Bishop’s Diary

Ordinary things in ordinary time

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 ...

Do you have a room to spare?

My great-great grandparents left the Scottish Hebrides and settled in Ontario in the mid-19th century as a consequence of the potato famines. Canada has been ...

A success that almost didn’t happen

It almost didn’t happen. And when it did, it was truly providential. Back in the early days of my ministry, almost 40 years ago, the ...

A strategic plan for changing times

By the time you read this we will have three new suffragan bishops-elect for the Diocese of Toronto. We have also just approved a new ...

We are a big-tent diocese

When I was growing up in small-town Ontario, September was a time of fall fairs – parades, displays of prized local produce, the best of ...

The roles of a bishop

“Which is your church?” It is a question I’m asked in almost every parish I visit, and my answer is almost always a surprise to ...

Times of discernment are difficult

A proposed change in the Canon on Marriage will come before our General Synod in July. Because statements from the gatherings of the Anglican Primates ...

On that first day, everything changes

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth; and though this body be destroyed, yet ...

We are interconnected

My wife and I recently took a mid-winter break and travelled to the Galapagos Islands. It was fascinating to see the islands and their unique ...
Archbishop Colin Johnson speaks from a lectern.

Can we glimpse the big picture, the greater goal?

Some years ago, Brother Martin Smith, former Superior of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, gave a lecture at an event for the training ...

The politics of fear

The politics of fear are insidious. They appeal to that place in all of us that feels unsafe and vulnerable, the part of us that ...

We must not stand idly by

Some images sear themselves into your mind. You cannot unthink them. They change how you see the world. A photo of a napalmed Vietnamese girl, ...

This summer, share a meal

We were looking to buy our first house (now 32 years ago.) It was far more expensive than we had imagined. In narrowing the choices ...

Death is not the end of the story

We sat at the back of the funeral home where hundreds of people filed past my grandfather’s open coffin and paid respects to the family. ...

Our faith calls us to engage

This year marks the 40th anniversary of my father’s election as a Member of Provincial Parliament. On that election night, I was interviewed by a ...

Refugees need our help

It was Oct. 28, 35 years ago. Our first daughter was just weeks away from her birth. They had arrived in Sutton – mother, father, ...

Marriage can be a sign of hope

I presided at the wedding of a wonderful couple last weekend. I first met the bridegroom the week he was born and baptized him not ...
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