Clergy and Primate discuss state of Anglican Church
by Ana Watts
Diocese of Fredericton clergy and Archbishop Fred Hiltz discussed the state of the Anglican Communion in general and the Anglican Church in Canada in particular at a clergy day with the primate on Monday, Nov. 26.
In recent weeks, two retired Canadian bishops relinquished their licenses to minister in the Anglican Church of Canada in order to become bishops in the Province of the Southern Cone under Archbishop Gregory Venables. The primate will address the situation publicly in a pastoral letter to be read in every Anglican Church across the country on Sunday (Dec. 2), but he may well have shared that message with New Brunswick clergy in advance. The Council of General Synod has already issued a statement regretting the actions of the two Canadian bishops and affirming the inappropriateness of interventions in the Canadian church by bishops from other jurisdictions.
So the clergy day with the primate began with private but open discussion and ended with a public and joyful service of Holy Communion at St. Clement’s Church in the Parish of Prince William, Dumfries, Queensbury and Southhampton.
This was Archbishop Fred Hiltz’ first official visit to the Diocese of Fredericton since his election as primate at General Synod last July. He and his principal secretary Archdeacon Paul Feheley remained in the diocese on Tuesday and traveled to Saint John with Bishop Claude Miller and his executive assistant Archdeacon Geoffrey Hall.
Archbishop Hiltz is the former Bishop of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, so is no stranger to New Brunswick or to Bishop Miller. Indeed, he holds our bishop as a dear friend and valuable colleague. At the beginning of the Communion service the primate said, “I thank God for Claude, he is a good man and filled with the Holy Spirit.”
The primate’s sermon was on the Gospel lesson from Luke for Reign of Christ the King Sunday. “Yesterday it was strange to hear that passage from the middle of the Passion as we approach the beginning of Advent, but it was appropriate,” he said. “It confronted us with the fundamental truths about our relationship with Christ … the penitent thief who had never been baptized and who had taken no vows, renounced Satan and every evil power with three words: ‘Jesus, remember me.’ With that he turned to Christ and accepted him as his Saviour and was prepared to give whatever of his life was left to the Lord.”
Jesus then promised the penitent man “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
The penitent thief didn’t know Christ was head of the church and would create a body to be known to the whole world, said the primate. He didn’t know that Christ reigns over us even from the cross. “Even in the midst of our church, with all its struggle and turmoil, Jesus holds everything together. While we deliberate, God reigns. When we decide wisely, God reigns. When we decide foolishly, God reigns. When we decide selfishly, God reigns … Jesus is the Lord, head of the body, shepherd of our souls.”
The Primate named some famous spiritual giants through whom Christ reigns –– Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Archbishop Frank Griswold, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States. “They inspire us, but so do the not so famous, those whose lives touch ours through the gospel of Christ, and so the gentle and loving reign of Christ is extended. Through these people, Christ reigns.”
The primate concluded his sermon with the Penitent’s Prayer: “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He sang the prayer over and over as the congregation joined in. He had the women sing the prayer alone, and then the men, and as he sang the prayer the last time he changed the pronoun –– “Jesus remember us when you come into your kingdom.”
