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Red farm soil in the foreground with Israeli settler caravans just beyond a fence and settler homes in the distance.

Farm survives amid occupation

Daoud Nassar and his family live on a hill-top farm near Bethlehem called Tent of Nations. Their terraced land produces abundant harvests of olives, grapes ...
People sit around a table with food.

Families bear heaviest cost

What does it look like to live with constant fear and never have a peaceful night’s sleep? How do you play outside with your small ...
Jerusalem skyline with the words "Happening Now in Palestine"

Faith thrives despite hardship

On day seven of our pilgrimage – Sunday – our trustworthy driver Zuzu picked us up after breakfast to drive us to Ramallah, where we ...
Jerusalem skyline with the words "Happening Now in Palestine"

Hope shines in the darkness

What’s happening in Israel/Palestine? Admittedly, if I was asked this question before our pilgrimage to the Holy Land, my answer would have probably been vague ...
Jerusalem skyline with the words "Happening Now in Palestine"

Art exposes harsh realities

At Dar Al Kaima University in Bethlehem, resistance to the Occupation is played out in visual arts, film, performing arts and other creative fields of ...
A large wall topped with barbed wire next to a roadway.

Walls witness daily survival

The first time I saw a bullet wound was when I was a chaplain in a children’s hospital in Atlanta. It was on the arm ...
Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem with golden dome.

Power displaces prayer

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children ...
Jerusalem skyline with the words "Happening Now in Palestine"

Hope appears in perilous places

The first full day of the diocesan delegation’s visit to the Holy Land began, fittingly, on the Mount of Olives, where we visited the Princess ...
A hand holds a dry bean with seeds.

Finding hope in the deep dark of winter

With cold nights that fall fast and weeks of little sun, winter challenges us with her relentlessness. By February, many of us sigh a breath ...
Pilgrims walk on a winding, hilly trail with mountains ahead.

The caregiver pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is both a holy journey and a powerful metaphor. Whether metaphorical or physical, it takes the pilgrim away from their normal context, and ...
A pair of hands hoving over the keyboard of a laptop

We can aspire to everyday holiness

The new year has begun, but 2026 is nonetheless young. There’s still time to make resolutions for the year ahead. How about this one: resolving ...
Progressively bigger stacks of coins grow plant shoots.

Beatitudes reveal our vision

The word “stewardship” often makes us think immediately about money, budgets and commitments. Those things matter, but if we begin there, we miss the heart ...
Group of people inside a cave.

Pilgrimage begins with a checkpoint

Bishop Asbil and a group of clergy and laity from the diocese travelled to the Holy Land in early December. Their reflections can all be ...
Bishop Andrew Asbil speaks at Synod.

May God give us the courage to meet the future with hope, dignity and love

Bishop Asbil delivered his Charge to Synod during the opening worship service.  O God, take our lips and speak through them. Take our minds and ...
A collection plate sits on an altar rail.

Stewardship and the posture of the heart

There’s a story about a wealthy businessperson who attended church one Sunday and heard a sermon about humility and generosity. Moved by the message, he ...
A frozen river or lake with frosty reeds and trees.

Vestry motion considers climate action

For many of us in the Diocese of Toronto, 2025 was the year the climate crisis came to our doorsteps. In late March, the ice ...
A pair of hands hoving over the keyboard of a laptop

What might theology look like beyond us?

In the first article of this series, we explored what I called the anthropoterminal impulse: our habit of imagining that the story of the universe ...

On the incarnation

Imagine the scene, some nine months prior. A messenger comes to Mary, a strange greeting: hail, favoured one, the Lord is with you. And then ...

Allow God to love you

“Love came down at Christmas” by Christina Rosetti calls to mind childhood memories of our little country church, singing this anthem with the choir, Mom ...
Sanctuary Ring with the face of a lion hangs in a museum display case.

Safeguarding the sanctuary of our Church

This past May I visited Durham Cathedral as a pilgrim. I had just finished walking St. Cuthbert’s Way from Melrose Abbey to the Holy Island ...
A pair of hands hoving over the keyboard of a laptop

‘Love your neighbour’ stretches our souls

Love your neighbour. It’s such an ingrained element of our faith, of our Christian DNA, that it’s all too easy to let it slide over ...
A pair of hands hoving over the keyboard of a laptop

A Copernican moment for theology

In the first article of this series, we looked at the anthropoterminal impulse, our habit of imagining that the story of the universe ends when ...
A container ship

We need your help

Like many charitable organizations, Mission to Seafarers Southern Ontario operates with a cadre of volunteers who provide a variety of help, from greeting and hosting ...
Clergy at the front of a worship service.

This trip taught me to trust God and depend on Him

After more than three years of communicating and praying – and with the support of almost 50 different people, agencies and organizations – my mom ...
A couple in their 30s sits in front of a laptop looking at some papers on a desk.

Take care of loved ones with a will

There are more options to create wills than ever before. There is also a lot less inertia around creating wills these days. Like many other ...
A person with a sign that reads "Love Thy Neighbour" stands outside the encampment at St. Stephen in-the-Fields.

Anglicans continue to advocate for shelter, housing

Advocating for the creation and preservation of affordable housing has long been a priority for the Diocese of Toronto, even before the hiring of Murray ...
The St. Hilda's Towers.

Our properties are resources for a changing world

This special edition of Beyond the Bricks is dedicated to one of the most pressing questions before our diocese today: how we steward our land ...