Online monthly meetings of our companion partnership group give members the opportunity to continue to plan – in both English and Portuguese – and to pray together. The co-chairs, the Rev. Canon Maurice Francois from Toronto and the Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Espiúca from Brasilia, together with Bishop Andrew Asbil and Bishop Mauricio Andrada, lead the small committee of clergy and laity into dreaming and realizing new ways to deepen our shared understanding of what it means to be Anglican Christians in two different contexts, and how to participate in the life of each other’s Church.

The online theology day for clergy and lay theologians on March 25, featuring the Rev. Dr. Christopher Brittain from Trinity College, Toronto and Dr. Paulo Ueti, a Brazilian theologian, discussed liberation theology in a Zoom event that attracted more than 200 clergy and lay leaders from both dioceses. On Oct. 18, the annual Outreach & Advocacy Conference of the Diocese of Toronto welcomed the Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Espiúca from Brasilia as its keynote speaker. Dr. Espiúca is the Coordinator of Advocacy Strategies for Brasilia, and the Anglican Communion’s Communion Forest facilitator for the Americas. A viewing party of Brazilian Anglicans watched online during the outreach conference, making the event a shared experience. The annual Toronto Clergy Conference at Trent University in late May 2026 will welcome Dr. Ueti back to our diocese as the keynote speaker, and we hope that some clergy will make the trip with him so that we can offer hospitality to clergy colleagues from Brazil.

A disappointment came when the planned youth delegation from Brasilia – seven teenagers and three leaders – had difficulty attaining visas to travel to Canada in time to attend the ReCharge Youth Retreat in late September. We had looked forward to having them join in the fun and energy of our own youth gathering. Because this event is annual, however, we are working towards their visit next year with renewed vigour. If any young people in our diocese have some skills in speaking Portuguese, we’d love to hear from you! It would be wonderful if our Brazilian guests could speak to young Anglicans in their own language.

We continue to look for video greetings from your parish to the Diocese of Brasilia. If you would like to film a brief video on your phone to introduce your parish or an interesting ministry to our Brazilian siblings, send your clip to our Communications department, and they’ll take care of adding the translations for you. Videos continue to be an effective way for us to get to know each other more and more. Messages from Brasilia will punctuate our Synod gathering in November, and we are looking forward to warm words of friendship and some wonderful music.

Please continue to pray for this growing relationship and for our siblings in Christ in South America and their work and ministry for the Gospel.

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Together with his wife Mary, Bishop Andrew Asbil visited the Cathedral Da Ressurreicao in the capital city of Brasilia last June, and with great joy in the context of the Eucharist signed the companionship covenant and agreement with Bishop Mauricio Andrade. Together the two bishops planted a ceremonial tree in the cathedral garden in honour of this growing friendship.

Since that time, a small group of clergy and laypeople from both dioceses has been meeting online monthly to discuss how we can deepen the relationship and learn from each other as we engage in mission in our own contexts. Meetings are held in both languages – English and Portuguese – and are framed in prayer. The co-chairs, the Rev. Canon Maurice Francois from Toronto and the Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Espiuca from Brasilia, translate the conversations for the other members of the committee, and minutes and other materials are produced in both languages.

The Toronto members, including Bishop Asbil, the Rev. Pam Trondson, Maria Clara de Sena, Dave Kraus and me, participate in planning for future events, develop communication strategies and engage in dedicated conversations around a subject of mutual learning. In October, for example, both dioceses took time to describe their organizational and governance structures, including their staffing complements and departments. In December, Elin Goulden, Toronto’s social justice and advocacy consultant, and Dr. Espiuca, who works in advocacy, human and environmental rights for the Diocese of Brasilia, described their various social justice initiatives. Both noted the congruencies in their work. In the coming months, the committee looks forward to bringing together more pairs of ministry partners, such as youth leaders, to discuss areas of common interest and concern, as well as opportunities for cooperation.

There are several exciting joint initiatives being planned for 2025. The first is an online theology day for clergy and lay theologians on March 25, when the Rev. Dr. Christopher Brittain from Trinity College, Toronto and Dr. Paulo Ueti, a Brazilian theologian, will discuss liberation theology in a simultaneous-translation Zoom call. Later this year we hope to facilitate a pulpit exchange visit of the two deans so that St. James Cathedral can welcome the Very Rev. Tatiana Ribeiro to Toronto, and Dean Stephen Hance can preach in Brasilia. In September, we plan to welcome a small delegation of Brasilian youth to visit around our diocese and participate in the ReCharge Youth Retreat at Muskoka Woods. We hope that they teach our youth to Samba! We are also looking ahead to sending a delegation from our own diocese to visit Brasilia in 2026. In the meantime, the technology exists for us to virtually “attend” parts of each other’s Synods – Brasilia’s is in June and ours is in November.

As we get to know each other better, you will start to see very short videos on social media describing parishes and ministries in both dioceses. Bishop Andrew and Bishop Mauricio have already started sending happy greetings with subtitled translations to the other’s diocese, which you can view on Facebook and Instagram. If you too would like to take a short, simple video greeting on your cell phone, maybe of your congregation (maybe outside in the snow?) or to show an interesting ministry or outreach project, please feel free to send your clip to our Communications department at editor@toronto.anglican.ca, and they’ll take care of adding the translations.

In April, you will see Bishop Mauricio Andrade and the clergy and parishes of the Diocese of Brasilia listed by name in our diocesan cycle of prayer. The Diocese of Brasilia will be praying for us also. But we hope that you remember this new and growing relationship in your intercessions all year long. Please add the Diocese of Brasilia to your prayer list. And here is a prayer that was crafted by the companionship committee that we all can use – and practice our Portuguese!

Prayer of Christian Solidarity

God of communion, we praise You for the solidarity that unites clergy and laity in the Dioceses of Brasília and Toronto. Fill us with Your Spirit of unity, that we may work together in harmony and love. May the sharing of our gifts strengthen the mission You have entrusted to us, proclaiming Your hope to the world. Guide us in each step, that our unity may be a living testimony of Your transforming grace. In the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Solidariedade Cristã

Deus de comunhão, Te louvamos pela solidariedade que une clero e laicato nas Dioceses de Brasília e de Toronto. Enche-nos com Teu Espírito de unidade, para que trabalhemos juntos em harmonia e amor. Que a partilha de nossos dons fortaleça a missão que nos confiaste, proclamando a Tua esperança ao mundo. Guia-nos em cada passo, para que nossa união seja um testemunho vivo da Tua graça transformadora. Em nome de Jesus, nosso Senhor. Amém.

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This statement is not only an historic truth, but also describes our current situation.

One of the great privileges of my role is to be the first point of contact – or “intake interviewer” – when an aspirant for priestly ordination approaches the Diocese of Toronto to make application for postulancy. I have been doing this long enough to remember when I would meet with, on average, one candidate a week throughout the fall and winter seasons, leading up to the annual application deadline of March 1. It was always a difficult exercise for the Postulancy Committee to whittle down the 16-24 applicants per year to select 8-12 individuals to be postulants. For the past several years, the number of applications has dropped to single digits, and consequently the number of postulants, and therefore ordinations, has also declined.

The good news – and it is truly good news – is that our candidates for ordination continue to be faithful, bright, gifted and passionate for ministry. We are excited about the new clergy being raised up and the work that they are doing across our diocese. God is very good!

At the same time, bishops have started to speak publicly of a clergy shortage. Congregations struggle to find priestly coverage for their incumbents’ vacations or when ill. We can see in the bi-weekly Clergy in Motion e-bulletin that the listing of vacant parishes is stubbornly long, and parish selection committees express dismay that their “list” of applicant priests sometimes consists of only one or two names. The situation in Toronto is actually much better than in other parts of Canada, where many dioceses have perhaps only a few priests in total, each offering sacramental ministry to several parishes over a vast area.

This recognition of a need for more priests has led our Metropolitan, Archbishop Anne Germond, and the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario to prioritize vocations in 2024. Not only will it be the focus of the Provincial Synod gathering in Sault Ste Marie this fall, but we are also resurrecting the tradition of dedicating the Fourth Sunday of Easter, or Good Shepherd Sunday, April 21, as a Vocations Sunday, an intentional day of prayer for priestly vocations.

In anticipation of this, each diocese in the Province did a focused consultation: a meeting of priests from what we are calling “incubator parishes” – those places that are particularly good at identifying, encouraging and nurturing new vocations, or where the clergy themselves model the priesthood in a way that raises up aspirants. I was pleased to host such a conversation last fall, inviting priests from such disparate parishes as Church of the Redeemer, Bloor St. and St. Paul, L’Amoreaux, from Little Trinity to St. Thomas, Huron Street, and others further afield too – all places that seem to produce a high number of priestly vocations. What, I asked, are they doing right? And can it be emulated elsewhere?

The conversation was robust and resulted in some interesting common opinions and practices. I share their reflections here, and invite you to consider what you might do in your own parish to encourage those who might be feeling the call of God to a ministry of word and sacrament.

Strong lay leadership. While it might seem a dichotomy, it appears that those parishes with the strongest lay ministry tend to raise up the greatest number of priestly vocations. An awareness of everyone’s first call to baptismal ministry, coupled with opportunities to exercise giftedness, can lead to identifying prospective candidates for ordained ministry. It is often a layperson with such awareness who will first ask a fellow parishioner, “Have you ever considered becoming a priest?”

Youth ministry. Similarly, those parishes with robust youth engagement raise up future priests. This does not necessarily mean that there is a large and active youth group – although that helps! – but rather that the youth who are present, no matter how many or how few, are valued and active in the congregation. They are not just used as “labour” but are given visible roles of responsibility and care alongside adults, as servers, readers, greeters, committee members and decision-makers.

Inspiring role models. Almost every priest can name a cleric who inspired them to pursue ordination. Despite the many challenges of ordained ministry, those clergy who can earnestly and authentically speak of the joys of ordination and priestly ministry, who obviously enjoy their vocation and say so, will endorse the priesthood for those who might feel called to it. To all the clergy reading this piece, don’t be shy about sharing that you love your job!

Authentic faith. One priest described this as “being unembarrassed about Christ.” When a parish has a clear sense of Christian identity and belief, “where the gospel is core,” the call to the priesthood becomes clear. Some parish priests spoke of the Daily Office as an important part of illustrating this “whole life authenticity,” others spoke of the centrality of the Eucharist. Still others spoke of “inspiring truth-telling” in preaching and “limitless hope in Jesus Christ.” All spoke of the transformational power of the gospel and the need for parishes to be bold in proclaiming and living that truth. Where they do, people seemingly hear the call of God on their lives – loud and clear!

This April, as you continue to celebrate Easter with your church family, I wonder if you could look around at your fellow parishioners and pray that God will help you to identify possible future priests for our Church, and specifically our diocese. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in approaching and encouraging that person, in supporting them in their Christian journey and perhaps in engaging them in a conversation, when you might want to say, “I have seen some marvelous gifts in you, and I think you would make an excellent priest. Have you ever considered it?”

Even if you’re not comfortable doing this yourself, please do pray for the Church and with the Church this April as we pray to God for new vocations. You may want to use this prayer that was circulated by Archbishop Anne:

A Prayer for Vocations

God our hope, your risen Christ commissioned leaders to make disciples of all nations and baptize them to serve as a living testimony to his presence. Raise up in this Province vocations to holy orders, individuals who will love you with their whole hearts and gladly spend their lives making you known; Quicken wisdom in those charged with ministries of discernment or mentorship; and equip theological schools and faith communities in which vocations are encouraged and incubated, so your Church, devoting itself to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers, may live as a faithful sign and instrument of your Reign, drawing the world to the One who is Lamb, Gate, and Shepherd, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

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