Download the full Vision 2019 report
Summary: Priorities for the Church Living into God’s Mission
Responding to the Marks of Mission, the church nationally is challenged to
1. Develop leadership education for mission, evangelism, and ministry
Implement recommendations from the 2010 National Gathering for Theological Education in order to develop lay and ordained leaders who will lead vital, intergenerational congregations who will serve the mission of God in worship, learning, evangelism, witness, and service.
2. Support ministry through the Council of the North
Develop across the Anglican Church of Canada, and in consultation with the Council of the North, our whole church’s capacity to support pastoral and sacramental ministry in the dioceses of the Council of the North.
3. Walk with Indigenous Peoples on a journey of healing and wholeness
Foster across the Anglican Church of Canada, and in continuing partnership with the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples, a sustained commitment to the journey of Indigenous Peoples in their self- determining ministry. Continue to explore their relationship with the Anglican Indigenous Network.Continue the church’s advocacy for the resolution of Indigenous justice issues, with a commitment to ensure that Indigenous voices are clearly heard as our society works toward that resolution.
4.Work toward peace and justice
Establish a government relations presence in Ottawa that will both advocate for just national policies and motivate local grassroots strategies.
5. Engage young people in mutual growth for mission
Implement the recommendations of the Youth Initiatives Working Group for the strengthening of the church’s engagement with young people as servants of the mission of God, and for the renewal of the whole church as partners in God’s mission.
6. Enliven our worship
Proceed with a revision of liturgical texts and a renewal of worship practices based on principles emerging from reflection on the church’s experience of worship through the ages and across cultures and from engagement with scripture and the call of discipleship.
7. Be leaders in the Anglican Communion and in ecumenical actions
Foster a common sense of participation in God’s mission that honours the depth and breadth of Anglicanism in our Canadian church, develops our relationships with other parts of the Anglican Communion, and deepens our ecumenical partnerships.Adopt the Marks of Mission of the Anglican Communion as a primary framework for ministry development in service to God’s mission, and commend them as a framework to those we serve and support in provinces, dioceses, and local ministries.
Summary: Practices for the Church Ready for God’s Mission
To enable the church’s mission, the church nationally will
1. Create structures that work for the church now and for God’s mission
The Council of General Synod will renew the mandate of the Governance Working Group to study and recommend appropriate changes in the organizational life of the General Synod in light of Vision 2019.The Planning and Agenda Team and General Synod’s Management Team will collaborate to create a transition leadership team that will oversee the implementation of Vision 2019. The members of the Council of General Synod will also offer leadership in their own dioceses and regions in including the whole church in the implementation of Vision 2019.The Primate will convene a consultation to identify desirable changes in the structures and roles by which the Anglican Church of Canada carries out its ministry in service to God’s mission.
Out of the consultation, the Primate will appoint a smaller working group to advocate the necessary changes (at all levels of the church) that will align our structures, roles, and use of resources with the priorities of Vision 2019.
2. Improve and enliven communications
With leadership and support from appropriate General Synod staff and volunteers, the General Synod will enhance its capacity to serve the communication and information needs of individual Anglicans, parishes, dioceses and other ministries that, along with the General Synod itself, constitute the Anglican Church of Canada.
3. Keep an eye on statistical trends
Led by the treasurer and a small group of diocesan financial officers, the General Synod will establish a system to gather statistical information about the current and ongoing composition of the Anglican Church of Canada and identify important statistical trends.
4. Gather financial resources to equip ministry across Canada
With the coordinated efforts of General Synod and diocesan leaders, and beginning with an initial round of diocesan feasibility studies to be completed in 2011, the first triennium will see the launch of a major nationwide fundraising initiative that will promote principles of Christian stewardship and support the ministry priorities of the Anglican Church of Canada locally, in dioceses, and nationally.
5. Build bridges, not fences
Through the Office of the Primate and with leadership from the House of Bishops and appropriate General Synod staff and volunteers, the Anglican Church of Canada will renew its commitment to communion in the midst of cultural and linguistic diversity, and nourish Christ’s gift of unity in parish, diocesan, and national settings. Two areas of specific focus will be non-stipendiary ministry and translation.With leadership and support from appropriate General Synod staff and volunteers, as well as from the Joint Anglican Lutheran Commission, the General Synod will develop and support, across the Anglican Church of Canada, opportunities to live more fully into the Full Communion we enjoy with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.With leadership from the Office of the Primate, the Office of the General Secretary, and appropriate General Synod staff and volunteers, the General Synod will strengthen Canadian leadership in and service to the Anglican Communion, and strengthen the Canadian presence (both speaking and listening) within the life of the Communion, with particular attention to growing Canadian participation in the Communion’s networks.