These are challenging times for the Anglican Church of Canada. On Sunday, by episcopal direction, I will take up most of the usual sermon time by reading A Pastoral Statement from the Primate and Metropolitans of the Anglican Church of Canada, which addresses the moves by the Anglican Network in Canada to set up a parallel Anglican jurisdiction under the aegis of the Province of the Southern Cone.

It's a tangled mess, to be sure. If it were up to me, I would focus directly on the hope-filled texts provided by the lectionary. Nonetheless, I do believe the Archbishops have given us a message of hope, and I will read the statement, and add a short local commentary.

Perhaps one way of framing this is to reflect on whether we can find hope
    in our church,
    through our church, and
    for our church.

All this comes at a time when some notable leaders have given up all hope for what Archbishop Fred Hiltz calls "this beloved church."