Anglican Communion News Service

[Anglican News Service] The national executive of the Anglican Church of Canada met early in May 2000 in an attempt to balance plans for the future of the church against the possibility of bankruptcy for General Synod, the church's national body.

Lawsuits arising from claims of abuse at residential schools cost about CA$1.5 million in 1999, and CA$112,000 has already been spent in the first three months of 2000. The number of claims continue to rise, with about 1,600 plaintiffs now involving the Anglican Church, out of about 7,000 involving the Government of Canada. [See ACNS 1962 for more background information.]

There have been some suggestions that bankruptcy would have little effect, as a new structure would continue the work of the church. However, Archbishop Michael Peers placed the current situation of the church in dramatic biblical terms, drawing parallels between Good Friday and bankruptcy.

"On Good Friday, Jesus stopped," said the Archbishop. "His heart stopped beating. His blood stopped flowing. But the story didn't stop. God's purposes will not be thwarted. And so, if bankruptcy becomes inevitable, we really are called to be the body of Christ. Dead. Absolutely dead. And just as absolutely destined to rise."

According to Doug Tindal, Director of Information Resources, Canadians except the church to do all it can to meet its obligations, but 80% say the church should not be forced into bankruptcy.

"The churches have been meeting with government figures to address an agreed goal of continuing the viability of the church organisations," said Archdeacon Jim Boyles, General Secretary of the Church of Canada. "A paper on the assets and structure of General Synod, prepared by an audit team from Ernst and Young, has been approved by the church's finance committee and presented to government officials."

"There are those who say that [bankruptcy] is God's judgment, that the church has lost its way," said Archbishop Michael Peers. "Maybe so; but the people being judged are from generations earlier. I was a member of the General Synod meeting in 1969 which changed the church's relationship with Native people forever; virtually all of what we are facing happened before that time."