Episcopal Press and News

Canadian Anglicans Launch Fundraising Initiative to Stabilize the Church

Episcopal News Service. June 18, 2002 [2002-157-2]

The Council of the Anglican Church of Canada's General Synod has endorsed a new fundraising initiative that will stabilize its work at the national and international level and nail down a financial contribution to help settle lawsuits filed in the wake of revelations of abuse in residential schools run by the church for the government.

The goal of the initiative is to support the church's social justice ministries, overseas partnerships, the Council of the North, new partnerships with indigenous Anglicans, congregational development and support for dioceses and parishes.

'Our goal is to establish an adequate foundation of financial and non-financial resources for both diocesan and national church ministry and mission,' said the Rev. Philip Poole of Ontario. Uncertainty about the financial situation of the church stalled a proposal for a similar initiative a year ago.

'Dioceses are suffering from litigation costs, but not just those costs,' said Geoff Jackson, executive officer of the Diocese of Ontario and an author of the initiative. 'They need renewal and refreshment to go forward.'

Church leaders stressed that a settlement with the government over how to handle the residential schools lawsuits was crucial. Archbishop David Crawley of British Columbia, a member of the church's negotiating team, said that the team 'needs some kind of indication of what figure we can table with the government.' Bishop Ann Tottenham of Toronto suggested that the proposal was 'wildly unrealistic without a residential schools settlement.'