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By Bishop Todd Townshend

YOU, YOUR PARISH, and the Diocese of Huron, through the Anglican Church of Canada, are all part of “The Anglican Communion” a worldwide network of Anglican churches, in over 165 countries.

The Anglican Church of Canada is one of 42 self-governing Member Churches or “Provinces” that share several things in common including doctrine, ways of worshipping, mission, with a focus on unity through the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, popularized the notion that, as Anglicans, “we meet”. We meet. We are gathered by the Lord, together around the Word and Spirit, to see what the Lord has in store for us. Internationally, our formal mechanisms for meeting include the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Primates’ Meeting—which together are known as “the Instruments of Communion”. And there are many formal global networks. To name a few: Anglican Environment Network, Anglican Health Network, Anglican Indigenous Network, Anglican Peace and Justice Network, Colleges & Universities of the Anglican Communion, Network for Inter-faith Concerns, International Anglican Family Network, International Anglican Women’s Network, Réseau francophone de la Communion anglicane, Anglican Communion Safe Church Network, and so on.

We are part of a global church that is a very large network—almost too broad and diverse and wonderful to comprehend. So, we meet, to begin to comprehend the gift that it is. You are invited, as you are able, to explore these networks and to become part of one or more of them. As your bishop, I am honoured to have the expectation placed on me to be a part of those networks. As part of my service on the Board at Huron University College, I am a voting trustee of the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion (CUAC). I also serve on the International Standing Committee for Unity, Faith, and Order (IASCUFO), whose role is to advise the Instruments and Member Churches on matters of doctrine, ecclesiology, liturgy, canon law, and ecumenical relations. While being very demanding, it is work that we can do so that Huron is contribution to, and learning from, this beautiful, God-given worldwide communion.

Many of you have experienced the joy and discovery made possible in the relationship we have with Amazonia, our Companion Diocese in Brazil. This is perhaps the most tangible connection many of us have to Anglicans in another part of the world. We are far away from one another, yet so close in Christ and in mission. We look forward to having time together with Bishop Marinez and others from Amazonia when General Synod meets in London this June. We will meet, again!

In the next few weeks, I will be learning from in an expanding network, an Anglican Indigenous-led network, when I join a Compass Rose Society pilgrimage to Te Pihopatanga O Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia Feb. 17-March 2. With the financial support of two generous benefactors who are covering the cost, we will meet, experience, and learn from the Indigenous churches there in order to strengthen bonds for mission. Our National Indigenous Archbishop Chris Harper and Huron’s own Archdeacon Ros Elm both visited there last year and witnessed to the eye-opening possibilities for Anglicans in Canada as we continue the work of truth-telling, healing, and reconciliation. I’ll share what I learn upon my return!

I invite you to pray for all those who serve our churches, here at home and around the world. We pray for those who are discerning who the next Archbishop of Canterbury will be. And we pray for the unity of the church giving thanks for the promised reconciliation of all things in Christ.

+ Todd