CCHS Newsletter, No.2 2025-11-13
DEAR CCHS MEMBERS AND FRIENDS,
Things have been happening at the CCHS since we emailed you our first newsletter in May! I’m writing to bring you up- to-date.
ANNUAL MEETING
You’ve probably received an invitation to our annual meeting on Friday, November 21. We’d be glad to see you at 7 p.m. via Zoom, or, even better, at 5:30 at the Anglican national office, near Bloor and Church Streets, for a reception and dinner. Please email lparson@national.anglican.ca by November 14 (Tomorrow) to let us know you’re coming.
WEBSITE
We have a great new website, thanks to the leadership of our president, Bill Acres. He enlisted some excellent tech help, arranged a website host, and consulted widely about the design. I think (I’m sure) that you’ll find it attractive and informative. If you haven’t seen it already, please take a look at the easy-to-remember url cchso.ca.
PLANNING OUR MISSION HISTORY CONFERENCE
Our conference on the history of Anglican mission work in Canada and elsewhere, 1701–1965, is set for May 28–30, 2026, at Huron University College in London, Ontario. The conference partly builds on our very successful conference last year on the Anglican Congress of 1963. The Congress’ statement on “Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence in the Body of Christ” (MRI) “turned the page” on Anglican missions, inviting some reflection from those of us in the MRI-era on missions in the before-MRI era. At our website, you’ll find a Call for Papers, a list of possible themes (click on the link), and a response form on the website. We’ve received some great proposals already. If none of them is yours, please consider presenting a paper! We’d like the program to be a very rich and exciting one. (We’ll consider proposals for the period since 1965 but that won’t be the focus.) The deadline is November 28.
GENERAL SYNOD
The CCHS had a display at General Synod in London this past June, and we were very pleased to receive many visitors, to offer some of our publications, and to add some new members!
BOOK LAUNCH
Bill Acres’ Documents of the Mohawk Institute: The Journals and Reports of Robert Ashton and the Diary of Alice Ashton was duly and happily launched with a well attended celebration during General Synod at Chaucer’s Pub, London. If you’re a CCHS member, you’ve already received this publication, since it came to you as a bonus number of the Journal of the Canadian Church Historical Society.
ANOTHER BOOK LAUNCH
Our busy Bill Acres also had launches of his Behind the Bricks: The Life and Times of the Mohawk Institute (University of Calgary Press, 2025) with the Ontario Historical Society in Willowdale, Ontario, and at McMaster University.
THE JOURNAL
With thanks to our editor, Thomas Power, and the authors of the many articles, we’ve published the most recent number of The Journal of the Canadian Church Historical Society on the general theme of the Anglican Congress of 1963, and its most notable achievement, the “MRI” declaration (referenced above). These articles began as papers presented to our MRI conference last year. Other articles from the conference will be published by Anglican and Episcopal History in the new year.
HISTORY OF THE INDIGENOUS BOOK
This is the theme of a forthcoming publication of the University of Pennsylvania Press. Susan Glover, a member of our executive, will have a chapter in it: she has let me read a draft, and it’s really excellent. We’ll let you know when the volume comes towards publication.
A BOOK SERIES ON NORTH AMERICAN ANGLICANISM
Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook, the historiographer of the Episcopal Church and the editor of Anglican and Episcopal History, is overseeing this project, which is still at the proposal stage. Its intention is to integrate Indigenous Anglican realities into the story, beyond the usual way of seeing them through the eyes of missionaries.
MILLMAN PRIZE
We’ve selected the winner of the Millman Prize “for the best essay in English or French in Canadian church history written in 2003–2004 by a graduate student enrolled at a Canadian University.” We’ll make the announcement at our AGM.
EPISCOPAL LIAISON
We’re very pleased the Council of General Synod has re-appointed Bishop Susan Bell as the episcopal liaison to the CCHS.
JOURNAL SUBMISSIONS
As always, Thomas Power will always be very pleased to receive submissions to our Journal!
Sincerely, Alan
Alan L. Hayes,
For the Executive Committee, CCHS
For the Canadian Church Historical Society
Contact: Laurel Parson at archives@national.anglican.ca
Website: https://cchso.ca/