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A group of teens sits in a group holding bibles.

‘Bring the little children unto me’

I have been blessed in my ministry to have many opportunities to share Jesus’ faith with children and youth. This is only thanks to the ...
A monarch butterfly perched on a flower.

To hope and act with creation

The Season of Creation is an annual global ecumenical event in which Christians of different denominations around the world come together to pray and respond ...
A pair of hands holds a mound of soil with a green sprout.

Caring for creation is mission

Eloheme saw all creation and, behold! It was of exceeding goodness! (Genesis 1:31a) During the Season of Creation, Christians around the world celebrate and pray ...
People admire the cherry trees blossoming in High Park.

Holding the Earth in prayer

One week after Easter, I watched the total solar eclipse in Kingston, Ont. Perfect timing for Eastertide: chill darkness, indescribable light, death and resurrection embodied ...
Progressively bigger stacks of coins grow plant shoots.

Online worship is transforming ministry

Each year, Synod Council invites me to make a presentation on trends in giving and attendance in the diocese. (Synod Council is the representative body ...
Sign that says "Cucumber" in English and Farsi.

Farming for the cultivation of human beings

“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” This intriguing statement comes to us ...
A pair of hands hoving over the keyboard of a laptop

Becoming a Pentecost people

It may have passed us recently in terms of the church calendar, but it’s still worth recalling and dwelling on the incredible power and potential ...
The Rev. Michael Van Dusen is escorted by police out of the RBC branch.

Every investment is a moral decision

On the morning of April 9, nine people from Faith and Climate Action sat in a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in ...
Nadia Faida Ibocwa sorts seeds for planting and for sale at the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in Tanzania.

Why Refugee Sunday?

Earlier this year, Archbishop Linda Nicholls issued an invitation to dioceses and parishes across the country to mark a Refugee Sunday at some point in ...
A container ship

Not glamourous but always fulfilling

Over 90 per cent of the world’s trade is carried by sea, thanks to the nearly two million seafarers working globally to ensure that we ...
A pair of hands hoving over the keyboard of a laptop

Hatred is not a Christian value

“I’m not used to this level of hatred.” The newspaper headline still haunts me, months after the fact. It referred to an episode early this ...
A fence installed outside St. Stephen in-the-Fields.

Parishes urge governments to advance human right to housing

Last summer, at an event held outside St. James Cathedral to raise awareness of homelessness in Toronto, passersby were invited to participate in an interactive ...
A person hiking on a trail in a forest.

Growing deeper in our love for God

In January our diocese began a journey that Bishop Andrew Asbil believes could be life-changing for us all. This journey will formally last from Epiphany ...
A group of priests lays hands on a person being ordained a priest.

Is there a future priest in your parish?

The Church needs priests. This statement is not only an historic truth, but also describes our current situation. One of the great privileges of my ...
Progressively bigger stacks of coins grow plant shoots.

Five financial stewardship quick fixes

With vestry meetings in the rear-view mirror now in most parishes across the diocese, it’s time to make good on your parish’s stewardship objectives. If ...
Several people holding hands in a circle in prayer.

Daily prayers for spiritual renewal

(1) Grant to me, O Lord, to know what is worth knowing, To love what is worth loving, To praise what delights you most, To ...
Several people holding hands in a circle in prayer.

Is spiritual renewal for everyone?

The bible is chock-full of stories of people whose lives were profoundly changed when they were encountered by God. A young boy asleep in the ...
A pair of hands holds a mound of soil with a green sprout.

Finding Easter hope for creation

When I lived in New York City, one of the churches I worked with had a music director from Australia. One Easter season, he shared ...
Sunrise looking out of a round opening in the rock.

Practicing resurrection

One of my favourite biblical stories is the account of the raising of Lazarus in the eleventh chapter of John’s gospel. According to John, Jesus ...
The feet of someone walking on a forested path.

Place, creation and Holy Week

Holy Week is approaching. It is the time in our church year when we remember the final days of Jesus’ life. We immerse ourselves in ...
The beds at Common Table Farm under snow.

The land told us it was time to rest

As I walk through the farm, crusty snow crunches beneath my boots. Browned leaves rustle on dried corn stalks as I pass. Animal tracks of ...
A man sits on the sidewalk holding out a cup for change.

The time to act is now

Our faith calls us to serve the world God loves – to respond not only to spiritual needs but also to the physical needs of ...
A pair of hands hoving over the keyboard of a laptop

Finding power at the margins

“Those were the days,” said my friend John wistfully. “We could line up a meeting with a cabinet minister with a phone call and know ...
Headshots of Bishop Riscylla Shaw, Bishop Andrew Asbil and Bishop Kevin Robertson.

We are here to support you

This is the College of Bishops’ pastoral letter to vestries, to be read or circulated on the Sunday of the parish’s annual vestry meeting.   ...

Gambling ads, vocations part of province’s discussions

The Diocese of Toronto held its Synod in November and elected its delegates to the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario’s Synod, which will be held in ...
Ashes, palm frond and a cross on a purple background.

Two dinners make mark in Lent

The scripture passages of Ash Wednesday get us pondering various aspects of our faith, as does the liturgical invitation to observe a holy Lent. I ...
Two potted plants with gardening gloves and trowel.

Considering the lilies

I was asked recently if I had been on another pilgrimage, having done one a few years ago. My answer was no in terms of ...
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