“The Church’s ancient teaching is that the whole Christ is received whether one receives only consecrated bread or both bread and wine,” he wrote.

In addition, people were advised to share words and smiles only, not handshakes or hugs, during the Exchange of the Peace. Churches that have repositories of still water such as fonts or stoops, were asked to refresh the water daily or discontinue their use for the time being. Every Anglican was encouraged to practice rigorous handwashing and to self-quarantine at home if feeling unwell.

He said the liturgical practices would be re-instated as soon as the diocese was advised that the risk of transmission of the virus had been better contained.

“Together all of us can help mitigate both risk and fear in our communities by exercising this due diligence,” he wrote. The letter was to be read to all congregations on March 8. The letter is available on the diocese’s website, www.toronto.anglican.ca.

“We believe that gathering for corporate worship as the Body of Christ is an integral part of, and not antithetical to, healthy living,” he wrote. “We encourage our parishioners and worshipping communities to continue to meet and offer prayers and praise to our merciful God, who in the person of Jesus offers us the gifts of hope and healing for fullness of life.”

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The project, Sharing the Sacred, was a success, so much so that he is hoping it will continue throughout the year. “What made me excited was how eager people were to be part of it and engage in it,” he says. “It was very religiously diverse, but for the most part it was made up of younger, unaffiliated people.”

About 29 per cent of Canadians over the age of 18 say they have no religion, according to a survey done by the Pew Research Centre in 2018. That number is expected to be higher after the Canadian Census is taken in 2021.

For Dr. McKinney, the interim priest-in-charge of Epiphany and St. Mark, Parkdale and an adjunct professor at Trinity College, engaging with the religiously unaffiliated – called “nones” in church jargon – is something he is passionate about. “They are unaffiliated, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a spirituality there, that there’s no elements of religious practice in their lives.”

He says it’s a group the Anglican Church cannot afford to ignore. “We’re not losing people to other denominations. We’re losing people to no religion.”

A resident of Parkdale in Toronto’s west end, he is deeply involved in local efforts to foster inclusion, diversity and affordability. He is a member of the board of directors of the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust and the steering committee of the Parkdale People’s Economy. He is also a core partner in shaping the Parkdale Community Food Hub.

For the past three years, he and Michael Burtt, the director of a local community arts company and the children’s ministry director at Epiphany and St. Mark, have been trying to bring the reality of religious people and a spiritual perspective into this non-religious, neighbourhood-based work. They have connected with people of other faiths, often using art as a way to find common ground.

While engaging with people of faith, they were asked by community partners to also reach out to people without religious affiliation. “We were interested in doing that, but it’s really hard to convene people who don’t belong to a specific religious community,” he recalls.

An initial event to attract people with no religious affiliation didn’t work. “It didn’t go anywhere because we weren’t working closely and bringing into leadership the people we were trying to connect with,” he explains. “We learned that if you want to reach the nones, you have to put a none in charge.”

For their next attempt, that’s exactly what they did. “We worked with a young woman who was religiously unaffiliated, and it became her vision. Our role was to help implement it and bring some resources and structure to it.”

The format, which became Sharing the Sacred, involved three backyard gatherings over the summer. Each gathering attracted between 10 and 20 people, many of them religiously unaffiliated. Each session included an art-making activity, food and story-sharing.

Spirituality was explored during the story-sharing time, which was led by a facilitator. Each gathering had a theme and the participants were asked to share stories based on that theme. At one of the gatherings, for example, they were asked to share a story of a time when they had experienced something as sacred. The facilitators also introduced a spiritual practice, such as centring prayer, and the group practiced that.

Dr. McKinney says he was surprised by the results. “In each case, people were eager to have those kinds of conversations.”

He says one of the things that made the gatherings work was that they were not designed to bring people to church. “I think it would have failed if that was our intention and that intention had become known. People wouldn’t have been interested in engaging or engaging to the level that they did. We made it very clear from the beginning that we were simply opening a space for them to come as whole people, which includes spirituality.”

He says it’s important for the Church to reach out to the religiously unaffiliated, even when there is no expectation that they will come to a church. “I think the call to be missional is to go out there and facilitate spiritual community for the people where they are. That includes the non-religious. We have to carve out a space for them.”

During the winter, the gatherings are held in a room at Epiphany and St. Mark, which has become a community hub by sharing its space with local groups. When the weather turns warm again, they will be held in local backyards.

He hopes the project will one day serve as a training ground for young spiritual leaders who can take Sharing the Sacred to other contexts. He would also like to see a conference on spirituality and spiritual retreats for the unaffiliated. “The Church needs to focus on not just the people who aren’t here but the non-religious as well,” he says. “There needs to be some thought and energy put into how we engage with them.”

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Twenty-five years ago, I was teaching academic subjects and drama at a private high school in Toronto. Then a car accident radically changed my life. After a leave of absence, I managed to continue teaching part-time for a couple of years, but then had to stop because of the pressure to teach full-time. At the very moment of transition, I got a call from the Rev. Canon Kim Beard asking me if I would be available to run an adult drama program at St. Bede’s in Scarborough. I said to him, “Funny you should be contacting me at just this time.”  Long story short, I worked at St. Bede’s for the next three years, growing the program into a community-wide theatre outreach. It was a wonderful collaborative and creative experience in which I was encouraged to write a lot of scripts, including full feature performances. During my time there, I continued to heal until the pain totally left my body.

After Kim left St. Bede’s, I opened my drama studio, Imagiscape, in our basement, writing and directing shows for kids and adults from the community. I taught classes, coached kids for auditions, and ran improv theatre sessions. I wrote all the scripts, tailoring them for the specific kids training with me at the time. Then I got a call from the Rev. Canon Jim Garland to head up the children and young adults’ ministry at St Paul, L’Amoreaux. For a while I tried to work for both the church and my studio, but it was too much. I finally had to let my studio work go and devoted myself to the ministry at St. Paul’s, which happily included doing theatre with kids and adults. After seven years there, I was feeling God was calling me to fine-tune my ministry and calling. By then I was getting more involved in the Toronto dance community and needed more flexibility in my schedule, so I left St. Paul’s, not knowing exactly how God was intending to organize my life and gifts. A week later, I got a phone call from St. Philip’s, Unionville, asking me to consider leading a drama ministry there. Two weeks later I began my first group. That was eight years ago!

The drama ministry at St. Philip’s has grown to three groups, ages four to 15. We also do a musical theatre camp for one week in July. I am super excited about all of this! I get the opportunity to play a significant role in the spiritual formation of kids, some of whom in the high school group have been training with me for all eight years. They perform in church on Sunday mornings every six weeks. Scripts are dramatic interpretations of the scriptures. Because of this regular exposure, the kids are well known to the adults in the congregation, and they are gaining confidence in speaking up publicly, which I believe is helping their leadership formation.

Outside the church, I work on dance and theatre projects that emerge out of my own life themes and issues. Several years ago, I co-created a piece on care-giving with Jonathon Neville and Dennis Hassell, which we toured across Canada as well as parts of New England.  Jonathon’s mom had Alzheimer’s and my son had a disabling pain condition which was confusing and life-stopping.

At the present time, at the age of 75, I find myself interested more and more in thoughts around aging and loss, and I’m thrilled to be working with Harold Tausch, actor and dancer-in-training, who is 70 years old. Through honest dialogue, anger, tears, a generous supply of humour, and five dance pieces, we are creating a 45-minute show that we hope will be ready in the fall. We plan to perform it as a stage production, and possibly to film it as well. In this piece, we are exploring that crossroad in later life where we have to decide if we’re going to give up, coast or engage.

I did not have the privilege of dance immersion and training as a child. I even grew up without TV! Being an army family, we moved often from one military camp to another. I had zero exposure to the dance world, and with five kids, money was scarce. My physical outlet was sports, so I played on all the school teams. In high school, I had some small opportunities to act, and then in my senior year, our family moved again. So it wasn’t until I was a young adult that the dance world became a viable force. In the midst of going to school and having my own kids, I began a modest training program. From the beginning, I was interested in choreography and liturgical dance. When we lived in Connecticut, I formed a group called “With Timbrel and Dance” that performed throughout the diocese and at a West Point wedding. In our church, I began “The Church Street Players,” an adult, then intergenerational theatre group that also performed throughout the diocese. One year we won best play for the National Episcopal Liturgical Commission.

I did not grow up in a religious/spiritual/church family. If anything, they were anti-church. But at the age of 16 I felt the hunger and began to search for God. Again, I had no guidance, so I started by getting a few philosophy books out of the library. Then I started attending a nearby mainline church. Both of these options turned out to be quite dry and unsatisfactory. But my hunger to know God was growing. At the age of 18, I went forward at a Billy Graham crusade.  Someone prayed for me and gave my information to the dry church pastor who visited me and thought I was quite bright. He asked me to teach Sunday School. I did, but I knew I was a big fake. I knew nothing about the Bible and my hunger for God was still suffering. Then I met my future husband, David Reed, who at that time was active in the Pentecostal Church. Now, here was someone who actually had a confident, knowledgeable, intimate relationship with God. Our dates invariably included long interrogations on my part about God and the Church, to which David happily responded. I met with his pastor, who gave me instructions on how to pray, which boiled down to my talking (out loud) on my knees to God. For awhile my voice just bounced around the walls, until one night I knew I was within a whisper of the Holy God. A heavy curtain had been removed and I knew I was in the presence of the Divine.

I consider my faith journey and dance/theatre development to be inextricably intertwined. Today I am training and practicing more than I have at any other stage in my life – around 20 hours a week. Besides my own daily two-hour training sessions, I take three ballet classes and one tap class, and practice with my dance partner three afternoons every week. It takes this level of commitment to bring a level of excellence to the work. I have only gradually begun to understand this over the last 10 years. Although it can be a maddeningly slow process, it is also full of epiphanies when my body teaches me something about God and creation. Dance requires an unlimited supply of patience mixed with a ferocious hunger for elegance and strength and movement clarity. I truly feel I am like clay in God’s hands while being shaped into a more articulate artist. I thank God in wonder at each minor sign of progress.

Five years from now, I hope I am creating and teaching and shaping stories through dance and theatre.

I get excited about whatever scripture is currently inspiring a project. I love the Sermon on the Mount, which I have written into a movement theatre piece called Mountain Top Talk, performed in duet or group. I am moved by scriptures that speak of the confidence we have in God, as in Romans 8:38-39, or ones that speak of our clear journey with God, as in Romans 8:25,  or how intricately God has created us, as in Psalms 139:14, or how we can do so much more than we realize when we are being coached by God, as in Ephesians 3:20.

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If the steward of a household lacked the resources to sustain operations or maintenance of the property, they would essentially have two choices: find additional sources of revenue to supplement existing income or reduce costs. In the case of a parish, it would mean asking for more from the congregation, renting out space or reducing program and/or personnel costs.

Some parishes are in an enviable position, having prudently put aside funds for a rainy day. Inevitably, parishes encounter years where giving is reduced, or anticipated revenue is not realized. In such cases, reserve funds are invaluable. Of course, the big concern is when parishes are consistently drawing down these reserves, to the point where they are extinguished entirely. Without consideration of future needs, parishes operate at their own peril.

Why not plan for a balanced budget and take the necessary steps to ensure that objective is fulfilled? This approach indicates to me that a charitable organization has a plan in place to fulfill its ministry and demonstrate to donors that their gifts will be used as intended.

I mention “charitable organization” for a reason. Each church is, in fact, a charity. And a charity maintains the confidence of donors when it lives within its means. If a charity is not in the habit of spending funds in a responsible and restrained manner, it may find that it undermines its trust relationship with the very people it depends on for its security.

It is important to realize that the churchwardens and clergy are trustees of present temporal resources. Just as we relied on previous generations to sustain and grow ministry, so to must we position ourselves so that future generations can expect at least the same from us. And the last thing we want to do is tie the hands of next year’s budget team who are forced to pay for last year’s expenses going forward.

One final thought. We have all heard of the demographic changes that are taking place among faith communities and the apparent fiscal uncertainty facing many congregations. We are older and fewer in number. Some parishes are growing, but most are not. With this in mind, we would do well to live within our means.

We can’t presume that a flood of new congregants will give at levels equal to our most faithful and generous givers. Such generosity takes years to mature, as you well know. We would do well to cultivate the gifts we currently have, without presuming what we “might” have. We would also do well to consistently message our congregants on the importance of good stewardship and proportionate giving.

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When I finished walking the 800 km Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in early June 2017, I was convinced I would never do it again. It was hard and gruelling and I was relieved to be done. But now, if given the opportunity, I’d go again tomorrow. So when the editor of The Anglican asked me to offer 10 tips for anyone planning to go on a pilgrimage this summer, I jumped at the opportunity. Here’s my list:

1. Pack lightly. I took two pairs of clothes – today’s and tomorrow’s (which was also yesterday’s). It is amazing how little we actually need to survive day by day, especially when we have to haul it all under our own steam.
2. Train for the inclines. On the first day of my Camino experience, I climbed up the Pyrenees from France into Spain. No Toronto hills prepared me for that.
3. Train for the declines. Walking downhill, especially with a pack on your back, puts a lot of force on your limbs and joints.
4. Yes, it’s true. Downhills are worse than uphills. I didn’t believe it before I experienced it. I came to dread the steep downhills of the Camino. On the first day, after getting to the heights of the Pyrenees, I had to walk all the way down again. It was painful.
5. Go alone. True, I’m an introvert so I crave time alone. But being alone allowed me to be open to the stranger. I had holy conversations with people from around the world whom I still stay in touch with. (Ask me about my Baptist friends from New Zealand who own a lingerie store. I met Deborah in the men’s washroom.) And holy conversations with strangers that lasted 10 or 15 minutes and whom I will never hear from again.
6. Prepare to get cosy. The thing I feared most was sleeping in rooms full of strangers, but it turned out to be not as big of a deal as I feared. Your sense of privacy and self change, but everyone is in it together. (Still, bring ear plugs!)
7. Expect nothing. I went on the Camino hoping to gather material to write a book. It didn’t happen because I quickly realized that that intention was getting in the way of experiencing things in the moment. Just go.
8. It’s the journey, not the destination. The journey (for me) took five and a half weeks. Arriving in Santiago took an hour or so. The pilgrimage is just that – a journey.
9. But it’s also the destination. When I finally arrived at the cathedral in Santiago, I felt nothing (except sore feet). Nothing. And then a friend took my photo and I said, “I’m going to send this home to my family.” And I began to weep uncontrollably.
10. When you are finished the pilgrimage, you haven’t reached your destination. My pilgrimage started at my front door with my wife taking my photo as I walked up the street to catch public transit to the airport. And it “ended” when she took a photo of me walking down our street from the subway. Front door to front door. But it hasn’t really ended. I’m still walking the “Camino,” which is “The Way.”

When I look at this list, I realize it isn’t just a list of tips for a pilgrimage. It’s a list of tips for life. We have too much stuff. (You should see our storage room in the basement. Ugh!) We experience times in life when we are heading upward and times when we are careening downward, and they are both challenging – but going downhill is worse. We can easily close ourselves off from the unexpected encounter with a stranger; surely our phones and headphones and social media are doing this all the time. We are all human, with the same basic bodies and needs. It’s only when we get out of the way of our own plans and expectations that God can surprise us. Our lives are journeys and it isn’t about getting to the end – except that it is, because we have the promise of eternal life. And until our dying breath, we are still on the journey.

My pilgrimage haunts me still. I’d go tomorrow (except that I haven’t trained!). I know that my next pilgrimage, even if it were the same route, would be entirely different. Different encounters, different bunk beds, different surprises and challenges (like there being “no room in the inn,” which happened a couple of times, including on the first day after having traversed the Pyrenees). And I might, again, get to the end and feel nothing. And then feel everything.

Godspeed on The Way.

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Just as spring provides such hope and opportunities, Easter provides the promise of a rich and new life in Christ. This has been the gospel message for more than 2,000 years. After the death of Jesus, all who had been with him or knew of him wondered what the future held for them. They could not fathom what life would be like without him.

In John’s gospel, we are told that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, only to discover that the stone had been removed from the entrance. She did not go in, but ran and told Peter and John, who went to the tomb to find that the body of Jesus was not there. It was on seeing the empty tomb that they came to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead, as he had told them he would. Mary, on the other hand was so distraught that she remained there weeping. She did not recognize Jesus at first, until a very familiar voice said to her, “Mary.” She was commissioned to go and tell the disciples that he was alive. It was Mary who first broke the news to the disciples that she had seen the risen Lord.

One may imagine how that news was received by the close friends of Jesus. According to John’s gospel, the disciples remained locked in a room until Jesus made his first appearance to them. In that meeting, Jesus offered them peace and breathed his spirit upon them, as he commissioned them for future ministry. I believe that was a moment of transformation, joy and a real reason to hope and not be afraid anymore.

In our lives, there are many things that can happen that can break our spirit or make us want to give up. Fear, hopelessness, despair and despondency can easily beset us amid loss, brokenness, betrayal, illness or the death of someone close to us. There can be an emptiness, maybe like that which the disciples experienced when Christ was crucified. Until something happens that reverses those feelings, we may remain doubtful, fearful or even paralyzed.

In the gospel stories, those who met the risen Christ all experienced change in their lives. Christ was alive and offered peace and hope to them. They were offered new beginnings, just like at springtime. Our Lord’s resurrection meant overcoming sin and death. Therefore, every human flaw may be corrected, weakness overcome, and we can be redeemed. Easter offers the assurance that we can overcome the many obstacles, difficulties and challenges that life presents, from time to time. We live in a world that at times is cruel, uncaring, unforgiving, and seemingly void of hope or second chances. The risen Christ makes possible for all of us to have second chances, new beginnings, new life and hope.

Sometimes our behaviours are not consistent with our values, healthy lifestyles or of showing neighbourliness, love and respect for others. Jesus loves and values each and every one of us, even with our faults and shortcomings. He offered to those who offended and hurt him, as he does to us, forgiveness, new life and hope for the future. There is healing and hope to be experienced in Him who came that we might have life in all its fullness. Jesus says to us as he said to the women who went to the empty tomb and to the frightened disciples in the locked room, “Do not be afraid” and “Shalom-Peace.” We are encouraged not to be afraid because of the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, a pending surgery, a meeting with someone with whom you are seeking reconciliation, a difficult decision to be made or a new venture to be started. Jesus offers hope and guidance in all situations, through the power of his spirit.

The Good News is that Jesus is going before us every day and promises to be with us, always. We have the opportunity of a second chance, being forgiven and being reconciled with another. Let us grasp every opportunity to experience new beginnings in the name of Him who is alive and reigns forever. Christ is alive! Alleluia! Have a blessed and happy Easter.

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The welcome service was created to spiritually support Indigenous peoples, many of whom in Toronto were displaced through the Indian Residential Schools system and forced apprehensions that took children away from their families and home communities. TUNM was established as an ecumenical initiative between the United Church of Canada and the Diocese of Toronto in 2001, which was reflected in the shared liturgy of the welcome service.

Bishop Andrew Asbil presided over the service, along with co-celebrants the Rt. Rev. Richard Bott (Moderator of the United Church of Canada), the Rev. Evan Smith (Anishnawbe, TUNM and the United Church of Canada), the Rev. Maggie Dieter (Cree, the United Church of Canada) and Bishop Riscylla Shaw (Métis, area bishop of Trent-Durham). Four celebrants celebrated on four sides of the altar, speaking from the four directions as they prayed the Peacemaker Eucharistic Prayer, a liturgical resource created by the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples.

National Indigenous Archbishop Mark MacDonald preached, highlighting how the work of TUNM through the generations has called Indigenous, newcomers and settler peoples to lift the veil of colonial vision that feeds the “culture of money” and return to the vision of the Creator. The vision of our God is one where humans, the land and all created beings are seen with the eyes of God, valued inherently with dignity instead of how they relate to profit as a resource. As Archbishop MacDonald preached, community members offered hollers and shouts, accenting his points and filling the church with cries of affirmation.

During the offertory, members of TUNM and Holy Trinity exchanged gifts, memorializing their new relationship. William Whitla and the Rev. Sherman Hesselgrave of Holy Trinity created and presented a hymn written specially for the occasion, “God of the Blazing Sun and the Moon.” The Rev. Evan Smith presented them in turn with a carved wooden bowl and spoon, mounted on a plaque to honour the Dish with One Spoon Covenant between the Haudenoshone and the Anishnawbe Nations, to peacefully share and sustain the life of the Great Lakes. The plaque will hang in Holy Trinity to remind all of the ancient and recent treaties of this territory, and how we are all called to live on this land in partnership with Indigenous leaders.

Following the celebration of Holy Communion, Sandra Campbell (Mohawk, Wolf Clan, TUNM Social and Pastoral Care Worker) beat her drum and sang the Travelling Song as the congregation recessed to four stations in Trinity Square park, next to the church. We began in the west, praying over the location of Taddle Creek, a buried river in Toronto. We prayed for TUNM’s Water Festival, ministry to people who give birth, to those who cry, and for our advocacy for those without access to clean water. In the north side of the park, we prayed over the site where a community member, Byron, recently died. We prayed for all we have lost in our ministry. We honoured the ancestors of the territory, and we prayed for TUNM and Holy Trinity’s shared ministry of the Homeless Memorial. In the east, we prayed over the new home of TUNM, building #6 in Trinity Square.

Bishop Asbil, Moderator Richard Bott and Archbishop MacDonald all led prayers of blessing over the historic rectory that now houses office space for the Rev. Evan Smith, Sandra Campbell and myself. In the south, we turned to face the courthouses of Toronto, praying over TUNM’s prison chaplaincy and community reintegration support programs. The celebration and establishment of a new home for this vital ministry concluded with the Mi’kmaq Welcome Song, sung by members of TUNM and the Neechee Sharing Circle.

TUNM extends its gratitude to the members of Holy Trinity, all TUNM board members, the Diocese of Toronto, the Shining Waters Regional Council, our national Indigenous ministries and the national office of the United Church of Canada for their support in establishing a new home for TUNM.

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The group will be attending CLAY 2020, a gathering of Lutheran and Anglican youth held every two years. The event, held Aug. 20-23 at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, is expected to draw about 1,000 people from across Canada.

“It will be an incredibly empowering experience for our youth to connect with others and to feel they’re not alone,” says Nancy Hannah, a member of the Bishop’s Youth Ministry Committee, which is spearheading efforts in the diocese.

Ms. Hannah, who is the youth ministry coordinator for York-Simcoe and the youth and family minister at St. David’s Anglican Lutheran Church in Orillia, says it’s important for Christian youth to get together. “Connection is so important to them, because quite often their faith is not supported in other areas of their lives.”

CLAY 2020 will feature worship, leadership development opportunities and social events. Participants will also learn about youth homelessness and how to advocate for change in their communities. “They’ll be able to speak as one voice from coast to coast to coast, and that will have an enormous impact,” she says.

Since last year, the Bishop’s Youth Ministry Committee has been encouraging parishes in the diocese to send their youth to the gathering and to financially assist those who are going. The cost per person is about $1,100, which covers registration and airfare.

Participants have been trying to raise the money themselves, but for some it’s a tall order. “It’s a lot of money to ask families to come up with,” admits Ms. Hannah. “For every youth I know who is going, finances are going to be a barrier.”

To help with the costs, the committee raised $2,800 at last year’s Synod. It has also received $5,000 from the Bishop’s Company. The episcopal areas have pledged support, as have churches – even those without youth ministry. “Even though they don’t have youth ministry of their own, they’re very encouraged by what we’re doing and want to help us,” says Ms. Hannah.

She says the support from the diocese, the episcopal areas and the churches has been encouraging. “It’s really great for the youth to feel supported by their Church as a whole. It means that the wider Church cares about youth and what they’re doing.”

The fundraising effort is about half-way to its goal. She’s hoping that individuals and churches that haven’t already donated will do so. “The experience of going to CLAY will make an enormous difference in the lives of these young people,” she says.

Donations to send youth and youth leaders from the diocese to CLAY 2020 can be made online at https://contact.toronto.anglican.ca/stewardship/anglican-diocese-of-toronto. When completing the form, write “CLAY” in the comments section and the funds will be designated to the Bishop’s Youth Ministry Committee.

For more information on sending youth and youth leaders to CLAY 2020, contact the youth ministry coordinator in your episcopal area:

• Jillian Rush or Ian Physick in York-Scarborough, yorkscarboroughyc@gmail.com or ianphysick@gmail.com.
• Cormac Culkeen in Trent-Durham, trent.durham.youth.ministry@gmail.com.
• Alexandra McIntosh in York-Credit Valley, ycv.area.coordinator@gmail.com.
• Nancy Hannah in York Simcoe, nancy@thehannahs.ca.

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Bishop Shaw was chosen in January after a Canada-wide nomination process. The other delegate is Brendon Neilson of the Diocese of British Columbia.

“I’m really excited to represent our Church and to bring the flavours of who we are with me so that other people can understand what Canada is and the work that we’re doing here,” she says.

The WCC is an ecumenical organization made up of 350 churches representing about 500 million Christians in 110 countries. It works for the unity and renewal of the worldwide Church. At its General Assembly, held every eight years, delegates review the organization’s programs, set policy, elect members to board and committees, learn about each other’s work and take part in worship. About 3,000 people attended the 2013 General Assembly in South Korea.

The theme of the 2021 assembly is “Christ’s Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity.” Bishop Shaw, who is Métis, she has been deeply involved in reconciliation efforts in Canada through her work as an Ambassador for Reconciliation in the Diocese of Toronto, a member of the Primate’s Commission on Discovery, Reconciliation and Justice, and a member of the national church’s Jubilee Commission. In the diocese, she is a member of the Bishop’s Working Group on Intercultural Ministries. She is also member of the Oshawa and Durham Region Métis Council.

“It’s such an honour to be part of the global conversation around reconciliation and unity,” she says. “I look forward to bringing a Canadian perspective, a woman’s perspective and an Indigenous Anglican perspective.”

She says the assembly’s focus on reconciliation and unity comes at a critical time, as the Church and society grapple with issues such as climate change, resource extraction and the ongoing oppression of Indigenous peoples. “Church people are all over the globe and they have a huge influence, so how do we as churches come together and talk about these really important things, recognizing that we’re also in the world? It’s really exciting.”

She’s looking forward to meeting people from other parts of the world and forming lasting bonds with them. “Meeting people and sharing what we do will build a strong network that will help us down the road. The assembly isn’t about getting together and then going back home; it’s about networking so we can all advance the work that we do. One of the things about a global network is that somebody is always awake, so when we make lasting relationships in this work, we’re strengthening our human family.”

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The congregation entered the worship space to the beautiful music of the Ghanaian Anglican Church Choir and the rhythms of the steel pan. The 25^th anniversary service, based on the acronym ACTION (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Intercession, Offering and News), started with a colourful procession that included the choir, clergy, the entire College of Bishops and the flags of 30 nations. The theme song of the procession was, “We’ve come this far by Faith.”

After a medley of praise, dancers from the 1996 inaugural service took everyone back to that moment when St. James’ Cathedral resonated with the colourful costumes and Noel Dexter’s composition of “Enter into Jerusalem.”

The Rev. Canon Donald Butler spoke of racism, exclusion and other challenges that still beset Black people in both the Church and society, while Constance Kendall, ODT, reflected on reasons why we can still give thanks at the personal and communal levels.

These challenges and thanksgivings were brought together when the community in prayer, led by Br. Reginald Crenshaw, OHC, celebrated a pantheon of trailblazers, living and departed, in the Black community. They were remembered for their transformative contribution to the Canadian mosaic.

As an act of offering, the recently formed Black Anglicans of Canada was inaugurated and its leadership installed by Bishop Peter Fenty. The mission of the group is to seek to increase the participation, representation, empowerment and belongingness of Black people in lay and ordained leadership roles in the full life of the Church, and to develop partnerships with the wider Black community, other racialized communities and oppressed peoples.

The “News” was shared by the Rev. Canon Dr. Stephen Fields, the founding chair of the Black Anglicans Coordinating Committee, which organizes the service. Reflecting on the message of the Kingdom of God, the cross of Jesus and the work of compassion, he spoke of the mutual responsibility of Black and White people in working to eradicate all forms of exclusion and marginalization visited upon persons, whether they be Black, LGBTQ, Indigenous or differently abled. He said that Jesus’ message of the Kingdom of God is one that seeks to deconstruct all firmly entrenched and socially stratified systems of power and reconstruct a community of love where each person, community and culture is respected.

He challenged the Black community to critically understand their reality, unveil the world of oppression, and commit themselves to its transformation. “Only you can do this,” he said. “Only when we have some clarity and common understanding about ourselves will we be able to provide the kind of space into which others may enter for the good and sake of the whole Church.”

He spoke directly to the White members of the congregation, telling them that they are needed as allies, “for this is your Church as much as it is ours.” He said that just as Black people work to define themselves, their White siblings must be honest, recognize and accept that they are socialized in a system that has been built on White supremacy, a culture that positions White people and “Whiteness” as ideal. He challenged them to work to interrupt that state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggers a range of defensive behaviours, and limits any authentic engagement and community-building.

The service ended as the Black Anglicans Coordinating Committee recognized the contribution of several members of the community who have worked over the years to ensure its ongoing work, and thanked the bishops, their assistants and the diocese’s photographer, Michael Hudson, for their support.

In his closing remarks, Bishop Andrew Asbil reflected on the pain of racism experienced by the composer of the Negro spiritual, “Deep River,” Henry T. Burleigh, the words of which filled St. Paul’s vast edifice when it was rendered earlier in the service by Nathan Richards, a classical vocal major student at the University of Toronto. Noting the pain that still exists, and the work to be done, the bishop declared, “I’m in.”

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