• Those who are sick, suffering, or in need: Barry, the Johnstons, Don, Anne, Roger, Dorothy and family, Gail, Rhea, Madison, Jen, Megan, and Rebecca.
• Those who have died: Allan and those who mourn: the Bonertz family and friends.
• Those who continue to battle COVID-19 in Alberta, especially our health care workers, school staff, and the many in various situations now navigating the ending of provincial restrictions.
• 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.

In an effort to support parishes as the province lifts its COVID restrictions, Bishop Stephen London has issued the following guidance. Please note, the phase-out will be contingent on case numbers and hospitalizations not rising in a dramatic fashion. 

"If the case numbers go in the direction that we hope," he said in an email to the clergy of the diocese, "then all restrictions on worship and church activities will be lifted by the end of March. During this time, we continue to ask that if you have symptoms of COVID, please stay home and join your community online for worship and prayer."

Bishop Stephen London is pleased to appoint the Rev. Christopher Cook, rector at All Saints’ Anglican Church in Drayton Valley, as Chaplain to the Anglican Church Women (ACW) of Edmonton diocese. In an article published in the ACW newsletter, In Touch, Cook says he had just finished a vestry meeting at All Saints’ in which he had been praising the good work of the ACW, when he learned of the appointment. 

Over the past four Sundays, Bishop Steve has provided a diocesan Zoom service option, as many churches had closed to in-person services because rising COVID numbers. The Bishop's sermons will be posted on the diocesan website as they come available.

To streamline the process for completing parish returns (see attached checklist and schedule), we’ve converted some of the documents to Google forms which can be completed and submitted online. The links are also posted on the diocesan website. Please complete the forms as soon as possible after your parish AGM which needs to take place before the end of February. Thank you, this will be a tremendous help as we gear up for synod in October. 

On Sunday, February 27 at 7:00 pm, St. Margaret's Anglican Church in Edmonton will host a Zoom gathering to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first service in their church building (which was held December 22, 1996). Note that the parish was founded in September 1980 but met in rented facilities for 16 years before constructing its own building. Former members, and our many friends, are welcome to join us for this event, which will be hosted on Zoom...

The Anti-racism Book Club invites readers to its upcoming virtual conversations. All are welcome to join the Ven. Jordan Haynie Ware, Archdeacon for Social Justice and Community Connection. On Tuesday, February 22, the Foundations group will discuss the book Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad. On Monday, February 28, the Building on Foundations group will delve into The Lightmaker's Manifesto by Karen Walrond. Both conversations start at 7:30 pm. All are welcome to join the Anti-Racism Book Club on Zoom. Email Rev. Jordan at rector@goodshepanglican.org for the link. You can also receive a discount code for purchasing your book at the Glass Bookshop. Sign up today and start reading.

Jodi Penner, of the Anglican Parish of St. Paul’s in Edmonton, has composed three short responses of liturgical settings, including: 

• Holy, Holy, Holy (Sanctus and Benedictus)
• The Lord's Prayer
• Lamb of God (Agnus Dei)

The music for these is available for download on Jodi's website: http://jodipenner.weebly.com/original-compositions.html  These original pieces of music are offered free until the end of February!

St. Columba, Beaumont is watching the World Day of Prayer online this year from 7:00-8:30 pm, March 4. Everyone is welcome to join. The World Day of Prayer is a yearly ecumenical gathering for prayer and fellowship. This year's theme is I Know the Plans I Have for You (Jeremiah 29:1-14), written by the World Day of Prayer Committee of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

World Day of Prayer 2022 POSTER

Please email the Synod Office at churched@edmonton.anglican.ca if your parish is hosting a WDOP gathering that you would like to advertise.

St. Paul’s, Edmonton, is excited to announce our Tent Theology Lent program with Dr. Stephen Backhouse for Lent 2022! Our sessions will take place on Wednesdays during Lent 2022, at 7 pm, and will be hybrid sessions, live-streamed on the web simultaneously with in-person attendance. The stream can be available on our YouTube channel. See SCHEDULE

Every Sunday in Lent, at 9:30 am, join your church family in exploring our faith together with themes from the film Encanto. We will gather on Zoom for a 15-minute activity and focus together. Email nick@trussell.ca for the Zoom link. There will also be opportunities for in-person gatherings at parishes throughout the diocese. Click below for weekly resources for your parish or at home.

Registration is now open for Base Camp 2022, set to take place at Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park from July 3-8. Diocesan Camp Director, Dr. Mark Armstrong, is hopeful that Base Camp can go ahead after being postponed two years in a row because of the pandemic. For continued safe-guarding, all junior high aged teens who have had two COVID-19 vaccinations are invited to sign up to come and enjoy some summer fun.

Celebrate Recovery is a faith-based, 12 Step program that meets every Friday, 7 pm, at St. Faith’s Anglican Church, 11725-93 St, Edmonton. Celebrate Recovery can help us address our hurts, habits and hang-ups through a relationship with Jesus Christ. For more information, please email Bliss at blissy123@shaw.ca or Don Halvorson at oldhal58@gmail.com. All are welcome.

Edmonton Cursillo would like to introduce you to the Weekly Challenge! This Challenge is a guide for keeping track of all we are going through and things we can do to help us, our friends and families better cope with the barrage of stuff happening in our world. Our physical, spiritual, emotional and mental health and wellness affect us in so many ways. The Challenge is a tool to make us mindful of what small changes could benefit our outcomes through the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a personal challenge. There are no winners or losers. For those of you doing the weekly/monthly challenge a Facebook group has been created and we would love you to join us.

This program, running Thursday evenings now until March 31, is for community elders, seniors and knowledge keepers to connect and learn about the drum from a traditional and multicultural view. Proof of vaccination is required to attend these in-person sessions. Contact Cynthia at programs@creatinghopesociety.ca for more information. 

A weekly market offering fresh produce and baking at market prices, as well as employment, mentoring and skills-development opportunities, is now operating out of PrayerWorks Hall in the Alberta Avenue community. The Lodgepole Market runs every Wednesday, from 12:30 to 2 pm, in the parish of St. Faith’s, 11725-93 Street in Edmonton. In addition to fruits, vegetables, sourdough bread and cookies, the market will eventually expand to include the products of local vendors and live performances by entertainers. 

"Team Anglican" continues to move steadily toward the 2022 goal of 120 donations of blood and/or plasma. Why not consider this simple yet important way of giving back, and join the team. Just Click here and enter our Partner ID: ANGL696986.  To donate blood, call: 1-888-236-6283 or visit Canadian Blood Services.

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.

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.

ACC Archbishop Linda Nicholls and ELCiC National Bishop Susan Johnson have announced the postponement of Assembly 2022, originally scheduled to take place this July in Calgary. 

According to their statement, a new date for the Assembly will depend on the decisions of the Councils of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

"This decision has been a difficult one to make in light of our desire to worship and discern together at the close of the 20^th Anniversary year of the Waterloo Declaration. However, the level of anxiety regarding travel and personal risk tolerance made this the most appropriate decision in the midst of many uncertainties.

Who is eligible for funding through the Anglican Foudation of Canada "Say Yes! to Kids" campaign? Any parish in Canada with a vision for ministry and outreach to young people.  

When? Apply now and campaign alongside your peers nationwide from April 1 to June 30.  

Why? Raise the funds you need to bring your church’s vision for youth ministry to life.

Apply now for this paid internship. Participants will receive a stipend of $5000 for this nine-week program as they hone their leadership skills, working with a service organization in Montreal, and responding to some of the most pressing issues of our time. POSTER 

Join us for six Wednesday evening sessions with artist and author Gisele Bauche. Sessions begin March 2 and will run from 7:00 – 9:00pm. Online or in-house cost: $120.  

Healing the Healers is an internationally acclaimed workshop on spiritual suffering facilitated by the Sacred Art of Living Centre for Spiritual Formation. Drop-in Thursday, March 3 at 7:00 pm for an online conversation and an opportunity to interact with our presenters, get a sense of the program, and ask questions.

Discernment is a gift and an art by which we make both daily and major life-changing choices. Through prayer and practice we can better attune ourselves to the invitation and guidance of the Spirit. We can then not simply make more healthy decisions but find more grace-filled rhythms to live in relationship to others, ourselves, the world, and the Divine. This three-part workshop with Faith Nostbakken will offer ways to understand and enter more deeply into discernment as an intention, a process, and a way of life. Mondays: March 14, 21, and 28  from 7:00-9:00 pm. Cost: $85.00.

This Lent course, led by Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat, reminds us that when collapse threatened, our biblical ancestors told stories that kindled faithful love and visionary hope. Sessions will run on-line Sundays in Lent, March 6 to April 10, from 5:00-7:00pm and will be recorded for those who can't attend live. See POSTER for costs.

Once again, the Primate's World Development and Relief Fund is offering a series of Lenten reflections. This year's series begins on the first Sunday in Lent, March 6 and goes until Easter Eve, April 16, 2022.

Caring for others, responding to others, and coping with conflict and change on a continual basis is always part of the ministry of clergy. It can take its toll - especially in the context of a pandemic that has resulted in isolation, grief and loss, financial stress, and for some, despair. We believe that resilience arises and develops when self-awareness, self-care, and community and spiritual renewal are actively engaged. This 3-day workshop will provide a resilience development program with opportunity to reflect, interact with others, and to be seen, heard, and understood. The retreat is led by three skilled professionals: Marv Westwood, David Kuhl and Lin Langley. 

Is your family looking to get away this summer to a place where the sun shines, children play freely and adults find soulful nourishment with others who are also looking for meaningful experiences? Find a program for you and your family at Sorrento Centre. Click here to take a look at the variety of courses and leaders who bring rich and dynamic programming.