Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island | Anglican Diocese in Halifax, NS

Please note that Cathedral Lane is undergoing an extensive infrastructure project, resulting in street closures around the Synod Offices. Our Parking Lot is still accessible however delays are expected. Access to the center and the Cathedral will be limited. For the first part of the project, please use College Street. We expect this access to change as sections are completed. The project will run until November of this year.

BISHOP SANDRA'S SCHEDULE

Thursday Sept 12^th – Parish Visit

Friday Sept 13^th – Monthly meeting with Director of Mission and Ministry Development, appointment in office, and Diocesan Council (evening)

Saturday Sept 14^th – Retired Clergy with Spouses and Widows Luncheon with the Primate, St. Peter’s Birch Cove

Sunday Sept 15^th – St. Paul’s Halifax 275^th Anniversary service, 10:00 am 1749 Aryle Street, Halifax

Monday Sept 16^th – Day off

Tuesday Sept 17^th to Thursday Sept 19^th – Vacation

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Bishop Sandra is pleased to announce the appointment of the Reverend Dr. Dawna Wall as Rector of the Parish of St. John’s Lunenburg effective October 16th, 2024.

PARISH OPENING

In accordance with Diocesan Canon 25, The Right Reverend Sandra Fyfe is accepting applications for the position of Rector for:

The Parish of Musquodoboit and Ship Harbour is situated along the Eastern Shore scenic route Highway #7. Our parishes are located only 45-50 minutes from the extreme end to the city and 25 minutes from the closest point. There are freshwater lakes to one side and the ocean on the other with many wild islands. Within our area we have two of Nova Scotia’s most beautiful sand beaches, Martinique Beach in East Petpeswick and Clam Harbour Beach in Clam Harbour.  Each beach extends for at least 2 miles, so if you are an explorer or a walker, many hours of quiet and solitude can be had while discovering little oddities. If you are sitting in your front or backyard usually nature will visit you throughout the year.  You will see many varieties of birds, and other creatures, squirrels, raccoons and deer etc.  

We are proud to be affirming parishes in favour of equal marriage since 2019 and we advocate for the inclusion of ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation.   

Pastoral Care is also very important to us, providing emotional, social and spiritual support to all, not just to the ones we see on Sunday morning. 

When thinking of our next rector words like compassionate, joyous, energetic, encouraging, and supportive come to mind, and for sure, a sense of humour goes a long way!    

We are a very friendly community and reach out to all in need or sadness. We are proud to say we live on the Eastern Shore because, to anyone who knows the shore, it means friendly (peace, harmony, love and caring by all).   

For the full posting and details on how to apply click HERE.

Atlantic School of Discipleship (New Details!)

Nurture your discipleship roots. Deepen your relationship to Christ. Energize your ministry.

Atlantic School of Theology is launching Atlantic School of Discipleship, beginning this October 2024, with teaching taking place online and in local communities.

HURRY! REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

In consultation with Maritime Anglicans and United Church denominational leaders, AST is producing a program to respond to this call to deeper Christian maturity.

https://www.astheology.ns.ca/future/certificate/discipleship.html

+ Are you thinking about taking a Christian education course this autumn to energize your faith and inspire your ministry?

+ Do you want to increase interest and commitment in discipleship in your congregation?

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

Through interaction with AST’s world-class teachers, participants are introduced to a solid foundation of how Christian faith and tradition impact our daily walk as followers of Jesus. Faculty include two Anglican professors, one Roman Catholic, and four from the United Church. The program is open to adults with any education level.

Each month focuses on a different topic:

The Old Testament for today
The New Testament for today
Christian beliefs and our daily living
What is the church and what is my place in it?
What does being a disciple of Jesus mean for me today?
How do we truly care for one another in our community?
Following Jesus, Living the Virtues
Dealing with challenge and change as a community of disciples
Talking about my faith with others

HOW WILL THIS PROGRAM WORK?

Each month participants receive readings and reflection questions designed to explore faith topics. Then they join in a live (via Zoom) presentation by an AST instructor on that month’s topic. A second online opportunity to interact with questions and conversation takes students deeper into understanding.

Time commitment: two Tuesday evenings a month for nine months, plus some reading time outside of those gatherings.

Additionally, there are four, one-day in-person regional events. Some of the cohort gatherings take place in New Glasgow, NS; Truro, NS, and Summerside, PE. As interest grows, other locations may be added.

WHAT WILL IT COST?

Tuition for individual participants is $300. A group with 5 participants from the same parish is $1,000.

Anglican Scholarships are available. Any lay participant from the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island may apply for a $150 scholarship, in honour of Rev. Canon David Reid, to cover the cost of tuition. (Contact the Director of Mission and Ministry Development to request an application form: missiondirector@nspeidiocese.ca )

GOT QUESTIONS? Contact Atlantic School of Theology: discipleship@astheology.ns.ca or 902-429-6495.

The Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island is pleased to welcome The Rev’d Dr. Charlie Bell for a weekend of conversation, education, and inspiration. We hope you will join us for some or all of the weekend’s events! Please help us by posting these events in your communities.

For those of you unfamiliar with his work, Charlie Bell is Official Fellow and College Lecturer in Medicine and Public Theology at Girton College, Cambridge, and a Registrar in Forensic Psychiatry at St George’s and Southwest London NHS Foundation Trust. He is a priest in the Diocese of Southwark, Scholar in Residence at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York City, Visiting Scholar at Sarum College, and a Research Fellow and Associate Tutor at St Augustine’s College of Theology. He has published in both medicine and theology, and in the space between the two. His research interests are primarily in the field of theological anthropology, including culpability, responsibility, and determinism. He is also research active in psychiatry, investigating possible biological signatures for psychiatric and personality disorder.

Queer Redemption: Queer Theology

Friday October 4^th, 1 – 3 pm (ADT), online and in-person at AST

For far too long, the lives of queer people and the life of the church have been seen as incompatible – as impossible, even, to reconcile. In recent years and in some quarters, there have been increasing moves towards inclusion and affirmation, and yet some of the fundamentals remain untouched. Queerness remains somehow alien, somehow different, and the church remains unchanged.

In this talk, author and priest Charlie Bell will ask what might happen if queerness was allowed to liberate the whole church, seen as a gift to the whole rather than something for the margins. What might happen if queer lives, loves, and relationships were taken as read, rather than treated as a matter of debate? What is this queer theology? And what might a queer-infused church look like?

Join us for an afternoon of insight and conversation. Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Affirming Communities: Conversation and Dinner

The Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island has invited a group of lay and clergy advocates to gather and reflect on where we are as a Diocesan community and what resources we require to continue our work with the LGBTQ2Si community. Both as those who identify as LGBTQ2Si and those who name themselves allies, we are deeply invested in advancing and encouraging positive and affirming work at both the parish and Diocesan levels. Join us in conversation with Charlie Bell, further exploring our response to, care for, and just resourcing of both the clergy and lay who identify with this community. How do we minister with integrity, hold wide the parish door, and celebrate the unique gifts experienced in relationship? This, and many more questions, may form the basis of our conversation.

We hope you will join us for dialogue and stay for dinner! (Saturday, October 5, 3 – 5 pm with dinner at 6 pm, St. Andrew’s Cole Harbour). Please email Executive Director, The Rev’d Ann Turner, for more information and to register.

Cathedral Church of All Saints

Sunday, October 6, 2024 at the 11 am service

The Rev’d Dr. Charlie Bell will preach at the 11 am service at the Cathedral. Visit the Cathedral’s website if you require more information (https://www.cathedralchurchofallsaints.com). All are welcome!

Queering the Church: In Conversation with the Rev’d Dr. Charlie Bell

Monday, October 7, 1 – 2:15 pm and 2:30 – 4 pm, Zoom only

For lay and clergy, a time for listening, sharing wisdom, and igniting hope.

You are warmly invited to join the online discussion(s). Meet with Charlie Bell, a priest visiting the diocese from the Church of England, who is currently involved with the conversations at their General Synod relating to sexuality and gender. There will be two sessions, and you are very welcome to attend either or both.

The first, How Things Progressed: The Journey in Canada, is an opportunity to talk through the way that the path towards LGBTQ2SIA inclusion has been forged and the challenges, opportunities, and tensions along the way. This will primarily be a look over how things have landed where they have today, and the opportunity to share learning from the Canadian journey that might prove beneficial to those involved in the English process. There will also be the opportunity to hear a little about the current situation in the Church of England and the relationship of this to conversations in the wider Anglican Communion.

The second, The Art of the Possible: Living Together across Difference, will focus on the situation as it is now in Canada, in a church that has found – and continues to find – ways to live together despite deep and enduring differences in matters of sexuality and gender. Insights from both churches and a variety of perspectives will be shared, and we will look to find those things that work well, that work less well, and that could work better, and the implications for shared life in communion. Click HERE to register and receive your Zoom invitation.

I hope to see you at one or all of these interesting events!

Take good care,

Ann E. Turner (The Rev’d), Executive Director

Out at Gibson’s Lake there is a small Anglican Church called All Saint’s. It was built in the 1800’s and for many, many years devoted church members looked after the church and the cemetery. It has neither electricity, water, nor much in the way of funds. But it does have bats!

It is across the lake from St. Anne’s Summer Camp. Often campers would canoe over from the camp to attend services at the Church. One, who later became a counsellor, has memories of opening the doors and seeing bats fly out in the evenings.

Over the last few decades, the group who has lovingly cared for the church has become smaller and smaller as people moved, aged or died. For the last number of years, the care has fallen to only two very devoted people. They resigned from the care committee this past spring.

While some repairs were done this summer to the exterior, there are some holes in the foundation where animals can get under the Church and the roof will need replacing in a few years.

Inside the church there are bigger issues – repairs are needed to the main floor support beam and the bats have certainly enjoyed being the only occupants. There is bat guano and urine all over the pews and in particular, the carpet.

The inside smells terrible! As there are health risks associated with bat guano, it has been decided that we cannot hold a service inside this year. In previous years members of the care committee would come to the church and clean it up weekly. That has not happened this summer.

So, we will hold this year's Anniversary service outdoors in the graveyard on September 15th at 3pm. Please bring your own umbrella (just in case) and a lawn chair. This will be followed by a meeting to discuss the future of the church. Most importantly, please come having given some thought about the future of All Saints, Gibson's Lake. Are you willing, or not, to invest in its future? It will take time, talent, and treasure (fundraising). Will you become part of a new Care Committee? (If you cannot come to the meeting but would like to help, please contact the Parish Office at 902-532-0913)

All Saint’s future is in your hands.

THE BISHOPS OFFICE

FROM THE SYNOD OFFICE

MISSION, MINISTRY and WORSHIP

FINANCE OFFICE

DIOCESAN EVENTS

YOUTH AND FAMILY MINISTRY

WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND THE DIOCESE

Bats in the Belfry - A Church at the Crossroads

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