December 2, 2025

George Cadman named Chancellor of General Synod

On November 27, the Council of General Synod (CoGS) of the Anglican Church of Canada appointed George Cadman, K.C., ODNW as Chancellor of General Synod. The appointment takes effect January 1, 2026.

Cadman has been chancellor of the Diocese of New Westminster since 1988. With the help of supportive legal team, he will continue in that role in addition to taking on duties as Chancellor of General Synod.

Primate Shane Parker told the Anglican Journal, "I am very grateful for George's faithful willingness to serve as our National Chancellor and look forward to working closely with him in this transformational triennium."

News & Updates

Synod Office Hours December

December 3: Office closed to public 11am to 3pm.

December 22 - January 2, 2026: Synod Office will be closed to the public. Emails will be monitored for urgent/emergent requests.

Ordinations

On Saturday, December 6, Archbishop John Stephens is scheduled to ordain four new priests, and one transitional deacon. The ordinations will take place at 10:30am at Christ Church Cathedral. All are welcome to attend. Clergy are welcome to vest. The liturgical colour is red.

The ordinands are:

The Rev. Sarah Lehman (priest)
The Rev. Dara Crandall (priest)
The Rev. Neil Jongbloed (priest)
The Rev. Claude St-Denis (priest)
Shawn Bullock (deacon)

Survivor Flags

The Survivors’ flag, created through the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) in consultation with residential-school survivors across Canada, is a symbol of remembrance and respect. It honours the experiences of survivors and the lasting impact on families and communities. Primate Shane Parker has called on all Anglican parishes to display the Survivors’ flag as a symbol of recognition, respect and hope.

The flags can be purchased via the Anglican Church of Canada.. If your parish would like a flag, but is unable to purchase one due to financial constraints, please contact the Synod office to request one.

Tithely Websites & Content Sharing

If your parish in on a Tithely website you should have the ability to share News and Events posts directly from your website to the diocesan website. When you are logged in and editing a news or events post, you should have the option to "share."

If you are on a Tithely website but the “share” option is not available to you, please email communications@vancouver.anglican.ca and we will make sure you get access to this feature.

Buy Nothing: Church Edition

The following parishes are looking for the following items. Does your parish have one of these items in need of a new home?

St. George, Ft. Langley needs and Altar Cloth that measures, or can be altered to measure 66” in length and 27” in width.
St. George’s is also looking for small cruets.Email office@stgeorgeanglican.ca ”attn Altar Guild.”
St. Philips, Vancouver is looking for a blue Burse and Veil. Contact Diana Bragg at dasbragg@gmail.com
St Clement's, North Vancouver is in need of brass candlestick holders, 14.5 inches tall and about 5.5 inches across the base.If you have one or more to donate, please contact Helen by email to helen@stclementschurch.ca

SAVE THE DATE: IMPORTANT DIOCESAN DATES 2025-2026

December 6: Ordinations at Christ Church Cathedral, 10:30am
May 30: Mission Conference, 2026

FORMATION AND SPIRITUAL RENEWAL

Full listings avaialble via the Learning Centre and Centre for Spiritual Formation

Archbishop's Advent Series - Recordings Now Available

Spend four evenings in Advent taking a journey with the pilgrim characters of the Advent season: Mary, Elizabeth, Joseph, and John the Baptist. Archbishop John will offer teaching on their stories and the Prologue from the Gospel of John. The sessions will include small group discussion and use scripture, image, song, and poetry to help us deepen our own pilgrim journeys as we search for Emmanuel.

Click here to watch the session on Youtube.

AROUND THE DIOCESE

Full event listing available here

Christmas Fairs in the diocese are listed here.

December 5 - Advent Messiah. 7:30pm at St. Dunstan's, Aldergrove.

December 6 - Time with Mary: Advent Morning Reatreat. 9:30am to 12pm at St. Dunstan's, Aldergrove.

December 13 - A Concert Evening: Christmas Hymns & Classics with violinist Uli Janzen. 7pm at St. Thomas, Chiliwack.

December 14 - Christmas Concert with Carolyn Arends. 7pm at St. David's, Tsawwassen

December 14 - Community Christmas Big Sing. 7pm at St. Laurence, Coquitlam.

December 17 - Longest Night Service. 6:30pm at St. Thomas, Chilliwack

December 18 - Longest Night Service. 6pm at St. Faith's.

December 19 - Advent Lessons & Carols featuring music of The Forest Archive. 7pm at St. Alban's, Burnaby.