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Clergy, elders and lay representatives gather at the Ninth Indigenous Anglican Sacred Circle in 2018, which followed the formation of the Jubilee Commission and included discussion of a draft document on guiding principles of the self-determining Indigenous church. Photo: Anglican Video

The Jubilee Commission, the body established by Council of General Synod to propose a sustainable funding base for the self-determining Indigenous church, has officially launched a new archival research project on historical funding trends for Indigenous ministry within the Anglican Church of Canada.

Examining how funds have been made available for Indigenous ministry at all levels of the church’s structure, the project will study historical records as well as stories passed down through oral history by Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers.

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The Jubilee Commission has proposed a two-year window for the archival project. Much will depend on how COVID-19 restrictions impact the ability to access diocesan records. Further details will follow consultation between the Jubilee Commission, primate’s office and the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples.

[Reconciliation Animator Melanie] Delva believes that the archival project, in “crafting a fuller story of our history together,” represents part of fulfilling the “hopes and dreams of the elders.” She also hopes it will “signal that self-determination is more than just Indigenous people living into the fullness of who they are, although that is the focal point.

“When one part of the body of Christ lives into the fullness of what it is, it affects all of the rest of the body in a positive way.”

Read Matt Gardner's article at anglicanjournal.com