Video Conferencing Etiquette

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, churches across Canada are cancelling services, meetings, and other gatherings. Many are exploring options for live-streaming services and for video-conferencing of meetings. With this in mind, I have drafted these suggestions based on my own experience and some ideas I have found in the documents listed at the end.

The following tips are provided to enhance the effectiveness of video conference technology in church meetings. These suggestions are based on using Zoom, but many of them are applicable to other software as well, such as GoToMeeting or Skype.
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Posted: Mar. 16, 2020 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10712
Categories: Resources • In this article: church, video conferencing Transmis : 16 mars 2020 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10712
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : church, video conferencing

Four Churches Gather to Renew Ecumenical Covenant

Lutherans and Ukrainian Catholics joined the annual celebration of the Anglican and Roman Catholic ecumenical Covenant on Sunday afternoon, May 26. The Covenant began in 2011 between the Anglican Diocese of Qu’Appelle and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina. In recent years, the Covenant partners have been working towards a renewed covenant which will include the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. This year’s annual covenant service was an opportunity to give thanks to God for drawing the four churches towards this renewed relationship.
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Posted: May 27, 2019 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10574
Categories: News • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, covenant, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Qu'Appelle, Regina, Saskatchewan, Ukrainian Catholic Transmis : 27 mai 2019 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10574
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, covenant, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Qu'Appelle, Regina, Saskatchewan, Ukrainian Catholic

ARCIC agreed statement on ecclesiology: Walking Together on the Way

The Third Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III) has issued its first agreed statement with the title Walking Together on the Way: Learning to be the Church – Local, Regional, Universal. Since its first meeting in 1970, ARCIC has published thirteen agreed statements. The third phase of the dialogue began in 2011 with the dual mandate to explore “the Church as Communion, local and universal, and how in communion the local and universal Church come to discern right ethical teaching.” The current document completes the first part of this mandate.

Walking Together on the Way employs the method of Receptive Ecumenism to examine the structures by which Catholics and Anglicans order and maintain communion at the local, regional and universal level. It examines common theological principles that Anglicans and Catholics share, and the differentiated structures, based on these principles, by which they make decisions. This method invites both traditions to repentance and conversion, by looking at what is underdeveloped or wounded in themselves. It is also predicated on the belief that in our dialogue partner we meet a community in which the Holy Spirit is alive and active. We can therefore ask firstly, where our communities are in need of reform, and, secondly, what we can learn from the our dialogue partner to help us in this growth. The Commission described this process as “receptive learning.”
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Posted: July 3, 2018 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10292
Categories: Dialogue, News • In this article: Anglican, ARCIC, Catholic, dialogue Transmis : 3 juil. 2018 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10292
Catégorie : Dialogue, News • Dans cet article : Anglican, ARCIC, Catholic, dialogue

A move towards unity among Ukrainian Orthodox

The number of Orthodox jurisdictions in Ukraine may be about to shrink. Since the end of the Soviet era, the Ukrainian Orthodox churches have been divided into competing jurisdictions and affiliations. Although relations between the groups is somewhat fluid, the recent conflict in eastern Ukraine and Crimea has raised the importance of forming a single indigenous Orthodox church. The coming Pan-Orthodox Council also provides a strong initiative to resolve jurisdictional disputes. The major groups are the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). The members of each of these churches are Ukrainian, but the UOC-MP is under the larger jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Moscow. The others have sought recognition from canonical Orthodox churches. In a major development, the Kyivan and Autocephalous churches have agreed to convene a Unification Council or Sobor in September. If all goes well, the two will elect a single primate and establish a permanent Sobor for the new united church.

A joint meeting of representatives from the two churches was held on June 8 at the Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy at St. Michael’s Monastery in Kyiv. In addition to the delegations from both churches, there were observers from the Ukrainian diaspora as well. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA are both under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. With the approval of Patriarch Bartholomew, Bishops Ilarion and Daniel participated in the discussions about unification and signed the agreement as observers. The observers will also be invited to participate in the unification Sobor on September 15.

Press releases issued by the churches in Canada and the USA celebrated the news as a move towards the eventual establishment of a single Orthodox Church in the Ukraine.
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Posted: July 10, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8636
Categories: Communiqué, News • In this article: Orthodox, Ukraine Transmis : 10 juil. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8636
Catégorie : Communiqué, News • Dans cet article : Orthodox, Ukraine

Joint Statement of Faith for Evangelicals and Catholics in Saskatoon

The Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue in Saskatoon has recently issued a draft “Common Statement of Faith” after three years of study. The text is offered to our sponsoring churches for study and discernment, with the prayer that this text might be adopted as a sufficient statement for further dialogue and common mission.

The dialogue is sponsored by the Saskatoon Evangelical Ministers’ Fellowship (SEMF) and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. The group was established in 2011 to build upon earlier efforts to draw our churches together. The twenty members of the dialogue are drawn from across the Evangelical and Catholic communities with both clergy and lay people well represented. The dialogue spent two years exploring issues that have historically divided Catholics and Evangelicals before concluding that a statement of the faith we share in common would assist in promoting the growing relationship between our churches. Over a year in drafting and revision, the statement offered to our church at this time is not intended to be a final or complete exposition of these doctrinal matters or of all of the matters essential to Christian faith. We intend to give an account of the hope that we share for the visible witness of Jesus Christ by his followers in Saskatoon.
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Posted: Sept. 18, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7786
Categories: Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue • In this article: Catholic, Christian unity, dialogue, ecumenism, Evangelicals, Saskatoon, statements of faith Transmis : 18 sept. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7786
Catégorie : Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue • Dans cet article : Catholic, Christian unity, dialogue, ecumenism, Evangelicals, Saskatoon, statements of faith

Anglican-United dialogue to work towards interchangeability of ministries

The Anglican and United Church of Canada dialogue has issued an interim report that proposes “to explore what steps can be taken to make a mutual exchange of ministries between our two churches normative”. As a first step, the dialogue members propose to explore the interchangeability between the order of priests in the Anglican Church and ordained ministers in the United Church. The interim report, prepared in January, has been received by the respective churches and was published May 20. Approving the proposal, the two churches have asked the dialogue to report on its progress in time for the Anglican General Synod in 2016.

The latest “iteration” of the dialogue between the Anglican and United churches began in January 2012. The dialogue was established in 2003 and issued a report in 2009 entitled “Drawing from the Same Well: The St. Brigid Report”. A Plan of Union between the two churches was unsuccessful forty years ago. Central to the concerns in the old Plan of Union was a proposal to reconcile ministries between the two churches with the union church having episcopal orders.
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Posted: May 21, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7601
Categories: News • In this article: Anglican Church of Canada, dialogue, ministry, ordination, United Church of Canada Transmis : 21 mai 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7601
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Anglican Church of Canada, dialogue, ministry, ordination, United Church of Canada

Pope records iPhone video greeting to Pentecostal leadership conference

This is a story that is classic Pope Francis: in late December he picked up the phone and called a Pentecostal bishop, Tony Palmer, to invite him to visit. By all accounts, they had been friends for a number of years already and this was just a social visit, so it wasn’t planned and facilitated by Vatican staff. When the Vatican’s daily news briefing on January 14 listed Bishop Palmer’s visit, the only detail given was that he is the ecumenical officer for the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, a Pentecostal group that identifies as Anglican, but is not affiliated with the Anglican Communion.

That generated considerable curiosity, particularly in ecumenical circles. Until now, the Vatican has not had any formal contacts with non-Communion Anglicans. No further details were available until this week when a video was posted on YouTube. During their visit in January, Pope Francis and Bishop Palmer recorded a video message on the bishop’s iPhone. The message was for a conference of leaders from Kenneth Copeland Ministries, a Pentecostal mega-church ministry. Palmer was scheduled to address the conference a few days later, so Francis offered to send greetings. They recorded the video on the spot, and there is no indication that the Vatican staff were aware of its existence until it appeared on YouTube two days ago.
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Posted: Feb. 20, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7381
Categories: News • In this article: Catholic, Christian unity, ecumenism, Pentecostal, Pope Francis Transmis : 20 févr. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7381
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Catholic, Christian unity, ecumenism, Pentecostal, Pope Francis

An historic visit: Bishop Donald Bolen preaches at Circle Drive Alliance Church

In what might very well be a historic first, on Sunday January 19 Roman Catholic Bishop Donald Bolen was the guest preacher at one of Saskatoon’s flagship Evangelical churches, Circle Drive Alliance Church. Pastor Eldon Boldt invited Bishop Bolen to preach some months ago and suggested January as a possible time. Boldt has been offering the congregation a series of sermons through January on the theme of Reconciliation so the bishop’s sermon on Christian unity was a natural fit. Nevertheless, the significance of the occasion was not lost on anyone, including the congregation of Holy Family Cathedral to whom Bolen had preached earlier in the morning. Before he left for Circle Drive Church, the Catholic congregation gave Bolen a rousing cheer amid their prayers for Christian unity and thanksgiving for their bishop’s ecumenical passion.

The invitation to Circle Drive Church did not come out of the blue. Pastor Boldt and Bishop Bolen have been friends for a number of years and have happily shared together in prayer and witness. They are both members of a joint consultation committee between the Catholic diocese and the Saskatoon Evangelical Ministers’ Fellowship (SEMF).
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Posted: Jan. 21, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7204
Categories: Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue, News • In this article: Catholic, Donald Bolen, Evangelicals Transmis : 21 janv. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7204
Catégorie : Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue, News • Dans cet article : Catholic, Donald Bolen, Evangelicals

Christian Faith Requires Accepting Evolution

Recently, Jonathan Dudley has argued that Creationists have “abandoned a central commitment of orthodox Christianity.” Dudley’s argument is simple. Until the modern controversy among Fundamentalist Evangelicals over creation and evolution, Christianity has always held to a belief that the natural world is a revelation of God. Implicit in the doctrine of creation is the understanding that God is revealed by God’s works. Good science is that which seeks knowledge from the natural world encountered by humanity. As Dudley reminds us: “Augustine castigated those who made the Bible teach bad science, John Calvin argued that Genesis reflects a commoner’s view of the physical world, and the Belgic confession likened scripture and nature to two books written by the same author.”
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Posted: May 21, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=4579
Categories: Opinion • In this article: creation, evolution, science Transmis : 21 mai 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=4579
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : creation, evolution, science

De Margerie Series on Christian Unity and Reconciliation

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon and St. Thomas More College are pleased to inaugurate a new series of lectures and workshops that will bring to Saskatoon distinguished ecumenists from around the world. Our hope is that this will be an annual event, sometimes in conjunction with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The series is named in honour of Fr. Bernard de Margerie. Those who know him, know that his greatest complement is to remind you to “stay humble.” His own humility is one of the many virtues he has brought to ecumenical ministry for over fifty years. Bernard is best known for his work in founding the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism in 1984, and serving as its first director for the next decade, but his ecumenical interest was sparked long before by Pope John XXIII who opened the Catholic Church to the ecumenical movement. Bernard’s vision for the ecumenical movement has always placed prayer at the centre. Spiritual ecumenism, which is fostered in prayer together and for each other, promotes humility about the distinctive aspects of our own faith and life. Through the early years of Catholic ecumenism, in the euphoria of new relationships between our churches, Bernard patiently and prayerfully built firm relationships that have seen us through the so-called “ecumenical winter.”
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Posted: Jan. 21, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2879
Categories: News • In this article: Bernard de Margerie, Christian unity, ecumenism, Saskatoon, speaker Transmis : 21 janv. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2879
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Bernard de Margerie, Christian unity, ecumenism, Saskatoon, speaker

Celebrating Easter Together

This weekend we celebrate Easter together in the Eastern and Western calendars. This happens occasionally, and it can always be a moment of great ecumenical opportunity. However, it also reflects one of the deepest divisions in the Body of Christ. Easter, as the celebration of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, is at the heart of our Christian faith. The division over the date of Easter is a visible sign of division within a more profound unity, and thus is scandalous.
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Posted: Apr. 23, 2011 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=1796
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Christian unity, dialogue, Easter, ecumenism Transmis : 23 avril 2011 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=1796
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Christian unity, dialogue, Easter, ecumenism

Four Basic Principles of Ecumenism

When I moved to Saskatoon sixteen years ago, I was surprised by the ecumenical interest that I encountered in the churches. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, Saskatoon has the only ecumenical centre in Canada which focuses on parish ecumenism. This diocese has a history of ecumenical cooperation and experimentation that goes back to our earliest settlements. Over the years I have discovered that at the core of the prairie ecumenical experience there are some basic principles that provide guidance and insight to the search for Christian unity here, just as they do throughout the church. These principles are found in our own experience, but they are rooted in our biblical and doctrinal convictions about Christian faith and life. I think we experience these in a particularly unique way in Saskatchewan.
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Posted: Feb. 8, 2011 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6324
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Christian unity, spiritual ecumenism Transmis : 8 févr. 2011 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6324
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Christian unity, spiritual ecumenism

Regina Covenant looks towards the future

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina and the Anglican Diocese of Qu’Appelle have entered into a covenant committing themselves to prayer together and for each other, to work together for justice, peace, and aboriginal reconciliation and healing, and to consult regularly where developments affect the other. Archbishop Daniel Bohan and Bishop Gregory Kerr-Wilson signed the covenant on behalf of their churches in a joint worship service on Sunday, January 23rd at St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Regina.
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Posted: Jan. 25, 2011 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=1786
Categories: News • In this article: Anglican Transmis : 25 janv. 2011 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=1786
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Anglican

Verbum Domini – a new papal letter on the Word of God

Last week, the Vatican published a new papal letter from Benedict XVI entitled Verbum Domini, the Word of the Lord. Technically called an “apostolic exhortation,” this letter is the final contribution from the 2008 synod. At over 190 pages in the English text, the new letter is a “must read” for all ecumenists.
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Posted: Nov. 20, 2010 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=1611
Categories: Documents • In this article: Benedict XVI, pope, Scripture Transmis : 20 nov. 2010 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=1611
Catégorie : Documents • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, pope, Scripture

Celebrating Easter Together

By Nicholas Jesson On April 24th next year, we will celebrate Easter together in the Eastern and Western calendars. This happens occasionally, and it can always be a moment of great ecumenical opportunity. However, it also reflects one of the deepest divisions in the Body of Christ. Easter, as the celebration of the passion, death,
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Posted: Oct. 27, 2010 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6263
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Christian unity, dialogue, Easter, ecumenism, WCC Transmis : 27 oct. 2010 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6263
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Christian unity, dialogue, Easter, ecumenism, WCC

Vatican offers new provisions for Anglican “converts”

Vatican offers new provisions for Anglican “converts”

Earlier this week the Vatican announced new pastoral provisions for Anglicans seeking to join the Roman Catholic Church that will allow them to keep aspects of the historic Anglican liturgy and patrimony. The announcement came from Cardinal William Levada, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The CDF is the Vatican office responsible for doctrine. Since 1980, the CDF has supervised a special pastoral provision for former Anglicans in the United States that permitted married Anglican clergy to be admitted to Roman Catholic ministry and in a few cases for entire parishes of former Anglicans to continue to use Anglican liturgical forms. The announcement this week was touted as a means of making the 1980 pastoral provision universal.

Read the complete commentary by Nicholas Jesson on our website…
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Posted: Oct. 23, 2009 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=607
Categories: News • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, ordinariate Transmis : 23 oct. 2009 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=607
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, ordinariate

Dialogue with Judaism is necessary and possible

Last November, attention turned once again to comments made by Pope Benedict XVI, this time on dialogue with Islam. Precisely as the Vatican was intensifying efforts to open dialogues with Islam on ethical and other practical issues, a book was published in Italy by Marcello Pera that contained a forward written by the pope. In this text, the pope commended Pera’s argument that interreligious dialogue is not strictly possible. The book, entitled “Why We Must Call Ourselves Christian” was an argument for the indispensably Christian character of Europe. Prior to his election as pope, Cardinal Ratzinger had co-authored another book with Pera about Europe’s identity, and so it is not a great surprise that he would write a forward for another book on the same subject by his academic colleague.

… continued
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Posted: Mar. 14, 2009 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=564
Categories: Dialogue • In this article: Benedict XVI, Catholic, interfaith, Islam, Judaism, Vatican Transmis : 14 mars 2009 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=564
Catégorie : Dialogue • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, Catholic, interfaith, Islam, Judaism, Vatican

English Anglicans to ordain women as bishops

On Monday, the General Synod of the Church of England voted to proceed towards the ordination of women to the episcopate. The vote begins a process that is expected to take three years before a final synodal vote. The earliest ordination would likely be in five years. The fallout from the decision is expected much sooner, both at the Lambeth Conference in late July and in the ecumenical dialogues with Roman Catholics and the Orthodox.

The Church of England is not the first province in the Anglican Communion to make this decision. It does, however, come at a time of tension in the Anglican Communion. The Lambeth Conference meeting later this month will address numerous strains on the Communion, including those arising from the ordination of homosexuals and women, and the blessing of same-sex unions. Women’s ordination has been a controversial issue in the Communion since 1976 when the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church in the USA decided to ordain women as priests. In the intervening years, many of the other provinces in the Communion have followed their path, including the Church of England in 1992. Once women were ordained as priests, questions were immediately asked about whether women would be ordained as bishops as well.
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Posted: July 9, 2008 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=485
Categories: News • In this article: Anglican, bishops, Catholic, Church of England, ordination, Vatican, Walter Kasper, women Transmis : 9 juil. 2008 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=485
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Anglican, bishops, Catholic, Church of England, ordination, Vatican, Walter Kasper, women

UN approves a moratorium on the death penalty

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in all member states. The resolution passed on Tuesday by a vote of 104 to 54 with 29 abstentions. This is the third attempt to pass a moratorium resolution in the General Assembly. Previous attempts in 1994 and 1999 failed. The current resolution called on member states to “progressively restrict the use of the death penalty and reduce the number of offences for which it may be imposed.”
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Posted: Dec. 21, 2007 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=400
Categories: News • In this article: capital punishment, human rights, justice, United Nations Transmis : 21 déc. 2007 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=400
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : capital punishment, human rights, justice, United Nations

The Global Christian Forum, an historic achievement

When I teach my students about the ecumenical movement, I tell them that the establishment of the World Council of Churches in 1948 is an historic achievement. It is historic because the WCC is the principal instrument of the ecumenical movement in the 20th century. It is historic because it sets a benchmark in church history for the commitment of the churches to walk together. It is an achievement of unparalleled importance because it brought together the historic churches of the Reformation together with the Eastern churches in a commitment to seek visible unity and common witness. However, even in 1948 there was an awareness that there were essential voices missing from the ecumenical table.
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Posted: Nov. 12, 2007 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=380
Categories: News • In this article: 2007, Christian unity, events, Global Christian Forum, statements Transmis : 12 nov. 2007 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=380
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : 2007, Christian unity, events, Global Christian Forum, statements