The following is a digest compiled from General Synod email updates over the past week, presented chronologically (oldest to newest). Sent with apologies for the deviation from the usual Tuesday schedule.

News

• For the Love of Creation's faith-in-action campaign kicks off
• Sacred Teachings podcast: "I can hear you whispering"
• View on-demand, Gospel Jamboree: "With Love Before Us, We Are Walking"
• March 31: Anglican Healing Fund deadline
• Freedom Sunday reflection from the Primate
• Highlights from the Council of General Synod: February 20
• Sacred Teachings podcast: "The toll it takes"
  Content warning: themes around and details of suicide within this episode.

From the Anglican Journal

• Identity and idolatry: When identity becomes an idol, writes National Indigenous Archbishop Mark MacDonald, "it is the source of endless division, mayhem, and, so very often, death."
• AFC-funded program helps with homework

Around the dioceses / Regional

• "Love is Going to the Next Level" via Diocese of New Westminster
• Deacons are going digital! via Diocese of Montreal
• My Journey Here – Rosa Macaulay via Diocese of Fredericton
• Letter to the Diocese of Toronto
• Bishop's 2021 Lenten message via Diocese of Niagara
• A (very) snow-covered cathedral via Diocese of New Westminster
• A Bible study for our times: Remote Bible study for care facilities via Diocese of New Westminster
• Archival backlog project via Diocese of New Westminster
• Letter to the diocese from Bishop Andrew about Lent, episcopal leadership and change 

In the media

• Young priests battle stereotypes — good and bad — in the search for love via CBC Saskatchewan
• Leaders sign declaration to protect LGBTTQ+ via Winnipeg Free Press
• Protesting for their prayers via Toronto Star
• How daily walks help this B.C. woman, 97, take the pandemic in stride via CBC Radio
• Historic Shanty Bay church has stood the test of time via Orillia Matters
• The latest pandemic sacrifice? Ash Wednesday services at many churches via the Welland Tribune
• Faith voices support Bill C-15 (PDF) via via the Hill Times (by way of faithinthedeclaration.ca)
  Also: Visit the Faith in the Declaration (ecumenical coalition) website…
• Volunteer group gets shelter as they help people who are homeless via CBC Sudbury
• Saskatchewan parishioners practicing Lent traditions in unique ways via CBC Saskatchewan
• Ash Wednesday goes DIY at this church due to COVID-19 via CBC PEI
• Emerging together from the pandemic via The Anglican Planet
• Study examining churches, other heritage buildings at risk via the Belleville Intelligencer
• What if Montreal's shuttered churches became ‘centres of gravity for joy’? via Montreal Gazette
• Parksville cold weather shelter returning to familiar site via Nanaimo News Now
• 10 years after quake, Christ Church Cathedral finally rising via the Hamilton Spectator

Across the globe

• Justin Welby’s ecumenical adviser to be Deputy Secretary General in new ACO Core Team via Anglican Communion News Service
• Update from the Anglican Communion Office at the UN (PDF) via Anglican Communion
• The Opening Ceremonies of Lent Madness XII via Lent Madness: Who will win the Golden Halo?
• Biden signals willingness to dialogue with bishops and other faith leaders via Religion News Service
• Archbishop Melissa Skelton to Diocese of Olumpia as assisting bishop via the Episcopal Church in Western Washington

Upcoming

Reminder: Find more Lenten events (Bible study, sermon series, etc.) on the national website Lent resources page.

• Wednesday, February 24, 12:10pm AT (online): Word on Wednesdays in Lent, a joint discipleship event between the dioceses of Fredericton and Nova Scotia & PEI
• Wednesday, February 24, 6pm ET (online): The History of the Black Church in Canada, hosted by Black Anglicans of Canada
• Wednesdays, February 24-March 31, 7pm MT (online): Lenten Bible Study: The letter to the Philippians, hosted by the Rural Ministry Initiative (Diocese of Edmonton)
• Thursday, February 25, 1pm ET (online): People Over Property: Reimagining Church Space in a Pandemic, hosted by Duke Divinity School
• Friday, February 26, 7pm ET (online): Black History Month service, "The Church without walls", with Bishop Shane Parker and hosted by the Diocese of Ottawa and St. Stephen's Ottawa
• Last Friday of each month, 7pm ET (online): Black Anglicans of Canada host "Friday Night Gathering", a safe BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour)-only space for reading scripture and building fellowship
• Sunday, February 28, 4pm ET (online): "God’s People: Grounded in Faith, Filled with Hope, Called to Action", 26th Annual Celebration Service of the Black Heritage of our Church
• Sunday, February 28, 3:30pm PT (Vancouver, British Columbia): Installation and Seating of the Bishop
• March 4-6 (online): A3D 2021 Conference (formerly Archdeacons and Deacon Directors' Conference), with keynote from Archbishop Linda Nicholls
• Friday, March 5 (worldwide): World Day of Prayer

View / Listen

• Not casting stones via CBC's Radio Active
• Lord of the Things: A Lenten journey
• A prayer for mourning via Diocese of Edmonton
• Online Eucharist: A roundtable discussion via st. benedict's table

Resources

• Lent 1—The Baptism of Jesus: From John to Jerusalem via Ministry Matters
• Prayer for the Planet: Rachel Mash from GREEN Anglicans via via the Lambeth Conference Prayer Journey
• Critical Black Christian voices (curated Facebook photo album with mini-biographies)
• Online learning series: Illuminating the Middle Ages via St. Augustine's (Diocese of Calgary)
• Canadian Virtual Service for World Day of Prayer available via via Women's Inter-Church Council of Canada (WICC)
• Table of Moveable Feasts (2021-2040, PDF)
  If your copy of the Book of Common Prayer includes a Table of Moveable Feasts which ended in 2020, you can find an updated table until 2040 at the link above. Please share widely with anyone who you think would benefit from this resource.

Thoughts / Reflections

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Taking a stand against slavery and against racial equality via Wycliffe College
• No ashes, no problem via Montreal Dio
• The Christian case for supporting abortion rights via the Critic
• The surprising gift of knowing my vocation via The Christian Century

Prayer

Anglican-Lutheran Cycle of Prayer

This week, we pray for:

Sunday, February 28

• ACC – The Rt. Rev. John Organ, Bishop, and the clergy and people of the Diocese of Western Newfoundland
• ELCIC – The dean, council, and congregations of the Georgian, Huronia and Bay Areas of the Eastern Synod

Anglican Communion Cycle of Prayer

This week, we pray for:

• Wednesday, February 24: The Diocese of Argyll & The Isles – The Scottish Episcopal Church
• Thursday, February 25: The Diocese of Arizona – The Episcopal Church
• Friday, February 26: The Diocese of Arkansas – The Episcopal Church
• Saturday, February 27: The Diocese of Armagh – The Church of Ireland
• Sunday, February 28: Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America
• Monday, March 1: The Diocese of Armidale – The Anglican Church of Australia
• Tuesday, March 2: The Diocese of Arochukwu / Ohafia – The Church of Nigeria