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A hybrid meeting of the Synod Council of the Diocese of Ontario was held on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 6 pm at St. Mark's Barriefield. Highlights of the meeting include:

Aveleigh Kyle opened the meeting with a reflection on grace. She works as an ICU Nurse at Kingston General Hospital. A patient was near death when someone in the unit she works in got a message to the construction workers on the floor below about the patient’s near death. There was a half-hour pause by the workers, allowing the patient to die in relative peace, a moment of quiet to honour that person’s death. That is what Aveleigh called ‘grace.’

Bishop William noted that his friend Margo died, a great woman. He also said that The Rev. John VanStone received an honour from the military for his work with military fathers, at which he and Mark Hauser attended.

The agenda for the meeting and the minutes of the 28 May meeting were both approved.

Anne Abok, seminary intern from the UK here in the diocese for a short period of time this summer, spoke on her work in human trafficking. Using the biblical story of David and Goliath, she spoke about the work of dealing with human trafficking, dealing with approximately 50 million people (93% women) each year. Anne says the church, working with others on the issues of human trafficking, can deal with many of the issues involved.

 Capt. the Rev. John VanStone, military chaplain, spoke of his CDS award for working with a program supporting military dads. He has also worked with the issues of human trafficking, which is where he met Anne Abok in the UK.

Mark Hauser, communications officer of the diocese, presented the concern of the periodical ‘Dialogue.’ At one time Dialogue was published monthly; now it is quarterly. Readership has declined greatly, now estimated at 900. Mark outlined options for the future of Dialogue, which Synod Council discussed. At the end, Council decided to continue Dialogue in print until the end of 2024 (two more issues), then become part of anglicannews.ca with other dioceses, have a period of one year evaluation, and then make a final decision. Synod Council approved this move.

DFO Alex Pierson presented brief reports on property and finance, and spoke about insurance, which he is actively working with provincially with others, including Ecclesiastical Insurance.

Synod Council adjourned at approximately 7:45 pm.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of Synod Council will be Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at 6pm (delayed one week due to Provincial Synod).

The approval of the minutes of the June 25 meeting are pending. For questions about Synod Council, please contact the Ven. David Selzer, Diocesan Executive Officer, by email at dselzer@ontario.anglican.ca or by phone at 613-777-0540.