In 10 years as a bishop, I have not addressed the practice of removing the Bible from the pulpit before the sermon. I believe the motivation for this practice is entirely practical – to make room on a crowded surface for sermon notes. Since I print my notes on one page, I have never felt the need for much room. On the contrary, the optics of moving the Bible out of the way so that one can preach is profoundly troubling.

It is often said that the Anglican Church has no formal doctrine aside from the Creed, and that our doctrine is embedded in our liturgy. This is not entirely true. Our earliest practices and formularies subscribe to the supremacy of scripture, albeit interpreted by tradition and reason. But liturgy is important. This is all the more reason to be careful about ceremony – the largely unwritten parts that encompass movement, order and subtle hints that work on the subconscious. What focus one puts on the Bible affects worship, and by extension the life of the church.

The current arrangement in our Sunday liturgy is to have the lessons of the day printed in leaflets. In more churches than not, lessons and Gospel proclamations for readers are put in binders. Again, these are eminently practical arrangements: the average reader is not expected to know where the lesson begins or ends. Mistakes have been made, and I have some real knee-slappers to share.

Liturgical practices both reflect and shape theological thinking, particularly in a church like ours that relies heavily on symbols. The combined symbolic impact of loose-leaf lessons and the absence of Bibles on lecterns, pulpits or in pews, I would argue, profoundly changes our experience of the scriptures as a unified source of revelation. We encounter it episodically, each passage separated from another and definitely taken out of the fabric of the whole salvation story. It contradicts our insistence elsewhere that a Bible passage must be interpreted in context. Is it a coincidence that we find in our people a disjointed understanding of scripture? Since clergy choose the lesson they preach from, and they usually choose the Gospel reading, the rest of scripture is de facto closed. Should a parishioner wish to check out a reference, or a stranger wander in, will there be a Bible in the pews to read? It is said that our liturgy is chock full of biblical allusions, but would people be able to make the connection – and does that matter?

Before you dismiss me as a “fundamentalist” and ‘biblicist,” I hasten to say that I value all the findings of modern biblical scholarship and acknowledge that scripture needs to be read in context. Many passages are obscure and seem out of place to our understanding of the world. But the weight of theological development is not to downplay or dismiss the scriptures in favour of some more progressive foundation but to engage it, struggle with it, learn from it. You cannot do that if you are not even familiar with the material, the stories and the teaching. Before you dismiss a teaching as irrelevant, at least know where to find it.

That Anglicans do not value the scriptures has been a standard barb thrown at our church. I do not accept that criticism, at least relative to the practice of our critics. In many so-called Bible-believing churches, people are just as selective in their biblical exposure and knowledge. From the English Reformation onward, our spirituality is grounded in systematic reading and preaching from the whole Bible. (Archbishop Cranmer’s original preface to the Prayer Book underlines that; see BCP p. 715.) The daily and weekly lectionary, if followed, will allow our people to hear the entire scripture read, and not just the preacher’s favourite passages. I want to commend deepening this treasure, this insistence on reading the whole scripture systematically, to honour the spirit of the Reformers to help our people become biblically literate. It was reported that when the great Bible was put at the back of the church for the first time, people crowded around it to read it and some tore pages from it. Let us prominently display the Bible again and not the page ripped from it!

It is simple to fix the liturgy. Clergy, put the Bible back in the pulpit and lectern, don’t remove pew Bibles, and if your predecessor did it, at least put one Bible in each pew.  Print the page numbers of lessons in your leaflets. We already have a practice of processing the Missal. This is a great visual symbol to honour the Bible. Make the rest of the liturgy consistent with this intent and do not contradict it.

But fixing the liturgy is the easy part. We need to make biblical literacy a foundation in our discipleship-making strategy. I know that 20 minutes on a Sunday morning is not enough, but it has to begin there. I strive to give some biblical context in preaching and to endeavor to connect lessons from week to week out of the same basket of Gospel, Epistles and Old Testament. I deviate from the lectionary in thematic preaching from time to time. You can do this on a book or a character. Even if you stick to the Gospel lesson, there is plenty of room to put the lesson of the day in context – say, of Jesus’ journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.

My observation of those who still have a Christian memory is that people are familiar with some biblical stories but they do not know how they relate to each other and how they fit in the great story of God’s work in the world. To have a context – a backbone, if you will – that people can hang those stories and teachings on to will greatly advance people’s appreciation and understanding of those stories. In every church I have served, I have offered a Bible survey course that helps people read through the whole Bible in a year (it usually takes two.) This method requires participants to read large portions of scripture alongside a Bible dictionary or a handbook, and to engage in a question for each session. Only a small number of people will complete the course, but even so those who participate are introduced to a different way to read scripture. Those who complete the course move forward in leaps and bounds and normally go on to take up responsibility. The Rev. Don Freeman, who developed the course in the 1970s, has now improved it and calls it “Hiking through the Bible.” He is still offering it at St. John, Peterborough.

I assume that every church has a Bible study. Reading scripture together is characteristic of an Anglican approach to scripture and is universally found in all parts of the Communion. Can we multiply this by training Bible study leaders so that the parish priest is not the only teacher but a resource person for other leaders? If you do this right, Bible studies are wonderful small groups of mutual care, and they can also be units of evangelism to different circles of friends.

This is my last opinion piece in The Anglican before retirement. Now you know where my passion lies. Despite the provocative title, the Bible has NOT disappeared from all our churches. I am encouraged by churches that prominently display daily Bible reading material from the Forward movement and others to be picked up. I know of parishes that jump-start biblical literacy; some that challenge parishioners to read 100 biblical passages in 100 days; other churches with lively, multiple Bible studies.  I have actually preached from pulpits with Bibles on them. Yes, it may cramp the preacher, but I think it should.

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To the Clergy and People of the Diocese of Toronto,

We are in the midst of the Easter season, when the death and resurrection of Jesus and the new life we are offered in him are at the forefront of our personal prayers, our public liturgies and our teaching. The issues of life and death are also in the forefront of public discourse, with the violence of war and terrorist attacks killing innocents in so many places, the ecological disasters that lead to sudden death from catastrophe or the slow death of starvation, or the tragic epidemic of youth suicides that devastates too many indigenous communities. It is in these contexts that I write, with the support of the area bishops, about the upcoming changes in Canadian law regarding medically assisted death. (The terminology keeps changing.)

The Anglican Church of Canada has addressed this issue for a number of years. As a church, we have extensive pastoral experience, to add to our biblical, theological and moral traditions, to call upon. I commend to you an excellent resource, “Care in Dying,” first published in 1998, to assist our church in reflecting on the debate. It distinguishes between termination of life support, ending treatment and euthanasia (voluntary, involuntary and non-voluntary). As importantly, it puts the discussion of the debate in the framework of the call to care. Caring at the end of life is not only about medical practice, technology and legal doctrine. It raises the moral, ethical and pastoral obligations placed on all of us to respond to individuals, families, professionals and communities in a variety of circumstances.

The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in February 2015 declared unconstitutional existing laws prohibiting physician-assisted dying. It ruled that “a competent adult person who (1) clearly consents to the termination of life and (2) has a grievous and irremediable medical condition (including an illness, disease or disability) that causes enduring suffering that is intolerable to the individual in the circumstances of his or her condition” has this right.

A recent joint parliamentary committee has recommended extending that even further. The scope of assisted dying moves significantly beyond those who are in the last stages of a painful natural death. This may include options to pre-determine a time of death, extending the option to the mentally ill or to minors.

As Christian pastors and leaders, we find some of these very disturbing.

The Anglican Church made a substantial submission to that committee on Feb. 3, 2016, raising a number of questions that need to be considered in developing legislation and regulations that Parliament is expected to adopt in the next few months.

As archbishop, I have spoken and written publicly about my serious concerns. Among these are the reduction of the definition of “provision of care” to a medical/technical “treatment,” the almost exclusive focus on the individual in isolation from their community, and the nearly unquestioned equation of human dignity with the capacity to author independently one’s own life (and hence death).

End-of-life matters are complex, with many nuances that are not easily resolved with simplistic solutions. Anglicans hold diverse perspectives on this, but we share a core commitment, echoed in our baptismal vows, “to uphold the dignity of every human being.” We are created in the image of God and redeemed by God’s gracious love in His Son, Jesus Christ. As Christians, we find the meaning of our life and our death in relation to Jesus’ birth, life, suffering, death and resurrection.

A new document, “Living and Dying, We are the Lord’s: Resources to Assist Pastoral and Theological Approaches to Physician Assisted Dying,” has just been written (to be released shortly) by the Faith, Worship and Ministry Task Force on Physician Assisted Dying. It is worth reading. Along with “Care in Dying,” it provides us with a very helpful pastoral resource.

Whatever the outcomes of the ongoing discussions, we must recognize the urgent and ongoing need for pastoral care to the person who is dying (or who is in significant and unrelenting physical or psychological pain), to the caregivers and family, to medical personnel and to the wider community. The church is one of the chief resources for this care, and we must be prepared to offer it to the very best of our ability.

Two of the glaring gaps in the public discussion are the inadequate provision of palliative care, along with the training of medical personnel in appropriate and effective pain management. If these are not widely available and easily accessible, the impetus for assisted death is much stronger. We urge you to advocate locally, provincially and nationally for comprehensive palliative care that, both short-term and long, will directly affect far more people than medically assisted death. In both advocacy and provision of care, we can call on our extensive practical experience in ministry with the elderly, the dying, and with those who suffer from mental illness.

These are deeply emotional issues. We urge you to deepen your understanding of this matter, to read, think and pray for wisdom, to discuss this with your families and neighbours, particularly with the medical professionals in your parishes. We encourage you also to write and speak with your local Members of Parliament to express your views as they make crucial decisions about the policies, laws and investments that will govern us all for a long time to come.

“Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” Romans 14:8-9

Yours faithfully,

The Most Rev. Colin Johnson, Archbishop of Toronto and of Moosonee

along with the Bishops Suffragan of Toronto:

The Right Rev. Philip Poole, Area Bishop of York-Credit Valley
The Right Rev. Patrick Yu, Area Bishop of York-Scarborough
The Right Rev. Linda Nicholls, Area Bishop of Trent-Durham
The Right Rev. Peter Fenty, Area Bishop of York-Simcoe

The Care in Dying document can be found on the national church’s website at www.anglican.ca/faith/focus/ethics/care-in-dying/.

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But Paul had to do something about his most recent discovery about Useful. He knew that Useful was a runaway slave and that he had stolen money from his master. But what were the chances, as he had discovered just the previous week, that Useful’s master was none other than Philemon, one of a group of people whose dramatic conversion in Colossae was still vivid in Paul’s memory? According to Roman law, receiving service from Useful amounted to being in possession of stolen property. Paul knew very well that the whole Roman economy, in fact Roman society itself, was based on slavery. Even a good and kind master might feel a duty to punish a runaway slave. In conversation, Paul and Useful had agreed that Useful had to go back and face his master. It was a difficult decision, because neither of them knew what fate would await him: there was no limit to the punishment meted out to a recaptured slave. The decision to return was a real test of moral courage as well as trust in the providence of God. Paul decided to ask Philemon to do something as difficult as a slave returning to his master: to voluntarily release Useful from slavery into Christian service, despite the scandal it would cause in his circle. Paul would have gone himself if it were not for his imprisonment.

Writing the letter was difficult. It was not simply a matter of being tactful. Paul had to get his thinking right. Did he have any spiritual ground to ask Philemon to do this, other than kindness or friendship? What was the real relationship between a slave and his master? It was clear in Roman law and custom: the master is the lord of the slave; he has absolute control over slaves and is entitled to absolute obedience. He owns them. But Jesus changed all of that. Paul remembered Useful and his friends, runaway slaves all, some seething with anger over their treatment, some beaten down by a script of worthlessness. Paul remembered telling them of Jesus, who also suffered at the hands of the powerful but was in fact the real Lord of the world, above any earthly master, above Caesar himself. The miracle of Easter confirmed that, as well as the implication for the future of the whole human race. Jesus as the world’s rightful Lord is worthy of service and obedience, but also love. This Lord is at the same time friend and advocate. Yes, he will remind Philemon that when we call Jesus Lord, which is a confession at every baptism, all human dominance becomes relative.

Two thousand years later, I sat in a worship service uneasily, and not for the first time. The liturgy is familiar yet strangely alien. Every reference to God, it seems, has been scrubbed clean of the language of power. Jesus is a friend, a lover, a companion, but never Lord. God is creative and caring, but not almighty. The word “Lord” has been meticulously scrubbed from prayer and hymns. What is at the heart of that?

People tell me that they find these references oppressive. Like “father” and masculine language, they remind them of people, sometimes priests and bishops, who applied the language of lordship to themselves and exercised dominance over them. I do not doubt that it can happen and has happened. Let me be clear that this kind of human arrogation is wrong and blasphemous. To the extant religious language contributed to that, I am all for enriching it with other biblical images of God like friend, mother, wisdom, comforter, saviour and hope. The wonderful beauty of One who is God emptying Himself to become a slave, and the powerful paradox, ought to be reflected in our songs and our prayers. But I also think that a lot is lost if we do not also rehearse within ourselves that there is One Lord and One God, and to this God belongs our future. God has the right to be heeded and, yes, obeyed.

Martin Luther posed a paradox about the freedom of the Christian. A Christian, he said, is the most free lord of all, and subject to no one. We borrow, as it were, the Lordship of Christ and are liberated from all human oppression. Sometimes we need to lean on that. Millions of people who are today enslaved, oppressed, persecuted and powerless need to hear and own their identity in Christ: they are princes and princesses of the universe. But Luther also said that a Christian is also the most dutiful servant of all and subject to everyone for Christ’s sake. Most times, especially for the privileged – the Philemons of today – we need to heed – no, submit – to each other precisely because Jesus is our Lord.

So I implore those of you who have power over liturgy to stay this language-cleansing of the authorized liturgy. I know that in most parishes it involves more than the priest. I am not directing you as a bishop, but pleading with you as an amateur theologian, to deal with misunderstanding about Lordship language in worship not by eliminating it but to teach about it. Teach about this paradox, this multi-faceted relationship we have with God who is incarnate in Jesus, the Lord who became a slave for us, so we can gladly confess with the apostles “Jesus is Lord.” It seems an appropriate thing to do in Eastertide, because if Jesus is not Lord, who is?

*”Useful” is a literal translation of “Onesimus.” The name of a slave was derived from his utility to a master.

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I am writing after the final of four meetings of the Inter-Diocesan Learning Community of the Church of England. The project is funded by the Church Commissioners to help senior diocesan leaders undertake intentional change towards more effective and missional ministry. Each leadership team is subjected to an intense process that asks, “What is?” (For example, what is the current situation in the diocese? What are the issues we feel are most important?) Then we are asked, “What can be?” This is when the teams imagine ways to improve the present situation. Finally, we are asked, “What will be?” The meeting concludes with each team sharing its plan, from its general direction to concrete implementation, with names of individuals responsible for each action. Nine months later, we report to the other dioceses on whether and how we have acted on our plans. Through reporting, we are gently held accountable to our peers. Toronto is the only diocese outside the Church of England invited to this process. Besides me as bishop, our team consists of our diocese’s canon missioner, our director of Congregational Development, and the Archdeacon of York, who is also our chief administrative officer. We are the smallest team because of the distance we must travel.

Looking back over the last three years of our involvement, the exercise has been fruitful. Our particular focus has been on every level of leadership. The exercise gave impetus to the recruitment and training of congregational leaders. To give just two examples, every postulant now participates in a course in mission and evangelism before their ordination. The diocese is also close to deploying a few trained, intentional interim priests for a longer period of time (around two years) in those parishes that need special care.

By engaging with other dioceses, we found support from people and places that struggle with similar issues and work toward similar goals. We liked the process so much that we imported it back to Canada. The other dioceses involved here are Edmonton, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and Algoma, and we meet in Toronto. Our diocese’s team for the Canadian process is bigger and younger. Those of us in the original team who went to Liverpool are busy handing over to the new team.

On every trip, additional benefits accrued before and after the official meeting. For example, we came to know Stephen Cottrell, the bishop of Chelmsford in England. We invited him to lead our clergy conference last year. His talks, which are on our diocese’s YouTube channel, were widely acclaimed.

There is not one trip in which I do not bring back some new resource, connection or idea. This time I got to examine an alternative to our current way of clergy formation. I had heard about St. Mellitus College for some time but finally visited it with Canon Susan Bell on our way to Liverpool. The college is a joint venture by the dioceses of London and Chelmsford, and Holy Trinity, Brompton. It provides a parish-based approach to theological education. Rather than taking candidates away from the parish to train, the college insists that the student stay in the parish and use it for formation. The sponsoring parish employs the student halftime and sends her or him to school the other half. The academic curriculum is rigorous and is accredited through the universities of Durham and Middlesex. While the student’s formation is based in the parish, he or she also experiences college life, which intentionally helps them to appreciate and respect all the streams within Anglicanism without trying to put them into a particular mold. Started only seven years ago, the college already has 157 students in the ordination stream – that’s a significant percentage of the prospective ordinands in the Church of England. The college has students in other streams as well, such as youth ministry and church planting. Susan and I look forward to reporting to the Diocesan Leadership Team, and I will ask for some time in the House of Bishops to present this exciting concept of theological education.

I also had the privilege earlier this year of teaching in the Anglican seminary in Hong Kong. One tangible benefit of this is that I brought back ministry resources in Cantonese and Mandarin for our Chinese churches and New Hope Mandarin ministries here in the Diocese of Toronto. I also brought back observations and reflections from having experienced the church operating in another setting. In my report to our Diocesan Leadership Team, I pointed out the willingness of the Hong Kong government and the church to take risks investing in the future, something that is in contrast with our own often cautious stance. For example, the St. James settlement building is wholly dedicated to social service and continuing education, and its exemplary service attracts volunteers and financial support from society at large. There is more: the photo (see this page) was taken from the roof of St. James Church, which occupies both the bottom floors and the top floor of a brand new building, with a church-sponsored primary school in between. The government paid for the part that housed the school, but the church had to raise the funds for their own floors. The vicar spoke of the cliff-hanging years of fundraising, which stretched her faith and that of her parishioners.

But learning is not all one way. Through interaction with others, I have come to appreciate the strength of the Diocese of Toronto. God has been very gracious in guiding us into policies and practices that have been widely acclaimed, somewhat to our surprise and much to our delight. When you visit our Diocesan Center in Toronto, you can look into the cupboard opposite the reception desk and find a yellow “Lambanana,” which is the trophy our team took home last year for the most innovative idea! Our diocese is unique and we must weigh every new idea against what we already do well. We have learned not to chase every new idea, or simply copy what other people do, but to use the insights we have gained to embark on the hard work of choosing and developing our own strategies.

Obviously, the extent of the bishops’ involvement as a proportion of our diocesan responsibilities is subject to discussion, and the College of Bishops does engage in this discussion. (Actually, with today’s communication, the concept of “away” is blurred and all the bishops, including myself, deal with crisis situations and correspondence as much as we can.) So next time you find that your bishop is away, be patient and realize that she or he is likely contributing to the wider church as well as bringing benefits, both tangible and intangible, to our common mission in the Diocese of Toronto.

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“Will you strive to safeguard God’s creation, and respect, sustain, and renew the life of the Earth?” asks the officiant. Whenever I ask it, it calls forth an eager response. “I will, with God’s help,” answer the confirmands. This new responsibility is eagerly embraced by the young, who understand the fragility of the Earth’s environment, and our responsibility to protect it.

The road to reverse humanity’s heavy footprint on the Earth is long, arduous and complicated. God’s people must be engaged in many aspects of it, including technological, financial and political. None of it will work, however, without some sort of personal effort to lighten our footprint.

I do not claim to be a thorough-going environmentalist, but I have been striving for over 10 years to be more responsible. In this brand new year, I would like to share how we have attempted to do this at home. These are easy steps that you may wish to try at home as well.

1. We have responded to government incentives for energy efficiency. From time to time, different levels of government have offered assistance for home renovations that will result in energy saving. We availed ourselves of them twice after we bought our house in 2005. It started with an energy audit, which informed us of the degree our old house can improve in energy efficiency. It would not reach the level of newly built houses, but if we followed the recommendations, it could make a substantial improvement. It turned out that increased insulation in the attic and a simple fibreglass insulation wrap around our unfinished basement made our house warmer and easier to heat. I did the work on the basement myself but hired a professional to do the attic. Subsequently, I have made use of government subsidies to upgrade my furnace and air conditioner.
2. Kathy is religious about watching the clock when she washes clothes and dishes; she does them at night and on weekends. This evens out power generation for the producers and also lightens the load on our pocketbook. I keep a record of our hydro use and made it a game to shift electricity use from peak to off-peak hours. My hydro bill is lower this year than the last.
3. One by one, we are switching to LED lights. The bulbs are still expensive but the price is coming down, and from time to time one can find bargains. The most notable saving is on the candelabra over our dining table. Its seven bulbs of 25 watts each used to consume 175 watts each time we turned it on. I have replaced them with 9-watt LEDs and so saved 102 watts of energy each time we turn it on. Unfortunately, meals are often in peak hours. It may still be a luxury to light up the house for Christmas, but we feel less guilty because we’re using LED lights, which look just as good.
4. It bothers me to turn on the basement light during the day, when the sun is shining outside! I have installed first one, then two more, solar panels in my backyard. I got my first 20-watt panel on sale at Canadian Tire to charge my batteries. When the price came down, I bought two additional 40-watt ones and connected them to a growing battery pack in my basement. Over a period of a year, we now have a modest 100-watt system that pretty well lights up my basement workshop, exercise area and computer desk during the day. I have since connected the batteries to an outlet on the main floor, so all our cell phones and rechargeable batteries can be conveniently charged by the sun. An added advantage is that when there is a power outage, there will be light for a while before we have to turn on the generator. It is difficult to be completely off-grid, but it is easy to assist the grid.
5. We connected our downpipe to three rain barrels and use the water to water the flower and vegetable gardens. Again, we still water the lawn with city water, but reduce its use by this simple measure, which also moderates surface runoff during a downpour.

These are some modest measures of one family. It would be wrong to claim that such small steps by themselves will solve the problem. What I find, though, is that they made me get into the habit of thinking about my impact each time I drive or fly or turn on the light, and help me pay special attention to policy issues or new inventions that will reverse our unsustainable march towards catastrophe.

There will be a motion on the environment for discussion during your annual vestry. I hope these ideas give some practical substance to the discussion.

For a long period in the West, our theology about the Earth was formed by an interpretation of the first story of creation. It puts humans in the role of subduing and dominating the Earth. Biblical scholarship help us to understand that there is a complementary narrative in the second story of creation, when God both created and called human beings to be gardeners. Christians look for a renewed world redeemed by the Lord Jesus. “He shall come in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his Kingdom shall have no end.” The new heavens and the new Earth are, metaphorically, presented as a city, but a city built on the banks of a river, on each side of which trees are planted. As we move into the New Year, I hope this will be a guiding image for our lives. Next time there is a baptism or confirmation, watch for the newest addition to the affirmation of faith, and respond enthusiastically with word and deed, “I will, with God’s help.”

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