From the Co-Chairs of “Order & Chaos” Worship Conference 2008

Welcome to “Order & Chaos”, the 2008 National Worship Conference sponsored by the ELCIC and the ACC. Fast becoming a tradition of partnership!

‘Order’ and ‘Chaos’ may well describe the way many of us involved in the planning and executing of liturgies in the church feel about the whole endeavour. We are always working within an ‘order’ but it sure seems chaotic at times! Or it lacks some chaos and we beg our parishes for more “get up and go.” The two terms - ‘order’ and ‘chaos’ also imply the constant dichotomy in which we live: the tension between the age-old and time-honoured liturgies of the church, properly done (of course!) and the delightful and necessary (and sometimes downright frightening!) creativity and innovation which true liturgical design and planning demand! What a wonderful place in which to find ourselves! This is a chance to discover order in chaos and the chaos of the human spirit tuning to the Divine.

So, welcome to our Conference! Through expert, world-renowned guests and workshops that are more an excursion than “stuck-in-a-room” presentations, wondrous buildings and liturgical spaces, and two magnificent and distinctive cities, this conference will be stimulating, informative, helpful, and fun! We're delighted that you are interested and hope that you will join us.

Its welcome, Spirit, learning, adventure, and it's time to all say together: Bonjour Québec!

On this site, you will find everything you need to know about the conference - the details of what, where, and when, and who as well as registration information, good stuff about Montreal and Quebec, and, we hope, answers to your questions.

Come and join us. Venez! Bienvenue! It will be an amazing time.........

Eric Dyck
Lutheran Co-chair
Peter Wall
Anglican Co-chair

From the National Bishop of the ELCIC

Dear friends in Christ,

Along with the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Most Rev. Fred Hiltz, I want to invite you to ”Order and Chaos“ the National Worship Conference of our two churches taking place in Montreal June 25-28, 2008.

As you know our churches have been in Full Communion since 2001. What better way to celebrate our relationship and deepen our partnership than to spend four days together immersed in worship and study and play.

I have been attending worship conferences since the late seventies. They have nurtured and enriched my life as a lay person, as a pastor, and now as a bishop. It was at a National Worship Conference in 1986 where I experienced God first “getting loud” about my call to ordained ministry. I've always been enriched, been strengthened for ministry and made a lot of new friends.

I want our worship as churches to be as joyous and celebrative as possible, no matter what liturgical or musical choices we make. I believe that this event, which happens every two years, is a rich experience in itself, but more importantly that it can empower and equip our worship leaders of every kind, lay and clergy, musicians and preachers, for worship that reflects the joy we have at being grace-filled and much-loved children of God in Christ Jesus.

May the joy we experience at events like this one spill over into the rest of our lives, within the church, but also outside the church, in the whole, wide world loved so much by God. May our worship life enable us to be In Mission for Others and in all we do to Draw the Circle Wide, Draw it Wider Still.

If you haven't done so yet, I hope and pray that you'll register soon.

With you in mission for others,
+ Susan

Susan Johnson
National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

From the Primate of the Anglican Church in Canada

Dear Friends in Christ

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the National Worship Conference 2008 titled “Order and Chaos”. One of the great benefits of our full communion relationship is the way in which we can work together on important, national initiatives, such as the Biennial Worship Conference. This conference in the beautiful and liturgically rich province of Québec, promises to be a significant time of learning, sharing of information and resources, and meaningful worship together.

This conference has been a biennial presentation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church for several years. Since 2004, it has been a joint Lutheran-Anglican Conference, which has been a great benefit for both our churches. On behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada, I welcome you and wish you well. I commend to you those who have organized this conference and will provide leadership during it. May it be an enjoyable and profitable time for you.

Sincerely in Christ,
+Fred Hiltz


Fred Hiltz
Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church of Canada