This week, six Indigenous youth ambassadors from across Canada travelled to Geneva, Switzerland, to meet with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The committee is reviewing how well Canada is meeting its obligations as a signatory country to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. The six young people plan to tell the committee that Canada isnt living up to its commitments vis--vis indigenous children and offer stories of the consequences of that failure. The goal is to pressure Canada to provide aboriginal children with the same level of services in education, health care, child welfare, culture and language as it does for non-aboriginal children. The young ambassadors include: John-Paul Chalykoff, 24, a member of Michipicoten First Nation, currently working on an education degree at Lakehead University in Ontario. Chelsea Edwards, 16, from the Attawapiskat First Nation in Ontario, is the youth spokesperson for the Shannen's Dream campaign (www.shannensdream.ca) for safe, comfortable schools and equitable education on reserves. Helen Knott, 24, is a Dane Tsaa and Cree woman from Prophet River First Nations in British Columbia now living in Fort St. John, B.C. She recently graduated from a Social Service Worker and Diploma program and an Indigenous Women in Community Leadership program. Madelynn Slade, 22, is a non-status Michel Cree from Alberta currently studying Child and Youth Care in British Columbia Collin Starblanket, 15, a member of the Star Blanket Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, has been singing and dancing in traditional ceremonies since an early age.  Kendall White has lived on Temagami First Nation in Ontario for 12 years. She recently traveled to Greenland, Iceland, Labrador and Nunavut along with 70 other youth from around the world, to study the effects of global warming. The First Nations Child & Family Caring Society and Kairos, a Canadian ecumenical social justice organization, of which the Anglican Church of Canada is a member, released a joint submission Honouring the Children to the UNCRC on this issue in October. The executive summary of that document includes the following about Canadas care of aboriginal children: The dream of safe and comfy schools and equitable education for indigenous children remains largely unrealized in Canada. Many schools are condemned, others lack running water and heat, or are in want of basic supplies. Less than half of First Nations schools are in good condition, and government effort to build new schools is declining. Also, many reserves do not have high schools, which results in a twofold problemchildren either end their formal education at Grade 8 or are compelled to move to cities far from home, which severs ties to their families, communities, and cultures. First Nations child welfare is seriously underfunded. Some studies indicate that the federal government underfunds child welfare by 22% compared to what other children receive. The absence of basic parity suggests to some that Canada is discriminating based on race and national ethnic origin by failing to provide First Nations children with equitable and culturally based services. Formal challenges to these inequities are often slow and marked by procedural difficulties and lack of governmental attention to compiling adequate information. This is compounded by the tragedies of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada. Within a single generation, nearly 600 Aboriginal women have gone missing or have been murdered. Of documented cases, 100 were girls under the age of 18 and more than 440 children are known to have suffered the loss of their mother. Much more information on the way that the tragic loss of these women may be causing children to enter state care is needed Compromised health care and land rights also adversely affect indigenous childrens lives in Canada. They lose out compared to other children with respect to even the most basic health services and continue to be denied care because they are caught in the middle of jurisdictional disputes between provincial and federal governments. Even safe drinking water and decent housing are in shocking demand on reserves. More than 1 out of 10 First Nations communities have to boil their water and there is a skyrocketing need for on reserve housing in the last decade. While Canada does acknowledge the link between land rights and the wellbeing of indigenous children, its policies and practices continue to be an obstacle towards the conclusion of land rights and self-government agreements. Notwithstanding clear recommendations from a number of UN treaty bodies, including the Human Rights Committee, Canada has failed to establish meaningful alternatives to its extinguishment policy (i.e., the requirement that Indigenous people relinquish their rights or title to significant shares of their traditional lands as a condition of settlement).

Countering fears in some quarters, a University of Windsor law professor has found that North American Muslims do not wish to impose Sharia law on this continent. In a survey conducted face-to face and by telephone for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), a Washington-based Muslim think tank, Dr. Julie Macfarlane interviewed 212 Muslims in Canada and the U.S. Participants ranged from imams and divorced men and women to lawyers and social workers. Macfarlane is an ISPU fellow. None of the participants agreed with the claim that Muslims wanted to impose Sharia law on Muslims (and non-Muslims) via the secular courts, as some have observers suggested. Respondents consistently distinguished between Gods law (a matter of personal conscience rather than public adjudication) and the law of the land, or human law. Sharia law would pertain to private and family matters such as marriage and divorce, although some critics have voiced fears that Sharia in that setting would leave women more vulnerable than adjudication under secular law. Many respondents believed it was important for Muslims to be able to appeal to the formal legal systemwhen necessary (particularly to enforce private agreements). While respondents wanted to continue accessing their Islamic legal traditions in an informal family setting, all understood their private family law-related choices as separate  from the formal legal system. Even among imams, who sometimes complain that their advice can be easily disregarded since it cannot be enforced by courts, there is almost no support for a parallel Islamic tribunal system, the study found. The Muslim community appears content with a private informal system that offers spiritual, emotional and social comfort for some of its members, MacFarlane said. The full report, Sharia Law: Coming to a Courthouse Near You? can be found at ispu.org.

Some people prefer to bypass the cost and time of the law office altogether and complete their wills on their own with fill-in-the-blanks kits you can purchase at business supply stores and online for less than $30 and complete in half an hour. These are really just one step up from intestacy, says Pamela Earle, a lawyer with McInnes Cooper in St. Johns, Nfld.  And theyre as good as intestacy if theyre not properly done. (Bear in mind that DYI options have been seriously cutting into lawyers fees for will-making.) Common problems with DYI wills are lack of proper witnessing, imprecise language, improper placement of paragraphs and invalid additions. But if carefully completed and witnessed, they are valid and will stand up in court, says James Naumovich, a Toronto lawyer specializing in wills and estates. And they can be reasonable stop-gap measures if you need to make a will quickly and lack the time to seek legal advice. Franklin Phillips, a Toronto-based filmmaker, for example, made a simple will using a kit just before his sudden departure for Africa to make a documentary film that would take him into some dangerous conflict zones. It was the only will he ever made, and after his death some 20 years later, his lawyer said the stationary-store testament was still valid, although it did not reflect the reality of his current assets. The main drawback of a self-executed will, says Susannah Roth, a lawyer with OSullivan Estate Lawyers in Toronto, is that you lose the benefit of professional advice that could alert you to tax savings, point out potential pitfalls for litigation and bring errors to your attention. If the testators familial situation is simple, all may be well. But if there are multiple spouses and children from different unions, a seemingly simple will can get complicated. She cites the reported case of a man who wanted to leave the bulk of his estate to his only living relative, a nephew, with a small bequest going to a helpful neighbour. In his thrifty do-it-yourself will, he accidentally named the neighbour, not the nephew, as the main beneficiary. After his death, the two had to go to court to fix the mistake. Luckily, the neighbour was co-operative, but it still cost money. Having your will done is not a time to be overly frugal, as someone may pursue litigation after youre gone, says Reginas Hardy. Adds Roth: Litigation is very expensive and can cost $20,000 before you even get to court. Even less sophisticated are purely handwritten or holographicwills, where the testator doesnt even have the benefit of the legal language and prompts offered by the forms. These are often written in emergency situations where the testator is facing death. But these can stand, too. Naumovich cites the 1948 case of Cecil Harris, a Saskatchewan farmer who became fatally trapped under his tractor. He carved this will into the machines fender: In case I die in this mess I leave all to the wife. Cecil Geo. Harris. The fender was probated in court and stood as his will. It is currently on display at the law library of the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in Saskatoon.

Consider your possessions loaned to you by God.St. Catherine of Siena, 14th c.Canadian Anglicans are increasingly taking to heart St. Catherines sound advice. After all, what can be more certain than death and taxesand almost always in that order. By careful planning for the sharing of your estate with family members, close friends, your church and favourite charities, you will have gone a long way toward minimizing taxes owing upon your death.  You will also have peace of mind, knowing that you will be supporting those people, ministries and causes you feel are important and that reflect your priorities and values. If, for some reason, you feel you should leave everything to your adult children, why not ask them if they would be happy to share 90% of your estate, and then give 10% to your church, university, hospital foundation or other charitable organization? Or consider wealth-replacement insurance, so you can make a charitable gift and with the tax credit, purchase an insurance policy on your life so you can provide for your grandchildren. Fortunately, you dont have to die first to be generous. During ones lifetime, a gift of securities, a charitable gift annuity or a significant cash gift can make all the difference in the world...and if your contribution is for your church or registered charity, you will receive substantial tax relief.   Archdeacon John Robertson is senior gift planning officer, General Synod.For more gift planning information, contact: Archdeacon John M. Robertson, Resources for Mission, Anglican Church of Canada, 80 Hayden St., Toronto, ON M4Y 3G2Telephone (toll free) 1-888.439-GIFT (4438)    Email: jrobertson@national.anglican.ca

A lot of people think they dont need a will. Wrong. Thats one of the most common misconceptions around estate planning, according to Pamela Earle, a lawyer in St. Johns, Nfld. If you dont, under the laws of intestacy, your assets will be distributed according to the government and not the way you want, says Earle, who specializes in wills and estate planning at the law firm of McInnes Cooper. Maybe you want your wife to inherit your assets with nothing passing to your children until her death. If you die without a will, you should know that most provinces will divide the estate between the surviving spouse and all children. Although the strict formulas used to calculate such divisions may vary by province, the first $200,000 might go to your spouse, for example, with the remainder split 50-50 between your spouse and an only child. Or there may be a one-third/two-thirds split between spouse and several children. People tend to think that a spouse automatically gets everything, but thats not true, says Earle. (And contrary to popular belief, the government only takes the estate if you die intestate with no living relatives.) Having a will is especially important in the case of common-law unions. Under the laws of intestacy, a common-law spouse takes nothing, says Susannah Roth, a wills expert with OSullivan Estate Lawyers in Toronto. Even a common-law spouse with whom youve shared an abode for many years and had several children will have no standing. Without a will, your estate will go to the kids. Minor children are also a concern in intestacy. Quite apart from the unresolved issue of guardianship in the absence of a surviving parent or an appointed guardian, the childrens share of your assets is paid into court and invested on their behalf until they reach the age of 18. Not only is the rate of return low, notes Roth, but the children are also entitled to the entire proceeds at age 18. Most people would want their children to wait longer to have access to that capital. And dont assume that your family knows your wishes for the distribution of your assets and the disposal of your remains, says Roth. Often, they have no clue. I encourage people to communicate their plans to their loved ones and executors so that there are no surprises after the individual passes, says Jordan Hardy, a lawyer with MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman in Regina who has seen a steady flow of wills litigation in the past few years. A significant number of the cases Im working on could have been avoided by better communication on the part of the testator.The right mindsetIll cut you out of my will! Such utterances may be the stuff of Victorian melodrama, but the punitive sentiments behind them can taint modern will-makers, too. Before you pick up your pen or see your lawyer to set down your last wishes, you should get into an equitable frame of mind. This will ensure that your dependents and relatives are treated fairly and help avoid time- and money-draining legal costs later on. Bear in mind these principles.1. Leave vengeance to the Lord. Its never a good idea to use your will to punish people who would reasonably expect to inherit from you. Thats a recipe for litigation, so consider that beforehand, says Roth in Toronto. And would you really want your last document to sow dissension among your kin and waste your legacy on legal wrangling?2. Think outside the box. Probably you want the bulk of your estate to go to your spouse and/or children, but pause before you automatically assign the whole of it to close family. Is there a needy distant relative or a helpful friend to whom a small bequest of money or personal property would make a real difference? A down-and-out nephew? An impecunious friend who shares your interest in art books? Or could that empty spot in a favoured neighbourhood green space use a shade tree? Before she died, Susan Friedman, a market research analyst in Toronto, added a directive to her willwhich originally left all of her assets to her husbandallowing a small cash bequest to be made to an unemployed brother who was convalescing after a life-threatening respiratory illness. It made no difference to her well-off husband, but it was enough money for her ailing brother to take a much-needed winter vacation down south. 3. Be charitable. There are many worthy charities and religious institutions that can make good use of even modest bequests. Your estate will receive tax deductions for posthumous gifts to registered charities, and these will offset taxes on other assets. But, reminds Roth, its even better to make these donations during your lifetime so that you yourself enjoy the tax benefits. Practical considerations1. A simple will? Dont fall into the trap of thinking that you need only a simple will, warns Roth. Perhaps you have an ex-spouse and children by a former union. Perhaps you have assets in other jurisdictions or potentially warring beneficiaries. Above all, you want to set things up to avoid future litigation, says Roth. Thats why precise lawyer-drafted wills are generally a safer bet than do-it-yourself efforts.2. Who will execute your will? Carefully consider your executors, advises Roth. Think about their age, their organizational ability, their skill with numbers and the amount of time they have to give to administering an estate. If an executor is your contemporary, is she likely to die before or soon after you do? Have an alternate executor in mind, especially if your first choice is an older person, says Roth.If you want to appoint more than one executor, make sure they get along, she adds. One mans will named his second wife and one of his sons by his first marriage as joint executors. By the time he died, the two executors were barely speaking to each other, hampering the administration of his will. With ongoing trusts, its better to appoint a third party such as a trust company or a lawyer, says Roth.3. Minimize tax. A lot of people dont realize that there are planning opportunities that will minimize tax on your estate, says Newfoundlands Earle. Strategies include naming your spouse as sole beneficiary of all your RRSPs and setting up a spousal rollover trust, which gives your spouse access to earnings on securities held in your name. Your spouse gets the benefit of your portfolio, which is taxed only after the second spouse dies, she says. You can also set up trusts for minor children and even adult offspring if you have concerns.4. Major changes. If you are elderly and decide to make major changes to your will, you may need extra documentation of competency to make sure no one claims you did not know what you were doing or were unduly influenced by a particular beneficiary. Sometimes that works for good. After having a minor stroke, an elderly Winnipeg music teacher was persuaded to change her will, leaving her house and assets to her cleaning lady instead of the conservatory where she had studied music. Her family lawyer challenged the change on grounds of incompetency, and the original will was reinstated.5. Resist pressure. Some relatives may pressure you to reveal what you are going to leave them and may try to influence the distribution of your assets or even demand their share. This can happen especially if youre dependent and vulnerable, says Roth. She advises a person in that situation to keep his own counsel and tell the importunate relative hes still considering the best way to divide things but all will get their fair share. If you know a beneficiary will be unhappy with your will, discuss with your legal adviser how to prevent that person from derailing your plans. 6. Remember to make a living will. You should give power of attorney to a trusted individual who can make health-care decisions on your behalf in case you become incapable of doing so. The emphasis is on trusted. One Toronto man gave power of attorney over his end-of-life care to his son not his spouse, because, he said, she had insisted on keeping an old family dog alive too long!7. Keep up to date. Review your will and estate planning periodically to ensure it is realistic in terms of your current assets, executors and the needs of your beneficiaries. Typical costs for wills Costs can vary greatly by city, the size of the law firm and the complexity of the assets and beneficiaries. But a lot of the time, wills and living wills are not as expensive as you may think. Handwritten holographic will:  $00Stationary-store or online will kit: under $30Simple law shop will:  $99Simple law-firm-drafted will that includes a living will: $500Complex will with power of attorney, varied assets, trusts, different jurisdictions and multiple beneficiaries:  $1000 plus

The couple lived in a double room in a seniors home in a small prairie town. They had recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. Now, the wife was dying and as the parish priest, I had been called. Across the divide between their twin beds, the husband tenderly held his wifes hand. With family members gathered around, we talked and prayed. We also laughed and cried. Then suddenly, she was gone. There was silence, then the husband cried out, Wait for me! I am coming with you! He held his wifes lifeless body tightly. After the funeral, the entire family accompanied the body to the little cemetery out in the country. It was a simple grave in gravelly soil. Two days later I left for a holiday. When I returned, I had a telephone message that said, Dad died last night. With the family, I returned to the same prairie cemetery. Just four weeks later, the husband was joining his wife for eternity. This couple, both well into their 90s, provided a wonderful example of what a Christian marriage can be. They modelled a loving relationship that was deep, committed, enduring, passionateand stronger than death itself. St. Paul writes: I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39). This couple lived and died by this truth. And we all knew we had much work to do to live up to our calling.The Rev. Patrick Tomalin and his wife, the Ven. Dianne Tomalin, served Trinity Anglican/Lutheran Church in Port Alberni, B.C., where they now live in retirement.

Dennis Gruendings recently released Pulpit and Politics: Competing Religious Ideologies in Canadian Public Life examines the growing competition between progressives and conservatives of faith for political power and influence. With the 2011 election handing Stephen Harper a Conservative majoritypartly because of the conservative religious voteGruending believes the rivalry between the two camps will become more pronounced. His book looks closely at the political ideology and tactics employed by religious conservatives in the public arena and documents the struggles of religious progressives to have their voices heard on issues of equality, environment, human rights, justice and peace. With an eye on history and world events, Gruending follows this contest between progressives and conservatives from Parliament Hill to church basements, synagogues, temples and universities in Canada and abroad. In his view, religious faith informs political decisions about the division of wealth, education and race relations, immigration, respect for democracy, foreign policy and environmental issues. Gruending, raised a Catholic, thinks there are two basic types of religious people engaging in politics: the right-wing sort such as fundamentalist Alberta premier Ernest Manning (father of Preston), who felt that good Christians did not need government programs, and the progressive type such as Baptist pastor Tommy Douglas, who brought a social gospel to politics based on the belief that we are our brothers keepers. I see continuing links between social gospellers such as Tommy Douglas and Stanley Knowles and contemporary people such as Bill Blaikie and Lorne Calvert, and Catholics such as Joe Comartin and Charlie Angus, Gruending says. Similarly, I see links between Ernest Manning and his son Preston, and with Stockwell Day, and any number of todays Conservatives. I include Stephen Harper in that number, although he is more difficult to read than the others. In his estimation, the social gospel impulse, while still with us, has a flame that burns much less brightly than it once did. Gruending has watched the fray unfold as a writer, a director of information for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and an NDP MP. Earlier in his career, he worked as a print and television journalist and as a radio host. He is the author of six books, including the best selling Great Canadian Speeches (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2004). Pulpit and PoliticsCompeting Religious Ideologies in Canadian Public LifeBy Dennis GruendingKingsley Publishing 2011ISBN 1-926832-074  $22To order contact Alpine Book Peddlers 1-866-478-2280

A. Hesychasm refers to 1. An eastern church tradition of quiet mystical prayer2. A heresy concerning Christs divinity originating with the third-century biblical critic Hesychius 3.  An early iconoclastic movement supporting the destruction of all images of Christ and Mary4.  A schismatic division in the early Christian churchB. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles.  This is a quotation from 1. Malachi 2. Isaiah 3. Exodus4. Acts of the Apostles Scroll down for answers Answers Question A: 1. Derived from the Greek word for tranquillity, hesychasm originated with the monks of Mount Athos in Greece and used quiet repetitive prayer to achieve a union of heart and mind and lead to a vision of the divine light.Question B: 1. Malachi 1:11

Scientists at the 17-mile-long Large Hadron Collider in Geneva are homing in on the Higgs bosonthe so-called God particle. The cosmic building block promises to fill in the last piece of the puzzle on how forces and particles in the universe interact. At a Dec. 13 symposium, physicists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, announced that they were closing in on the precise location of the Higgs particle. While militant atheists such as Stephen Hawking will doubtless rejoice at closing in on the physical prime-mover particle, people of faith will doubtless ask, Whos the prime mover behind the Higgs particle?

Beauty will save the world is a saying attributed to Dostoevsky.Yet given all that fragments our world, it seems a bold, counter-intuitive claim. Paul reminds us, God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong (1 Cor 1:27). As Christians, we are about making bold and counter-intuitive claims. This has been embraced by our community of saint benedicts table, as we seek to support artists, writers and musicians to go about their creative work. Thankfully, it has also been embraced by the Sacred Arts Trust of the Anglican Foundation, which for the second time in five years has chosen to support our vision for beauty-making. On a cold day last December, St. Philips Church in Winnipeg was transformed into a recording studio, allowing the Canadian musician Alana Levandoski to sit down with the Zimbabwean writer and poet Ignatius Mabasa and record three remarkable songs. Alana offered spacious versions of two of her originals and one hymnWhat wondrous love is this?into which Ignatius wove pieces of his original poetry, written and spoken in the Shona language of his homeland. The result is striking, and even without the descriptions of the meaning of each poem provided in the CD liner notes, the sounds speak for themselves. Across cultures, languages and life experiences, these two artists created three pieces of truth-telling beauty. Through the fall of 2010, Ignatius served as storyteller-in residence at the University of Manitoba. A former Fulbright Scholar, Ignatius has published several novels and spoken-word recordings, all in the Shona language. Inspiration almost always comes to me in my mother language, he says. It is the language I think, dream, cry and laugh in. During his time in Winnipeg, a chance circumstance put him in touch with saint benedicts table, and when he discovered that we count a number of working musicians among our membership, he voiced his dream of recording with a Canadian songwriter. Alana Levandoski was the natural connection. An artist with a serious reputation in the folk and roots music world, Alana is currently a part-time staff musician at Holy Trinity Church in Edmonton. She brought to the recording her passion for music and storyfor the creation of beauty in the contexts of both church and world. She also brought her experience of recording in church buildings. Her 2009 album Lions and Werewolves (which was profiled in the Journal, September 2009) was recorded at St. James Church in her hometown of Kelwood, Man., while her six-song project Hymns From the Desert was recorded in All Saints Church, Winnipeg. Together, Alana and Ignatius have created a project of beauty. And while this one recording might not change the world, it does offer a compelling snapshot of a vision shared between two artists from across what has sometimes seemed an insurmountable divide of the churches of the global south and north. For more information, go to stbenedictstable.ca. Digital downloads are also available through iTunes.Jamie Howison is the founding pastoral leader of saint benedicts table in Winnipeg.

The Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, is an accidental Anglican. My father was a lukewarm first-generation Christian who attended the local Zion church, and my mother went to whatever church her friends went to, he says candidly, on a visit last fall to Church House in Toronto. The only good schools were Anglican or Catholic. The closest one was Anglican, so I went there and was baptized an Anglican, he says with a chuckle. Elegant, quiet-spoken and quick to laugh, the archbishop took some professional detours on his way to the primacy, to which he was elected in December 2007 at age 48, succeeding Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane. He is South Africas youngest-ever primate. The tools he acquired during his earlier work in education and counselling stand him in good stead in his current role, he says. Understanding ones fellow humans is paramount, as is the ability to draw people out, to see beneath the faade and capitalize on group dynamics. Whether primate or parish priest, says Archbishop Makgoba, one deals with Gods people, their complex natures, their joys and sadness, and how the abundant life that Christ talks about plays out for them in the everyday. And in the almost 20 years since the 1994 free elections that signalled the official end of apartheid, the church has continued to play a similar role in drilling beneath the surface to the very core of South African society. The church has done what it does bestwhat it did even during apartheidand that is to get into the vein of what makes society tick, he says. We were able to fight apartheid because we knew where the rubber hit the road and what really pained the people. Though the era of heroic front-page church leaders is past, the church is still able to get into the bones and muscles and sinews of the new democracy and monitor where it is heading. There has been noticeable progress, yes, but there are still big lags, he says, pointing to education, health and gender-based violence. The church has to continue to be vocal. If we are all created in Gods image, no one should be thus demeaned. Makgoba believes that the South African church has a unique place in the Anglican Communion. What sets it apart is its recent history of suffering. Paradoxically, though apartheid was intolerable, it did bring the people closer to the gospels concept of suffering. The gospel has a preferential option for the poor and the suffering, he says. That is something we cherish and we should not lose sight of it. For a South African primate, political involvement is perhaps a matter of course. But not in a partisan political role, he says. I assume the tools of justice that go back to Christ are saying, I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. And I encourage my parishioners to seek that every day. He is also a lover of the venerable liturgy and sacramental rites of the Anglican church. But realizing the Marks of Mission in loving service is most important. In that commitment the archbishop takes as words to live by Matthew 25:36: I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came unto me. The South African church has recently adopted a new mission statement based on three principles: anchored in Jesus Christ, committed to Gods mission and transformed by the Holy Spirit. It has identified young people as a priority and also leadership as critical in the days ahead. Recently, reflection and prayer have been added to the agenda. In life after apartheid we all tend to do and do, he says. We need to remember that we are grounded in scripture and that prayer should undergird every action. As for the 85-million-member Anglican Communion, the archbishop is looking forward to the meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in New Zealand this fall. He will be bringing the issues of climate change and stewardship to the top of the agenda.   As for the Anglican Covenant, which will also grace the councils agenda, he does not think it will be as divisive an issue as some think. Many people have a lot of energy for mission, a lot of energy for partnership and for other contextual things that make the Communion a communion. As in many countries, religious life in South Africa is becoming increasingly ecumenical, with interfaith prayer and worship a common occurrence. One interesting new development on the ecclesiastical landscape is the coming together, with government help, of the many once-scattered African indigenous churches, which are Christian bodies that incorporate elements such as polygamy. As deputy chair of the countrys interfaith National Religious Leaders Forum, Makgoba is active in an initiative called Walks of Witness, in which interreligious representatives visit sites to highlight specific social ills caused by big business exploitation or government neglect. Our current focus is water and sanitation and how these create more illness in a country that can ill afford, he says. At the very heart of the archbishops mission is emulating the earthly life of the incarnate Christ, who was so touched by the poor and disadvantaged. We must take that vocation seriously, he says. The church cannot afford to be aloof or it risks being irrelevant.

At a time when many churches are struggling with the costs of maintaining their buildings and ministry, the Rev. Rob Murray counts his blessings. For 15 years now, Murray has been rector of Manitobas Pinawa Christian Fellowship (PCF), which has never owned a church building since it began in 1963. Instead, the congregation has regular Sunday services at the F.W. Gilbert School and, on certain occasions, at personal care homes in the community. The other blessing that Murray counts? PCF is a unique and vibrant shared ministry of four denominations:  Mennonite Church Manitoba, the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the United Church of Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada. The PCF began when some staff members of the Chalk River Laboratories moved from Deep River, Ont., to Pinawa, Man., where the Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment of Atomic Energy Canada Limited (later known as Whiteshell Laboratories) was first built.  The founders agreed that their church would be one where they would be allowed to keep their denominational connections. (Pinawa is an hour-and-a-half drive from the eastern edge of Winnipeg.) Its a difficult time to be in ministry, and this is really a charmed situation, says Murray, an ordained Presbyterian minister.   The PCF has 178 people (from 100 households) on the parish roll and about 60 come for regular Sunday worship. Murray need only to walk or bike to visit most of the parishioners (only four households live outside the community), a situation he describes as a luxury. Having four different denominations under one roof can be challenging, but Murray says the church has made sure each denomination gets equal representation in its governance structure. The church has a set of bylaws crafted by its original founders, who were mostly former federal government employees with PhDs. They put a lot of thought on the balance of power, says Murray. The same balance of power that exists in the churchs general committee is also reflected in the worship committee, for instance. The church tries to meld the rites of all the denominations into its worship, he said. On a typical Sunday, we stand for the gospel and say the responses. We usually follow the lectionary, but were not tied to it.  When it comes to baptisms and other rites, We follow the tradition of the family, Murray says. The only other church similar to the PCF that Murray knows of is the United Church of Los Alamos in New Mexico. That church is home to six denominations. Interestingly, it also resides close to a nuclear facility. Theres something about nuclear research and willingness to work ecumenically, Murray says with a chuckle. Each denomination brings its particular gift. Murray cites the six Mennonite members, who have had a huge impact in engaging congregants about relief work. One of them conducted a number of service trips to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and came back to talk about the experience and get people excited, says Murray. The impulse to serve has rubbed off on the congregation. In 2009, it approved a plan for the Oak Haven Housing Ministry, which would create housing for single/non-elderly people living with mental illness and who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The plan involves constructing a new apartment building on a lot that the PCF bought in the 1980s.  Half of the units in the building will be for people requiring housing support and the rest will be available to the general public.  The congregation has drawn up a business plan, which includes identifying funding partners. Murray has received a lot of support from the Anglican church, represented by the diocese of Keewatin. Even though he is not an Anglican priest, he has been given a licence to minister to Anglicans and he gets invited to clergy conferences. When Gordon Beardy became the first aboriginal diocesan bishop in 1996, PCFs choir was invited to sing at his consecration. Anglicans number about 30 in the PCF, but they also have a big influence, says Murray. As for the churchs future, Murray has noted a huge shift in the makeup of Pinawa, which he said would help ensure its staying power. With its beautiful natural resources, including White Shell Provincial Park, Pinawa has become a retirement resort community. Its like were on Lake Simcoe or the Muskokas, says Murray, adding: Were cottage country for people in Winnipeg. The newest members of the congregation have been people who moved to Pinawa for early retirement. Theyre amazing people; they come with rich experiences. They came here to retire, but theyre not sitting around idly. Theyre packing up the camper and going out to build houses, says Murray.

Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes fame died recently at the age of 92. A curmudgeon to the end, he took great delight, every Sunday night on the television newsmagazine, to point out all the things in life that just dont make sense. From the war on Iraq to the size of blueberries pictured on the outside of a cereal box, nothing was too large or too small to escape his critical gaze. His three-minute diatribe, delivered in his trademark droll tone, was the shows last word. Rooneys weekly appearance became a staple in the ever-changing landscape of broadcast journalism. As the decades rolled by, his wit and sarcasm remained as sharp as ever, although his appearance became increasingly craggy. His bushy eyebrows looked like albino caterpillars on steroids. Whenever he spoke, they took on a life of their own, rising and falling as he nailed another point about the absurdity of life. More often than not, I had to agree with Rooney. There are a lot of things that dont make sense in this world. War doesnt make sense. Pain and suffering dont make sense. Toiling away at a job you loathe doesnt make sense. Even a small child can see what doesnt make sense. But a small child gets shushed until he or she learns not to point out the obvious. Theres that darned old elephant in the room, again. Rooney was enormously popular and he received tons of fan mail. He never bothered to respond. The kind of people who write to me are not my kind of people, he told 60 Minutes host Morley Safer. God forbid a fan should recognize Rooney on the street. Any request for an autograph would be brushed aside. I get paid to write, Rooney hissed at one bewildered fan who asked for his signature. When Safer inquired about what Rooney would do if he could live his life over again, the television columnist replied without hesitation: I would work on 60 Minutes, talking about what I want to talk about. I think Andy Rooney was tremendously lucky. He got to do what he wanted to do, even if his brand of honesty was harsh. Doing what you love to do means you have connected with your higher purpose. We should all be so lucky. I dont know whether or not Ive connected with my higher purpose, but my jobs got everything a working gal could possibly ask for. Uphill battles? Check. A 24/7 work culture? Check. Incredible teamwork? Double check. And when that monthly newspaper heads electronically to the printer, there is no more satisfied group on the face of the planet than the Anglican Journal team. We did it, again. (Only 87 more issues to go before retirement, but whos counting?) Thats just the beginning, really. Because when those letters and emails start coming in, responding to whats in the newspaper, I feel alive. Love us or hate us, at least we know that 1. youre reading, and 2. you care, passionately. Now, I want to hear from all 160,000 of you. Wishful thinking? Nah. Were Anglican, after all. Conversing is one of our strengths. I am personally asking you to fill out your copy of the readership survey when it arrives in an upcoming issue of the Journal. For those who prefer electronic media, there will also be a copy available at anglicanjournal.com. We want to know more about what you think, not just about the Journal, but also about your diocesan newspaper. The good, the bad and the ugly. Your responses will inform our newspaper content and delivery strategies in the months ahead. After all, nobody can operate in a vacuum, not even us. With your feedback, the light goes on and we will head toward it. In the meantime, we are continuing to work very hard to bring you a better website experience, too. Our new website was launched with no fanfare just before Christmas. Were still working out the bugs but, among other things, new software will now allow us to post your letters. If weve learned anything, its that our audience is very vocal and needs an ever-expanding forum for discussion. Finally, some readers have made it known that they no longer care to read the Journal, since it has become a  liberal disappointment. Fortunately, the newspaper appears to be resonating with many more readers than not. I find this tremendously encouraging, partly because the content of the Journal is a product of the independent editorial policy as expressed by the editor. And since each Journal editor is as different as the fingers on your hand, the newspaper has always been a living entity, changing and evolving as it passes from one editor to another. Vive la diffrence.    The bottom line here is that the Journal is no house organ for the Anglican Church of Canada. In fact, with the independent editorial policy, the church has given each editor the freedom to shape the newspaper as he or she sees fit. Of course, the hope has always been that the editor will choose to run alongside the church, not over it. It is this policy that also makes my job so intensely satisfying. It says a lot about the church and its faith in this ministry. Youve just got to love the church for that. Kristin Jenkins is editor of the Anglican Journal. email: kjenkins@national.anglican.ca

What you should know about planning for the future. Download pdf file.

It is harvest time for strawberries in the northern Philippine town of La Trinidad, so strawberry farmer Alice Rivera will start repaying a loan extended by a Geneva-based ecumenical church loan fund. This is what we appreciate ...we can start repaying our loans only immediately after the harvest season starts, said Rivera, who is 45. She is just one of 7,000 clients being served by the Ecumenical Church Loan Fund-Philippines (Eclof-Philippines), whose initial seed fund was provided by Eclof International, a non-profit micro-finance organization. Rivera, a widow and mother of a nine-year old son, has started harvesting strawberries from a 500-square-meter lot that she leases from the farm of Benguet State University, an agricultural school. Starting this January up to May, she expects to harvest an average of 20 kilograms every three days. As of January 25, Rivera said she had retailed her 20-kilogram produce at one hundred pesos (about US$2.35) per kilogram.  Although retail prices fluctuate...I can still earn something, enough to send my kid to school and set aside some amount to repay my loan, she said in an interview in late January when ENInews went with four Eclof staff to visit their clients. Given eight months by Eclof to pay her 20,000-peso (US$467) agricultural loan, Rivera said she was confident she could pay off her loan before May. 

 Eclof-Philippines follows what Eclof local branch manager Valentina Tangib describes as a flexible policy for agricultural loans. Before, our policy for small business and agricultural loan repayment was uniform in which we collect loan payments monthly, Tangib said. Tangib and her staff found that farmers had difficulty repaying their loans since they could only start earning three months after harvest. Since five years ago, they have made it a policy that agricultural loan clients are given eight months to repay their loans. Meling Telcagan, 60, a cut-flower farmer specializing in growing Malaysian mums (a species of chrysanthemum), has also been taking out Eclof's small loans since 2005. Most flower growers like Telcagan time their first harvest during February because flowers are more in demand then. 
 Besides Valentine's Day, when a dozen mums are priced at as much as two hundred fifty pesos (US$5.84) to three hundred pesos (US$7), February is also a flower festival season for neighboring Baguio City during which mums are popular items. 
 Other flower plots in Telcagan's greenhouse will be harvested in March and April, the season of school graduation, while other plots are planned for June, a wedding month. I thank God for giving my family a net income of eighty thousand pesos (US$1,869) during only a month of harvest last year, she said. Telcagan says she plans to repay her 30,000-peso (US$817) Eclof loan by March.

A lot of people think they dont need a will. Wrong. Thats one of the most common misconceptions around estate planning, according to Pamela Earle, a lawyer in St. Johns, Nfld. If you dont, under the laws of intestacy, your assets will be distributed according to the government and not the way you want, says Earle, who specializes in wills and estate planning at the law firm of McInnes Cooper. Maybe you want your wife to inherit your assets with nothing passing to your children until her death. If you die without a will, you should know that most provinces will divide the estate between the surviving spouse and all children. Although the strict formulas used to calculate such divisions may vary by province, the first $200,000 might go to your spouse, for example, with the remainder split 50-50 between your spouse and an only child. Or there may be a one-third/two-thirds split between spouse and several children. People tend to think that a spouse automatically gets everything, but thats not true, says Earle. (And contrary to popular belief, the government only takes the estate if you die intestate with no living relatives.) Having a will is especially important in the case of common-law unions. Under the laws of intestacy, a common-law spouse takes nothing, says Susannah Roth, a wills expert with OSullivan Estate Lawyers in Toronto. Even a common-law spouse with whom youve shared an abode for many years and had several children will have no standing. Without a will, your estate will go to the kids. Minor children are also a concern in intestacy. Quite apart from the unresolved issue of guardianship in the absence of a surviving parent or an appointed guardian, the childrens share of your assets is paid into court and invested on their behalf until they reach the age of 18. Not only is the rate of return low, notes Roth, but the children are also entitled to the entire proceeds at age 18. Most people would want their children to wait longer to have access to that capital. And dont assume that your family knows your wishes for the distribution of your assets and the disposal of your remains, says Roth. Often, they have no clue. I encourage people to communicate their plans to their loved ones and executors so that there are no surprises after the individual passes, says Jordan Hardy, a lawyer with MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman in Regina who has seen a steady flow of wills litigation in the past few years. A significant number of the cases Im working on could have been avoided by better communication on the part of the testator.The right mindsetIll cut you out of my will! Such utterances may be the stuff of Victorian melodrama, but the punitive sentiments behind them can taint modern will-makers, too. Before you pick up your pen or see your lawyer to set down your last wishes, you should get into an equitable frame of mind. This will ensure that your dependents and relatives are treated fairly and help avoid time- and money-draining legal costs later on. Bear in mind these principles.1. Leave vengeance to the Lord. Its never a good idea to use your will to punish people who would reasonably expect to inherit from you. Thats a recipe for litigation, so consider that beforehand, says Roth in Toronto. And would you really want your last document to sow dissension among your kin and waste your legacy on legal wrangling?2. Think outside the box. Probably you want the bulk of your estate to go to your spouse and/or children, but pause before you automatically assign the whole of it to close family. Is there a needy distant relative or a helpful friend to whom a small bequest of money or personal property would make a real difference? A down-and-out nephew? An impecunious friend who shares your interest in art books? Or could that empty spot in a favoured neighbourhood green space use a shade tree? Before she died, Susan Friedman, a market research analyst in Toronto, added a directive to her willwhich originally left all of her assets to her husbandallowing a small cash bequest to be made to an unemployed brother who was convalescing after a life-threatening respiratory illness. It made no difference to her well-off husband, but it was enough money for her ailing brother to take a much-needed winter vacation down south. 3. Be charitable. There are many worthy charities and religious institutions that can make good use of even modest bequests. Your estate will receive tax deductions for posthumous gifts to registered charities, and these will offset taxes on other assets. But, reminds Roth, its even better to make these donations during your lifetime so that you yourself enjoy the tax benefits. Practical considerations1. A simple will? Dont fall into the trap of thinking that you need only a simple will, warns Roth. Perhaps you have an ex-spouse and children by a former union. Perhaps you have assets in other jurisdictions or potentially warring beneficiaries. Above all, you want to set things up to avoid future litigation, says Roth. Thats why precise lawyer-drafted wills are generally a safer bet than do-it-yourself efforts.2. Who will execute your will? Carefully consider your executors, advises Roth. Think about their age, their organizational ability, their skill with numbers and the amount of time they have to give to administering an estate. If an executor is your contemporary, is she likely to die before or soon after you do? Have an alternate executor in mind, especially if your first choice is an older person, says Roth.If you want to appoint more than one executor, make sure they get along, she adds. One mans will named his second wife and one of his sons by his first marriage as joint executors. By the time he died, the two executors were barely speaking to each other, hampering the administration of his will. With ongoing trusts, its better to appoint a third party such as a trust company or a lawyer, says Roth.3. Minimize tax. A lot of people dont realize that there are planning opportunities that will minimize tax on your estate, says Newfoundlands Earle. Strategies include naming your spouse as sole beneficiary of all your RRSPs and setting up a spousal rollover trust, which gives your spouse access to earnings on securities held in your name. Your spouse gets the benefit of your portfolio, which is taxed only after the second spouse dies, she says. You can also set up trusts for minor children and even adult offspring if you have concerns.4. Major changes. If you are elderly and decide to make major changes to your will, you may need extra documentation of competency to make sure no one claims you did not know what you were doing or were unduly influenced by a particular beneficiary. Sometimes that works for good. After having a minor stroke, an elderly Winnipeg music teacher was persuaded to change her will, leaving her house and assets to her cleaning lady instead of the conservatory where she had studied music. Her family lawyer challenged the change on grounds of incompetency, and the original will was reinstated.5. Resist pressure. Some relatives may pressure you to reveal what you are going to leave them and may try to influence the distribution of your assets or even demand their share. This can happen especially if youre dependent and vulnerable, says Roth. She advises a person in that situation to keep his own counsel and tell the importunate relative hes still considering the best way to divide things but all will get their fair share. If you know a beneficiary will be unhappy with your will, discuss with your legal adviser how to prevent that person from derailing your plans. 6. Remember to make a living will. You should give power of attorney to a trusted individual who can make health-care decisions on your behalf in case you become incapable of doing so. The emphasis is on trusted. One Toronto man gave power of attorney over his end-of-life care to his son not his spouse, because, he said, she had insisted on keeping an old family dog alive too long!7. Keep up to date. Review your will and estate planning periodically to ensure it is realistic in terms of your current assets, executors and the needs of your beneficiaries. Typical costs for wills Costs can vary greatly by city, the size of the law firm and the complexity of the assets and beneficiaries. But a lot of the time, wills and living wills are not as expensive as you may think. Handwritten holographic will:  $00Stationary-store or online will kit: under $30Simple law shop will:  $99Simple law-firm-drafted will that includes a living will: $500Complex will with power of attorney, varied assets, trusts, different jurisdictions and multiple beneficiaries:  $1000 plus

For now we see in a mirror, dimly. Pauls first letter to the Corinthians, (13:12) Whenever I hear this passage, I am transported back to my childhood. You see, when I was a child I was often sick. I spent many weeks off school and I remember many, many nights in the hospital. I couldnt breathe well. I remember the first time I was left alone by my parents. They had refused to leave the hospital until well after hours, my mothers face ashen as I begged them to take me home. But I had to stay. I refused to let go of my fathers handkerchief and the hand-puppet my mother bought in the gift shop. I pushed these treasures into my face to try to get away from the room with its strange noises and antiseptic smell and the crying and the shadows of the nurses who slipped quietly in and out to check my IV and listen to my chest. Once, I was in an oxygen tent for many days. It was hard to sleep. Every few hours, around the clock, the nurse dumped ice cubes into the back of the tent so that my lungs didnt dry out too much. Everything that came to me was delivered under the plastic; everything outside the plastic was distorted and warped. Every day, Mom came with books and small toys. Dad came to watch Hogans Heroes with me on TV. Since the picture was curved and bent by the tent, it was often difficult to follow the show. I was so small, so dependent. My vision was clear for things close to me but distorted at a certain distance. Dad and Mom reached into the tent to hold my hand and comfort my fear. Despite the ice cubes in the night, nurses coming and going at all hours and the pain of needles, I now know I was blessed. My parents helped me to heal. Eventually, the tent came off. I remember the exact moment vividly. Suddenly, the clarity with which I could see astounded me. Everything around me looked as if it had been cut by a jeweller, all right angles and crisp, clean edges. Colours were so deep and rich I felt sure they had weight, taste. If I hadnt spent time in that oxygen tent, I never would have appreciated being out of one. I took a deep, clear breath and smiled. I was going home.The Rev. Lee Lambert is rector of St. Marys Church in Russell, Ont.

It was two oclock on a Tuesday afternoon before Christmas at the Cathedral Church of St. James in downtown Toronto. A large crowd of men and women had congregated in the narthex, the lobby just inside the front doors. Following some community announcements, the vicar led us in prayer. As the glass doors were opened, everyone made their way into the west aisle of the cathedral. Emptied of pews except for a few in front of a chapel at the far end, the space was set up with stations to meet a variety of needs. At the entrance, hot drinks, sandwiches and fresh fruit were on offer. Farther down the aisle, two barbers were ready to cut hair. Beyond that was a station where a couple of nurses could provide foot care. Across the aisle was a table laden with hand-knit socks, hats, mittens and scarves. Behind it, a parishioner was busy knitting more. At another table, people could select a Christmas card to send to family or friends. The cathedral would ensure it was mailed. For the more adventuresome, there was an opportunity to sign up for a winter camping trip. Several photo albums revealed how much fun those expeditions could be. Off in the distance, a man who had come in  played the piano as others gathered around to sing songs of the season. Throughout the entire place, there was a beautiful spirit of welcome and warmth, service and gratitude, faith and friendship. David, the vicar, moved among the people with ease. He knows so many of them by name and by circumstance. They know him and they appreciate the care he and the volunteers provide. Tuesday Drop-In at the cathedral provides safe haven, practical help and pastoral support that enables them to go on from one week to the next. All I heard and saw that afternoon moved me to think of how much joy such ministry brings to the heart of our blessed Lord. It reminded me of the teaching of the great St. John Chrysostom with respect to reverencing the Body of Christ. In the first sense, the Body of Christ does not need clothing but worship from a pure heart. In the second sense, it does need clothing and all the care we can give it. For Tuesday Drop-In at St. James and ministries of similar kind in parish churches all across the country, I rejoice and I pray for Gods blessings on all who are so devoted to them, week in and week out.Archbishop Fred Hiltz is primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

I have much sympathy with Bishop Spong [The Bibleto be continued, Jan. 2012, p. 9]. Today, many speak of the paradigm shift, as our society moves from throw-away to recycle. Paradigm shifts must be taken into account if we would communicate with our contemporaries, and there is no more important paradigm shift than the way we think about and speak of God. Paul Tillich wrote of God as the ground of beingthe sine qua non of everything. There is a story about Tillich arriving in heaven, where he is met by an imposing figure: Tillich: Are you God?God: Yes.Tillich: Take me to your leader.Couldnt have put it better myself.