Partners at General Synod

Indigenous Partners

General Synod is pleased to welcome partners who come as members of some of the 225 indigenous Anglican Church communities in Canada. Most of our partners represent the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples and some the Indigenous Covenant Implementation Commission.

Ecumenical Partners

Canadian Council of Churches

Professor Richard Schneider, President is an associate professor of church history, iconology, Christian studies and medieval studies at York University and visiting professor of iconology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York. He is President of the Canadian Council of Churches and represents the Archdiocese of Canada of the Orthodox Church in America on the Council’s Governing Board.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Bishop Raymond Schultz, elected National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada in July 2001, he is the first of the ELCIC bishops to carry the official title of National Bishop. Bishop Schultz is an experienced pastor and though viewed as a “liberal” by most Lutherans although he sees himself as ‘a traditional person’ who uses Jesuit forms of prayer and remains loyal to fundamental Lutheran doctrines.

The Rev. Sonja Free has been a partner to the Council of General Synod since November 2003. She is a retired parish pastor whose interests are in Peace initiatives; ecumenical relationships; women’s concerns; youth; social issues and developing policy which will help us to live out our faith at all church levels and everyday life .

The Rev. Paul Johnson received his theological education at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and came to Canada upon graduation in 1987.  Ordained that same year, he has been a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) ever since, serving parishes in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.  He has been Assistant to the National Bishop for Ecumenical Relations since March of 2003; as such he sits on the Governing Board of the Canadian Council of Churches and also serves as the ELCIC staff person on the Joint Anglican Lutheran Commission .

The United Church of Canada

The Reverend Bob Mills, retired United church minister and past General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches. Bob was a participant in the February 2003 dialogue between the Anglican and United Church, the first such dialogue to take place since the end of the Plan of Union talks in the 1970s.

Episcopal Church , USA

The Reverend Canon Stephen Lane, Episcopal Diocese of Rochester. Canon Lane has been a partner to the Council of General Synod since May 2002. He works primarily with clergy around issues such as: recruitment, deployment, orientation of new clergy, and training and support of interim and supply clergy. He is responsible for Partner in Ministry, a program designed for newly ordained clergy and their mentors. He facilitates mutual ministry reviews, and consults with and guides congregations through search processes.

Overseas

The Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia

Archdeacon Taimalelagi Fagamalama Tuatagaloa-Matalavea is a lay Archdeacon from Samoa and the Anglican Observer at the United Nations. She has a particular interest in Indigenous Peoples issues, in social and environmental justice issues, in HIV-AIDS and in international partnerships within the Anglican Communion.

Church of Ceylon, Diocese of Colombo

Bishop Duleep de Chickera and his wife Geetha. Bishop Chickera and his wife have been ministering for many years in the midst of war and ethnic violence in Sri Lanka. They have developed effective processes of reconciliation for local communities. Bishop Chickera has preached and written on many topics including human sexuality, the ordination of women in Sri Lanka, inter-religious dialogue and encounter, becoming an inclusive church and the re-introduction of the death penalty in Sri Lanka.