Connie English & Cynthia Pilichos, Co-coordinators - May / June 2021
Do Justice . . . Love Kindness . . . Walk Humbly with Your God
To encourage and support all women in the Diocese of Nova Scotia & Prince Edward Island to participate in a fellowship of worship, study, and offering, with the aim of deepening and strengthening their individual spiritual lives and of awakening a greater desire for God’s mission and Christian service in the parish, community, diocese, nation, and the world.
Theme for 2020/21 Do Justice . . . Love Kindness . . . Walk Humbly with Your God (from Micah 6:8)
Annual Project 2020/21: Supporting Parents: Stories That Matter so that the world-wide, culturally relevant parenting program of the Mothers’ Union can be expanded into the Anglican Church of Canada’s Council of the North. Funds raised from individuals, parish groups, and parishes (until June 30, 2021 when we hope to have reached the $10,000 goal – thank you to everyone for all contributions) will help to expand the parent program facilitator training opportunities. To appreciate how this parenting program responds to the specific culture in which it is offered, as well as to see how it is inclusive of women and men, take the time to view what the MU’s worldwide parenting program is like in the Solomon Islands: https://youtu.be/HsQkjPQNe54
To learn more about this amazing parenting program and how it responds to a key recommendation about culturally relevant parenting options of Canada’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission, take advantage of a short promotional video, offered by MU Canadian parenting program Coordinator, Maxine Simpkin, on the Diocesan Mothers’ Union webpage (under Ministries) of the Diocesan website: www.nspeidiocese.ca
Did we ever imagine that the “new normal” would continue for as long as we are experiencing it? If ever key words of the Anglican Church Women hymn, The Love of Jesus Calls Us, applied to what we continue to be living through, and how we are called to respond, this is it! We are learning to grow and evolve with the challenges that have been presented. Some changes were relatively simple, such as presenting bursaries using Canada Post in place of in-person opportunities. These included the Kingston Memorial Fund Bursaries to the following 4 qualifying AST students: Debbie Fice, Blane Finnie, Jane Magrath, and Rob Paddock in the fall of 2020 and 2 Anniversary Bursaries to Kimberley Gallant of New London PEI parish and Jessie Chaulk-Rogers of St. Andrew’s, Locks Road, Dartmouth parish in the winter of 2021. Doing Zoom Board Meetings rather than in-person ones took a bit of getting used to, but we have relied on Co-coordinator, Connie English, to make these meetings possible and have become more adept with each one. We had to adapt how to administer the sale to parishes of the Canadian Church Calendar 2021 (Sept. Oct. Nov. ’20) and there will be an outline before the end of June 2021 as to what this process will look like for the Canadian Church Calendar 2022. We continued to honour White Ribbon Sunday in late November 2020 with its awareness-raising of gender-based violence in support of safety and security for women and girls world-wide.
A virtual Faith & Fellowship in February 2021, was live-streamed and is available now on the diocesan Youtube channel, thanks to the tech expertise of Tanya Moxley – Eucharist Celebrant, the Rev. Randy Townsend, Rector of St. John’s, Bedford where the F & F was held. Homily on the theme (Do Justice . . . Love Kindness . . . Walk Humbly with your God) by Board Chaplain, Rev. Lori Ramsey. Promotion of the Annual Project 2020/21, Supporting Parents: Stories That Matter, with an overview of the Mothers’ Union world-wide parenting program by Kathleen Snow zoomed in from NB. A brief overview of the MU ministry by then Diocesan MU President, Mary Stone, now the Canadian MU President. A commissioning service for all women – a commissioning to ministry - concluded the hour and a half. Here are two links to this Faith & Fellowship event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmcyOEhMnkw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyuAcbkJhnMeYgGu5vn2ZBQ)
Women’s Ministry Sunday with its focus on honouring the ministry of the Mothers’ Union – February 2021, with some parishes choosing another date that worked better for the parish. To hear an inspiring sermon for Women’s Ministry Sunday, go to the Information link of the Cathedral Church of All Saints website: www.cathedralchurchofallsaints.com to hear MU Chaplain and AST student, Debbie Fice, preach on Women’s Ministry Sunday, February 7, 2021.
Communication & Publications: Summer & Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 issues of the magazine, Keeping in Touch and the debut (June 2020) of what became an every 2nd month e-Newsletter, Let’s Keep in Touch were a feature. The magazine was distributed by Canada Post and electronically to many e-mail addresses and the e-Newsletters electronically only. The Board has a regular monthly column and ad in The Diocesan Times. The Board’s web page on the diocesan web site (www.nspeidiocese.ca) is being refreshed at this time of writing. We posted often on the Anglican NetNews and the Board’s Facebook page, and continue to do so.
The Board has just approved an expenditure of $1,000 for the Anglican Foundation of Canada’s campaign, Say Yes! to Kids, from the Board’s invested Forward Focus Fund with its 3 pronged mandate to support initiatives relating to: leadership, youth, and technology. The Board encourages individuals, parish groups, and parishes to support Say Yes! to Kids. Earlier expenditures included a contribution to the Mothers’ Union Mary Sumner House and the Bishop’s Vestment Fund.
The Board’s interest in and promotion of education, as well as youth, has led it to approve the development of a scholarship/bursary for a gr. 12 (graduating) Anglican student intent on post-secondary studies. The hope is to have the terms of reference in place for this proposed scholarship / bursary in order to receive applications by the end of February 2022, so that we can award the first bursary in June 2022.
Thanks to all those who have contributed to or supported the ministry of the Anglican Church Women Board in some capacity.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do – Ephesians 2:10