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METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260908T231925Z
UID:919-121234@nb.anglican.ca
DTSTART:20261027T151000Z
DTEND:20261027T155500Z
CLASS:PUBLIC
CREATED:20260901T155234
DESCRIPTION:Zoom link  |  Recordings Playlist (YouTube)\nSynod staff memb
 ers are pleased to offer the Synod Commons - a regular open forum online f
 or clergy\, parish lay officers and staff\, and others who are interested.
 \nSession topics will be announced in advance. Each session will typically
  include a presentation and time for questions (on the topic and\, if time
 \, on any topic). Sessions will be held from 12:10 - 12:55 pm and will be 
 recorded.\nIt's a busy Fall for the Synod Office so we will host the Commo
 ns on the last Tuesday of each of September\, October and November.\n\nSep
 tember 29 - Meet our new Communications Manager Jonathan DesRoches\nOctobe
 r 27 - Got questions about the upcoming Synod session\, November 7? \nNov
 ember 24 - TBA\n\nPast Commons Sessions\nJune 2: The General Synod Pension
  Plan\nSpecial guest Rekha Menon\, Executive Director of the General Synod
  Pension Office\, discusses the General Synod Pension Plan\, with host Ben
  Bourque\, Diocesan Personnel Officer.\nMay 26: Parish Property Matters\nC
 heryl Jacobs covers synod policies and associated application forms for se
 lling\, leasing\, buying or renovating parish property. We also hear from 
 two parishes that have recently begun long-term arrangements with daycares
 \, creating a missional partnership with their communities using mostly un
 used space.\nMay 5: Dinner Church\nShawn Branch gives a brief overview of 
 'Dinner Church' and talks with the Rev. Harold Boomer\, who launched two d
 inner church congregations in his region over three years ago\, to hear ab
 out their experiences.\nApril 28: Safe Church Updates\nOur Safe Church saf
 eguarding framework is currently undergoing updates. These changes are a r
 esult of what has been learned over the years of administering this progra
 m\, and to simplify the administration of safeguarding at the parish level
 . Besides some updates to basic content\, revisions will include a more mo
 dular format\, new and modularized training\, and a revamped website. Syno
 d Personnel and Safe Church Officer Ben Bourque shares about the changes a
 nd timeline.\nApril 7: CRA responsibilities with Treasurer Philip Shepherd
 son\nMarch 24: Parish annual returns and forms\nAnnual returns are due Apr
 il 15. This session covered the main three elements of a return: Annual re
 ports with financial statements\, statistical and financial returns (onlin
 e forms)\, and updating parish officers\, synod delegates\, etc. via DIMS.
 \nFebruary 24: Synod grants for parishes\nSynod Treasurer Philip Shepherds
 on\, and Director of Mission and Ministry Shawn Branch discuss the grants 
 available from the Synod (and\, in some cases\, the Anglican Foundation of
  Canada) for parishes with respect to infrastructure improvement\, innovat
 ive ministry or evangelistic endeavours\, and including smaller kickstarte
 r missional initiative grants. For more information and links\, see our Sy
 nod Financial Resources for Parishes page.\nFebruary 3: Parish Annual Meet
 ings\nAn overview of parish annual meetings and the annual report presente
 d by the diocesan chancellor\, Canon David Bell. For further reference\, C
 anon David provides a written summary on conducting annual meetings on the
  Parish Annual Meeting resources page.\nDecember 2: Small Parish\, Big Imp
 act\nCanon Shawn Branch\, Director of Mission &amp\; Ministry\, chats with
  Cleo Cyr from the Parish of Hammond River about how this small parish is 
 making a big difference in its local community and what we can all learn f
 rom their journey. The conversation also highlights how Shawn gets to come
  alongside parishes like Hammond River as they listen\, dream\, and respon
 d to what God is doing in their midst.
LAST-MODIFIED:20260901T155234
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
SUMMARY:The Synod Commons
URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.nb.anglican.ca/events/the-synod-commons/2026-10-2
 7
ATTACH;FILENAME=The Synod Commons.png;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://dq5pwpg1q8r
 u0.cloudfront.net/2025/10/01/17/43/27/001dde4c-ef0c-44c3-832a-282458769e76
 /The%20Synod%20Commons.png
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