Council of the North (http://www.anglican.ca/about/committees/CN/index.htm)
First of all the Council is HUGE!! Honestly I thought it was Caledonia and the Territories. So I was shocked to learn it is about 2/3 of the countries land mass. Although what defines Council diocese is our rural locations and sparse population across these huge patches of land. And being so vast in size the diversity of people on the council is amazing. I guess I should have been more aware but that was just one of the things I knew we are a part of but didn’t really know what it meant.
Levels of Government
I still don’t really know much about governance, or if and what the difference is between government and governance. I watched the DVD, the night before I left mind you, but honestly I’m still a little clueless. I know we pushed the governance resolutions to next Synod. I say this because when ever I government and governance I’m basically using them interchangeably simply out of ignorance. The levels of organization of the church is remarkable. I knew that there was lots of different synod and that the bishops had House of Bishop meeting and so on but holy the levels never end and that is why all the governance issues are so confusing because they are talking about rearranging these already jumbled levels. I got the poster and it looks nice and neat with parish all the way up to the Primate and synod office on the top, but it is all a bit more complicated in real life with real people.
Primate
A big learning curve for me was the Primate, I thought he was a Pope, but I was told ‘no, but sort of, well it depends who you ask’. Technically our Primate has no diocese, so no parishes no bishops have to answer directly to him, he (or possibly she is the future) is more of a figure head, the chairperson of synod and a international representative of our national church. But when it comes to actual power, there isn’t really any, not in the sense of a Pope at least. So when I was trying to explain to my Baptist friend the importance and historical significance of getting the to elect a Primate it wasn’t wrong for me to compare him to the Pope, but then again I realize that our Primate (Andrew outgoing, Fred incoming) is by no means a Pope. So that is how I understand it.
The election was certainly an experience. It was really quite mundane and by the third vote I was ready to go back to the pool for a swim (it was hot and stuffy in that church). The technically history book stuff was this: we had 5 votes, and it was my understanding that if we hadn’t decided at that vote it would have gone to the bishops to decide, and we elected Fred Hitlz. The voting it self was pretty simple. After the service the bishops went back to the hotel to “isolation” and they put the clergy on the left side of the church and laity on the right. Booklets of different color slips were handed out and each vote had one color for clergy and another for laity. Once you scribbled the name on the paper you walked up to the front by pew, similar to a communion line, dropped it in the appropriate box then everyone went outside or back to their seats to wait while the votes were counted. The bell would ring as a signal to get back to our seats and we could sing a hymn while everyone filed in. The votes were announced by the Prolocutor. And we went through this 5 times. The 4th and 5th votes were between Victoria Matthews and Fred Hiltz. Like I said the voting was quite mundane, but the reception when Andrew came into the church with Fred holding his hand up like a boxer who just won the fight was surreal. Everyone was on their feet clapping, cheering and singing. It was quite a surreal overwhelming moment for me, so I can’t imagine how Fred felt. The actual installation was the last day of synod and sadly was so brutally hot it was unbearable, killing the mood a bit but it was still something I can proudly say that I was a part of. How many people can stay they not only were at an installation service of the Primate but that they elected a Primate? (Not many actually, Fred is only the 13th Primate of Canada). The installation service was probably the most elaborate special service that I will ever attend. All the bishops and Primates in their finery. It was quite a sight. My favorite part was Archbishop of York John Semantu who gave the sermon (“party and prayer”), and I must mention his hat (sorry I don’t know the technical name) that had a rainbow and Jesus figure with his arms spread waiting for a hug.
The Issues
I knew I couldn’t get away without saying something but I’m going to be try to be short because there was too much to even begin to explain everything that was discussed.
Synod had a lot of resolutions, but it can basically be broken down into a few main categories: Council of the North, Governance, Same-sex Unions, the Aboriginal Bishop and housekeeping. The resolutions about the Council were mostly about funding. In the next 5 years (I believe) all funding is going to be cut to the Council, so at Synod we successfully secured grants at “no less than the current level” until that time. It passed quickly and painlessly, with overwhelming support, so some of the dire importance was probably lost on people, especially the church outside of synod. With all the other issues we had to deal with, giving money to the Council was a no-brainer but it is still a huge issue that the Council and parishes in the North are going to be dealing with long after the same-sex stuff gets dealt with. Sadly money is always going to be an issue in the church. All the time and effort the Council put into the amazing presentation and the pins is going to be lost on the reports home because as soon as the “big” issues hit the floor that is all the media cares about, so that is all the home parishes are going to be worried about. As passionate as I was about the same sex issues going into synod I’m more passionate about the issues that are going to be forgotten, like governance and Council of the North, after synod. For example, the election and installation of the first Canadian Aboriginal Bishop is a huge huge accomplishment and is revolutionary.
I still have a stance on same sex unions and many other related issues that were and were not discussed at synod, but I think that no matter what I say at this point about my opinion on the resolutions and votes means little because we, as the members of synod made decisions and I have to respect those decisions. Having said that I want more than anything to go back to General Synod in 2010 to Halifax to so called finish what we started. I’ve caught the synod bug.
Now to close I’m going to tell you a little story:
Some who know me, or see me at church doing readings might not know it but I get really really nervous doing public speaking. A few weeks before Synod I got an email asking if I would do a reading for the noon day reflections. Obviously I was honoured (although I realize the only logical reason she asked me was I was a youth) so I said yes. But believe me when the time came and I was standing at the side of that stage, with literally hundreds of faces on me, not to mention the cameras, all I could think was please let my legs work and let me not fall on those two steps to get onto the stage. Moment of truth time: the head table announced that it was time for noon day reflections and in a blessing from God my feet moved and I went up beside the African bishop who was doing a mini sermon after my reading. And after he did a short prayer I did it, I read loud and clear into the microphone, well at least I think it was because all brain activity besides the reading and speaking function shut down. So some how I finished the reading and made it back to my table through the crowd. Greg said I did a good job, and I don’t think he was lying because he was beaming when a woman complimented me later. I did it. That was probably the most public speech I have ever done and I really hope it is the last one for a long time.
So that is what a bit of my insight into the wonderful world of General Synod. It was nothing like I expected, but I had absolutely no clue what to expect. The best I could imagine up was something like parliament or a courtroom or lecture hall. Certainly not the respectful, compassionate, open discussion I found. And the youth were so amazing. I have never really been with a group of Anglican youth before, so it was so wonderful and empowering to meet such fun, normal people who came all across the country with different backgrounds and different stances on the issues but everyone got along and at the end of the day just wanted to hang out and have fun. I can’t say enough about the youth, I loved them. More than the issues, I want to go back to synod just to be in that group again and be part of the community, dare I say family, of General Synod.
Finally I would like to thank all the people at diocesan synod two years ago for electing me. I was honoured but never thought I’d actually get to go to General Synod. So thank you for seeing something in me long before I did.
Yours In Christ,
Lisa Smart.
The post previous (below) is my 'official' report. This website is the perfect place to post questions you have about any of the issues or anything I fail to mention in my report (which is a lot, there were ALOT of resolutions and ALOT of issues discussed and ALOT going on period). So email me or post a comment of anything you'd like to have me discuss or post responses to.
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