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Bishop’s Opinion

Four people standing in a church in New Zealand.

This Eastertide, I give thanks to God for you

March 31, 2025
Christ is risen! Alleluia! Some of the profound joys of my episcopal ministry are meeting, greeting (and eating!), listening and learning my way around the ...
Headshots of Bishop Riscylla Shaw, Bishop Andrew Asbil and Bishop Kevin Robertson.

Be renewed in the Spirit

, , February 26, 2025
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.   ...
Group of children and young people gather around an Advent wreath. One holds a candle lighter to light a candle.

Jesus, the Perfect Gift

November 28, 2024
It’s always hard for me to find just the right Christmas card. As I search, sometimes I like a particular image on the cover, but ...
Sunrise looking out of a round opening in the rock.

Practicing resurrection

April 2, 2024
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 ...
Headshots of Bishop Riscylla Shaw, Bishop Andrew Asbil and Bishop Kevin Robertson.

We are here to support you

, , February 29, 2024
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.   ...
Bishop Andrew Asbil speaks.

It is the Lord who has brought us to this moment in time

January 2, 2024
O God, take our lips and speak through them. Take our minds and think through them. Take our hearts and fill them with love for ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

For all the saints

October 30, 2023
The arrival of November signals the beginning of a season of remembrance in our Church. On Nov. 1 – All Saints Day – we remember ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

Putting our faith into action

August 30, 2023
God is good! In the context of being faithful, courageous, wise and generous, how can we be influenced by the holy call for transformation, evolution ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

Dare to be a priest

April 28, 2023
One of the joys of being a bishop is presiding at the ordinations of deacons and priests. Ordinations are full of joy and promise, and ...
Clusters of people exchange hugs and greetings in the aisle of St. James Cathedral.

We look ahead with great hope

, , February 28, 2023
The following is the College of Bishops’ pastoral letter to vestries, to be read or circulated on the Sunday of the parish’s annual vestry meeting. ...
A group of young teens gathers around an Advent wreath and lights one of the candles

O come, let us adore him

November 30, 2022
As a kid, I remember sitting down in mid-November each year to write two Christmas lists. The first was for Santa, to be sent away ...
A group of bishops in purple cassocks with some spouses stand outside Canterbury Catherdal

‘It is a privilege and honour to attend’

October 31, 2022
Bishops Andrew Asbil, Riscylla Shaw and Kevin Robertson of the Diocese of Toronto shared their thoughts on the 15th Lambeth Conference during an online conversation ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

Resilience and hope in perilous times

June 20, 2022
God is good! I went to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan for the first time in October 2021, to witness the ordination of deacons. One of the ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

Ensuring safe space for all

May 1, 2022
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

This Mortal Flesh: reflections on living with pain and uncertainty

March 1, 2022
God is good. As we lean into Lent, we all have been changed by this desert experience. Two years of pandemic living have alternately trudged ...
Four young people light a large advent candle

A gift of love

December 1, 2021
God is good! As we set our faces towards the Star of Bethlehem, let us recall that we are created and infused with love from ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

Saints: the stars of our faith

November 1, 2021
On a recent walk through the Entertainment District in Toronto with my family, my eyes were drawn to a maple leaf-like star embedded in the ...

An important gathering of the Church

November 1, 2021
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. ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

A song of hope and healing

October 1, 2021
God is good! The air is heavy and sweet this morning, with gentle birdsong and cicadas chirping. It is near the end of a long, ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

Troublemakers and co-conspirators

June 1, 2021
When American congressman John Lewis died last summer, he was honoured by leaders across the political spectrum and around the world. In various tributes that ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

Getting out of our boxes – or letting each other out?

May 1, 2021
God is good! Genesis 1:27: “Humankind was created as God’s reflection: in the divine image God created them…” from the Inclusive Bible. What categories do ...

Our story begins again

April 1, 2021
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 ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

Jesus is our peace in the midst of the storm

March 1, 2021
I recently attended a virtual retreat led by Brother James Koester of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Boston. Normally I like to ...

We must do our part – together

March 1, 2021
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, ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

Letting go of certainty

February 1, 2021
God is good and hope is a gift from God. As we enter the one-year mark of this global pandemic, I encourage you to take ...
A notepad its on a desk near a pen, laptop and phone

God’s richest blessings for the year ahead

January 1, 2021
Happy New Year! 2020 was certainly a year for the history books, if not for the dustbin, and by time you are reading this article, ...

I pray we will not lose our 2020 vision

January 1, 2021
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, ...