Bishop’s Diary

In October of 1851 the Anglican bishops of North America convened a meeting in Quebec to develop some common policies on a number of issues. ...

Are we there yet? I have vivid memories of our family hitting the road for vacation in July each year. The old blue Pontiac station ...

On Ash Wednesday, the presiding celebrant invites us to step into Lent with these words: I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Lord, ...

At 6:31 a.m. on Dec. 8, 2020, 90-year-old Margaret Keenan received the first of two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at University Hospital in Coventry, ...

If you have ever spent time in the emergency department, you know well what it means to wait. And more than wait, you know what ...

It didn’t take long for the novelty of living in self-isolation to wear off. While the idea of working from home seemed appealing at first, ...

Nicodemus went under cover of darkness. The Samaritan woman left her jar at the well to go back and tell the others. With mud in ...

Our great nephew was born in Australia on March 1, 2012. The news of his birth reached us the day before, on Feb. 29. It ...

With the arrival of autumn comes the departure of the heat and humidity of summer. Short sleeves are changed out for sweaters. The days become ...

We had seen the trailer a few times and said to ourselves, maybe we should watch that movie sometime. And then, the sometime came. Free ...

Things tend to happen in the garden. Our story of faith begins in the garden. The garden was verdant, luscious, brimming with life. The soil, ...

We are en route now. For almost 30 years, I have had the joy of holding the keys and serving as the incumbent of a ...

February, the shortest month of the year, begins with the tradition of Wiarton Willie seeing or not seeing his shadow. Will he show us the ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

When I was in seminary four decades ago, I spent part of Lent meditating on the life of Jesus. Over the period of those six ...

This is a pastoral statement on the commitment to diverse theological positions in the Diocese of Toronto, written by Archbishop Colin Johnson and endorsed by ...

I stood on a street corner in London, Ontario after the morning service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Mass had just ended at St. Peter’s Basilica ...

Did you know that a giraffe’s tongue is about a foot-and-a-half long, is black, and like a human hand, is prehensile, able to curl around ...

I came across a pastoral letter from the Bishop of Toronto to the clergy and laity proposing a significant fundraising effort. In it he proposed ...

I was privileged but deeply saddened to participate in the funeral of Archbishop Terry Finlay in March.  He was my mentor and friend. Twenty-five years ...

Fear motivates us to do many things. We often fall into the fight-flight pattern. We turn around and put up strong resistance, sometimes more than ...

I read The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde’s only novel, when I was a teenager. It contains the famous quip, “Nowadays, people know the ...

When I was in elementary school, I always hated the post-holiday writing assignment, “What I did on my (summer/Christmas/spring break/fill-in-the-blank) holidays.” I truly enjoyed the ...