Bulletin Board is the Diocese’s bi-weekly e-bulletin for clergy and lay leaders. To subscribe to Bulletin Board, sign up online. To submit an item, email editor@toronto.anglican.ca.
Diocesan Business
Watch out for spam emails
Churches and clergy in the Diocese have recently been targeted with convincing spam emails. Some write about inheritances and bequests, often accompanied by official-looking documents with seals, signatures and scanned ID cards. Another scam involves emails claiming to be from an acquaintance (often a bishop or priest) asking for a favour, such as buying gift cards. Treat all such emails with suspicion, and don’t reply or click on any links. Check the “from” email address to see if it matches the purported sender. If they’re using a service like Outlook, Yahoo or Hotmail, the message is likely spam.
Diocesan Events
Registration open for girls’ choir school
The Diocesan Choir School for Girls will hold its annual choir camp from Aug. 5-18 at Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby. This residential program provides girls age 8-18 with choral training, Christian fellowship, sports, crafts and other activities. No auditions are held; anyone willing to sing is welcome. The cost is $1,025 per person. To learn more or register, visit the Choir School Facebook page.
Save the date: ReCharge youth retreat
The annual ReCharge fall retreat for youth age 12-17 will take place on Sept. 13-15 at Muskoka Woods. Registration will open soon.
Festival celebrates water
Presented in association with Toronto Urban Native Ministry and St. James Cathedral, the Niigaani-gichigami Water Festival returns for its third year, bringing together diverse communities to learn about, pray for and express our gratitude for the waters we depend on. Lectures will be held at the cathedral in celebration of the festival:
- May 29: Listening to the Silenced Streams: Honouring the Buried Rivers of Toronto (featuring a Water Ceremony)
- June 12: Our First Water: Traditional Indigenous Teachings on Birth
Learn more at stjamescathedral.ca/water-festival. All are welcome and admission is free.
Area Events
Register now for PWRDF lunch and learns
Clergy are invited to bring a member of their parish to a lunch and learn in June to hear about work in Rwanda supported by the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund. Lunch will be provided. The speaker will be Antoinette Habinshuti, the deputy executive director of Partners In Health Rwanda, an agency that seeks to improve health care in Rwanda’s rural areas, especially for women and children. Each event will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m.:
- June 11 at St. George, Allandale. Register online.
- June 12 at St. John the Baptist, Dixie. [event cancelled]
- June 13 at St. John, York Mills. [event cancelled]
- June 14 at St. George, Pickering Village. [event cancelled]
Bishop leads area lay readers’ day
Bishop Andrew Asbil is extending an invitation to all priests in Trent-Durham parishes with lay readers to attend the morning session of the Lay Readers’ Day at St. George Memorial, Oshawa on June 1. It will start at 9:30 a.m. with a welcome and prayers, followed by Bishop Asbil speaking 10 a.m.
Area to gather for Thy Kingdom Come
Members of York-Credit Valley are gathering to celebrate Thy Kingdom Come, a global ecumenical wave of prayer between Ascension Day and Pentecost. Join Bishop Jenny Andison and Ali McIntosh, area youth coordinator, for an informal worship and prayer party on June 7 at 7 p.m. at Christ the King. Register online. The area’s Evangelism Task Force has also gathered resources for individuals and parishes.
Clergy invited to retirement workshop
“Re-launching Your Life – Heading into Retirement” is an event for clergy in Trent-Durham led by Heather Bennett and Murray MacAdam, ODT. It will be held on June 7 at St. John the Evangelist, Peterborough. This is a free event, and lunch will be provided. Register by May 30 by emailing srobson@toronto.anglican.ca
Workshop explores social justice
York-Credit Valley is hosting a free interactive workshop about social justice advocacy on June 1 from 10 a.m. to noon at St. John the Baptist, Dixie. Learn practical ways your parish can strive for justice and peace and advocate for the dignity of all people. Register online. For more information, contact Elin Goulden, Social Justice and Advocacy consultant, or the Rev. Don Beyers, YCV Social Justice and Advocacy officer.
External Events
Priest launches book on food and our bodies
The Rev. Canon Martha Tatarnic, the former incumbent of St. David, Orillia and now the incumbent of St. George in St. Catharines, has written The Living Diet: A Christian Journey to Joyful Eating, a new book that offers a hopeful perspective on how to understand our relationship with the food we eat and the bodies in which we live. Canon Tatarnic will be attending a book launch and signing on June 13 from 7-8:30 p.m. at Broughton’s Church Supplies, 322 Consumers Rd., Toronto. Wine and cheese will be served. RSVP to 416-690-4777.
Liturgy conference explores the Sending
Liturgy Canada presents “God Sends Us in Mission,” the fifth event its Renewing Liturgy series, on Sept. 28 at All Saints Lutheran Anglican Church in Guelph. This conference will help to restore the Sending as an essential act in the Eucharistic celebration. The cost is $35 per person ($25 for students), with a rate of $125 for a team of up to five people. To learn more, visit www.liturgy.ca.
Colleges host history conference
Trinity College and Wycliffe College are co-hosting the Tri-History Conference, a triennial conference of the Episcopal Church, on June 18-21. This year’s theme is “Trauma and Survival in the Contemporary Church: Historical, Archival, and Missional Responses.” Registration is open for either the whole conference or select days. For more details, including a schedule and list of presenters, see the conference website.
Resources
Immigrants invited to participate in survey
A research project on citizenship, employment and precarity is collecting information about the employment experiences of people who arrived in Canada in 1997 or later without Permanent Resident status. Participants are asked to complete a confidential online survey, available in 10 languages. The findings will provide insight into the relationship between immigration status, precarious work and the social determinants of health, which will help community organizations and churches in their advocacy efforts. To learn more, visit the project website.
Project team members are fluent in English, Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali and Portuguese and can help survey participants in those languages. To book a presentation with a member of the team, contact Elin Goulden, Social Justice & Advocacy Consultant, at egoulden@toronto.anglican.ca.
Ministry brings kids’ programs to parishes
Is your church looking to offer Vacation Bible School this summer, but the thought of preparing the curriculum has you feeling overwhelmed? Crosstalk Ministries’ team of trained, enthusiastic and energetic youth leaders will bring the entire program to you. Parishes need to provide only the space and a few leaders, who will be trained by Crosstalk. The cost is $675, but the Diocese will cover the $350 deposit. Watch the video and read through the information package for more details. To sign up, contact Valerie Taylor from Crosstalk or Nancy Hannah, area youth coordinator for York-Simcoe.
Job Postings
Prayer fellowship seeking new diocesan contact
The Anglican Fellowship of Prayer (AFP) Canada has a diocesan contact in each diocese. Tony Day, who has acted in this role for many years in Toronto, is stepping down and looking for someone to replace him, with the hope that a new diocesan contact will reinvigorate the initiative. In the past, the AFP in Toronto has run diocesan prayer conference and parish prayer workshops. If you feel called to this task, Mr. Day will work with you during the transition. Contact tonyday@sympatico.ca.
Parish seeks music director
Christ Church, Scarborough is seeking a part-time music director. The parish has an enthusiastic 10-12 voice senior choir (SATB), a 2-manual Allen digital organ and a new baby grand piano. The position requires 10-12 hours per week, and salary will be in accordance with RCCO scale. For more details, see the job post. Apply by June 23 to priest@christchurchscarborough.com.
Parish nurse wanted
St. James Cathedral is seeking a parish nurse. The focus will be pastoral care with special concerns for health issues. A complete position description is available at stjamescathedral.ca/parish-nurse. Apply by June 7.
Nominations sought for General Synod committee members
Are you interested in offering your skills for the ministry of the General Synod through its coordinating and standing committees? Every three years, the meeting of General Synod elects members to the committees that oversee the work and planning of its ministries. These committees should represent the diversity of the Church, and for the most part those elected don’t need to be members of General Synod. Nomination forms, along with descriptions of the work of the committees, are available online on the General Synod website.
Parish seeks office administrator
St. Thomas à Becket (Erin Mills South) is seeking an office administrator to oversee all activities of the parish office, provide secretarial and administrative assistance, and help the treasurer and envelope secretary with bookkeeping tasks. The position will be 18-21 hours per week. For more details, see the job description. To apply, email a resume and cover letter to the Rev. David Matthews at david@stthomasabecket.net.
Cathedral seeks organ scholar
St. James Cathedral is seeking to appoint a talented organist to join its music department for one to two years starting in September. The scholarship provides an opportunity for an aspiring musician to acquire experience. It is suitable for a recent graduate or for someone who has already held an organ scholarship at a school, university or local church. Apply by June 2. For more details, see the cathedral’s website.
