The Anglican Church is a community of worshipping Christians, with more than 80 million members around the world. In Canada, our church is called the Anglican Church of Canada. The Anglican Church is divided into regional groupings called ‘dioceses’. Each diocese has its own bishop who has the overall responsibility for the spiritual well-being and administration of the churches within the area. In this region, we are part of the Diocese of New Westminster. The Diocese of New Westminster consists of 68 worshipping and serving communities in mission together across the southwest part of the province of British Columbia. They span from the Sunshine Coast on the west coast to Hope located 150 kilometres east of the City of Vancouver. The tenth bishop of New Westminster is the Right Reverend John Stephens. In Canada, there are about 800,000 Anglicans, and the Most Reverend Linda Nicholls is the head (called the ‘Primate’) of the national church. The Anglican Church of Canada supports churches in large urban areas, small rural villages, and in remote northern regions. In addition to English-language services, services are offered in French, Spanish, Cantonese, Japanese, Mandarin, as well as Indigenous languages.
The Marks of Mission of the Anglican Communion are:
To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
To teach, baptize and nurture new believers
To respond to human need by loving service
To seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation
To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth