The Joint Assembly that was held in Ottawa from July 3-7, 2013 marked the first time that Lutherans and Anglicans in Canada held a good portion of their national assemblies together. While we met at the same time and in the same place in Waterloo in 2001, most of our time was spent in separate meetings at that gathering. This time, the meeting lasted for 5 days, which was shorter than usual for Anglicans and longer than usual for Lutherans. However, we did discover that there are plenty of things that we can do together.

            The national bishops gave their reports to the Joint Assembly, as did the Joint Anglican Lutheran Commission (JALC). We also heard from Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) and the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) in a joint session. In addition, worship, Bible study, meals, and listening to international speakers were all done together.

            While it may seem to some of us to be a small thing, it took a lot of planning and coordinating to make all of this happen. It also proved to be a witness to some of the staff at the Ottawa Convention Center, who were amazed that two churches would actually be meeting together! We heard stories of ways in which Lutherans and Anglicans have been working together, and all were encouraged to find ways to work together in our own communities.

            It was wonderful to have an opportunity to get to know some new people as brothers and sisters in Christ. In our worship and in our faith, we are really not all that different. Anglicans do have some different things, though: like a prolocutor and a chancellor. Anglicans also have a strong aboriginal presence within the church, with a National Indigenous Bishop and a newly formed indigenous diocese in Northern Ontario. It is a different experience to talk about issues affecting aboriginal people when their voices are also at the table.

            One of the highlights for me was a presentation by some of the Inuit delegates telling about the creation of the first Inuktitut Bible. It took a total of 34 years to bring the Inuit people a Bible that is in their own language. As Dean Jonas Allooloo explained, it is a real blessing to be able to read the Bible in your first language – the language of the heart. I also appreciated some of the Inuit humour that was shared, as they told us that HBC (Hudson’s Bay Company) actually stands for “Here Before Christ.”

            Another presentation that really stood out for me came from Rev. Jamie Scott of the United Church of Canada. He spoke about his work with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and what reconciliation would actually look like for the people who were sent away to residential schools. While we might have a tendency to say, “get over it already,” restoring relationships can be a long and difficult process.

            Some of the stories that he shared are hard to forget: Like having your Achilles tendons cut so that you can’t run away. Or looking out the window each June in the hopes that your parents will be coming to get you, eventually realizing that nobody is going to come. Or sexual abuse while you are forced to stay there and nobody listens to your cries for help. It is pretty hard to unlearn years of cultural self-hatred and abuse.

            Last Sunday I shared with you some of the social justice issues that were raised up as part of this assembly. These included responsible resource extraction, homelessness and affordable housing, human trafficking, and the right to clean, healthy water. I also mentioned the change that has taken place with CIDA funding (Canadian International Development Agency). Currently, CLWR continues to have funding from CIDA until the end of 2013. After that, it is unclear if any further funding will be available from government sources.

            At this assembly, we also heard from the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) which currently cares for approximately 1.5 million refugees world-wide. If I were to ask you which are the three largest member churches, I’m wondering which ones you would guess. The three largest churches are actually Sweden, Tanzania and Ethiopia, and many of the fastest growing Lutheran churches in the world are in Africa.

            One of the convention sessions involved an “open mike” in order to discuss the future of the ELCIC. One of the people who spoke is a young pastor from Tanzania who is currently serving in Saskatchewan. She couldn’t understand why we are always lamenting a lack of funding when it comes to the future of the church. Of course, her home church in Tanzania doesn’t have a lot of money, and yet it is growing by leaps and bounds. So what’s the difference?

            It struck me that those of us in Canada always talk about the national church or the synod doing something in order to help us to get more members. However, people in Tanzania simply share their faith with others. It is the people themselves who bring others into the church. They are excited about their faith and eager to share it with others. What we need here is not some “program from on high”, but committed disciples who are serious about their faith.

            As for things to vote on, this time around we were primarily dealing with constitutional changes. As with any constitution, it takes two readings in order to change something. Of course, as a national church we only meet every 2 years, and so it takes at least 4 years to change anything in the constitution. Thus, many of the changes that were brought forward this year involve moving things that might need to be changed out of the constitution and into the bylaws.

            As an example, currently the constitution states that we will have a convention every 2 years. In the new constitution, it will simply say that we will have a convention, and that how often we meet, how many delegates, etc. will be determined in the bylaws. This would allow us to meet less frequently – perhaps every 3 years – and also to have smaller and less expensive conventions.

            In closing, I’d like to share with you some brief highlights:

 

That seems like a good place to finish, and many more details can be found on the Assembly website: jointassembly.ca

In Christ, Pastor Lynne Hutchison