms. Lois MacLean at the service in which he and MacLean were installed as Chancellor and Vice-chancellor of the Diocese of Edmonton. 

On the third Sunday of Advent, Bishop Stephen London confirmed two young people, Brandon Allan James Squires and Alyssa Elizabeth Squires (a brother and his sister), at Emmanuel Anglican Church in Gibbons...

Thursday, December 9, clergy of the Edmonton diocese were invited to a clergy day at All Saint’s Cathedral, the first opportunity to spend time together in person for almost two years. Bishop Steve addressed the gathering as the day began, thankful for the chance to meet, but acknowledging how difficult the pandemic has been. 

The Rev. Dominique Ciza, Buyé Diocesan Executive Secretary, sends greetings and he happily reports that the community water spring project continues in Mwumba parish. Stay tuned for pictures from Kayanza parish next! 

We have both reached and exceeded our 2021 target of 100 donations of blood and/or plasma! Thank you to all our donors for making a meaningful difference in another person's life. 

Our support is needed year-round, but especially during holidays. Select donor centres across the country will be open on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, in addition to regularly scheduled operating hours. Appointments are necessary as part of the COVID-19 protocol, and enhanced wellness measures continue to be in place in donor centres.  

Why not join our team? It's a simple but powerful way to give back to the community. Click here to join Team Anglican. Our Partner ID is ANGL696986.  To donate blood, call: 1-888-236-6283 or visit Canadian Blood Services.

Bishop Steve has hit the ground running in his new role in the Edmonton diocese and in the Anglican Church of Canada. One of his ambitions is to visit every parish in the diocese as soon as possible. The following events are among those in is his itinerary leading up to Christmas:

• December 16: Diocesan Leadership Meeting (Bishop, Archdeacons and Canons)
• December 19: Sunday service, Holy Trinity, Edson
• December 24: Christmas Eve service, All Saints' Cathedral

Bishop Steve also has various visits booked to meet with rectors, corporations, and vestries over the coming months. 

Bishop Steve's calendar is full in these first months of his episcopacy. As well as visiting for Sunday and special services in various parishes, he is making time for smaller meetings with rectors, vestries and corporations mid-week. You can keep up with Bishop Steve through his FaceBook page, and the Synod Scene has a growing collection of pictures from visits thus far.

A message and invitation from Bishop Steve:

One of my biggest priorities in the past two months has been getting to know the diocese. I have been visiting as many different parishes and people as I can. There is a central value to face-to-face conversations in seeing where we are as a diocese. There is also value in different metrics, such as the budget and annual statistics, which provide another important dimension. It is in this spirit of getting to know the diocese that Archdeacon Jordan Ware and the Anti-Racism Team she has developed suggested it would be helpful to explore the diversity of our diocese, particularly giving voice to people who might not be easily heard. They put a lot of work into developing this survey. It asks some personal questions, but we hope the survey will be received in the light of that core value of getting to know who we truly are as a diocese - all of us.

Google Forms will automatically generate the numbers and percentages that will provide the information about diversity that will be helpful to us. No potentially identifying information (such as the option to share your parish) will be used for any purpose other than to create a general picture of diversity in the Diocese of Edmonton. Email addresses will not be collected.

Thank you for taking the time to fill out the survey. Please share as much as you feel comfortable sharing, and if you would like a member of the Anti-Racism Team to reach out, please include your contact information where that option is presented.

In his third Advent message, Bishop Stephen London reflects on what it is we are to be ready for.

Fulton Place neighbourhood folk in Edmonton organised a winter festival at St Augustine's on Saturday, December 11. Joining the festivities were local craft vendors, musician Von Bieker, Ariose women's choir, Santa, and Candide coffee roasters. The gathering was attended by 250-300 people, suggesting people are longing to be together again. (Photos posted on Twitter by Ashley Salvador, Edmonton Ward Métis Councillor.)

The Annotated Christmas Song Book is an original podcast celebrating the music and lore of the holidays. Each episode features an original performance of a Christmas song accompanied by an annotation; a story that illuminates the song. Tune in to the Holy Trinity Youtube channel for this entertaining and enlightening podcast celebrating the joys, wonders and eccentricities of Christmas. Listen HERE.  

Join us in the front yard at Holy Trinity Old Strathcona (10037 84 Ave) on Sunday, December 19, from 1-4 pm, as we join with our friends from Trinity Lutheran to host a family "Barnyard Nativity" complete with stories, hot chocolate, snacks, and animals! We will re-enact that glorious night in a stable years ago when sweet baby Jesus entered this world. In addition to the Holy family, shepherds, and angels, we will have lambs, goats, miniature horses, miniature donkeys, alpacas and African Zebu cattle. This event is geared to all families with young ones - as a way to join together, safely, while masked, for some good, Advent-time, family fun. Please do mark your calendars! (Note: if the weather is -20C or lower this event, for the animals safety, will have to be cancelled). 

All Saints' Cathedral, 10035-103 St, Edmonton, will be holding a Darkest Night of the Year Service, December 21, at 7 pm. This is a service of prayer and communion for those finding the season difficult.

Please join us at St. Timothy’s on Wednesday, December 22 for a special noontime concert and Christmas Carol sing-a-long! This concert is free to attend with donations taken to help support the cost of the piano recently purchased at St. Timothy’s. Please note that the Restrictions Exemption Program will be in effect for this event.  POSTER

The parishes of the Whitemud Deanery are joining together to host a reflective season of prayer this Advent on Zoom. Tune in every weekday at 7 pm from November 29 through December 23. 

The parish of Holy Trinity, Edson is holding Christmas Eve Sevices at the churches of St. Columba (north of Peers at the McLeod River cemetery), 2 pm; Grace, 7 pm; St. Catherine's, 10 pm. All are welcome!

Starting in January, St. Faith's Anglican Church will be home to a Collective Kitchen community on the second Tuesday of each month, from 1 to 3.30 pm. Enjoy cooking with a small, friendly group. Help make three ready-to-eat meals and muffins to take home for $4. Enter from the parking lot on 92 St between 117 and 118 Avenue, Edmonton and remember to bring containers to take your meals home. Please call Trish at 780-464-5444 to reserve your spot.

The Diocese of Edmonton Children’s Choir, conducted by Laura Hawley, will launch this January. Open and free to anyone ages 7 and up, this choir will rehearse on Wednesday evenings, 5-6, at Christ Church, 12116 - 102 Ave, Edmonton.

This is an opportunity for children and youth to learn music connected to the church’s worship to offer at church services throughout the diocese and special liturgical events, i.e. Lessons and Carols services, throughout the year. The choir will begin on January 19 and, for its inaugural season, rehearse into mid-May 2022. 

The latest issue of Straight from the Street, the newsletter of the Inner City Pastoral Ministry (ICPM), which the Edmonton diocese and parishes support in a variety of ways, can be read here. 

You are invited to join one of several Centering Prayer Groups meeting in person or online.

Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer; rather it casts a new light and depth of meaning on them. It is at the same time a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship. This method of prayer is a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with him.                

Click here to find a group near you.

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.

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.

The national office of the Anglican Church of Canada will host another Advent Lessons & Carols service this year. Save the date for Friday, December 17, 8pm Eastern (6pm Mountain time). Audio and video will be made available a week prior to the livestream, so that dioceses and parishes may integrate them into services and events on or after the live broadcast. More details to come!

Advent Mission: The 4 Quarters of Advent – Turning Our Humanity to the Presence of the Lord with Fr. Mark Blom, OMI.
Saturday, December 18

Aurora Living: Formation Through Word & Creation. Why not make our winter module—Wilderness: From Slavery to Freedom—a part of your Lenten journey? Join a community at the intersection of faith & contemporary issues: creation care, social justice & reconciliation. Opening retreat: January 7-9. 

We are called and chosen, gifted by God to join in the great dance of life. Advent is a wonderful opportunity to open ourselves to this invitation from God!

Reflections on this Zoom quiet day, led by Sr. Doreen of the Sisterhood of Saint John the Divine, will follow this theme, reflecting on God as the dance partner, on ourselves as invited to put on our dancing shoes, and on our call to participate in God’s great dance floor.

To register by December 6, please contact Dorothy Dahli at dorothydahli@shaw.ca     POSTER

Edmonton’s Kokopelli Choir Association is returning to McDougall United Church, exactly 650 days since it last hosted an indoor concert. The choirs will perform three concerts: 1 pm, 4 pm, and 7:30 pm (sold-out)—each with its own program. Attendance will be limited to 300 per show, to allow adequate distancing. Masks will be required, along with proof of full vaccination for audience members aged 12 and up. For details and tickets, visit kokopellichoirs.com/performances/upcoming-events 

The Edmonton and District Council of Churches (EDCC) 2021 No Room In the Inn (NRII) campaign is now underway. Traditionally, many Anglican parishes in Edmonton have taken up a Christmas Eve collection for NRII. Please invite your parish community to support the campaign (information attached).

This year, No Room In the Inn is supporting L’Arche Edmonton, which provides supportive housing and assistance for adults with special needs. With the funding raised in this year’s campaign, L’Arche Edmonton will be renovating and upgrading one of their seven houses in the Edmonton area. 

Spiritual growth often occurs when we are able to talk about our experiences of God with another person, especially if that person is trained in deep and reflective listening. This is the primary activity of spiritual direction. The Studion School is currently seeking volunteers to receive spiritual direction from its second-year students, as part of a supervised practicum. The practicum lasts one year and begins in March 2022. If this opportunity interests you, please email thestudionschool@gmail.com, or call the Rev. Shelly King at the Synod Office: 780-439-7344.

As we emerge into a new context of living with COVID, The Forum for Intercultural Leadership and Learning is able to again offer the “Engage Difference! Deepening Understanding for Intercultural Leadership and Learning” program. A 12 week online course starting January 2022, it will be offered as an on-line program synchronous with the Wycliffe College course: “lntercultural Leadership and Learning: Engaging Ministry in Diverse Contexts."

*Ecumenical + interactive program    
*Practical ideas to use in your own context    
*Nurture cultural understanding + awareness in your community    
*Participate on-line from anywhere in Canada    
*Optional Academic Credit through Wycliffe College

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