We are interested in what is happening in your parish and would love to highlight those events and news in our newsfeed.

We look forward to your contributions - feel free to forward your event announcements, your parish news, your stories.  Send in your details and pictures to ctubman@calgary.anglican.ca.

Images of Spirituality is a group of ecumenical Christian women of all ages who gather once a year to learn, discuss, listen, sing, worship and reflect together.  

This year (our 30th gathering) our theme is "Praying Outside the Lines."  To learn more about this Weekend, visit our website here.

Come to the Mount!  This preached silent retreat comes at a perfect time - the weekend before Palm Sunday.  Do you crave a quiet weekend away?  A weekend of God's presence?  Time to take a walk in the woods?  Delicious home-cooked meals prepared by someone else?  Your room is waiting.

All are welcome.  Please join us.  You'll be glad you did!

Friday dinner to Sunday after lunch, April 5 to 7.  This year's theme is, "Who do you say that I am?"  $195 but no one is turned away.  Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre is at 41160 Retreat Road, Cochrane.  To register or if you have questions, contact Leon or Statia Demers at (403) 242-1332 or email leon-statia@shaw.ca.

The Health Care Office of the RC Diocese of Calgary is pleased to offer this one-day workshop, with presenter Cindy Bond, Community Education Specialist at the Alzheimer Society of Calgary.  Particular attention will be focussed on Person-Centred Care, the stages of the disease, communications, and tools and strategies for interaction with persons with dementia and their caregivers.  The day goes from 8:30 am (registration and refreshments) to 2:30 pm.  $25, and lunch is included.  Please register with Nicola at (403) 256-8683 or Andie at (403) 218-5501.  For more information, click here.

You are invited to this interfaith event featuring inspiring works by ten musical groups.  There is no charge for tickets, but all attendees are invited to make a donation online or at the event by cheque or credit card, to wrap up the Interfaith Build Project's goal of raising $1M to help ten families buy their first home through Habitat for Humanity.  Refreshments to follow hosted by Beth Tzedec Synagogue with Rabbi Shaul Osadchey and Archbishop Greg Kerr-Wilson.  Make a donation and reserve your seats by clicking here.

Please join us for our Annual Clergy Conference.  This year's speaker is Brother Emile of the Taize Community.  For further information, please contact the Ven. Noel Wygiera at nwygiera@gmail.com.

The General Synod will choose a new Primate, to replace the retiring Archbishop Fred Hiltz in Vancouver this July.

The nominated Bishops are The Right Rev. Jane Alexander (Edmonton), The Most Rev. Ron Cutler (Nova Scotia & PEI, and Metropolitan of Canada), The Most Rev. Greg Kerr-Wilson (Calgary, and Metropolitan of Rupert's Land), The Right Rev. Linda Nicholls (Huron), and The Right Rev. Michael Oulton (Ontario).

“Almighty God, giver of all good gifts, look on your Church with grace, and guide the minds of those who shall choose a Primate for our beloved Church, that we may receive a faithful servant who will care for your people and support us in our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Annual Returns that each parish must fill out and submit to the Diocesan Office can be found on our website under Resources/Documents/Annual Return Forms, and we offer fillable forms as well that can be emailed in to the office at diocese@calgary.anglican.ca. 

For the Financial Reports, parishes can submit an Income Statement and a Balance Sheet.  Any questions regarding finances can be directed to the Director of Finance, Lorraine Betts at lbetts@calgary.anglican.ca

Thank you so much to those of you who have sent your Annual Returns in already!  We really appreciate your feedback on the reduced forms.

Missional Footprint Documents
You will notice that there is a document titled “Missional Footprint” which we added to the list of Annual Reporting for 2019. This document can be completed around the time of Annual Statistical Reporting if that works best for your parish.
Our last Synod gave us a mandate to focus on Mission. So, we have created this feedback form which will give us an idea of how your parishes are already carrying out Mission and Ministry. It will also allow us to work with you to achieve your goals and overcome any challenges in this area.  Our Executive Officer, The Rev. Pilar Gateman, would love to come to your parish to help work through the process with you.  What we have seen so far has given us real hope and a sense of how to help us all move into a missional mindset.  Bless you all in your Kingdom work!
If you have any questions about the form or process, please contact pgateman@calgary.anglican.ca

A look at Archbishop Greg's activities over the next few weeks:

March 30 to April 14 - Japan

Tuesday, April 16 - Blessing of the Oils Service at the Cathedral;

followed by a Clergy Day.

Cathedral Church of the Redeemer, Calgary:

Handel's Messiah: The Message of the Music:  Tuesday, April 9, at 7:00 pm, join Director of Music Dr. Neil Cockburn for a lecture on Handel's Messiah, which was originally conceived as a Lenten work.  You won't want to miss what promises to be an informative and entertaining evening.  This will be in the Parish Hall (600 - 1st Street SE).

Holy Cross, Calgary: 

Lectio Divina: All are invited to The Anglican Parish of Holy Cross for an evening of silence, prayer and biblical meditation.   An Evening of Lectio Divina will be held on the second Tuesday of every month, starting at 6:30 pm, next on April 9.  Everyone is welcome.  

Highwood Deanery parishes:

Please find below shared Holy Week services for the parishes of St. Benedict, High River, the three churches of Meota Parish (St. George, Turner Valley, Christ Church, Millarville and St. James, Priddis) and St. Peter, Okotoks:

April 15 7:00 pm    St. George, Turner Valley   

April 16 7:00 pm    St. Peter, Okotoks   

April 17 7:00 pm    St. Benedict, High River   

April 18 6:30 pm    St. Peter, Okotoks  Eucharistic Meal with Footwashing

April 19 3:00 pm    St. George, Turner Valley   

April 19 7:00 pm    St. Peter, Okotoks   Taize Worship  

April 20 7:00 pm    St. Benedict, High River

The Spring Cursillo Weekend for Men will be held from Thursday, April 11 to Sunday, April 14.  The Weekend for Women will be held from Thursday, April 25 to Sunday, April 28.  Please consider sponsoring someone to attend, and pray for both teams and candidates.  For more information, go to www.cursillo.ab.ca

The Ministry Developer will partner with specific lay-led congregations, to empower the people and equip lay leaders for their mission, witness and ministry in the Church and out in the world.

The Ministry Developer is a new position, working under the leadership of the Rural Missioner and in collaboration with the Emotional Health Facilitator as a key member of the Rural Ministry Team, which also includes a part-time Administrative Assistant for Mission.  This new position is but one sign among many of a transformation that has been happening in the Diocese over the past several years.  A Spirit-led paradigm shift has profoundly changed how we perceive rural congregations, and how we seek to support rural lay leaders.  What was once a fringe concept now enjoys wide support among the laity, clergy, and officers of the Diocese.  As such, the Ministry Developer will be working in a highly supportive team environment.

The Ministry Developer position is full-time with a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits package and pension.  The complete job description can be found here.  We invite and encourage all interested candidates to send their application to: 

The Rev. Clara King, Rural Missioner, Anglican Diocese of Calgary  

RuralMinistry@calgary.anglican.ca

The posting will remain open until filled.  We thank all applicants for their interest; only successful candidates will be contacted.

Heritage Park has a Morning Prayer interpretive program on the first Sundays of every month during the summer, plus Victoria Day Sunday, Thanksgiving and the Sundays of Advent.  These are "Special Events" and rely on interested and knowledgable volunteers to present a BCP Morning Prayer service that would have been part of life for new settlers on the Alberta frontier.  It has aspects of a formal prayer service of the day such as prayers, readings and hymns (Heritage Park supplies an organist for the historic pump organ).  Over the past 10+ years, the volunteers presenting this program have been lay readers from the Diocese.  This is a wonderful way of educating the public from near and far, as well as Heritage Park volunteers and staff, about our church history in southern Alberta.  Trained lay ministers who are familiar with, and love, Morning Prayer are ideal presenters.  Interested persons may contact Mryka Hall-Beyer (mhallbey@ucalgary.ca or (403) 284-2611) before April 15.  Time commitment would be some half days of familiarization with Heritage Park and this program, and volunteering (alone or as a two-person team) for one or two Sundays a year, depending on the number of volunteers.  Volunteers operate under an agreement with Heritage Park for support and insurance purposes.  Free parking provided, and often free lunch, as well.

 For information on Wisdom Centre events click here.

The All Saints Family Centre Society is a registered non-profit society connected to All Saints Anglican Church in Cochrane, providing community outreach.  We offer a variety of courses, workshops and retreats, as well as space for rent for courses, speakers and retreat days.  For more information or a tour of the facility, please contact Elizabeth Short at (403) 660-5636, or email Karen and Elizabeth at allsaintsretreatcentre@outlook.com.

Mindfulness and Meditation: beginning Tuesdays, March 12, 6:30 to 7:30 pm

Give yourself the gift of time for quiet and contemplation each week.  Spend an hour connecting with the Divine, being still, and finding fellowship and connection.

Serious about Mission work?  Come meet Anglicans from Canada and the USA to experience an eye-opening weekend shared by folks who have followed God to the ends of the earth to spread the good news of His salvation.  Join with bishops, pastors and many lay folks who work for Jesus through a number of Mission agencies all over this planet.  Plenary speakers share incredible testimonies and workshops allow you to spend time to hear, learn and ask questions of many missionaries.  Meet the speakers personally and find out more about their work and how you may become a part of it.  Plus the worship is phenomenal, the sharing incredible and you will come away with a clear understanding of what Mission work is.  Tim and Peti Webster have been to several of these conferences and highly recommend making the trip. Click here to register.  For more details, please contact websterpt@yahoo.com

Ambrose University's Flourishing Congregations Institute has sent out a survey.  We would like to encourage clergy and church wardens to fill out this survey, found here.  Thank you.

The Parish of Holy Cross, Calgary has six burial plots in Mountain View Cemetery (1515 - 100 Street SE, Calgary) for sale.  Similar open plots in the mature part of the cemetery vary in price from $3885 to $7245 each.  Each plot includes the right for one casket and two ash urns, or no casket and three ash urns.  If you are interested, please contact John at (403) 288-7636.  

Anyone wishing to continue receiving paper issues of the Anglican Journal by mail must confirm their subscription by June 1.  A toll-free number has been set up for calls: 1-866-333-0959.  In addition, parishioners can email yes@national.anglican.ca or confirm by mail at: Anglican Journal, 80 Hayden St, Toronto, ON   M4Y 3G2   You may also fill in the on-line form, available here.

Your cooperation is appreciated and will help the Anglican Church of Canada update its membership lists.

Sorrento Centre Summer Programs:

Now is the time to start planning your summer visit to Sorrento in the beautiful Shuswap.  Click here to visit the website and review summer offerings.  We look forward to welcoming you to the Centre!  Also on the website are employment opportunities for Summer Youth Staff for 15-20 people.

Camp Kuriakos: Renew Women's Retreat:

This is an Invitation to Transformation.  We all have our own unique spark.  When we ignite our passion, our spark can ignite the passion of others.  Come join us as, through prayer, silence, meditation and fellowship, we respoind to the transforming grace of God.  Retreat Leader is Terrie Coombs, Spiritual Director from Calgary.  April 5 to 7.  To register, click here.

Hope Mission:

Hope Mission is a not-for-profit social care agency caring for men, women, youth, and children experiencing poverty across Alberta.  We offer meal programs, Kids and Youth programs, and Camp Hope.  We are looking for a full-time cook for our kitchen.  Please click here for details.

Please remember in your prayers:

- those who are sick or suffering.  This week, we pray for Pauline, Pilar and John.

- those who have died and those who mourn

- the victims of the violence and natural disasters

- our Companion Diocese of the Windward Islands, and their Bishop Leopold Friday

Request a prayer:

Send prayer requests to ctubman@calgary.anglican.ca to let us know how we can pray for you.  We will only use first names which will be removed after two or three weeks.  We will also pray for you during our regular Chapel services each week.  Please ensure that you have permission from those whose names you are submitting for prayer, and that they understand their name will be made public to all who subscribe to the Newsletter.