Parish
St. Augustine’s is a parish church of the Anglican Church of Canada. Our parish is led by a Rector (senior priest), Senior Wardens (elected and appointed) and an elected Parish Council. St. Augustine’s also has an elected Management Committee which oversees “hands on” ministries under the leadership of Deputy Wardens in the following ministry portfolios:
Diocese
St. Augustine’s, Lethbridge is part of the Diocese of Calgary.
A diocese is a geographic area under the jurisdiction of a diocesan Bishop as chief pastor.
There are currently 30 dioceses in The Anglican Church of Canada. A diocese is governed by a diocesan synod composed of a bishop and elected members of the clergy and laity chosen by the parishes. Bishops are elected by diocesan synods. Between synods, regular gatherings of the Diocesan Council (elected at synods) look after the business of the diocese.
Ecclesiastical Provinces
This is a grouping of dioceses into a common area. There are currently four ecclesiastical provinces in Canada. They are (moving from east to west): Canada, Ontario, Rupert’s Land and British Columbia and Yukon. Ecclesiastical provinces meet in provincial synods at regular intervals. The bishop in charge of an ecclesiastical province is called the Metropolitan Archbishop. The Metropolitan is elected by the provincial synod which is composed of bishops, clergy and lay delegates. Our present Metropolitan is Greg Kerr-Wilson who, as Archbishop of Calgary, is also our diocesan bishop.
General Synod
This is the national governing body of the Anglian Church of Canada. Founded in 1893, the General Synod meets every three years, and is composed of representatives of bishops, clergy and laity from every diocese. The primate is the President of General Synod and the Vice-President is the Prolucutor. Between meetings of General Synod, the business of Synod is carried on by the Council of General Synod and its Standing Committees.
The Anglican Communion
This is the worldwide body of Anglicans currently numbering nearly 70 million members in 38 self-governing churches in 164 countries. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England, is accorded a “primacy of honour” among Anglican bishops worldwide. He chairs the once every ten years meeting of the Lambeth Conference which draws together all the bishops of the Anglican Communion, as well as the triennial meetings of the Anglican Consultative Council which gathers Anglican bishops, clergy and laity from around the Communion.