• Those who are sick, suffering, or in need: Denise, Anne, Roger, Joan, Walter, Evelyn, Gail, Rhea, Paul, Bob, Megan, and Dorothy.
• Those who have died and those who mourn.
• Health care workers, school staff, church leaders, and the many in various situations navigating the ending of provincial COVID-19 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.

MAY to AUGUST Diocese of Edmonton Prayer Cycle:  PDF  /  WORD

Dear Friends, Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ! I am looking forward to meeting together as a Synod in October. Part of the conversation of Synod is to look forward to our future. As you know, our church is at a significant crossroads. We are a church with many blessings, but we are a church with significant challenges in front of us. Some of those challenges have a particular urgency about them.

In the document Together on the Way, I have offered my thoughts about our challenges and the themes we should be focusing on moving forward. If you have not yet read the document and/or the summary of the document and given your thoughts, I would strongly ask you to do so. Although I am a bishop, you will not be surprised to hear that I am not all-knowing and all-seeing. That is reserved for God alone! I need your perspective in looking ahead.

Do you know someone who is interested in the workings of the church within the diocese and beyond? If so, consider nominating them for one of several positions that will be voted on at the Diocesan Synod, October 21-22, including positions on Executive Council, delegates to General Synod and Provincial Synod (Note: Members of the Synod of the Diocese of Edmonton are eligible for nomination for election as a member of the General Synod or Provincial Synod), the Court of the Synod of the Diocese of Edmonton, and Clerical and Lay Recorders for the 69th Synod. For more information, see the guidelines for the nominations and the nomination form which are also posted on the diocesan website. If you wish to nominate someone for a position, please obtain their consent and forward their name and a short one paragraph biography to the Chair of the Nominations Committee c/o churched@edmonton.anglican.ca. The deadline is June 30, 2022.

Please pray for Bishop Stephen London who is in Virginia this week at Bishops' School. A full schedule awaits him when he returns to the diocese:

• June 12: Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Edmonton Confirmation
• June 16: Anglican Editors Association Conference, Edmonton
• June 19: St. Matthias, Edmonton Filipino Congregation
• June 19: Inner City Pastoral Ministry
• June 26: Holy Trinity, Edson

Worship leaders wanted! Are you a musician eager to play again in public? If so, I'd love to connect with you about leading worship for one of Cursillo's monthly Ultreya gatherings. Please email me at clponech@shaw.ca to chat about what instrument(s) you play and your availability. Blessings! Cathy Ponech, Music Coordinator Cursillo Edmonton 

The Immanuel Reconciliation Team will be having a Heart Garden event on Saturday, June 11, from 2 pm to 4 pm, at Immanuel Anglican Church, 5103 46 Ave, Wetaskiwin. We will gather for story, craft, and planting our garden. The garden is to remember all who went to Residential Schools and especially those children who did not return home. All are welcome to join us. 

Loomkeepers, weavers, and all members of the Edmonton diocese are invited to join Alison Hurlburt and Fiona Brownlee, coordinators of the Remembering the Children Diocesan Weaving Project, for a service of dedication at All Saints' Cathedral on Sunday, June 19, at 7 pm. Please invite anyone who may be interested to join us! If you have an orange shirt and/or a ribbon skirt, you are encouraged to wear them. This will be a time for remembering the children and for dedicating ourselves to continuing the work of truth and reconciliation. 

The Inner City Pastoral Ministry has launched a spring appeal to help ensure the continuation of ministry to people living in poverty in Edmonton's urban core. 

Pastor Quinn Strikwerda (icpmpastor@gmail.com) says the number of people living on downtown Edmonton streets has more than doubled since the start of the COVID pandemic. He invites you to consider making "a special financial contribution this spring to help ICPM continue to provide hope-filled worship with coffee, lunch and smiles at the Bissell Centre West; emergency grocery aid, bus tickets, snacks, and seasonally appropriate clothing to those on the street and in shelters. Spring Appeal Letter

Base Camp is an intense one-week experience for young adults who come on as volunteers. Training is provided to our volunteers to equip them for living in the wilderness (a provincial campground group site) with a pack of junior high students. There are opportunities to develop leadership skills: helping others, leading songs and skits, washing dishes, serving food, organising games, and managing conflict, all while being part of a close-knit community. 

Canadian Blood Services is rallying for the support of donors before National Blood Donor Week, June 12 to 18. One in two people in Canada are eligible to donate blood, plasma, and platelets, but only one in 81 does donate. A small group of regular donors is meeting the needs of the entire country, which is unsustainable. 

"Team Anglican" is currently made up of 42 donors and 35 are listed as "active." Our team goal this year is 120 donations of blood and/or plasma. We encourage anyone who is able to offer this gift of life. If you'd like to join the team, Click here and enter our Partner ID: ANGL696986. To donate blood, call: 1-888-236-6283 or visit Canadian Blood Services.

St. Mary's Anglican Church in Ponoka is seeking a new rector. This full-time position will combine .75 time with St. Mary's and .25 time with the Church of the Epiphany in Rimbey, a half-hour drive away. This arrangement has been made with the Anglican Diocese of Calgary, of which the Church of the Epiphany is part. The two parish profiles are combined here.

Click on the button below to see a listing of online resources, including Sunday services and weekly prayer live-streams and videos, online study, music and children's ministry links. We continue to update this list, so please share your creative ways of being church at home! Send your ideas to churched@edmonton.anglican.ca

Please see updated news from the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) regarding assistance for Ukraine.

One year after the discovery of 215 remains on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, British Columbia, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) at the University of Manitoba has released this brief video with stories from four residential school survivors. Learn more on the NCTR website. Scroll down to sign up for their newsletters. 

A free, information session about the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, offered through Providence Renewal Centre, will be held on June 7 @ 7 pm via Zoom. POSTER

The College of Emmanuel & St. Chad, the Lutheran Theological Seminary, and St. Thomas More College, all based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, invite you to this conference June 13 -16, 2022. The conference will be held entirely online and is the first annual summer learning event co-sponsored by the three schools of the Saskatoon Theological Union in partnership with St. Thomas More College. See the POSTER for more information.

A dinner for the Ven. Canon Terry Leer, who will retire as Executive Archdeacon for the Diocese of Athabasca at the end of June, is planned for Saturday, July 2, at the Belle Petroleum Centre, 9403 94 Street, in Peace River. During 40 years of ministry, Leer served in the Edmonton diocese, and most recently in the Athabasca diocese at All Saints’ Church, Ft. McMurray; Christ Church, Grande Prairie; and the Synod Office in Peace River as Archdeacon for Mission Development and now Executive Archdeacon. To attend, please contact Benita at the Synod Office at 780-624-2767, or email dioath@telusplanet.net. The cost is $35 per person. Please book early. 

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.   

The Studion School for Spiritual Direction offers a two-year program that combines teaching on topics relevant to the practice of spiritual direction with significant time spent in guided retreat and spiritual formation. The program is administered through The King's University in Edmonton and gatherings are held at Star of the North Retreat Centre in St. Albert. The next cohort is set to begin in January 2023. Please visit the thestudionschool.com for program details and to apply online.

In September 2022, the Anglican monastic community of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine will begin the fifth year of the Companions Program. This is an opportunity for women ages 21 and up to join the Sisters for 11 months either as a residential or online Companion. See attached POSTER for more info.

The Network of Biblical Storytellers Canada will host a Teller's Retreat at King's Fold Retreat Centre west of Cochrane this fall. NBSC is "an affiliation of people who practise the art and discipline of telling Christian scripture by heart." Linnea Good and Ken Quiring will facilitate. This retreat will have a contemplative component to it, as learning scripture by heart has similarities to the Ignatian way of praying. Early bird deadline is midnight on July 5, 2022.