10 TheAnglican
SYNOD PREVIEW
September 2022
Pair evaluates governance changes Pilot project underway BY STUART MANN
TWO laypeople who have served the Anglican Church with distinction are evaluating the diocese’s new governance pilot project. Joy Packham, ODT, a member of the regional ministry of St. Margaret, Barrie, Trinity, Barrie and Good Shepherd, Stayner, and Robert Hart, ODT, a member of St. James Cathedral, are surveying groups and individuals and will report on their findings in September. They were appointed by Synod Council in June. The governance pilot project was implemented in January 2022 with the first meeting of the newly constituted Synod Council, an amalgamation of the former Diocesan Council and the former Executive Board. The group provides strategic direction for the diocese between Synods. Synod Council is chaired by the diocesan bishop and currently has 25 members, both clergy and lay, from across the diocese. It has five committees: the Audit Committee, the Finance Committee, the Property Committee, the Human Resources Committee and the Risk and Governance Committee. The committees are responsible for making decisions and recommendations within their remit. The goal of the new governance structure is to facilitate and streamline decision-making, allowing more time for thorough discussions, says Canon Rob Saffrey, the diocese’s executive director. “The main question we get from parishes and others is: how do we move this forward? The governance pilot will make getting approval for a new building, for example, more streamlined, and it will make this question easier to answer.”
Ms. Packham and Mr. Hart have extensive volunteer experience in the diocese. Ms. Packham, a retired municipal IT manager with a professional designation in project management, has served the diocese in the areas of congregational development, finance and stewardship. Mr. Hart, a retired high school principal, has held a number of leadership positions at the cathedral and is a member of the diocese’s Volunteer Corps. For the evaluation, Ms. Packham and Mr. Hart are interviewing a cross-section of people, from those who are involved in or affected by the diocese’s governance structure on a regular basis to those who may have only a passing experience of it. “For us, we see the evaluation process as having two groups – what we’re calling the inside group and the outside group,” explains Mr. Hart. “In the inside group are Synod members, Synod Council or committee members or anybody who works at the Synod Office whose life is being impacted by the new model. The outside group is made up of people who are coming to Synod Council for business, to see from them how they find the process. We’re especially interested in talking to people who previously had to work with the old model – if they see the new model as more efficient, easier to navigate, more user friendly and equitable.” By early July, they had surveyed Synod Council members and committee chairs, and planned to send a slightly different version of the survey to people who have represented groups that have made presentations to the committees or Synod Council itself. They are both keen to make the evaluation process as transparent as possible and have an email address where they can
Joy Packham
Robert Hart
be reached: governancereview@toronto. anglican.ca. “If anybody has a question or comment or concern about the new governance structure, they can communicate that to us,” says Mr. Hart. The pair will report their findings to the Risk and Governance Committee and Synod Council in September. The findings will help those groups assess if the governance changes have been successful and if followup action is required. “We’re basically trying to find out if the new structure is efficient – is it working,” says Ms. Packham. They emphasize that their job is not to pass judgement on the changes or make recommendations; rather, it is to collect feedback and data. Synod Council has been meeting monthly since January. At its February meeting, it approved a policy that defines the decisionmaking authority of Synod Council and the authority that it delegates to its committees. The policy gives a committee the ability to approve certain items, recommend them for approval or report up to council. “All of the committees are up and running and have held several meetings,” says Canon
Saffrey. “They have reviewed their terms of reference documents and developed annual work plans. Committee chairs are reporting regularly to Synod Council.” The constitutional and canonical changes required to carry out the pilot project were first considered at Synod in 2019; following that, some amendments were made, discussed at diocesan “town hall” meetings and then approved at Synod in 2021. The constitutional and canonical changes included an amendment stipulating that elections to Synod Council take place at Synod, rather than at area Pre-Synod meetings, to ensure a robust voting process. Another amendment stipulated that the nominating committee for Synod elections consider the geographical, gender, age, theological, racial and ethnic diversity of the diocese to ensure a diverse slate of candidates and that Synod Council is representative of the diocese. The pilot project will last until late 2023, when Synod will vote on whether the changes should be made permanent or the diocese should revert to the old structure. An update on the project will be sent to the next regular session of Synod, which will be held online Nov. 17-19, 2022.
Committee makes progress on environmental motions IN 2019, Synod approved two motions relating to creation care: Motion #10 encouraged parishes and individual Anglicans to curtail their use of single-use plastic products, while Motion #15 urged the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care to develop a diocesan environmental plan that would address such matters as diocesan spending practices, travel policies, land use and development, helping parishes reduce their carbon footprint, helping clergy buy or lease zero-emission vehicles, developing modules for formation on the connection between creation care and the gospel, and
Get ready for Synod SYNOD will be held online on Nov. 17-19, 2022. In our Synod Preview (pages 10-12), you’ll find what has been happening since our last Synod, including work on the governance pilot project, a new model of episcopal leadership, an affordable housing initiative, and environmental efforts. For more information on Synod, including the Synod Newsletter, visit the Synod page on the diocese’s website at www.toronto.anglican.ca/upcomingsynod.
promoting reduced consumption as part of a Christian rule of life. While the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care reports to Bishop Andrew Asbil rather than to Synod, it has made the following progress on these motions in 2021-22: Concerning Motion #10 and single-use plastics, the committee has produced a colour poster suggesting alternatives to single-use plastics commonly used in parishes, especially in the kitchen, children’s ministry, and cleaning and waste management. This poster can be found on the Practical Greening page of the diocesan website, www.toronto. anglican.ca/creationcare. Regarding Motion #15, the committee has focused primarily on promoting community gardens using the community garden toolkit it created in 2021; creating educational and liturgical resources to help make the connection between creation care and the gospel; and working with other dioceses on finding ways for parishes to reduce their environmental footprint. It has promoted this work in posts on a dedicated Facebook page and in monthly articles in The Anglican newspaper. The committee is encouraged by the many parishes around the diocese that have embarked on new or expanded community garden projects in the past year. Several of these projects have focused on adding native plants to attract and sustain pollinator species of insects and birds. Garden projects have been especially popular during the pan-
ZERO WASTE A guide on reducing plastic consumption from The Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care
By the end of 2021 the federal government will ban disposable plastics, including those frequently used in church kitchens: plastic stir sticks, cutlery, food containers and bags. Here are some suggestions for how churches can avoid these and other single-use products:
Kitchen Use ceramic mugs, plates, glasses, and metal cutlery For takeaway meals, use cardboard plates, cups, and bamboo cutlery Encourage parishioners to bring reusable bottles Purchase products with less plastic packaging Use reusable/cloth bags instead of plastic ones Use reusable table cloths for community events Use glass or metal containers for leftovers instead of plastic containers or ziplock bags
Cleaning Look for natural fiber cleaning cloths and sponges Ensure composting and recycling bins are made available around the church. Post signage to assist with proper waste disposal.
Children's Ministry For crafts, avoid plastics, especially glitter. Instead, use natural materials and recycle fabric, yarn, paper, and cardboard scraps. Dispose of pens, markers, dryerase markers, markers, and highlighters at Staples stores 2021 ©
Poster provides practical greening steps for parishes. demic as a lower-risk way for parishioners to work together. They also provide a visible witness to the local community of a parish’s commitment to caring for creation – and often a way for neighbours to participate in that endeavour. A major piece of work in the past year was creating the resource “Ecological Grief and
Creational Hope: A Lent Curriculum for all Ages.” Each unit of this six-week curriculum offers deep reflection on a scriptural text, questions for reflection, prayers, suggested activities, and resources for digging deeper. It also identifies adaptations for using the resource with children and youth. Several parishes in the diocese offered the curriculum during Lent, and it has been picked up by dioceses across Canada and the United States. It’s also being adapted for use during other seasons of the Church year, including the Season of Creation. Work continues on updating the Green Congregation Guide, with input from the Diocese of Niagara and the interfaith organization Faith & the Common Good. The committee is also exploring how our diocese might become involved in a Net Zero Churches network proposed by members of the national church’s Creation Matters Working Group. The goal of the network is to connect dioceses across the Anglican Church of Canada, provide recommended solutions for parishes looking to reduce their carbon footprint, and help connect parishes with the expertise and financial incentives to implement those solutions. The committee is talking with Bishop Andrew Asbil and the diocese’s Property Committee to see how the Diocese of Toronto might participate in this initiative and how it might fit in with the diocese’s strategic planning and vision. Staff
