FaithWorks is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026!

Thirty years ago in 1996, Charles and Diana divorced. Jean Chretien was prime minister. Bill Clinton was elected president. Gas averaged 60 cents/litre. Windows, Amazon, eBay and Yahoo were new. We watched Friends and ER. Cellphones were just phones the size of bricks. Y2K was looming on the horizon. And FaithWorks was founded.

Since 1996, FaithWorks has survived social, economic, political and health-care upheavals to provide stable support for our ministry partners. $45 million has been raised and hundreds of thousands of people have been helped in communities across our Diocese, across Canada and around the world. Last year alone, over 52,000 people were impacted by the work of FaithWorks’ ministry partners. Together, we helped improve the lives of vulnerable people facing difficult challenges.

In 2026, food insecurity is rampant around the world and here in Canada. Food Banks Canada reports that 1 in 4 people living in Canada live in food insecure households. 1 in 4 households relying on food banks are two parent families. 1 in 5 people relying on food banks are employed, an all-time high!

FaithWorks is an expression of the Christian desire to respond to this need. Through our ministry partners, we reach out to those with inadequate food, housing, safety and support. FaithWorks reaches out to victims of poverty, violence and deprivation right here in our neighbourhoods every day.

In this anniversary year the FaithWorks campaign is turning to Jesus’ miracle of the feeding of the multitude for inspiration and guidance. We are being reminded, as “Jesus fed the multitude, now it’s our turn to help.” We are being challenged to “give extra for food.” Our hope is to exceed our annual goal of $1.5 million needed to meet our ongoing commitments and use the extra funds to assist parish food insecurity programs. To realize this hope, we are asking 100% of parishes to participate in this anniversary campaign by setting a fundraising goal that exceeds their 2025 FaithWorks contribution by at least 1% of their overall offertory amount – 100 + 1%. We hope you take up the challenge!

Thank you to all who support and participate in the mission of FaithWorks. Thank you to our generous donors, our tireless volunteers and our dedicated ministry partners. Together, let us follow Jesus’ example and help those in need.

The impact of your donation to FaithWorks was felt across the Diocese and around the world. In 2025 the number of people served by FaithWorks’ ministry partners increased again to over 52,000, including:

• 7,957 people were fed, sheltered, nurtured and befriended
• 3,177 people touched by the prison system
• 1,513 young adults living with mental health challenges
• 1,003 people impacted by HIV/AIDS
• 2,805 Indigenous people
• 1,547 at-risk women, children and youth
• 16,248 refugees, new Canadians and migrant workers
• 10,948 families in need

Thank you to our Parishes!

As communities of compassion and hope, our parishes are the heart of the annual FaithWorks campaign.

90% of parishes participated in the 2025 campaign. 78 parishes saw an increase in contributions to FaithWorks. Contributions from our parishes were $813,100. Parishes retained $90,600 for local outreach ministries.

Thank you to our Corporate and Foundation Donors!

Thank you to our Corporate and Foundation Donors who contributed $438,000 to FaithWorks in 2025. Your generosity makes it possible to improve the lives of thousands of individuals and families.

$100,000 or more

Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation

$50,000

BMO

Fast Family Foundation

$30,000

New England Company

$25,000

Letko, Brousseau & Associates

$20,000

Margaret McCain ODT

$15,000

Anglican Foundation of Canada

Burgundy Legacy Foundation

Canso Investment Counsel

$10,000

Hayhoe Family Foundation

VPC Group

$7,500

Manulife Investment Management

$5,000

Foster Hewitt Foundation

Koskie Minsky LLP

NHI Nurse Homemakers International

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Smith-Boake Designwerke

Rogers Gardham ODT

<$4,999

Clairmark Consulting

M&M Consulting

Our FaithWorks Ministry Partners struggle tirelessly each and every day to share the transforming power of God’s love with thousands of people in need. We thank our Ministry Partners for being powerful agents of the love that is changing lives and changing the world.

• A Place Called Home, Lindsay
• All Saints’ Church – Community Centre, Toronto
• Alongside Hope
• Anglican United Refugee Alliance – AURA
• Flemingdon Park Ministry, Toronto
• Holy Trinity, Trinity Square, Toronto – CommUNITY Hub
• North House, Durham
• One City Peterborough
• Philip Aziz Centre for Hospice Care, Toronto
• Regeneration Outreach Community, Brampton
• St. James’ Cathedral – Outreach Footcare clinic
• St. James, Orillia – Breakfast & Lunch program
• St. Margaret, New Toronto – Outreach program
• St. Saviour, Orono – Migrant Worker Ministry
• St. Stephen in-the-Fields, Toronto – Outreach program
• The Dam, Mississauga
• Toronto Urban Native Ministry

Give extra for food

In celebration of our 30th anniversary, FaithWorks wants to provide extra help to parish food insecurity programs.

Any extra funds raised beyond the annual goal of $1.5 million needed to meet our ongoing commitments will be set aside for parish food insecurity programs.

Please consider increasing your support to match the increase in need. Visit faithworks.ca.

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As of March 30 of this year, 123 parishes, or 64 per cent of the diocese, had reported passing this year’s motion. Information was still pending from an additional 27 parishes, as well as from a number of parishes with vestries in the fall, so the final number of supporting parishes might still rise.

Several parishes supporting the motion indicated additional follow-up actions they planned to take as a parish. The parishes of St. Paul, Midhurst and St. John, Craighurst committed themselves to exploring participation in the Anglican Communion Forest initiative, in partnership with local conservancy groups. St. Augustine of Canterbury added a clause to the motion urging parishioners to prioritize reducing their own hydro-carbon fuel consumption. St. James the Apostle, Sharon has formed a parish “Flower and Garden Guild” to integrate environmental stewardship into the beautification of worship and support of the community. They hope to prioritize sustainable, locally sourced and seasonally appropriate materials, reduce waste, provide space to attract and propagate endangered insects and adopt practices that lessen the parish’s environmental footprint. St. Timothy, Agincourt is embarking on a letter-writing campaign and forming a Green Team to look at ways to reduce energy consumption and waste in the parish, while St. Andrew by-the-Lake has offered to host an event or education series related to climate change.

Responding to the climate crisis requires both kinds of actions: local, individual and communal efforts to reduce one’s carbon footprint, but also increased advocacy, including individual and public conversations about the climate change impacts already being felt by our communities and our planet. More than 40 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are from industrial sources, which means individual lifestyle choices can only go so far without public regulation, which takes political will. Taking the time to send a message to one’s MP, or to convene a local conversation, perhaps using the excellent Faithful Climate Conversations guide from For the Love of Creation, helps to show both decision-makers and our neighbours that climate is still an important concern, which in turn creates greater impetus to action. A recent article from Carleton University’s Centre for Climate Communication and Engagement found that most Canadians believe their fellow Canadians have “given up” on the climate, which can “put a chill on climate conversations and action.” The more we believe that others care, and the more we believe our actions will make a difference, the more likely we are to take action.

Unfortunately, despite the increased impacts we are already seeing here in Ontario in the form of extreme weather events, heatwaves and wildfires, climate change still feels like a distant threat, especially compared with more immediate-seeming challenges such as war, trade negotiations and the high cost of living. As a result, climate action tends to be pushed to the periphery.

Some parishes considering the motion explicitly mentioned our current economic and physical context, pointing out that climate action must also take account of concerns about affordability, employment, food and housing security, and physical and mental health. Ultimately, however, a warming climate will exacerbate those issues as well. As climate scientist and committed Christian Katharine Hayhoe puts it, climate change is not separate from other global issues, but the “hole in the bottom of the bucket” of our efforts to address poverty, inequity, disease and other concerns. We cannot overcome these challenges without also taking action to “fix the hole,” i.e. to address climate change.

To be sure, there are different ways to address climate change, and each in the short term will have different impacts on people of lower and moderate incomes. As well, different measures will be more or less effective in different communities: smaller and more remote communities are perforce more car-dependent than large urban centres, for example, while those on lower incomes are less likely to be able to switch over to heat pumps or electric vehicles. One of the reasons the Social Justice & Advocacy Committee focused on holding Canada to its emissions reduction commitments, rather than to any particular measures designed to achieve them, is that we did not want parishes to get bogged down in debating the merits and demerits of any particular climate policy, but rather signal our concern in more general terms.

The challenge before us is to find measures to address the polycrisis of climate, political and economic conflict, food and housing insecurity and physical and mental health that will put the least burden on those who are least able to afford it and those who have contributed least to the problems. It is an opportunity for further conversation – with our friends, neighbours, fellow parishioners and elected representatives – so that together we can find ways to care for both the Earth and each other, as our Lord calls us to do.

Resources for follow-up action can be found at www.toronto.anglican.ca/vestry-motion.

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Dear Premier Ford, Minister Jones and Minister Thanigasalam,

It is devastating to learn the news that provincial funding for all supervised consumption sites in the province of Ontario will end.

Since the closure of nine provincially funded sites last year under the Community Care and Recovery Act, 2024, we have seen the fallout in our communities: increased public drug use and discarded needles, more overdoses at church- and community centre-run drop-ins, and a sharp increase in the number of paramedic calls to deal with suspected overdoses. In Toronto alone, the number of overdose-related paramedic calls in January 2026 was up nearly 50 per cent from the previous year. The increasing contamination of street drugs with veterinary tranquilizers such as medetomidine, which is not responsive to naloxone, produces overdoses that require more support than community agencies can offer. Supervised consumption sites provided drug-checking services, as well as trained staff and equipment able to respond to such overdoses. Without them, these overdose cases must be referred to paramedics and emergency rooms. Not only does this cost taxpayers more, but it also contributes to increased delay and emergency room wait times, putting the health of all Ontarians at risk.

The province’s transition to the HART hub model, which began last spring, was meant to connect people who use drugs with greater access to treatment and supportive housing. Those who work on the frontlines, in drop-ins, emergency rooms and the few remaining supervised consumption sites, tell us a different story. These promised resources have not materialized. There are still not enough publicly funded treatment services and supportive housing available for those who want and need them. In their absence, people continue to use street drugs and to remain homeless, with even less chance of finding housing and greater risk of criminalization, thanks to Bills 10 and 6.

Keeping actual and suspected drug users homeless and increasing their likelihood of incarceration will not solve either the overdose crisis or the housing crisis, and enforcement and incarceration cost still more than harm reduction, treatment and supportive housing.

In December 2024, Ontario’s auditor general released a report criticizing this government for failing to provide an evidence-based case analysis for the proposed HART hub model, and for failing to mitigate the adverse impacts that will result from closing supervised consumption sites. We are deeply grieved that rather than addressing these adverse impacts, this government has doubled down and will now be closing the remaining seven publicly funded supervised consumption sites in the province.

We maintain that supervised consumption sites are an important part of an overall public health response to the opioid crisis. They contribute to public health by reducing public drug use and the transmission of HIV, Hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases. Not only do they reverse overdoses without putting additional burdens on emergency services, they provide a place where people who use drugs can access other supports without stigma, helping them get to a place where they can choose recovery or at the very least reduce their drug use and other risky behaviours. There is no path to recovery without meeting people where they are.

Anglicans all over our diocese agree. Last year, over 65 per cent of parishes in our diocese passed resolutions urging this government to reverse the planned closure of supervised consumption sites and to lift the ban on new sites. We cannot stand by and watch the remainder of these sites – the last lifeline available to many in our communities – be stripped away.

We urge you to reconsider and maintain provincial funding for existing supervised consumption sites, and to allow the opening of new sites in communities experiencing high volumes of drug overdoses. We would be grateful for any opportunity to meet with you further on this issue.

Yours in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto

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We consider it a privilege to have them with us during our bilingual services at St. Saviour’s, and we are glad they can use our Clothing Hub, where they can help themselves to work clothes throughout the season that they are here.

In preparation for their return, we assembled welcome bags filled with hygiene products, snacks and other essentials. Last year, we distributed about 500 welcome bags, and we expect to provide the same number this season. We are incredibly grateful to our partner churches, community organizations and generous volunteers who help us put these bags together and maintain our Clothing Hub throughout the season.

Our migrant workers consistently express their gratitude for the support we offer. Here are just a few messages we’ve received this past season:

• “Thank you for all you’ve done for us. The clothes, the meals, the music and the fellowship are greatly appreciated. Most of all, we are thankful for sharing the word of God.” – Juan Carlos Diaz at Algoma Orchards.
• “I thank God for allowing us to come here to work for our families. We are so grateful to meet you and to everyone who have helped us with clothes, shoes and so much more. Your prayers and the Mexican songs you bring mean a lot to us.”– Juan de Dios Barron Medina at Wilmont Farm.
• “Thank you for your unconditional support. I look forward to continuing to receive your kindness in the years to come.” – Miguel Angel Romero at Linton’s Farm.

Our migrant workers represent a vulnerable population, one that our church and community are proud to support. This ministry reflects the diocese’s commitment to mission and outreach, ensuring that we extend care not just within our church walls, but also to those who contribute so much to our agricultural sector.

As we celebrate their return this year, we invite your support for this vital ministry. In-kind donations and financial contributions through FaithWorks are always welcome, ensuring that we can continue providing for the needs of our migrant worker friends. Let us continue to reflect the love of Christ through our actions, sharing support, prayer and fellowship with those who need it most.

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On the afternoon of May 17, St. James Cathedral will host a beacon event for Thy Kingdom Come, the global ecumenical movement that calls Christians to a special season of prayer from Ascension to Pentecost – this year, May 14-24. Started by the Church of England in 2016, the movement now reaches around the globe as Christians join in prayer that more people would come to know Jesus.

The theme for 2026 is “God with us,” exploring God’s presence in the joys and sorrows of life. Over 11 days, the campaign will explore bible stories that demonstrate God’s transformative power and love at work in the lives of people and places. Participants are called to pray for five people in their lives, that they will experience the life-changing love of God and choose to follow Him.

“It’s encouraging Christians to think about how the good news would fit into the questions or challenges that people in their lives are having, and to see if they can find solace and purpose in the good news of Jesus,” says the Rev. Matthew Waterman, assistant curate at St. James Cathedral, who’s helping to plan the beacon event.

A representative from the Anglican Communion approached the cathedral’s leadership team in the fall, looking for cathedrals around the Communion to lead events for their regions. The beacon events are meant to be focal points for prayer and worship, and to serve as a visible reminder that local communities are part of a worldwide network of prayer.

“The hope is to draw more attention to Thy Kingdom Come so that more individual parishes will be inspired to participate in their own contexts,” says Mr. Waterman.

Plans for the event at St. James Cathedral are well underway. Archbishop Shane Parker, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, will attend, and Mr. Waterman has reached out to congregations to invite participants and worship leaders who reflect the diversity of the diocese. The liturgy will include many different languages, including Tamil, Twi, Spanish, Tagalog and Cantonese, in readings, prayers and liturgical expressions.

“We’re aiming to think about not just how the gospel is heard in the Church, but how the gospel is heard by those around us. We’re focusing on some of the major immigrant ethnic groups in Toronto, for them to bring testimonies about responding to the gospel from their contexts and their experience sharing it with others within their cultural groups,” says Mr. Waterman.

In addition to inviting people to join the worship service in-person, the cathedral team will livestream the service to share the Toronto experience of Thy Kingdom Come both locally and with Christians around the world.

“We will encourage people to have watch parties, maybe in their parishes or with their friends, to join in the experience,” says Mr. Waterman. “Even around the world, anyone at any place can tune in and see what we’re doing here in Toronto.”

The beacon event comes at a fitting moment for the Diocese of Toronto, which recently concluded its Season of Spiritual Renewal. The emphasis on prayer, listening and discernment from the past two years echoes many of the themes at the heart of Thy Kingdom Come, encouraging individuals and parishes to root themselves in prayer for their neighbours and the wider world and inviting them to build on practices they began during the Season of Spiritual Renewal.

“I hope they feel more inspired or more equipped to share the good news, and maybe more aware of where there’s a need for that good news,” says Mr. Waterman. “They may think more about who’s around them in their neighbourhood, that perhaps they could share the good news and have their parish represent the diversity that’s around them in whatever form.”

As plans develop, Mr. Waterman and the cathedral team are looking forward to sharing more details about the service.

“Stay tuned! We’ll have more exciting, specific details that we can share as it gets closer,” he says.

In the meantime, Thy Kingdom Come’s website provides free resources for individuals, families and churches, from prayer journals to a kids’ cartoon series. To learn more, visit www.thykingdomcome.global.

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The diocese’s annual outreach appeal raised $1,532,000 in 2025. The money will be given to ministries that help unhoused people and ex-prisoners, newcomers and refugees, at-risk women, children and youth, Indigenous people, and those impacted by HIV/AIDS.

Bishop Andrew Asbil says he is amazed by the generosity of Anglicans year after year. “With all of the upset in the world economy, with all of the chatter of communities and nations looking inward, here we have this program that gives so much to people who are in need the most – the vulnerable from the rural communities to the inner city,” he says. “I find it mind-blowing how this kind of generosity makes very effective front-line ministry happen.”

The good news comes as the campaign celebrates its 30^th anniversary this year. Since its inception, it has raised $45 million, helping hundreds of thousands of people in the diocese, across Canada and around the world.

To celebrate the anniversary, FaithWorks is asking parishes to give a little bit more this year to support parish-related food security programs, including food banks. “We’re inundated right now with the need for food,” explains Peter Mentis, the FaithWorks campaign manager.

This year’s campaign is called the FaithWorks 100% +1% Challenge, and the goals are twofold: first, that every parish in the diocese participate; and second, that each parish set a fundraising goal that exceeds their 2025 FaithWorks contributions by at least one per cent of their 2024 offertory amount.

If all parishes participate and achieve their fundraising goals, the campaign will stand a good chance of not only hitting this year’s target of $1.5 million but raising an additional $325,000 for food security programs, says Peter Misiaszek, the diocese’s director of Stewardship Development. The additional money will be put into a special fund earmarked for food programs and dispersed in 2027-28.

Since the pandemic, visits to parish meal programs, deacon’s cupboards, food banks and other food ministries across the diocese have skyrocketed. Mr. Mentis hopes the FaithWorks 100% + 1% Challenge will help alleviate the situation.

“We’re taking inspiration from the multiplication of the loaves and the feeding of the multitude,” he says. “As Jesus fed them, we are called now, in our turn, to feed as well. We’re hoping people will be inspired by that and participate in Jesus’s miracle.”

Bishop Asbil urges all parishes to take up the challenge. “Food insecurity is a daily issue, where families have to make the very painful decision between paying the hydro or paying the rent. It’s becoming a perennial issue, and this initiative helps us address that. It’s an opportunity for Anglicans to show up and say, ‘We can help, we can make a difference.’”

Last year’s FaithWorks campaign had several highlights. Seventy-eight parishes exceeded the amount that they raised in 2024, $150,000 in matching challenges was met, and online and direct mail giving continued to be strong.

One of the reasons for the success is that there has been a transition in the type of ministries that FaithWorks funds, says Mr. Misiaszek. “Seven of our ministry partners now are decidedly parish-based, and another three are very closely associated with the Anglican family, such as Alongside Hope and AURA. It really can be said that we reflect an authentic Anglican United Way, probably more so than ever before. Because we have those profiles in places like St. Stephen in-the-Fields, St. Margaret, New Toronto, St. James, Orillia, and St. James Cathedral, people in the pew can see or hear about how FaithWorks-funded ministries are impacting their own community.”

He also credits Mr. Mentis and parish leaders, both clergy and lay, for the campaign’s ongoing success. “It takes a lot of work by a lot of people. It doesn’t just happen. I’m extremely proud of what Peter and all our volunteers have been able to accomplish.”

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So when Hurricane Melissa hit the Caribbean island nation last October, killing 54 people and causing widespread destruction, he felt it keenly. “When you hear the stories and see the pictures of the devastation and people living with the aftermath – the damaged homes, the disrupted lifestyles, the anxiety and uncertainty – it truly brings ache and pain to the heart,” he says.

The hurricane was the worst in the island’s history, damaging elementary and secondary schools and creating food and water shortages. About half of the country’s places of worship were destroyed or damaged.

“There were a lot of people who had little resources and then had none,” says Canon Francis. “A lot of people are still homeless. They’ve built temporary shelters that will keep them from the rain and the sun. A lot of people are still hungry. A lot of people are still anxious and looking for avenues for hope as they face a future that is unknown to them.”

Canon Francis is urging Anglicans in the Diocese of Toronto and across Canada to give to the newly created Bishop’s Appeal for Jamaican Relief and Reconstruction, which will help with relief and rebuilding efforts. “When one part of the Body of Christ suffers, we all suffer,” he says. “As Anglicans, we are not strangers to one another; we are part of a global communion rooted in shared faith, shared history, and shared responsibility.”

He says the appeal is not just about reconstructing buildings: it’s about restoring communities. “Local churches in Jamaica are often the first places people turn to in times of crisis – for shelter, food, comfort and hope. By giving, Canadian Anglicans are helping those churches continue to be centres of strength and healing in the midst of devastation.”

Bishop Andrew Asbil, with the support of the FaithWorks Allocation Committee and Synod Council, launched the appeal in late February and hopes that parishes across the diocese will embrace it as part of their Lenten journeys. The appeal will end on April 17.

In his weekly Friday letter to the diocese, Bishop Asbil wrote, “In moments such as this, Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40 speak with clarity and urgency: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these siblings of mine, you did for me.’ The call is not abstract. When churches lie in ruins and families gather without shelter, we are compelled not only to pray, but to act.”

Bishop Asbil has spoken with the Bishop of Jamaica, the Rt. Rev. Leon Golding, who told him, “The needs on the ground are so great. While many of the church buildings have been heavily damaged, the first priority is restoring electricity and water supply, rebuilding schools and homes.”

The appeal includes a $50,000 matching grant from FaithWorks, meaning that every dollar given up to that amount will be matched, resulting in a possible $100,000. All funds will be forwarded to Alongside Hope (formerly the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund) for distribution. Gifts may be made online at www.FaithWorks.ca or sent by mail to the Synod Office, 135 Adelaide St. E., Toronto, Ont., M5C 1L8.

“Please share this Lenten appeal as widely and as quickly as possible within your parish networks,” writes Bishop Asbil. “Together, during this holy season of Lent, we can restore sacred spaces, strengthen communities, and bear witness to Christ’s compassion in a time of profound need.”

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For Sr. Elizabeth Ann Eckert, the Reverend Mother of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, the words had special significance. After two years of renovations, the St. John’s Convent Guest House, an oasis of calm and spiritual nourishment in Toronto, was finally open again.

“Those were perfect words for this place,” she says. “That’s what we want when people come here.”

About 150 people attended the reopening event on Feb. 14. Starting at St. Margaret’s Chapel, the Sisters and their guests processed through the guest house, stopping to pray and reflect at some of the newly refurbished bedrooms, washrooms, pantries and meeting rooms, the entrance and office space, the library and the chapel itself. Between stops, they chanted “love is love is love.”

“It was phenomenal,” says Sr. Elizabeth Ann with a smile.

The event was held to thank everyone who supported the Sisterhood over the past two years and who gave to the financial campaign, which raised $7.8 million, including a $680,000 donation from the Diocese of Toronto. Every diocese in the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario gave to the campaign. Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the former Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Rev. Canon Sr. Constance Joanna Gefvert, SSJD, were co-chairs of the fundraising committee.

“We’re very grateful, and we thank you more than you will know,” says Sr. Elizabeth Ann. “What we’ve done is not for us – it’s for all the people who will come and take advantage of this space and time, to be renewed and refreshed in their own lives and to carry that peacefulness and prayer out with them when they go.”

The two-story guest house, which is connected to St. John’s Convent, can provide overnight accommodation for up to 35 people. It is used for a variety of purposes, including spiritual retreats, programs, meetings or simply as a place for people to rest and reflect in a Christian setting. Guests are welcome to take part in the Sisters’ regular round of prayer and to share meals with them in the convent’s refectory.

Not only has the guest house building been renewed, but so has the activity within it. Staff have started to offer Ignatian-style retreats, and some of the Sisters are training to become spiritual directors to meet a growing need.

The renewal all adds up to fresh energy and a sense of purpose.

“It’s great to be open again and getting back into the swing of things,” says Jeanette Strong, the guest house manager. “It’s lovely to have people who have never been here before reaching out to us and discovering us. We have all these workshops but some are just coming for the silence and to be with God, to unplug from the chaos of the world.”

The guest house doesn’t have a television but it does have WiFi – although many choose not to use it, she says. “A lot of people turn off their phones and just be. The feedback we’ve been getting so far has been really encouraging. People love it here.”

In addition to all the renovated rooms, the guest house has new carpeting, new windows and curtains, new light fixtures and new heating and cooling systems. It has been painted throughout and is fully accessible.

The guest house was built in the 1950s to serve as a residence for the Sisters and some staff who were working at the nearby St. John’s Rehab Hospital. It was lightly refurbished in 2004, around the same time that the new St. John’s Convent was built. The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine was founded in 1884.

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So when Hurricane Melissa hit the Caribbean island nation last October, killing 54 people and causing widespread destruction, he felt it keenly. “When you hear the stories and see the pictures of the devastation and people living with the aftermath – the damaged homes, the disrupted lifestyles, the anxiety and uncertainty – it truly brings ache and pain to the heart,” he says.

The hurricane was the worst in the island’s history, damaging elementary and secondary schools and creating food and water shortages. About half of the country’s places of worship were destroyed or damaged.

“There were a lot of people who had little resources and then had none,” says Canon Francis. “A lot of people are still homeless. They’ve built temporary shelters that will keep them from the rain and the sun. A lot of people are still hungry. A lot of people are still anxious and looking for avenues for hope as they face a future that is unknown to them.”

Canon Francis is urging Anglicans in the Diocese of Toronto and across Canada to give to the newly created Bishop’s Appeal for Jamaican Relief and Reconstruction, which will help with relief and rebuilding efforts. “When one part of the Body of Christ suffers, we all suffer,” he says. “As Anglicans, we are not strangers to one another; we are part of a global communion rooted in shared faith, shared history, and shared responsibility.”

He says the appeal is not just about reconstructing buildings: it’s about restoring communities. “Local churches in Jamaica are often the first places people turn to in times of crisis – for shelter, food, comfort and hope. By giving, Canadian Anglicans are helping those churches continue to be centres of strength and healing in the midst of devastation.”

Bishop Andrew Asbil, with the support of the FaithWorks Allocation Committee and Synod Council, launched the appeal in late February and hopes that parishes across the diocese will embrace it as part of their Lenten journeys. The appeal will end on April 17.

In his weekly Friday letter to the diocese, Bishop Asbil wrote, “In moments such as this, Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40 speak with clarity and urgency: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these siblings of mine, you did for me.’ The call is not abstract. When churches lie in ruins and families gather without shelter, we are compelled not only to pray, but to act.”

Bishop Asbil has spoken with the Bishop of Jamaica, the Rt. Rev. Leon Golding, who told him, “The needs on the ground are so great. While many of the church buildings have been heavily damaged, the first priority is restoring electricity and water supply, rebuilding schools and homes.”

The appeal includes a $50,000 matching grant from FaithWorks, meaning that every dollar given up to that amount will be matched, resulting in a possible $100,000. All funds will be forwarded to Alongside Hope (formerly the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund) for distribution. Gifts may be made online at www.FaithWorks.ca or sent by mail to the Synod Office, 135 Adelaide St. E., Toronto, Ont., M5C 1L8.

“Please share this Lenten appeal as widely and as quickly as possible within your parish networks,” writes Bishop Asbil. “Together, during this holy season of Lent, we can restore sacred spaces, strengthen communities, and bear witness to Christ’s compassion in a time of profound need.”

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