In Full Communion

Anglicans and Lutherans working together in Canada

Leaders write to Prime Minister Carney

Dear Prime Minister:

On behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), we congratulate you on your election as Prime Minister.

The times in which we live call for visionary leadership in Canada and the world so that we may build a truly just, healthy and peaceful world. Courage and wisdom will be required of you as you exercise your duties and seek to inspire Canadians to face these challenges. We are praying for you and all Members of Parliament as you begin this work.

Anglicans and Lutherans believe that social and ecological justice are integral parts of God’s mission. The call to reconciliation and renewed relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is a fundamental element of all work of justice in the Canadian context today.

There is an urgent need to address the climate crisis and to live in more sustainable ways. Climate change disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities and people living in poverty around the world. Indigenous wisdom and relationships with the land need to inform individual, community and social choices. We call on Canada to be a leader in climate justice.

We continue to call for the dignity of all people. Racism and white supremacy deny the full participation and development of all members of our communities, reinforce power and privilege, and are sins against God and each other. Dismantling racism requires a transformation of our hearts and of the structures and systems within which we live. We encourage Canada to be diligent in addressing human trafficking and modern slavery. Dignity is also uplifted by addressing poverty through compassion, charity, and justice; this work is central to the mandate of faith communities and of government.

Our churches have long-standing relationships with partner churches in Palestine and Israel, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. Both partner churches have shown remarkable resilience in the context of extended conflict and inspirational leadership in showing love for their communities through various projects, enterprises and ministries. We highlight the need for an enduring and sustained ceasefire, the immediate flow of life-saving food, water, aid, fuel and humanitarian assistance, the release of all captives, an end of all arms transfers to Israel and an end of occupation so a just peace can begin.

As you begin this journey, please be assured of our commitment to work alongside you. Our churches are committed to discerning opportunities to face the world’s challenges in partnership with people in civil society, in public service and in various sectors. We also assure you that week by week, members of our churches are praying for you, for all Members of Parliament, and for the Government of Canada. May your service to this country be a blessing to many, and may God guide us all as we face the future together.

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Susan Johnson
National Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

The Most Rev. Anne Germond
Acting Primate
Anglican Church of Canada

The Most Rev. Chris Harper
National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop
Anglican Church of Canada

Matthew 10:40-42

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Rewards

40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, ⁴²and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

John 15:12-17

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

John 21:15-19

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus and Peter

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Luke 11:33-36

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Light of the Body

33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket; rather, one puts it on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. ³⁴Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is unhealthy, your body is full of darkness. ³⁵Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶But if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.”

Matthew 8:1-4

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus Cleanses a Man

8 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, ²and there was a man with a skin disease who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ³He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” Immediately his skin disease was cleansed. ⁴Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”