wfn.org | Canadian Anglican Sisters head to Solomons to usher in new province

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Sisters head to Solomons to usher in new province;
Gathering will give thanks to nuns who helped during civil unrest

Leanne Larmondin
Website Manager

Oakville, Ont.
Three members of the Canadian Sisters of the Church will travel halfway
across the world in September to help their fellow sisters celebrate the
inauguration of a new province in the religious order.

The Community of the Sisters of the Church (CSC), whose Canadian home is
west of Toronto in Oakville, Ont., has 82 members worldwide. Currently
divided among three provinces, Canada, England and Australia/Pacific, the
latter province is being divided in two -- Australia and the Solomon
Islands -- to accommodate growth in the Solomons.

The occasion will be marked by a Eucharist, celebration and dedication of a
newly built chapel on the grounds of the Solomon Island headquarters. The
gathering will also witness the blessing of Sr. Doreen, who was elected as
the provincial or head sister of the community; Veronica, a junior sister,
will also make her life profession at the gathering by taking her final vows.

The sisters will also give thanks for Sr. Phyllis's contribution during the
months of civil unrest in the Solomon Islands. Phyllis, sister co-ordinator
of the Solomon Islands, led the sisters who dug graves and transported
victims of violence to the hospital and spoke with the militants on both
sides of the conflict. At one point, the sisters' truck was the only
vehicle travelling through the line of fighting.

The Canadian contingent will consist of three nuns: Sr. Michael, Sr.
Heather, and Sr. Margaret. Srs. Heather and Margaret will leave Canada on
Sept. 13 for Cairns, Australia, where they will attend the upcoming meeting
of the international Anglican indigenous network. Sr. Michael will meet up
with them later in the month at Tetete ni Kolivuti, the CSC retreat and
training centre in the Solomon Islands, outside its capital Honiara.

Also scheduled to attend are five sisters from Australia and England,
including Sr. Anita, who is Mother Superior of the order worldwide and
English Provincial (head of the Sisters in England).

Sr. Anita, in an interview, laughed about the logistics of meeting in the
hot weather of the Solomon Islands. The worship service will start at 6:00
a.m. so that it and the celebration afterward will be finished before the
day becomes too hot.

"One of the remarkable things about their feast is it takes days to
prepare," said Sr. Anita, adding that the men will roast pigs and prepare
the feast while the women lay out the table and the meal. "Then, in about a
quarter of an hour, it is over. It all happens very quickly."

Expected at the Eucharist and the chapel dedication, for which the sisters
will borrow a generator from the cathedral in Honiara, are Sir Ellison
Pogo, archbishop of the Church of Melanesia, and his predecessor, Bishop
Norman Palmer. Terry Brown, bishop of Malaita (part of the Church of
Melanesia), has also been invited. Bishop Brown is a former staff member of
the Anglican Church of Canada.

Founded in 1870, the Sisters of the Church vow to live under gospel values
of poverty, chastity and obedience.
- 30 -

Links:

Community of the Sisters of the Church (Canada chapter)
<http://www.tap.net/csc/index.htm>

A service of reconciliation
-- an essay by Lorna Reevely, Anglican Church of Canada Volunteer in
Mission, based in the Solomon Islands
<http://www.anglican.ca/vim/stories/story.html?newsItem=2001-05-02.news>

Photos of reconciliation service at Bishop Patteson Theological College
<http://www.anglican.ca/vim/photos/reevely/photo_album.html>

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Leanne Larmondin
Web Manager
Anglican Church of Canada
600 Jarvis St.
Toronto ON  L5E 2G1
(416) 924 9199 ext. 307
ll@anglican.ca
http://www.anglican.ca
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