CoGS shrinks in size

Power will be concentrated in fewer hands    

By Sue Careless

A smaller number of people will have a larger say in the main governing body of the Anglican Church of Canada between synods. And eleven dioceses will not be directly represented for the next three years.

The national Church only meets every three years in General Synod but between synods, the Council of General Synod (CoGS) meets twice a year. The Council cannot change the Church’s Constitution or doctrine but it does set its annual budget and decides other vital matters.  

The motion to reduce CoGS from 42 members to only 31 was presented as a cost-saving measure. There were concerns expressed on the Synod floor, however, that no longer would each of the 30 dioceses have a representative as had been the custom.

There will now be 22 (rather than 36) elected members. 

The 22 were nominated from the four regional groups of dioceses known as “ecclesiastical provinces,” which are, from west to east: British Columbia and Yukon, Rupert’s Land, Ontario, and Canada. Each ecclesiastical province now has one bishop and one lay delegate and at least one clergy and lay representative on Council, all elected by General Synod.

But under this new streamlined structure 11 dioceses within these provinces will have no elected members: Athabasca, Brandon, Caledonia, Central Newfoundland, Fredericton, Moosonee, Nova Scotia and PEI, Ontario (diocese), Rupert’s Land (diocese), Saskatoon, and Yukon (diocese.)

The number of officers, five, remains unchanged. Two officers, however, do come from dioceses not represented: Chancellor Ron Stevenson (Fredericton) and Primate Fred Hiltz (Nova Scotia and PEI.) Chaplain Michelle Staples represents the Anglican Military Ordinariate.

Voting privileges were extended to two observers from the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples and to the Lutheran partner.        

Room for one less voting Anglican on CoGS

Commentary by Sue Careless

General Synod voted, without debate, to allow a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCiC) to sit as a voting member on the Council of General Synod at the same time as some dioceses are losing voting status. Voting space is now at a premium and the Council needs to hear from as many dioceses as possible. And yet Douglas Reble who had previously been a Lutheran observer on the Council now will vote. Just as the top governing body of the Lutheran Church would not be expected to include an Anglican as a voting member, so surely only Anglicans should be running the Anglican Church of Canada. Any Lutheran should be a guest observer only. Even though the two churches are in full communion, Lutherans should be speaking for Lutherans and Anglicans should be representing Anglicans when it comes to major decision-making. One can only hope that Douglas Reble, on behalf of his Lutheran church, will offer to return his voting privileges to a displaced Anglican.