Beloved siblings in Christ,

“So they cast [the net], and now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish.” (John 21:6)

God’s goodness to the Diocese of Toronto amazes us every day. As your bishops, it is our joy and privilege to bear witness to the rich blessings, the varied gifts, the talents and skills, the sacrificial generosity, and the deep faithfulness of the Body of Christ in this diocese. Every parish and community, and the many devoted Anglicans who make them up, inspire us. It has been a natural response for us to “Lift Up Our Hearts” in a spirit of gratitude and encouragement in 2025.

The very first Call of our Cast the Net visioning process was a Season of Spiritual Renewal. We heard over and over again that our diocese is hungry to know and love God more deeply. During the season, over 40 workshops were offered, geared to priests, deacons, lay leaders and people desiring to deepen their spiritual lives, hone their leadership skills and discern God’s call. We held five “Lift Up Our Hearts” worship services: at St. James Cathedral; All Saints, Whitby; Trinity, Streetsville; St. James, Orillia; and St. Paul, Bloor Street. Large crowds gathered to worship, sing and pray for the renewal of the Church. Each one was a moment of grace and joy. The Season of Spiritual Renewal officially draws to a close with the end of the season of Epiphany 2026. Now a small group gathers to discern how we continue to grow disciples, enhance ministry and form servants of the Gospel, building on the foundation of what has been offered. Stay tuned!

The Netminders is a group of clergy, lay leaders and staff who continue to help parishes engage with the Cast the Net Calls, and to bring them to life in each community. Every parish was invited to choose three or four Calls from the 20 – those that reflect the ministry that they are a part of now or hope to be in the future – and to bring them to Synod for discussion and mutual encouragement. With each part of the Body engaging our common Calls in different ways, we move as one.

At the annual clergy conference last May at Trent University, our speaker, the Very Rev. David Monteith, Dean of Canterbury, offered reflections based on Jesus the Good Shepherd, an image that resonated with our clergy, particularly in this time of disruption and uncertainty. Our clergy work so hard at hauling in the nets, and we say to them now, to all our priests and deacons: we see you, and we are grateful to God for the ministry that you do. The annual clergy conference is always a wonderful opportunity to renew friendships and make new ones, and this year was no exception. It was also our joy to host smaller clergy retreat days in the spring and fall. These were opportunities for clergy to gather in deanery groups for Bible study, to hear from their bishop and archdeacons, to deepen fellowship with one another, and to share a meal. We want to respond to Call #12 to “continue and enhance support for all ordained people” as they engage in vital ministry.

Regarding shared ministry, our partnership with the Diocese of Brasilia, now entering our third year of seven, continues to flourish. Our motto, “Partners in Christ, united in mission” (Parceiros em Cristo, unidos na missão), is grounded in Calls #4 and #13 regarding our participation in God’s healing work and ministries of service in the world. Dr. Paulo Ueti from Brasilia and the Rev. Canon Dr. Christopher Brittain from Toronto offered an online bilingual study day on liberation theology for clergy and lay leaders of both dioceses last March. The Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Espiuca from Brasilia invited us to seek signs of resurrection in his keynote address at the Outreach Conference in October. Bishop Mauricio Andrade participated in our bishops’ Advent series in December. Looking ahead, we will welcome Dr. Paulo Ueti as our guest speaker at this year’s clergy conference, and we can’t wait to receive a delegation of Brazilian youth for the ReCharge Youth Retreat. We also hope a small group of Toronto Anglicans can visit Brasilia this year.

We are pleased to be moving ahead with our work on equity, decolonization, diversity and inclusion with the hiring of our new EDDI Advisor, Dilesha Stelmach. Dilesha brings a strong experiential and educational background in this ministry, centered around Ephesians 4: 4-6: “there is one body, one Spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, Creator of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” With support from our HR department and the Bishop’s Committee on Intercultural Ministries, Dilesha is mindfully engaging, both practically and theologically, with our people – volunteers, staff, clergy – and with our infrastructure – policies, practices and the constitution and canons of the diocese. She will be helping us to see the familiar in unfamiliar ways as we build up the ministry of every single beloved child of God in our diocese.

To all our faithful people in so many vital ministries in our Church: thank you. To our hard-working churchwardens and treasurers, children and youth ministry workers, parish musicians, office administrators and envelope secretaries, altar guilds and custodians, ACW and outreach volunteers, and countless committee members: thank you. To our diocesan volunteers, members of Synod Council and participants on bishop’s committees: thank you. To the staff team at the Synod Office: thank you. Together we all make up the strong net of the Diocese of Toronto, and together, by following the ways of Jesus, we receive “more than we can ask or imagine” – so many blessings collected in our net that we are barely able to haul it in.

When the nightly news seems especially dire, when anxiety is pervasive and the future seems uncertain, God’s reign can feel far away. Yet our commitment to our baptismal covenant, our tenacious acts of faith, our persistent resistance to the powers of evil, our small but powerful acts of kindness towards our neighbours, and a deep, unshakable, unwavering belief that “the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it” (Psalm 24) will carry us through troubled times.

Please pray for us, as we pray daily for you.

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In our Christmas story, love arrives directly in the kind hospitality of Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, who embraces her with grace. Hope comes in the baby in the manger. Streams of blessings arrive with the whole company of the animals, visiting shepherds, singing angels, kneeling kings and gift-bearing Magi. The story quickly changes, however, as the young family must flee to a foreign land to protect the life of their son, leaving behind all family, friends, community networks and supports. We learn that having hope is an act of resistance. In this busy time, when it can be most inconvenient, how do you offer hospitality? How can you make space for unexpected visitors? If you are the unexpected visitor, how can you be a blessing to your hosts?

The times haven’t changed so much for many in our home communities who are suffering. We have newcomers, asylum seekers, those fleeing war, persecution or violence from other countries. We are also experiencing an increasing crisis in affordability for food and housing, access to medical care and steady employment opportunities. The months leading to Christmas can induce a lot of stress and anxiety as we wrestle with the commercial, religious and family expectations of peace, joy and goodwill layered upon us. Here is a different perspective: in many Indigenous cultures, there is the teaching that the legacy of our deeds is left to the seven generations to follow us. It makes a big difference to consider the long view, that the gifts we exchange this year can have a generational impact.

With small acts of courage, I invite you to experiment. Create a counterculture of care by helping someone new to have an opportunity. Listening with the ears of your heart, ask them what they really need this season. If you have the financial capacity to be generous, you might help with a utility bill, a car payment or money towards rent. If you wish to make a tangible gesture towards building relationships, give a night of free babysitting for overwhelmed parents or share a meal with someone who is lonely or visit a fellow parishioner or your neighbour who is in the hospital or nursing home, or meet new people while serving at the food bank. Go further and be bold to ask: why do we need food banks? In my sphere of influence, who can I work with to change current policies that lead to this need?

Consider the babies and young people in your neighbourhood – their futures and the influence they will have in the shape of the world to come. How can you participate in that?

When we choose to be self-emptying in response to the call to be generous, we will find the Christmas miracle: that our own hearts are expanding.

This past summer, while on my way to an Indigenous Network gathering, I visited a new congregation in Albuquerque, where I received the warmest welcome when I was feeling vulnerable. Their values of following and growing in Christ are joyfully practiced in receiving newcomers and giving regular learning workshops. The next day, while guiding me around the community, ministry team member Deacon Judith shared this teaching: Deja que Dios te ame / Allow God to love you.

When love came down at Christmas, it came for all of us. Yet some of us feel unlovable, unworthy, unforgiven. In our shared human brokenness, when grief gets in the way, allow God to love you. Our grief is, in some ways, a sign of our deep capacity to love. When isolation and loneliness loom large, we are not alone. Love is with us. The ancient Greek philosopher Seneca taught, “You should invite some to your table because they are deserving, others because they may come to deserve it.” There is a place for you at the table of our Lord. Will you make an extra place at your dinner table?

The reign of God is growing each time we act as the blessing hands of Christ. New disciples are made one at a time, through connection and shared purpose with those who are already followers of Christ. Somebody did that for you, so your gift of accompanying a person in their faith journey, their healing journey, in the long process of getting clean from addictions or learning to love again, yields an infinite return on investment.

When we allow God to really love us, something new happens, and we have the chance to release some of our rigid expectations of ourselves and of one another and see the Christ in each other.

This Christmas season, be humble or vulnerable enough to open your heart, your wallet, your dreams, as it is right and good to respond in love and generosity, in the name of Jesus.

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Some of the profound joys of my episcopal ministry are meeting, greeting (and eating!), listening and learning my way around the diocese and beyond. Now in my ninth year, I have been refreshed and energized by the blessing of taking a three-month sabbath leave last year.

Being on sabbath leave was about listening with the ears of my heart. Coming out of relationships built during our Sacred Circles in Canada and the Lambeth Conference, the first of three key chapters in my journey began in June 2024 with a pilgrimage of visiting and study to Aotearoa/New Zealand, where I was welcomed with such a generous hospitality that it changed my understanding of the word.

This important friendship and solidarity with the Māori peoples has been developed and strengthened over many years, with delegations of Māori coming to be honoured guests and speakers at our Sacred Circles, and numbers of Canadian Indigenous siblings traveling on pilgrimages of learning and sharing to Aotearoa/New Zealand.

In our road to self-determination in the Canadian Indigenous Anglican Church, our Māori siblings have encouraged us that though the shared settler-colonial/Indigenous way is hard, in the long run, it is more fruitful to walk together on this good road than to divide off and go separate ways, recognizing that collectively we form the Anglican Church of Canada.

In our connections together we begin to see the face of God. As we think about it, cross-cultural relationships are all around us. I traveled across the world to visit with, learn from and strengthen our bonds of friendship with our Māori siblings. It was a blessing beyond measure. It reminded me that listening is deeper than hearing. As part of the local reconciliation work that is taking place, there is a reclaiming of the Māori language as the spoken and written word. We know that language communicates culture, and that the worldview of a person is communicated through their words, phrases, dress, facial expressions and more, so when I was immersed in an environment where I didn’t speak the language, I found myself considering the art, craft and science of listening and learning.

This experience resonated for me. It was not the first time I found myself in an environment where I didn’t speak the language or know the culture. It called to mind my profound experience of engagement at the World Council of Churches gathering in Karlsruhe in 2022, where there were so many Christians gathered to worship, celebrate solidarity and work together for justice and peace, as our expression of faith in our triune God: Father, Son Jesus and Holy Spirit.

There was something important about not understanding the words yet being a participant in the sacred teaching: I knew when I was welcome, I could feel that I was included, and even without the obvious competencies, I was invited to be a part of the community. And that feeling makes the difference.

As the first witnesses in our Easter story, we hear about the women in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24: “Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women, in returning from the empty tomb, told the eleven and all the rest, but they did not understand.” Over and over again, we hear about the blocked ears of the disciples and the crowds; how Jesus taught them, told them what to expect, healed them and worked miracles in front of their very eyes, yet they did not understand. Though it was surely a source of frustration, it was not an impediment to relationship. Jesus did not give up on them, even though they did not always believe or understand. They were included anyway, like we are, in the priesthood of all believers. To quote John Lewis, “If not us, then who?”

In our human experience, there is a long tradition of having the truth in plain sight and not being able to see it… yet we continue to play a role in the unfolding of the divine reality as agents in God’s creative process.

As I became more skilled at listening in ways that aligned with my other senses – with my eyes, the ears of my heart, my understanding – I came to a different place of peace: watching the learning take place before my eyes, knowing that not all of it was for me or about me, and observing the constraints of listening in a familiar language, which often leads me to make assumptions that limit possibility. That was liberating, actually.

This Eastertide and always, I am giving thanks to God for you, for your faithful witness, for your strength, courage and wisdom as we work together, building relationships of hope, trust and unity. We are in changing and challenging times, in our world and in our Church. We are the hands of the risen Christ: let us always look for hope, stepping into our call to love like Jesus, to be generous, creative and kind.

Peace and love!

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Beloved siblings in Christ,

In this Season of Spiritual Renewal, the Diocese of Toronto is exhibiting a burgeoning health and vitality that inspires us daily. To God be the glory! As your bishops, as we travel around to visit our parishes, we have witnessed the Holy Spirit engaging in marvelous ways with people, groups and ministries right across this diocese – from Mississauga to Minden, from Cobourg to Collingwood. The Season of Spiritual Renewal, this invitation to spiritual growth, has been enthusiastically received in so many ways, including the sharing of prayer resources, participation in online workshops and our bishops’ Advent study online. We are also looking forward to #LiveLent: God’s Story, Our Story, a daily Lenten resource with a helpful guide for small group use.

We are excited that the next phase in this Season of Spiritual Renewal is called “Lift Up Our Hearts.” Over the coming year, large worship services will take place across the diocese on five Saturday afternoons at 2 p.m. Each celebration of the Eucharist will feature excellent music, moving testimony and preachers from within our own diocese, each with their own unique approach to spiritual renewal. We hope you will plan to join us for one or more of these marvelous gatherings. Come on your own, bring a friend or hire a bus! We will see you there:

• March 22 – St. James Cathedral (preacher: the Rev. Molly Finlay)
• March 29 – Trinity Church, Streetsville (preacher: the Rev. Canon Stephanie Douglas)
• May 31 – All Saints, Whitby (preacher: the Rev. Gerlyn Henry)
• September 27 – St. James, Orillia (preacher: the Rev. Dr. Rob Hurkmans)
• October 25 – St. Paul’s, Bloor Street (preacher: the Rev. Dr. Alvardo Adderley)

The call to spiritual renewal, however, was just the first of 20 Calls articulated in the Cast the Net strategic vision adopted by Synod and the diocese in 2023. Over the coming year, you will hear us repeatedly emphasising the need for each congregation to review and consider all of the 20 Calls and then choose which two or three your parish will focus on. As you gather today for Vestry, this could be the perfect opportunity to start considering the question. A small group – the Netminders – has prepared resources to help you, which you can find on the Cast the Net web page on the diocese’s website, www.toronto.anglican.ca. While it’s important to remember that no congregation could possibly answer all 20 Calls, we strongly believe that each congregation can consider two or three. Leading up to our diocesan Synod in November, we hope that every parish will be able to identify which of the Calls they are living into.

We are pleased to welcome our new Executive Director, Varun Balendra, ODT. A familiar face around the diocese, Varun has served in many volunteer capacities over the years, and we look forward to working together in this new capacity. By the time of our diocesan Synod on Friday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 8, we expect that we will be introducing a new Secretary of Synod and a new full-time Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisor, whose primary focus areas will be supporting the work of the Anti-Bias, Anti-Racism (ABAR) and other DEI training, and supporting individuals and parishes to grow, build community, educate and engage.

Some other new faces at Synod may include guests from the Diocese of Brasilia. This past June, at the Cathedral Church of the Resurrection in the city of Brasilia, the two diocesan bishops of Brasilia and Toronto signed the covenant that brings our two dioceses into a companion relationship. Since the signing of our agreement, a small representative group from each diocese has been meeting monthly – in both Portuguese and English – to pray together and to plan events. For example, clergy from both dioceses will gather online for a joint study day on liberation theology on March 25. In the fall, a youth delegation from Brasilia will join our own youth at the Re-Charge youth retreat at Muskoka Woods camp. And we anticipate sending a delegation from Toronto to Brasilia in 2026. We have even developed a shared logo for our relationship that combines elements of each of our own logos: our Diocese of Toronto dove springing from their Ipe Tree. You can expect to hear more about this companion partnership as we enter into the second year of it.

Closer to home, the partnerships within our own diocese continue to flourish. When we speak of casting the net, we are referring to the supportive, creative and collaborative ministry that occurs in each deanery and regionalization, between parishes and congregations, amongst church neighbours and colleagues. We are grateful to our hardworking and devout clergy and our dedicated lay leaders, especially churchwardens, treasurers, administrators, musicians and the countless church staff and parish volunteers who are Christ’s hands and feet of ministry in our communities. We are so grateful for all of your faithful work in our parishes and beyond.

We have embarked on a feasibility study to discern if this is the right time for the diocese to conduct a major financial campaign. Over the next six months, M&M International, a Toronto-based fundraising firm, will listen to parishes large and small, soliciting feedback on a case for support. It is proposed that if a campaign does go forward, the majority of funds raised will remain in the parishes, with a smaller portion supporting the 20 Calls at the diocesan level. Your feedback and commitment will make the difference as we look into this additional way of working together.

Lastly, we want to encourage each Vestry meeting to consider this year’s social justice motion: “Protecting and Expanding Harm Reduction in Ontario.” The Church has a role to play in calling on government for responsible actions in caring for our most vulnerable neighbours, to ensure life-saving protections for those experiencing addictions and other challenges. Please consider how your parish can speak up, and out, for those who require advocacy. As we anticipate going to the polls in the coming year – federally and provincially – let us remember our baptismal promises as we cast our ballots, choosing candidates who align with our values. And let us pray for them.

For it is in praying that we are drawn ever deeper into relationship with the Triune God and become more attentive to the will of our Heavenly Creator. In this Season of Spiritual Renewal, we ask every reader of this letter to commit more deeply to a life of prayer, that it may infuse your every day with Grace as you witness to the Love of Christ in your life and to the world.

In your prayers, please pray for all three of us, your College of Bishops, both in your personal daily devotions as well as your parish’s weekly intercessions. Know that we are praying for you too, giving thanks for our common life together across our wonderful diocesan family.

Yours faithfully in Christ Jesus,

Bishop Andrew Asbil
Bishop Riscylla Shaw
Bishop Kevin Robertson

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Dear friends,

Followers of Jesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, serve the world God loves.

Simple and elegant. These few words capture the essence of a vision that we have been pursuing and discerning throughout the Cast the Net process, a visioning exercise that began while we were still in pandemic mode. Over the course of several consultations, we listened to one another, and for the leading of the Holy Spirit. With time, sifting and testing, 20 Calls were revealed at Synod, which were supported with enthusiasm. A final version of the Calls will be received by Synod Council in February. We continue to be grateful to the steering committee and consultants, who have led our work together over the past 18 months. And now the work begins to incorporate these Calls into the life and ministry of the whole diocese. This is the time for parishes large and small, missions, ministries, committees and Synod Council to animate the Calls in our own contexts. It is almost impossible for one community to embrace all 20, but by serving together from Mississauga to Brighton, Midland to Minden, and all points in between, we can!

We begin this journey with a Season of Spiritual Renewal. We embrace the Call to deepen our walk together as communities by immersing ourselves in prayer, reading and reflection on scripture, worship and sharing our stories of faith with one another. As we promised in our baptism: we will “continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers.” The season will be supported by the Rev. Canon Dr. Judy Paulsen, members of a steering committee and the College of Bishops. We hope that you will be able to join us for diocesan worship events, learning opportunities, programs and fellowship that entice us all to walk more closely in the footsteps of Jesus.

We are delighted to reach across our borders to deepen our friendship with the Diocese of Brasilia. Brasilia is a relatively new diocese, birthed in 1985, with a small number of parishes, missions and ministries. We were delighted to welcome their Bishop Mauricio Andrade and his wife Sandra to our diocesan Synod in November. We will learn from, grow with and support one another as we strive to serve Christ in our unique circumstances. And we look forward to opportunities for delegations of our clergy and laity to visit back and forth, both in-person and online, as we deepen our affection for one another.

We are proud of and amazed at the ministry taking place across our diocese, especially in the areas of youth, ecumenism, creation care, diversity and faith formation. We encourage you to consider this year’s diocesan social justice motion on housing, and to prayerfully support our Church’s advocacy for every person’s right to adequate shelter. We are convinced that the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding us and challenging us to bravely find new ways to work and worship together, to increase in courage, to share our passion for the Good News of Jesus, and to seek and find new meaning as followers of Christ in the 21st century, where we are confronted with emerging economic and social challenges. We want to express our heartfelt thanks to all who make up our dynamic community of faith – lay people, deacons, priests – all helping to give a glimpse of the Reign of God as it unfolds in our midst.

As your bishops, we know the joy and privilege of serving the Church in this diocese. We thank all those who have joined us in giving leadership over the past year. We have recently celebrated one year of our new diocesan leadership model, and we are immensely grateful to our new territorial archdeacons and canon administrator for stepping into their roles so effectively and with such faithfulness. The five of them have helped to ease the bishops’ administrative load, allowing us to focus on some of the other work to which we have been called and ordained.

Whether your work is changing this year, whether you are stepping out of your role at this vestry meeting, or stepping into a new ministry, or continuing on in your good work, please know that we are here to support you in every way we can. We want to encourage you in gospel ministry, in the initiatives and relationships that you are building as you cast your nets ever wider in a world that is hungry for Christ – for meaning, connection and belonging.

Our mission statement is simple and elegant. And it invites us, like the dismissal at the close of the Eucharist, to action. We invite you to incorporate these words in your liturgies on Sunday morning: Followers of Jesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, serve the world God loves. Thanks be to God!

Yours faithfully in Christ Jesus,

Bishop Andrew Asbil
Bishop Riscylla Shaw
Bishop Kevin Robertson

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In our survey work for Cast the Net, the diocese’s visioning process, we have learned that the three key interests of the generation coming up involve the climate crisis, inclusion and diversity, and reconciliation with our Indigenous siblings.

In our work to reconnect with all that is holy, can we let this climate crisis break our hearts? How can we feel the truth and face the grief together in our pews, in solidarity with our children and our children’s children, those who are made vulnerable because of our choices and the choices of our parents and our parents’ parents? We live and move and have our being here. This planet’s health determines our very existence, so how can we make a choice to support our Mother Earth with our dollars and our words this Christmas? Can we dare to stare down complicity, compliance and convenience, to step forward in faith and hope?

Let this be a Christmas present to you from Jesus: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). The real presence of Christ is not just in the bread and wine of the Eucharist, but in the least, the lost, the lonely, and in me, in you, in each of us. How can we transform our Church into a Church of service? A Church with a theology of abundance and a passionate, enthusiastic heart for serving all in our communities? We believe that God has given us all we need (2 Peter 1:3), so how can we learn to see what is in front of our eyes, the good gifts and mercies that lavishly flow down upon us? How can we learn to see that the people we exclude are our very selves?

The implications of inclusion are very real in the life of our community. When we engage with the joys and hopes of people from all walks of life who are living in our neighbourhoods and communities, we physically show our sincere faith in the presence of Christ in everyone. Can we listen with the ears of our hearts to the anxieties, pain and suffering of our children, who desperately want us to name and to own our benefitting, participation and co-responsibility in the chain of history, including critical climate damage, exclusion, power-grabbing and ignorance? If yes, then we are helping our Creator to build the new world.

Such a life-bringing goal! We can participate in the healing of the nations when we reject the impoverished versions of order that keep our current flawed structures in place, when we humble ourselves to really hear the truth and invest the time and energy in relationships that work for justice. Then and only then can we begin to do reconciliation. And it isn’t our own voices to which we need to listen; if we authentically want to engage in change, we have to check our own privilege at the proverbial door and deeply listen, participate in dialogue and mutual conversation.

We see each other through our affection for one another, and through our curiosity. When we respond to the existential concerns of those whom we love, a small step at a time, we build communities of hope together. It takes courage and wisdom to have the gentleness of spirit to see with new eyes that which is right in front of us; to see, know and believe that we are each and all a sacred part of creation. Be brave! “Our imagination of God shapes how we act in the world.” A word of truth from author Jeremy Duncan.

If we trust that God has given us everything we need, then how can we not be the hands and feet of Christ in this time and in this place, serving one another? Serving the planet, made in the image of God, who is crying out for a revolution of love and justice?

This Christmas, let’s give our money, attention and priority to these big three: climate crisis, reconciliation and inclusion.

God is good!

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A great spin-off from the net imagery for me is a honeycomb (I am partial to bees). We like to find ways to measure our progress when we are making changes, imagining new directions and seeking to affirm that we are headed in the right way – the Way of Love, the Jesus Way. In business talk, we call these benchmarks or measurables. In a complex organization like a church, we are nested within a community within a diocese, situated in townships, municipalities, the province (you get it), and connected to families through relatives in blood and in baptism. Take a look at how many edges of your honeycomb are bumping up against another: can we see and name the sides that are connecting with other ministries, community partnerships and individuals whose lives have been changed by their proximity to our church congregations? These are measurements of health! At the edges of our honeycombs, we are entering into the real work of the Church, we are building capacity as the hands and feet of Jesus in the world, we are effecting real change in a world where mercy, justice and kindness are essential, where working together is the only way forward, and where we become more fully human in relationship with all of creation. This is how we understand ourselves as effective agents of the grace of God, putting our faith in action.

And this work comes at a cost. John Ruskin said, “There is no wealth but life.” There is the financial part, which is always a gift from God to each of us in this precious life, and in our health we choose how to share this blessing of wealth forward to help make a difference in the lives of others. Especially, there is a spiritual price for putting our faith in action. There will be resistance to good work, and pushback against faith-filled decision-making. There will be those close to us whom we consider wise and careful, who will speak against the real and perceived dangers and costs of doing justice and bringing righteousness to light. Apologizing publicly, for example, is owning economic, social, cultural and spiritual damages caused. I consider the 1993 apology for our Anglican complicity in the Residential Schools that Archbishop Michael Peers courageously spoke into life, followed by the 2019 apology for spiritual harm that Archbishop Fred Hiltz brought forward, which was received with holy wonder. In the Diocese of Toronto, we have seen the 2012 apology that Archbishop Terry Finlay made to the Rev. Canon Jim Ferry for the implementation of Church policies that caused untold suffering and injury both to this individual and the entire community of marginalized LGBTQ2IA peoples, and the 2021 apology that Bishop Andrew Asbil made to the LGBTQ2IA community in the Diocese of Toronto in acknowledgement of the harm the Church has caused its members.

As a human race, it feels like we are still in the early days of recognizing our spiritual arrogance, which takes form in many and creative ways, not least of which are religious practises, racism, dominion over the earth and all the creatures therein. At our roots, we have work to do, in humbling ourselves and learning from each other how to live together. In our souls, we have work to do in being brave, to put on the whole armour of God, as the Apostle Paul teaches in Ephesians 6, and to step out in faith to bring the reign of God to fruition here on earth. On the ground in our communities, we have work to do in identifying the edges of our honeycombs where opportunity is calling. I invite you to pray right now for the light and love of God to strengthen you, as you strive to build communities of hope.

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Dear friends,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:2). As we come to our annual vestry meetings, it is a good time for us to reflect with thanksgiving on the past and look with a sense of hopefulness to the year ahead.

The past year was significant in many ways in the life of our diocese. First, we have been returning to some sense of normalcy after two years of Covid lockdowns and restrictions. While we continue to urge parishes to exercise caution, many of our communities have returned to something that resembles our pre-pandemic life together. We thank God that the worst of the pandemic now seems behind us.

Of course, parishes are continuing to grapple with the effects of Covid. Many of our churches continue to experience a decrease in Sunday attendance, fewer volunteers to fill key parish roles, and a diminished number of regular financial givers. Clergy and lay leaders also continue to experience a deep sense of fatigue and anxiety about the future. In that light, we continue to encourage a gentleness with one another and a renewed commitment to self-care as we navigate post-pandemic realities. Over the past year, we have been pleased to offer a mini-sabbatical opportunity for clergy. These 10 days – taken together or broken up – are intended for rest and renewal. We have been delighted to hear that many clergy have already taken a mini-sabbatical or have made plans to do so in 2023.

The past year also saw the launch of Cast the Net, a strategic visioning process for our diocese. Ably led by the Very Rev. Peter Elliott, Canon Ian Alexander and Dr. Anita Gittens, ODT, the Cast the Net team has surveyed the clergy in the diocese in various consultations, and is now engaging lay people from every parish across the diocese. Based on John 21, this biblically grounded initiative is seeking to help us chart of path forward as a diocese. We eagerly anticipate a full report from the Cast the Net team at our Synod next November.

Our restructuring of episcopal leadership also continued through 2022. The Episcopal Leadership Implementation Team followed up the good work of the Episcopal Leadership Working Group and brought forward a model for raising up and deploying territorial archdeacons and canon administrators to assist the bishops in their work. Interviews took place in November, leading to the appointment of four new archdeacons and one new canon administrator. Many of you were present at the cathedral on Jan. 15 as Archdeacon John Anderson, Archdeacon Theadore Hunt, Archdeacon Steven Mackison, Archdeacon Cheryl Palmer and Canon Laura Walton were collated. They have now begun their work and are already helping to share ministry with the College of Bishops.

After 20 years of service, Canon Clare Burns also retired as our chancellor and is now chancellor emeritus. We are grateful for Clare’s ministry and are also delighted to welcome Marg Creal as our new chancellor. Those of you who were present at the New Year’s Levee on Jan. 1 will remember the joy of Chancellor Creal’s installation.

Our work in the area of anti-bias and anti-racism (ABAR) also continued in 2022. The workshops for clergy concluded last year and we began to roll out the parish-based program. Clergy and lay facilitators are now trained to visit parishes and lead this important work. The ABAR Pod has also been formed to lead the ongoing work of dismantling bias and racism in our structures. May God continue to bless our efforts and encourage us in this vital work.

As we look ahead to a new year, we do so with a sense of great hope. Our beloved Church has changed dramatically over the past few years and will continue to change. But God is present and faithful, and our proclamation and sharing in the redemptive love of God in Christ continues to be the mission to which we are called.

Be assured of our prayers for each of you as you meet for your annual vestry meeting. We want to express our profound thanks to all who exercise leadership in the Diocese of Toronto. Whether you are stepping down from a particular ministry, or continuing on, or taking up a new role this year, thank you for your commitment and faithfulness. You are a blessing to the Church in our diocese.

We write this letter on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. As the Church celebrates the beginning of Paul’s evangelistic ministry to the Gentiles, please join us in praying and working for the extension of the gospel in every place, and for the renewal of the Church in our midst.

Yours faithfully in Christ Jesus,

The Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto

The Rt. Rev. Riscylla Shaw
Suffragan Bishop of Toronto

The Rt. Rev. Kevin Robertson
Suffragan Bishop of Toronto

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On that trip last October, we traveled north for an hour to Montreal Lake Reserve to pray, sing, worship the Lord and give thanks to God for this opportunity to witness the fruit of God’s rich blessings in these courageous people stepping forward in faith to serve their communities.  It was encouraging, energizing and a profound reminder of the Church’s role as bearers of Christ’s light, even when faced with overwhelming grief and despair.    

This second time of traveling to Prince Albert was another story altogether. Historically, the Church of England participated with the newly formed “government” of this British “colony” in the occupation of our land. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, was coming to Canada to apologize to the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples for the long reach of colonization through participating in running the Indian Residential Schools. All the Indigenous bishops of the Canadian church were invited to be present. For me, having attended the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s seven national events as a Diocesan Ambassador of Reconciliation, and as the granddaughter of an Indian Residential School survivor, I was determined that witnessing this apology was an important part of my faith journey, as well as an opportunity to share forward the testimony of seeing first-hand this gospel imperative to work for reconciliation.  

In the week prior to the arrival of Archbishop Justin, a terrible blow was dealt to the people: our National Indigenous Archbishop resigned. But still, the Archbishop of Canterbury was coming! Rallying and rising to the occasion, our retired and beloved Bishop Sidney Black has stepped in as interim National Indigenous Bishop to assist with our Indigenous ministries. And wouldn’t you know it, while in Prince Albert, both Bishop Sidney and the Metropolitan of Rupert’s Land, Archbishop Greg Kerr-Wilson, who were helping in the hosting of Archbishop Justin, came down with COVID-19.    

The Archbishop of Canterbury was now here, the expected leaders of this history-making event were all suddenly absent, and out of the ashes the rest of the community stepped up. The Holy Spirit was surely present in this place. The resilience of the people of the land shone through, and the visit continued moving forward in trust, faith and quiet confidence. It was a wonder to witness. The Church is the people. It is worthy of note that our Primate, Archbishop Linda Nicholls, was a steadfast and calm listening presence and host the whole way along.

It was an hour-and-a-half drive outside of Prince Albert, more than half of it on gravel roads. When Archbishop Justin came to James Smith Reserve, he listened, he heard, he saw. Prayers and welcomes were offered, a delicious community meal was served, and then we got down to business. We heard the truths of lived experience and sustained trauma, brokenness was not concealed, the deep terrors and devastating legacies of the residential schools filled the auditorium, our ears, our hearts. Listening to these accounts changes the hearer. It was a brief visit, one that opened new international pathways for healing and justice.

It is the first of many steps for finding a way forward. We are Anglican together. The Anglican Church is the people. The Church has life, and the life-giving message of Jesus carries on.

In the words of Archbishop Terry Finlay in Inuvik at the Northern National Event of the TRC, “We have failed Jesus” — when we came and crushed the people, making them vulnerable; the Church took away children from families and communities, committing cultural genocide; unmarked graves and burial sites of unnamed children who were at those residential schools are continually being revealed across our land through ground-penetrating radar, and the devastation of these revelations is wickedly re-traumatizing. We have much work to do, as we bear one another’s burdens and re-form our institutional church. Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence, humility, and gratitude for the gift of life.   

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This requirement to choose, for our physical health, has taken a drastic toll on our individual and collective mental health. We have personally experienced and witnessed other people, both those dear to us and those in the larger population, suffering from increased anxiety, depression, social phobias and extreme isolation and loneliness. 

The Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness; we have been changed already because of this global two-year desert experience. Some slow but steadily working solace for your soul from our brother Jesus in Matthew 5, the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

We often consider Lent to be a time of looking inwards. As Jesus taught us to look to the marginalized, the little ones, we also are called to look outwards, to see with our hearts. What happens when we don’t like what we see? It can be too simple, and not even realistic, to say “change.” When outside pressures are forcing us to change in ways we wouldn’t normally choose, some instinctually get along, learn to adapt, look up to see the bigger picture.

For others — and for a little piece inside most of us — it is in our nature to rebel, revolt, complain, act out, sometimes to overlook our responsibilities to the good of the larger whole in the process. Exodus 16 comes to mind, when the Israelites were complaining to Moses and Aaron, complaining about how long the trek across the desert was taking, complaining about the food, complaining about their siblings, their neighbours, the snakes, themselves. It is captured well in this verse: “Then the whole community of Israelites began complaining again.” It is for our learning that St. Paul, in his letter to the Galatians 5:22 & 23, reminds Christ-followers: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” 

As I am writing this, we are seeing small groups of horn-honking, loud-voiced citizens protesting the vaccine mandates in cities and at the borders across our part of Turtle Island. That question comes to mind again: how can we show love for our neighbour? As Jesus experienced in the desert,
so also are we tempted by the Adversary to be afraid, to act out of fear, to be divided and separated from one another. We are tempted to act selfishly, sometimes violently, to consider only our own desires and needs, to hunker down and narrow our vision so that we see only the next steps immediately ahead of us. “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Will you be called to action by this teaching of Jesus?

Be assured, God is with us in this time of trial. We are not alone. This is an invitation to come together, in real life or virtually, to integrate our needs for self-care, care of others, and especially our striving for God. It is in uniting together in relationship that we see the face of God and hear God’s voice. Teachings from the Desert Mothers and Fathers, from the mystics and the spiritual giants of our Christian faith traditions, and from other wise teachers can help us to see the light of Christ shining in the darkness, to come to life in new hope, to act with courage and love, and especially to be the change we wish to see in our world.

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