The church celebrates the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 25. John was Jesus’ cousin and a prophet with a large following when Jesus began his ministry. Although many of John’s followers believed him to be the Messiah, John recognized Jesus as the true Messiah, called for the world to “prepare the way of the Lord” (Mark 1:3), and baptized Jesus.

The Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is one of the oldest Christian festivals, dating back to 506, and was first included in the Book of Common Prayer in 1549. It was decided to observe this feast six months before Christmas because Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy with John at the time of Jesus’ conception. This date in June also coincides with the summer solstice, a pre-Christian festival, which is now dedicated to the Nativity of St. John the Baptist in much of Europe and the Mediterranean and widely celebrated.

The Gospel of Luke describes John’s miraculous birth to an elderly, childless couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth, who was a cousin of the Virgin Mary. When the angel Gabriel told Zechariah that Elizabeth would bear a son who would be named John, Zechariah did not believe it was possible, so he was made mute. Zechariah’s speech was restored to him on the eighth day after John’s birth, when the baby was circumcised and named. With his newly regained voice, Zechariah then proclaimed the canticle known as the Benedictus Dominus Deus:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.  He has raised up a mighty savior for us

in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. 

Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.  By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace’ (Luke 1:67-79).

Collect for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist



Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Savior by preaching repentance: Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching; and, following his example, constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (Book of Common Prayer, p. 241).

Trinity Cathedral is in process of renewing the ministry of the Altar Guild. It is an important ministry that functions specifically to prepare the Cathedral for worship on Sundays and special services. If you are interested in joining the Altar Guild please contact Roberto Soto at the Church Office.

A Ukrainian Anglican on surviving the siege of Kyiv

Anglican Journal of Canada

Tell me about the experience of living through the fighting. How close did it come to you? What was it like trying to keep safe?

Until February 24, I understood that hostilities could begin at any time and no one would save me. So I was praying and preparing mentally for this as best as I could. But, at the same time, I tried to live a normal life. We grow fruits and vegetables at our dacha. And knowing that our dacha could be bombed, we still put things in order there, preparing for the new season.

American President Biden constantly shouted: “Be careful! There will be the war! Do something!” Our president constantly said: “There will be no war! Don’t panic!” I still clearly remember our president’s speech late on the evening of the 23rd: “There will be no war! Sleep calmly!” That night, many woke up from explosions. Thus began a new life. A new countdown. Realizing that every day can be the last one, live it to the fullest, trying to support those who are nearby. Because tomorrow we may not see each other again, or the morning just won’t come.

I live near the Kyiv (Zhulyany) airport and understood the danger of what was happening. When tanks appeared near my home, and the explosions did not stop even for a short time, I begged all my Facebook friends to pray. Then [Ukrainian soldiers] made a checkpoint near my building, just adding concrete blocks to my building. There were always soldiers under my windows. During the day, we peered cautiously out the windows and watched the gunfights. We live on the first floor. And the windows are low enough so that you can enter the apartment through them. My building remained intact—and this is a real miracle! Soon we boarded up all the windows, taking apart all the furniture and cabinets in the apartment.

When the fighting started, I was bedridden and could hardly get up. Having some health problems, I constantly need outside help. When the explosions started and the sirens sounded, I just prayed. I couldn’t get up, and we didn’t have anywhere to go, there was no bomb shelter near us.

From shock and trauma, my body quickly grouped up and I began to move around a little. We learned that the neighbours from our building were hiding in a neighbouring building in the basement. And when we realized that our building could be blown up at any moment and it was at the epicentre of events, we collected documents, took a few T-shirts and other things to change clothes and also took some baby food, which I need for life, and went to the basement.

The basement was dark, wet and cold. The floor was earthen, and it was obvious that the moisture there never dries up. We climbed under the sewer pipes and stayed there for many hours. It was constantly dripping from the pipes, but it was really quieter and calmer there.

No wonder that I now have an exacerbation of asthma and bronchiectasis. I have spent the last few weeks in hospital but still have some trouble breathing. My husband has already contacted various volunteers about an oxygen concentrator, but so far without success.

Based on your Facebook posts, it looks like you left Kyiv for some time and you’re back now, is that right? Where did you go, and what was travelling like?

When we had the opportunity, we went to our dacha, which is located 100 km from Kyiv. Our dacha is a small piece of land with a wooden wagon where we usually live in the summer. Thanks to kind people, we were able to buy some food and fill the car with fuel.

It wasn’t very safe there. Explosions were constantly heard and our little house periodically bounced. But no one ran around with machine guns and there wasn’t shooting near us. The closest town that was bombed was 15 km away from us. I was able to sleep. The feeling of inevitable death and horror began to leave me little by little.

Our dacha is almost in the middle of the field. There is no water or gas there. But there is electricity, so we could use an electric heater to heat our small cabin and an electric stove to cook our food. After a while, we ran out of food and needed to fill up the car again. And since food and fuel became a big shortage, we decided to go to Kyiv.

We periodically travel to Kyiv when we need food or a doctor’s consultation. Being able to take a shower and feel like a human being, and not just an incomprehensible being, is also one of the main reasons for returning home. Thank the Lord for saving our apartment, where we can take a shower and wash things, until this moment. (We don’t have a washing machine; we wash by hand). Every time we leave, we realize that we may never come back. Traveling is very dangerous. All the way I usually pray, but my body does not leave the state of freezing and tension.

I am not yet ready to share the details of what is happening on the roads. But passing shot and crushed cars, multiple roadblocks with incomprehensible people who rudely checked our car and threatened to shoot us, I understand that life is a very fragile thing.

[Editor’s note: One of Gedz’s Facebook posts describes an argument with Ukrainian soldiers at a checkpoint over whether they were allowed to take her passport away to look at it. The soldiers, Gedz wrote, said they could do whatever they wanted, even kill her.]

I hear most of the fighting has moved to the east. What is it like where you are now?

Now we are at our dacha. It’s quiet and calm here. Birds are singing. And outwardly, nothing reminds you of the war. Kyiv is quite calm, despite the constant sirens. Military operations are still taking place in the north (Sumy, Chernihiv … ) east (Mariupol, Donetsk, Luhansk …) and south (Kherson, Odessa …) of Ukraine.

Many cities are bombed and many people die every day.

How are the rest of the congregation of Christ Church, Kyiv, doing, if you’ve heard from them? Have you been to any services since the invasion?

It’s hard for me to say how all the members of the church are doing. I hope they are safe. I kept in touch with one sister. She lives alone and has major health problems. She was in a very dangerous situation. But she hasn’t responded to messages for over a week. I want to believe that everything is fine with her and she has evacuated.

What role has your faith played in getting you through these experiences?

I sincerely believe that I am alive and my home is not destroyed because precious people have been praying for us. And, God, for sure, held me very tightly in His arms.

Presiding bishop will participate in Bible study memorializing Charleston massacre victims

Episcopal News Service

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will participate in a June 17 Inaugural National Bible Study marking the seventh anniversary of the 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where a white supremacist killed nine Black churchgoers. Curry will deliver the closing comments and benediction for the Bible study at Mother Emanuel, which will be livestreamed starting at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Bible study participants will discuss Mark 4:1-9, the Parable of the Sower, which the nine victims were studying when they were murdered. All are invited to virtually join the Bible study, which will be led by “a distinguished panel of Biblical scholars and church leaders” and includes a resource guide.

“Traditionally known as the Parable of the Sower, the text will be examined by a diverse panel from its alternative title, the Parable of the Soils,” organizers wrote. “In view of the rising tide of white supremacy in America, the panelists will address questions to be put before the nation: What kind of soil are we? What kind of soil are we willing to become?”

“Remembering the Emanuel Nine in Charleston is also a call to action, calling people of faith, as the Parable of the Soils suggests, not to get weary but to keep sowing seeds for change,” said the Rev. Margaret Rose, deputy for ecumenical and interreligious relations for The Episcopal Church.

Other religious leaders, including Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; politicians, including Rep. Jim Clyburn and Sen. Tim Scott; and relatives of the victims will participate in the series of commemorative events, including a press conference at 2 p.m. Eastern on the 17th and a Juneteenth celebration.

On June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof shot and killed nine Black people during a Bible study at the church. The same white supremacist ideology that inspired Roof reportedly drove a white teenager to kill 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in May. As the “white replacement” conspiracy theory has become mainstream, amplified by politicians and media commentators, reports of hate crimes targeting African Americans have surged.



“The loss of any human life is tragic, but there was deep racial hatred driving this shooting,” Curry said after the Buffalo shooting, “and we have got to turn from the deadly path our nation has walked for much too long.”

ACIP Strikes committee to find national Indigenous Archbishop

The Anglican Church of Canada

The Anglican Council of Indigenous People (ACIP) has established a search committee to find a successor to former national Indigenous archbishop Mark MacDonald after his resignation due to sexual misconduct.

The search committee has not met to begin the search, Interim National Indigenous Bishop Sidney Black said May 26. It will set out the process for filling the vacancy at its first meeting, which Black said he hoped would take place soon.

“I would like to see the position filled sooner [rather] than later … and then for that person to begin to get their feet wet and just have a good sense of what will be brought forward to Sacred Circle,” he said.

When MacDonald was appointed, the position was open only to bishops, and it’s possible the selection committee will continue this policy, Black said. But if the selection committee decides by consensus to include ordained priests as candidates, then a process for an episcopal election consented to by ACIP and Sacred Circle would have to be formulated.

It’s expected that once a candidate is chosen, that person will then be appointed national Indigenous archbishop by the primate, he said.

Black confirmed that the next in-person Sacred Circle will take place from May 28 to June 2, 2023 at the Fern Resort in Ramara, Ont.

Along with finding a successor for MacDonald, urgent priorities include filling the positions vacated by late Indigenous Ministries coordinator Canon Ginny Doctor, who died in 2021; and program associate Teresa Mandricks, who will be retiring from the Secretariat of the National Indigenous Anglican Bishop at this end of the year.

The role of Indigenous Ministries coordinator is “a vital part of our Indigenous ministries,” Black said.

“When you consider the length and the breadth [of where] Indigenous folks live, organizing events does take time and careful consideration—plus the administrative work at Church House,” he said. “So that position needs to be filled in my estimation as soon as possible.”

ACIP also hopes to hire a new program associate soon, Black added. Mandricks “has been such a big part of Indigenous ministries as an administrative assistant… She’s like the library of all the events that have happened within Indigenous Ministries,” Black said. “So she has a good sense of the history and how the office of the national Indigenous Anglican bishop functions.”

The agenda for the next Sacred Circle gathering is likely to include presenting the Covenant and Our Way of Life documents. The Sacred Circle planning committee will discuss how the material will be presented as well as other agenda items at its first meeting, which at the time this article was written had yet to be scheduled.

The planning team intends beforehand to visit the facility to check aspects such as accessibility and audio-visual equipment. ACIP will meet in mid-June to continue the planning process, Black said.

“We might think, ‘Oh, we’re a year away,’ but time comes up on us quickly and the council wants to get that planning in place,” Black said. “So that certainly is a priority on ACIP’s agenda.”

Sacred Circle had originally planned an in-person gathering for 2022. However, ACIP decided at a Zoom meeting last fall to postpone the event until next year, citing COVID restrictions and protocols. Council members “did not want to travel because of the COVID pandemic,” Black said.

Former child refugee named as next Secretary General of the Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion News Service

A South Sudanese bishop who was forced with his family into exile before he was one year old, the Right Revd Anthony Poggo, has been named as the next Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. Bishop Anthony Poggo, the former Bishop of Kajo-Keji in the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, is currently the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Adviser on Anglican Communion Affairs. 

Bishop Anthony was selected for his new role by a sub-committee of the Anglican Communion’s Standing Committee following a competitive recruitment process led by external consultants. 

He will take up his new role in September, succeeding the Most Revd Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, who steps down after next month’s Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, which is being held in Canterbury, Kent, from 26 July to 8 August. 

The Anglican Communion is the world’s third largest Christian denomination. It comprises 42 independent-yet-interdependent autonomous regional, national and pan-national Churches (provinces), active in more than 165 countries. 

The Churches of the Anglican Communion are in communion (or relationship) with the Archbishop of Canterbury. They are structurally independent and there is no “head office”.  

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion leads the staff team at the Anglican Communion Office, the international secretariat serving the four “Instruments of Communion” – sometimes called the “Instruments of Unity”. These are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primates’ Meeting, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Lambeth Conference. 

Born in 1964, in what is now South Sudan, Bishop Anthony and his siblings were taken by his father – an Anglican priest – and his mother into Uganda to flee the first Sudanese Civil War. In 1973, at the age of nine, he returned with his family to South Sudan. 

Bishop Anthony said that when he was about 12, somebody shared with him the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, he said. “I then took the step of accepting Christ and following him. 

“At the time, I thought ‘my father is a priest. Why am I being asked to take this step’. But then I realised that your relationship with Christ is a personal relationship. You have to take the step of faith on your own accord rather than through your parents. Later in life I learned that God only has children; he doesn’t have grandchildren – which means that you become a child of God on your own accord, not through your father and not through your mother. 

“I have found it very important to spend time reading the Word of God, especially with my Scripture Union background, because the Word of God is an important aspect of our lives for our spiritual growth.” 

After graduating from Juba University with a degree in Management and Public Administration, he joined the ecumenical mission agency Scripture Union. While there he felt a need for theological training and gained an MA in Biblical Studies from the Nairobi International School of Theology in Kenya. 

He then returned to Uganda to minister to Sudanese refugees with Scripture Union, the Bishop of Kajo-Keji then, the Right Rev Manasseh Binyi Dawidi, who himself was serving the Sudanese refugees in exile in Uganda asked him to consider ordination. “I said ‘Yes, I would’, because I was already training clergy and he felt that it would be important for me to be ordained clergy in order to train clergy.” 

He was ordained a Deacon in 1995 and a Priest in 1996 and continued working for Scripture Union before joining Across, a Christian mission agency working in Sudan from Nairobi, leading the charity’s publishing arm. While there he studied for an MBA in publishing at Oxford Brookes University in England. He rose through the ranks at Across, eventually becoming the Executive Director of the organisation. 

In 2007 he was elected Bishop of Kajo-Keji, a position he held until 2016 when he moved to Lambeth Palace to support the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as his Adviser on Anglican Communion Affairs. 

“It is a huge privilege to be appointed as the next Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, taking over from the Most Reverend Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon. His are big shoes to fill”, Bishop Anthony said. 

“I would like to thank the Anglican Communion’s Standing Committee for the trust and confidence in appointing me to lead the staff team at the Anglican Communion Office as it undertakes it role in supporting the Instruments of Communion. 

“I look forward to taking on my role at the beginning of September and work alongside the team at the ACO in preparing for ACC-18.” 

ACC-18 is the 18th plenary meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, and will take place in Accra, Ghana, in February 2023. 

“One of the things that we will be focusing on from September is to support the instruments of the Anglican Communion as they implement the outcomes of the 2022 Lambeth Conference”, Bishop Anthony said. “Please pray for me as I take on this role in leading the ACO team so that the Anglican Communion family will continue in its role of being ‘God’s Church for God’s world’ in such a time as this.” 

UK sanctions Russian Orthodox head; decries forced adoption

Religion News Service

Britain announced a new round of sanctions Thursday against Russia, targeting the head of the Russian Orthodox Church for his prominent support for the war in Ukraine as well as Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, who Britain said is responsible for the forced transfer and adoption of hundreds of Ukrainian children into Russia.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has “repeatedly abused his position to justify the war” on Ukraine. Kirill is a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Truss also targeted children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, who has been accused of enabling the taking of 2,000 vulnerable children from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in eastern Ukraine and facilitating their forced adoptions in Russia.

Others on Thursday’s list include four colonels from a brigade known to have killed, raped and tortured civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

Truss also said Britain’s government is “taking all steps we can” regarding two British citizens sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces in Ukraine.

She said officials are in regular talks with the Ukrainian government about Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner, who were sentenced last week alongside a Moroccan, Brahim Saadoun, for allegedly fighting as mercenaries by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

“These people are prisoners of war. They were fighting legitimately with the Ukrainian army,” Truss said. “What Russia has done is a complete violation of the Geneva Convention. We are taking all steps we can.”