Plans for Synod 2021
A letter from Bishop Charlie about the plans for Synod in November.
My dear members of the Anglican Network in Canada,
After an extensive season of prayer and discernment the ANiC Council has made the difficult decision on Thursday, June 10th, 2021, for our diocesan Synod in 2021 to be a gathering, once again, online by ZOOM.
In our council meetings we examined many options and variations for Synod this November. We considered planning for everyone together in-person, some in-person some online, postponing synod altogether, different hosting provinces or venues and, of course, holding it fully online. Many different factors were weighed and reweighed and a great deal of prayer was given towards discerning God’s best for this decision. Of course everyone, if it were fully feasible, would have loved for us all to have been together in-person. However, in the end, Council decided that the best decision was to begin planning for a fully online synod using ZOOM. And they did so for several major reasons, including:
Planning for in-person would require financial commitments which we could not recover if we had to suddenly change to online.
The burden for a hosting parish in this environment as they try to prepare for all the possible eventualities and restrictions– always with the real possibility of cancellation– would be heavy and intense.
Moving forward towards an in-person gathering would put a level of pressure on delegates to travel, stay in hotels and gather in large numbers for several days, in some cases perhaps before they felt very comfortable doing so.
Gathering online could also help alleviate some financial pressure for any of our parishes who have struggled financially during the pandemic.
A synod where some were in-person and some were online would present a host of technical challenges and questions, as well as place us at different levels of participation. Especially at this electoral synod it was felt that as we gather it was important we do so in fundamentally the same way, for a sense of unity and clarity.
Gathering online would also mean everyone could have confidence in the timing of Synod as we make plans for those dates and beyond. Council felt this was especially important for the sake of those nominated in the electoral election (as well as their families and parishes) and also for the retiring bishops.
Three other dioceses in the ACNA have already successfully held episcopal elections online and report a good experience. So we all found that very encouraging.
For these reasons and more Council voted to hold this year’s synod online. And though many of us have (certainly I have fervently) prayed for over a year that this Synod, of all synods, would be in-person, I believe the ANiC Council has made the right decision.
And, though we deeply regret another year without us having the joy of fellowship together in person, we are trusting and praying that, by the Lord’s grace, this year’s synod will be exactly what the Lord is calling us to and the outcome His perfect will.
We will soon send out another letter beginning to share all our plans and hopes for what this Synod 2021 in the second week of November can look like and include. But for now, let me just mention a few things we are working towards.
Prayer
We want to place a great emphasis on prayer this year and prayer coverage before, during, and after Synod.
Fellowship
Where safe and possible, we hope to encourage delegates who are near to one another to meet together during Synod for support and fellowship. We also hope to offer some online opportunity for delegates to encounter one another a little more.
Bishop Trevor’s Retirement
We are also looking forward to a wonderful reception and service at Church of Our Lord, Victoria as we honour and thank the Lord for our beloved Bishop Trevor Walters on December 11, 2021.
Bishop’s Consecration
We are proposing to plan a two day mini-conference for any delegates and others who may be able to attend (February 4-6, 2022) leading into the service of consecration of our new Bishop. Location and other details for this event are still to be decided.
My dear friends, I would ask you to join us in praying for the Lord’s continued leading and blessing on our synod this year; that he would give all of us wisdom and discernment, and that His will would be done and kingdom come.
To that end, as the Apostle Paul prayed:
“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (Ephesians 1:15-19)
Every blessing,
+Charlie
The Right Reverend Charlie Masters
Diocesan Bishop of the Anglican Network in Canada