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A pair of hands holds a mound of soil with a green sprout.

Hopeful signs for outreach, environment

The 2018 Parish Outreach & Greening Survey was launched in May to gain insight into the outreach, advocacy and environmental efforts of parishes in our ...
A line of people with signs expressing support for Muslims.

I say my Church is the Big Tent

The Rev. Canon Gary van der Meer is the diocese’s interfaith officer. He has also served as incumbent of St. Anne, Toronto since 2011. As ...
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We need to talk

God is love. God is good. Not all people behave well all the time, even though we are all formed in the image of God. ...

I am excited by what’s in store

In a couple of months, I will retire as Bishop of Toronto. I have already retired as Metropolitan of Ontario and Bishop of Moosonee. Many ...
Cartoon of two overlapping speech bubbles

I wouldn’t trade where I am for anything else

The Rev. Roshni Jayawardena is the assistant curate at Church of the Redeemer, Bloor Street in Toronto. As the assistant curate, I am trying to ...
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We must uphold the dignity of others

In Chapter 4 of the Acts of the Apostles, we read of the strong emphasis by the early Church on the importance of community. Members ...

We need to take an active stand

Racist graffiti was sprayed recently across property at the back of one of our churches. It was a vile display of bigotry and racism that ...
Cartoon of two overlapping speech bubbles

We always seem to be cooking up plans

Jillian Ruch is an Area Youth Ministry Coordinator for the Episcopal Area of York-Scarborough and chair of the Archbishop’s Youth Ministry Committee (AYMC).  If I ...
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How the Creeds shape us

Texting is a non-negotiable aspect of staying in touch with our teenage daughters, and so I’ve adopted many of the abbreviations that make texting such ...

I have done nothing in Belize alone

Andy Harjula is a member of St. John, Ida and volunteers here and in Belize. I have been retired for over 20 years. In the ...

Work is underway on our strategic plan

I am delighted to bring you an update on Growing in Christ, our diocese’s strategic plan. As you will recall, the plan lays out a ...

Remember our Christian values

Ontarians will be going to the polls on June 7 to choose who will represent us at Queen’s Park for the next four years. Not ...
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Seeking the Lord’s face

Twenty-five minutes seemed like an eternity on that warm, spring day in North York. Ordinary people were out doing ordinary things in the afternoon sunshine ...
Fred Hiltz and Janice Biehn.

I am a bit of a church geek

Janice Biehn is the communications coordinator at The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) and a member of St. Olave, Swansea in Toronto. I ...
Progressively bigger stacks of coins grow plant shoots.

Effective parishes turn outward

Following the success of his March column, Seven Habits of Highly Effective Parishes, Peter Misiaszek, the diocese’s director of Stewardship Development, asked others to write ...
Three people sitting at a table.

Parliament of religions coming here

When I was first looking for a connection between St. Anne’s and a synagogue to learn about Passover, I contacted a rabbi whose synagogue often ...
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Our work is resurrection work

God is good. When I was about 15 years old, there was “the incident of the running cows” that is forever seared on my mind, ...

Thy Kingdom Come

I don’t remember how I first learned about prayer or how to pray. I guess it was as a small child. I was taken to ...
Progressively bigger stacks of coins grow plant shoots.

Why the Church needs generous givers

Last month’s article on The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Churches garnered considerable interest, as evidenced by the emails and conversations I have had concerning ...

What does it mean to care for creation?

The Anglican Communion’s fifth Mark of Mission calls us to “strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and to sustain and renew the life of ...
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There is nothing that we cannot face

The wonderful seasons of Easter and spring are with us once again as we anticipate warmer weather, outdoor activities, longer days, gardening and enjoying spring. ...

Listen to the leading of the Spirit

In early March, I presided at the election of the Coadjutor Bishop of Niagara, my last as Metropolitan of the Province. I am delighted that ...
Headshot of the Rev. Louise Peters.

Beauty breaks me wide open to God

The Rev. Louise Peters is the vicar of St. James Cathedral.   As vicar, I am a member of the clergy team and share in ...
Progressively bigger stacks of coins grow plant shoots.

Seven habits of highly effective parishes

First, the good news: 25 per cent of the parishes in the Diocese of Toronto are experiencing growth in attendance and number of givers – ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

Youth ministry needs to be a priority in parishes

“A Church without youth is a Church without a future.  Moreover, youth without a Church are youth without a future.” Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria ...

Pilgrims on a journey

Wikipedia defines “pilgrimage” as “a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of ...
David Harrison sits on a grassy hill overlooking a road.

A holy moment on the way

It took 1,136,875 steps for me to walk the 800 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago through northern Spain last spring. And it meant climbing ...