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ATLANTIC ECUMENICAL COUNCIL |
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Atlantic Ecumenical Council Heads of Churches Meeting May 14, 2010 Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Truro NS Present: Morris MacIntyre, Jen Garbin, Marlene Knowles, Bob Brittain, Helga Mills, Glenn Cooper, Kenn Stright, Jonathan Schmidt, Ron Cutler, Neil Bergman, Bob Mills and guest speaker His Excellency Archbishop Elias Chacour, Archbishop of Akka, Haifa, Nazareth and All of Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Regrets: Kimber McNabb, Anthony Mancini, Phillip Kennedy The Chair Bob Mills opened the meeting with prayer. The meeting was chaired by Bob Mills Introductions were made. Jonathan Schmidt, Co- Director, The Canadian Churches Form for Global Ministries gave a short presentation on the purpose of the C.C.F.G.M.” A Christian agency through which Canadian churches reflect and work together on global mission and ministry and are challenged to prophetic witness through programs of education and dialogue.” Forum Focus Annual Issue 2009-Number 32 pg.12
Jonathan introduced Archbishop Chacour who spoke about life as a Palestinian Christian living as a citizen of Israel. Bishop Chacour reminded us that each person involved is a child of God and there are both decent non violent people among the Palestinians and Israelis as well as violent people on both sides. Archbishop Chacour stated his reason for being here is as a `beggar’, not of money, but of friendship and solidarity which requires a change in mindset to love BOTH the Jews and the Palestinians. He urged us not to take sides if it means hating the other. He `begged’ us to build bridges. After Bishop Chacour’s very moving presentation, Bob Mills thanked him for explaining this extremely complicated issue.
Minutes of June 8, 2009 meeting accepted as circulated.
A.E.C. Heads of Churches Meeting 5/14/10
Week of Prayer organization in Halifax: The numbers were not as large as in 2009 but it was successful and locally organized
Broadening Mission Statement of A.E.C. to include interfaith: Some action has been taken in a very elementary way. Four people have been appointed to the committee awaiting one to return from travels. If anyone has any thoughts, information or to add to the discussion please submit to either Marlene Knowles mknowles@ny.sympatico.ca or Heather MacEachern heather.maceachern@ns.sympatico.ca
Sharing of Information, Celebrations, Concerns, and Challenges: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottown has a new bishop who spoke at a recent meeting of the Ecumenical Council about the unity of the church Disciples of Christ: The Canadian Disciples are in the process of visioning and preparing for their next national conference. Also noted was the Week of Prayer held in May (due to weather concerns in January) in the Caledonia area of NS – seven denominations participated, fourteen events occurred-of the twenty three churches in Queens County-twenty one were represented at the various events Presbyterian: Ecumenism is most active in small communities. Week of Prayer events saw daily services of twenty minutes each in the Westville and Pictou area. The involvement of the community, such as those who supplied groceries, gas and other needs was very meaningful giving a feeling of brothers and sisters in Christ. Diocese of Fredericton: (Anglican) Week of prayer was organized by local ministerial associations. The regional deans were asked and reported on various ecumenical events such as bibles for graduates (high school), sharing buildings for worship, breakfasts. However, the current
A.E.C. Heads of Churches Meeting 5/14/10
`Transformational change’ initiative seems to encourage the churches to look inward and be less ecumenical.
Diocese of NS/PEI (Anglican): Small communities throughout the diocese held Week of Prayer events-concern surrounding where ecumenical chaplaincies are going in the health care system due to financial restraints Closing churches but rarely sharing ministry in an ecumenical context There is sharing with the Lutheran church and looking for more opportunities for further development The 300 Anniversary of Continuous Anglican Service events continues The General Synod of the Canadian Anglican Church meets in Halifax in June Reports from the Anglican/Roman Catholic Dialogue in Canada continue to be vibrant and strong Anglican/United Dialogue continues
United Church: The shared Ministry Task Force (National) has been developed including the Anglican, Lutheran, United and Presbyterian Denominations- there is a report available from any of the participating denominations regarding Shared Ministry among them, it is a very helpful guide
A.S.T.: Just establishes an integrated alumni association with representative graduates from the three founding denominations- they will promote ecumenical gatherings, the next one will be in St.Johns NFLD
Baptist: Has created a working group dealing with mental health issues enabling the parishes to be more informed and welcoming
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There being no further business the chair invited all to pray together as inspired.
Next Meeting: Referred to the A.E.C. Executive Council to be developed in relation to the 2011 AGM. Respectfully Submitted:
___________________ Heather M.MacEachern, Secretary |
