In this column, we will concentrate on 1 Corinthians. This is Paul’s second longest epistle in the New Testament and probably his second most important. (The letters in the New Testament are listed according to length; thus, 1 Corinthians follows the Epistle to the Romans.)

Paul seems to have had a love-hate relationship with the Corinthian church, which he had established during his second missionary trip in 50 CE. During that journey, he stayed in Corinth for 18 months. Corinth was the home of the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and it was a rather sinful city. It was also the capital of the Roman province of Achaia (most of modern-day Greece). The story of Paul’s mission there can be found in Acts 18:1-17.

His first letter to the Corinthians was written from Ephesus in about 55 CE, during his third missionary journey. Paul stayed in Ephesus for almost three years and met with Chloe’s people, who were from Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:11). He also received a letter from the Corinthian church. It included a long list of difficulties about church life. Paul tried to help the Corinthians correct these abuses, calling on them to reflect on what it meant to be called from their pagan past into a new life in Jesus Christ.

His first pastoral concern was unity. There were arguments among the members of the Corinthian church as to whom was to be considered superior – Paul, Apollos, Cephas or Christ. (Cephas is the Greek name for Peter. It is doubtful that he was ever in Corinth, but some of his followers may have passed through it.) “Christ” was probably inserted into this list by Paul to emphasize that they were all baptized into Christ.

Paul answered these complaints. “Has Christ been divided?” he asked. “Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:13). He said unity in the body of Christ was essential to the church. There was only one Christ, who was crucified for everyone. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth,” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:5.

Chapters 12 to 14 may be the most important part of his epistle. They form a unit and give us a glimpse into worship in the first-century church. It starts with a discussion about the gifts of the Spirit. There are many gifts listed, such as wisdom, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues and interpretation of tongues, but there is only one Spirit who allocates each of these gifts.

Paul continues his narrative with a beautiful analogy of the Body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). There is one Body with many parts: each member has his or her own purpose and each works with the other parts of the Body for the proper functioning of the whole. The church is the Body of Christ. It has many members, having different gifts, but all working together to build it up.

At the end of chapter 12, Paul writes, “And I will show you a still more excellent way.” What follows is probably the most beautiful passage in the New Testament, Paul’s great love sonnet, found in 1 Corinthians 13.

Love is the central theme of this first epistle. Love builds up the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 8:1). As Paul so eloquently states in chapter 13, “If I do not have love, I gain nothing.”

Chapter 14 speaks about the gifts of prophecy and tongues. These gifts are given for building up the Body of Christ. The gift of tongues is important for the individual, but for building up the Body, it needs to be interpreted. Prophecy, on the other hand, builds up the Body as it is given. Paul continues with the need for orderly worship. “God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:39-40).

I encourage you to read this letter to the Corinthians from beginning to end. It is only 16 chapters in length. Let Paul’s words speak to you across the centuries. Visualize the people in Corinth who received the letter so long ago. Feel with them the impact of Paul’s words upon the life of their church. Let his words resonate in your hearts – and enjoy the dialogue.

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“It was very short notice and our committee went into high gear,” recalls Canon Peake, the incumbent of St. Bride, Clarkson, a community in the south-west corner of Mississauga.

The next day – Dec. 31 – Canon Peake and some members of the church’s refugee sponsorship committee drove to a hotel near Pearson International Airport to meet the family – Riad Al-Hussein, his wife Aisha and their three young children. None of the newcomers could speak English so one of Canon Peake’s group wrote on a sign in Arabic. Mr. Al-Hussein saw it and stepped forward, pointing to himself.

“We were really excited to meet them,” says Canon Peake, adding that it was “a bit of a madhouse” for the next two days as the family stayed in a motel in Clarkson while members of the refugee committee and other parishioners scrambled to buy groceries, collect furniture and secure permanent housing.

The committee signed the lease on a townhouse about a kilometre from the church and the family moved into their new home. For the first time in years, they didn’t have to worry about violence.

“Riad kept saying ‘Canada salaam,’” says Canon Peake. (Salaam is a salutation meaning “peace,” most often used in Islamic countries.) “After a couple of days they were beginning to realize how peaceful Canada is compared to where they were.”

Although Mr. Al-Hussein couldn’t speak English, he started to tell his story. Using his cell phone, he showed a picture of his brother to Canon Peake and made the sound of gunshots. Later, Mr. Al-Hussein pointed to one of his young sons and then back to his brother’s photo, indicating that he had been shot in front of the boy.

Canon Peake believes the family, who are Muslim, fled Syria some years ago before living in Lebanon. None of the children, age 7 and under, have been to school – a situation that will soon change. The kids are being accessed and, after being given immunization shots, will be starting school.

In addition to St. Bride’s, the family is receiving help from the nearby Polycultural Centre, which provides Arabic-speaking people to arrange things like ESL classes, immunizations and health care. Although the parents are keen to find jobs, their first priority is to learn English, says Canon Peake. “They’re really keen to learn English and work. They’re highly motivated to get things on track.”

He says this is the first time since sponsoring a Vietnamese family in the 1970s that St. Bride’s has sponsored a refugee family. It started last fall when he was approached by three people in one day who asked if the church was going to do anything to help with the growing humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. He contacted Ian McBride, the executive director of AURA (the Anglican United Refugee Alliance), who came to a meeting at the church. About 45 people attended – a tremendous show of support.

What happened next really surprised by Mr. McBride and Canon Peake, who explains: “I told the congregation on a Sunday morning, I think there’s a lot of support for this, but before I sign on the dotted line I want to have a sense that we’re going to be able to come up with the $40,000 that we’re going to need to support this family in Clarkson. By the next Sunday, we had $44,000.”

He adds: “People have really come on board. They’ve donated everything we’ve needed.”

He plans to invite the family to church but is in no rush. “I’m going to invite the family to come to the church at some point if they’re comfortable doing that. They’re fairly devout Muslims so it might be uncomfortable for them or it might not be. Right now, we’re just building a good friendship with them.”

He says helping to bring the family to Canada and settling them in Clarkson has been hugely fulfilling for him personally. “I love it. I went morning-to-night for two days in a row when they first arrived and I felt so energized by it.”

The church has been changed by it, too. “It’s certainly changed the people who have been directly involved, in terms of feeling like this is a way of really putting faith into action. It’s impacted the wider congregation in that it has given them a chance to also share and make this happen.”

The post Church welcomes Syrian refugees appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

Karen Anderson, ODT
St. Monica, Toronto
Ms. Anderson has given love, compassion and advocacy to the people of her parish. She has taken as a way of life Christ’s challenge: “what you do to these the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me.” In Ms. Anderson, Christ’s siblings have found a proud champion.

Lois Brennan, ODT
Parish of Bobcaygeon, Dunsford and Burnt River
Mrs. Brennan has a lifetime of devotion to serving Jesus Christ. Her love for the church has been exemplified by leadership in liturgy, prayer, preaching, study and healing ministries. She has served for more than nine decades in all aspects of parish life in many parishes. She is an inspiration to her fellow parishioners, as she continued her role of lay anointing until fall 2015.

Shirley Cook, ODT
St. David, Orillia
Mrs. Cook was nominated for her extensive service to the church. She has served with her parish’s advisory board, altar guild and children’s choir, organized and cooked countless parish meals, baked communion bread and sung in the choir. Mrs. Cook has faithfully visited the sick and shut-ins, as well as retirement and nursing homes, in a manner that exemplifies her compassionate and Christ-like heart.

Brother Reginald-Martin Crenshaw, ODT
Order of the Holy Cross Priory, Toronto
Brother Reginald-Martin is an integral diocesan resource. He has served as an associate at St. Paul, Rexdale and as a Natural Church Development coach, parish selection committee facilitator and parish administrator. He brings deep experience and practical skill to conflict management situations and diversity education and is grateful to work and live in parish ministry, where he finds his true joy.

Gwen Dimon, ODT
Church of the Resurrection, Toronto
Mrs. Dimon has shown faithful, joyful service since her baptism in 1937. She is a faithful and dedicated source of wisdom and has loyally served her church family in many ways. Her knowledge of the church, the scriptures and the Lord have contributed significantly to the work God has done in her parish, and she remains an active blessing to her fellow parishioners.

Charlotte Empringham, ODT
St. Paul, Beaverton
Ms. Empringham was nominated for her faithful service in her parish. She has volunteered as a churchwarden, lay reader and parish leader. Her ability to live out her vocation, both in the church and in the community, is an outward sign of her faithfulness.

Keith Forde, ODT
Church of the Nativity, Malvern
Mr. Forde has worked tirelessly in the wider Toronto community. A retired deputy chief of the Toronto Police Service, he is a member of the Anglican Diocesan Response Team, Sickle Cells Camp Jumoke and the TELUS Toronto Community Board, and a former board member of the Scarborough Hospitals and United Way Youth Challenge Fund. Mr. Forde has an outstanding reputation for fairness and quality, and a strong commitment to race relations.

Bill Gliddon, ODT
Parish of Haliburton
Mr. Gliddon has provided extraordinary service as organist and choirmaster for more than 50 years at St. George, Haliburton. He supports and encourages the arts both within the parish and in the wider community. He has directed many musicals for the local high school, where he taught for 35 years.

William Goodyer, ODT
St. Margaret, Barrie
Mr. Goodyer was nominated for his work in children’s and youth ministry. His passion, dedication and love for children have made a difference in their lives, as well as in the wider ministry at St. Margaret, Barrie, while never seeking recognition or acknowledgement.

Gertrude Gowan, ODT
St. Luke, Creemore
Mrs. Gowan has shown quiet evangelism, courage and faith through her work in her parish, the diocese and her community. She is community-minded, faithfully providing food for the ill, bereaved or less fortunate and sending cards on all occasions to many of the people in her village – an example of true discipleship.

Susan Graham Walker, ODT
Church of the Redeemer, Bloor Street
Mrs. Graham Walker has been an integral part of the church through her service in children’s ministry, LOGOS and lay ministry training. She was a staff member of the diocesan Ministry Resources department, and was later on the staff of General Synod. She was instrumental in setting up the diocese’s Supporting Congregations Volunteer Corps. She wrote much of the original parish selection committee manual and piloted the facilitated parish selection committee process the diocese uses today. Mrs. Graham Walker still finds time to volunteer as a facilitator and offer her leadership within her parish, even as she serves as the manager of Congregational Giving and Stewardship with the United Church of Canada.

John Hall, ODT
Christ Church, Brampton
Mr. Hall was nominated for his consistent and sacrificial servant leadership through hospitality, administration, stewardship, mission and outreach. As an active single dad, his ministry has been rooted in the parish, where he has raised his daughters. Mr. Hall supports the weak, journeys with those who mourn and offers leadership, all for the betterment of the church and those who are not yet members.

Elizabeth Hill, ODT
St. Cuthbert, Leaside
Ms. Hill has served with the diocesan Volunteer Corps since its inception in the 1990s. She was one of the original Natural Church Development coaches when the program was introduced in 2005, and was also a member of the first FaithWorks steering committee. Ms. Hill has facilitated dozens of parish selection committees, worked as a Synod Animator and on the Synod planning and agenda committees, chaired the Bishop’s Company Dinner, and is a long-serving and highly valued member of the diocese’s Postulancy Committee.

Robert Horne, ODT
St. Luke, East York
Mr. Horne has shown outstanding and faithful commitment and service to his parish, his episcopal area and the diocese. He lives out his faith in positive and meaningful ways that show Christ at work in our world. Using his talents and expertise, he has served in numerous capacities in the parish and on various committees and boards of management in the church and in the community. As a tireless worker for the church, Mr. Horne’s lifetime commitment and contribution over the years cannot be measured.

Alfred Jenkins, ODT
Holy Spirit, Dixie North, Mississauga
Mr. Jenkins was nominated for faithful service to God and the church throughout his life. His leadership roles in his parish have included churchwarden, treasurer and chair of the Forward in Faith campaign. He has shown great care and concern for fellow parishioners, often visiting sick and shut-in members and befriending those who need support, all the while remaining steadfast in faith, love and devoted service.

John Kean, ODT
Christ Church, Woodbridge
Mr. Kean has provided faithful service on key management boards and committees. As a founding member of FaithWorks, he also served as chair of his local parish campaign for seven years. He has since held various volunteer roles in the diocese, serving on York-Simcoe Area Council, Canon 25 Board of Management, the Our Faith-Our Hope Feasibility Study Committee and the Bishop’s Company. Mr. Kean is constantly engaged in his church and community, generously giving of his time and talents.

Frank Little, ODT
St. Paul, Innisfil
Mr. Little has held almost every office possible within the life of his parish over 48 years of ministry. A churchwarden to five incumbents and chair of the property committee, Mr. Little also coordinates his parish’s annual spring flea market, organizes the monthly men’s dinner club and weekly seniors’ darts group, and is a lector and a founding member of the weekly Bible study. Mr. Little currently represents St. Paul’s in the Barrie reconfiguration process.

Joe Menard, ODT
Holy Family, Heart Lake, Brampton
Mr. Menard was nominated for his unselfish work in his parish, where his admirable demeanor is an example for younger members. He is always willing to help, no matter what the situation.

Sandy Richmond, ODT
St. George, Allandale
Mr. Richmond has served for 20 years on the diocese’s Chaplaincy Committee. He tirelessly advocates for chaplains in hospitals and schools, ensuring that when families and individuals need spiritual and religious care, there are competent and committed Anglican chaplains ready to meet their needs. Mr. Richmond’s specialized ministry to the chaplains of the diocese is greatly valued.

Annie Robertson, ODT
Parish of Fenelon Falls
Mrs. Robertson is described as a mentor who has taught others how to be good members of the church and the community. She has provided faithful service on the ACW executive and as hospitality coordinator, historian, lector and storyteller to children at Vacation Bible School. As she approaches her 95^th birthday, Mrs. Robertson continues to be an example of Christian faithfulness lived out in kindness, faithful prayer and creative leadership in her church and community.

Stephen Rodaway, ODT
St. Margaret, Barrie
Mr. Rodaway began his volunteer service with the diocese as a youth member of Synod in 2000. He has served the diocese in many capacities, particularly on the Arrears Committee since 2005 and now as chair of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation. Mr. Rodaway has a gift for working alongside parishes that are struggling to faithfully and graciously help them find their financial feet.

Robert Saunders, ODT
St. Timothy, Agincourt
Mr. Saunders was nominated for his coaching and administrative work in the diocese. He has served as a Bishop’s Envoy since 2007, a parish selection committee coach since 2011 and recently as a parish administrator on the board of St. Peter, Carleton Street and at St. Columba and All Hallows, Toronto. Mr. Saunders is a passionate advocate of preserving our churches, notably through his extensive photography, and sees them not as museums but as places of mission and living proclamations of faith.

Malcolm Savage, ODT
Holy Trinity, Trinity Square
Mr. Savage has provided extraordinary service to his parish for more than 25 years. In addition to improving various administrative measures, his generosity of spirit has shone clearly in visiting the dying, building innovative networks for vulnerable people, offering support to people from all walks of life whom he encountered in the church during the week, and especially in his tireless work to help Holy Trinity settle some 130 refugees from around the world. Mr. Savage lives out Christian values in his modest, joyful and self-effacing manner.

Heather Steeves, ODT
Congregational Development
Ms. Steeves was nominated for her extensive work as a Volunteer Management and Congregational Development Consultant with the diocese. She has found great joy in recruiting, training and supporting gifted lay leaders to facilitate parish selection committees and Fresh Start modules, as well as coaching parish teams in Natural Church Development and Appreciative Inquiry processes. Ms. Steeves’ purpose in life is “to be a disciple of the Gardener,” a purpose she has lived out daily in her work and will continue to do into her retirement.

John Stevens, ODT
Church of the Redeemer, Bloor Street
Mr. Stevens is a faithful volunteer within the diocese’s Congregational Development department. He has served as a Fresh Start facilitator, a coach working with parish selection committees and a member of the diocesan Reconfiguration Group. He is also a long-time volunteer in his parish, serving in outreach, worship and on the advisory board. Notably, Mr. Stevens chaired a working group that produced new resources for parish search committees and coaches, and opened an ongoing conversation about ways to foster the development of healthier congregations during the transition process.

Dorothy Stewart, ODT
Christ Church, Bolton
Mrs. Stewart has shown lifelong service to the diocese and her parish. She has organized and participated in fundraising for bazaars, church suppers, weddings and funerals. Her kitchen work over the years inspired her to donate a commercial dishwasher for the church kitchen. Using her home as a repository, Mrs. Stewart spearheads community outreach by producing garments, quilts, afghans and teddy bears for traumatized children, all made with materials donated by her admirers.

Susan Stuart, ODT
St. Aidan, Toronto
Mrs. Stuart is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of those who are struggling, particularly through refugee work and community outreach. In the context of the current Syrian refugee crisis, she is giving advice to local groups preparing to sponsor refuges by sharing her years of experience and encouraging others to get involved.

Barbara Trocewicz, ODT
Parish of Minden-Kinmount
Ms. Trocewicz has been a devoted worker and member of St. Paul, Minden for 40 years. She serves her parish as a lay reader, lay pastoral assistant, chancel director and choir member and considers the time she spends with her church family as some of her happiest times.

Barbara Truax, ODT
St. Paul, Lindsay
Ms. Truax’s commitment to her Christian faith is exemplified both to her parish and her wider community. Her list of accomplishments over a period of more than 65 years is long, and she continues to take on new projects and guide them to completion. Ms. Truax is not just a hearer of the word, but a doer. She is a great inspiration to others in the parish and the community.

Tony van Straubenzee, ODT
Christ Church, Deer Park
Mr. van Straubenzee has provided a lifetime of service to the Anglican Church. He has used his natural and professional skills to serve in his home parishes as churchwarden, Sunday School teacher, chair for many fundraising initiatives and a recruiter for senior leadership roles in the church. Mr. van Straubenzee was the founding chair of FaithWorks Corporate in 2004, an appeal that has generated nearly $4 million in its first 11 years.

Harcourt Walcott, ODT
St. Joseph of Nazareth, Bramalea
Mr. Walcott shows a dedicated and passionate love of serving God and God’s people. He has worked tirelessly since joining St. Joseph of Nazareth in 1999, serving in several ministries. His work and worship in the parish demonstrate his profound and unwavering belief in a God who bestows mercy, grace and blessings.

Laura Walton, ODT
Parish of Batteau and Duntroon
Ms. Walton was nominated in recognition of her exceptional work in the diocese and her parish. A lay member of Synod, Provincial Synod and General Synod for several terms, she has also served on Diocesan Council, been diocesan Honorary Lay Secretary of Synod and assisted in the planning of diocesan, provincial and general synods. Ms. Walton is currently Prolocutor of Provincial Synod and a member of Provincial Executive Council. She was also the diocesan coordinator of children’s ministry.  These roles represent only a fraction of the ways in which she puts her faith into action.

Paul Yu, ODT
All Saints, Markham
Mr. Yu has provided long-time, faithful ministry in his parish. Serving as churchwarden and a lay member of Synod, he has helped to shepherd his parish through building projects and stewardship, missional and educational programs that are helping it respond to the growing Chinese community in York Region.

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So, what does “LGBTQQ2SIA” mean, anyway? It means “value and cherish your neighbour.”

While I could go into a lengthy exposition of the meanings of “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual,” “queer,” “transgender,” “gender-fluid,” “Two-Spirit” and the myriad of other identities that make up LGBTQ+ communities, I think it is more valuable to talk about what a beautiful act of love and recognition it is to use the terms people use for themselves. The identities, orientations, communities and cultures included in that long acronym are complex and beautiful. There are many helpful resources online designed to give new initiates to the world of queer-language a better understanding of who queer people are and why they use those identifying terms.  We should use these resources to learn more, but as Christians we have more to offer LGBTQ people than just our newfound knowledge. The LGBTQ community is accustomed to being hurt by words, but what if we used our words for healing?

One of the things I’ve recently been struck by in the Gospels is Jesus’ teaching on being a “neighbour.” When Jesus taught his followers that they should love their neighbours, a clever scholar asked him, “And who is my neighbour?”

Jesus’ followers knew they were supposed to love their neighbour; it’s just that they had a pretty narrow view of who their neighbour was. Maybe, they thought, neighbours were people who shared their language and culture. Maybe neighbours were people who looked like them.  But neighbours were not foreigners and certainly not Samaritans. Jesus’ followers were quite confident that they did not need to be neighbourly with those people. But our Redeemer Jesus teaches something different.

The people you meet? They are all your neighbours; the outcast is your neighbour; the Samaritan is your neighbour.  And being a neighbour is a serious call.

When we encounter someone who is quite different from ourselves, we are encountering a new neighbour. LGBTQ+ people are our neighbours, in every sense of the word. When we take the time to learn validating language, to use the pronouns that each person prefers, to meet people and listen to who they are with love and gentleness of heart, we are loving our LGBTQ+ neighbours.

The Gospel of Luke tells the story of Zacchaeus, the tax-collector. When Zacchaeus is on the outskirts of a fervent crowd, up in the branches of a tree, Jesus calls Zacchaeus down from the tree and into his story. Jesus brings Zacchaeus in, by calling him by name. When we see our LGBTQ+ neighbours for who they are, and call out to our neighbours by name, we recognize that God is calling them into his story, just as he called Zacchaeus the tax-collector down from the tree.

Not everyone has an identity that falls into the rainbow of LGBTQ+, but each of us are fearfully and wonderfully made, with complex, faceted identities. How wonderful then, that God sees each of us in our myriad identities, calls us by name and brings us into his story. Wherever you are in your journey of meeting and loving your LGBTQ+ neighbours, God has blessed you with the capacity to heal and love through your words.

The post God calls us by name appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

I am the relationship manager of our organization’s interfaith partnerships. Those partners that fall within my portfolio – including the Diocese of Toronto and its parishes – offer critical support to our affordable home-building work through volunteering and financial support as well as advocacy around the need for affordable housing in our region.

We are thrilled to have completed and dedicated 23 homes for our partner families in 2015, one of those being the first-ever Diocese of Toronto-sponsored home at our 960 Brimley Rd. site in Toronto’s east end. This year will see us working on 46 homes in Toronto, Brampton, Caledon, Stouffville and Newmarket. We invite parishes and other faith communities in these areas to support our work.

Easily the best part of my work is the privilege of serving alongside a richly varied community of families and supporters. In a region as diverse as the Greater Toronto Area, “Habitaters” arrive by way of countless ethnic, faith, socio-economic and other backgrounds. The opportunity to make these acquaintances, to learn from their perspectives and to affect a measurable social impact in concert with them is hugely rewarding.

Perhaps the toughest part of my work is challenging myself and others to truly live out our contempt for poverty. I’ve found that most people will declare with complete sincerity that they are deeply moved by the plight of those who live in substandard housing, but fewer are prepared to avail their own time, resources or proverbial backyards to develop affordable housing. Fewer still are prepared to assume a lifestyle of solidarity with the poor, not merely supporting our work – or that of any charity – on a project basis, but existing in opposition to those policies, market activities and social assumptions that facilitate systemic poverty as a matter of course. This latter disposition is deeply important, not to mention exquisitely Christ-like. My hope is that I might grow in my ability to exemplify and inspire movement in this direction.

I was born and raised in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and did undergraduate and graduate studies in journalism at nearby Kent State University. I worked primarily in news and community relations until 2006, when I relocated to Toronto to take up a call to seminary. In 2010, I graduated from the University of Toronto, Emmanuel College, with a Master of Theological Studies degree.

On graduating from seminary, my initial intent had been to continue in doctoral-level study. During my discernment of whether I was best suited for a career in the academy, the opportunity arose to volunteer with Habitat GTA in a number of capacities. I began as a volunteer on build sites, then progressed to crew leader. Simultaneously, I was invited to serve as a writer and editor for Habitat GTA’s marketing and communications department and as a member of the organization’s Interfaith Outreach Committee. When the prospect came up to join Habitat GTA as its manager of faith engagement, I jumped at the chance.

Habitat appealed to me as a wonderfully unique vocational environment wherein I might see my faith put into measurable action. I was very much inspired by a notion coined by our founder, Millard Fuller. In his “Theology of the Hammer,” he suggested that despite differences in belief or social orientation, most people – and particularly people of faith – can do God’s work by coming together under the impetus to serve those in need in the most menial of ways. It’s through this unifying notion that Habitat’s presence around the planet has thrived over the past 40 years.

I was raised in the African American Baptist tradition and grew up in an area of suburban Cleveland that boasted what was then the densest Orthodox Jewish community between New York and Chicago. At the same time, my public school district was probably the most diverse in the Greater Cleveland Area. I enjoyed the friendship of classmates from any number of faith traditions – Islam, Sikhi, Buddhism, etc. From very early, my spiritual imagination was roused by the mosaic of traditions around me. I believe it was in university, though, around the time of the Gulf War, when my appreciation of faith began to evolve from something chiefly aesthetic to something utterly transformative where issues of social dysfunction and restoration are concerned.

Habitat for Humanity is a global federation from which I would be honoured to retire. Its vision, its mission and values, its history of radical inclusivity, its Abrahamic foundation of caring for those in the margins – they all resonate deeply with me. In coming years, I would love to extend my personal ministry with Habitat, working with our affiliates in nearly 100 countries to maximize regional interfaith partnerships in service to families in need.

Having lived, studied, and worked among such a diversity of people throughout my life, I’ve come to really appreciate the extent to which well-considered communication – or the measured restraint therefrom – sets the tone for the lives we build with each another. Proverbs 25:11 offers, “[Like] golden apples in silver settings, [so] is a word spoken at the right time.” There’s such beauty and practical wisdom in that, I find.

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My comments here are the result of a recent clash between a priest and a funeral home. They are prefaced by my understanding that funeral arrangements are in the hands of the family, and the church may or may not be invited to have a part in it.

Death is a universal human reality. If I have learned nothing else in the 38 years since I have been ordained, I know this: no one gets out of this life alive! We all die. Throughout human history, death has been marked in some way or another – simply or elaborately, with accompanying religious rites or not. There are almost as many practices around the reverent disposition of a human body as there are cultures: some bodies are interred almost immediately while others wait for weeks; some are buried while others are burned; some burial practices are on land and some are on water; some wash the body in preparation while some will not touch the dead; some have religious rites, others civil celebrations. Still others have a simple family gathering.

(While you did not hear it from me, next time your mind wanders from the liturgy in church, take a look at an article concerning funerals on page 565 in the Book of Alternative Services. It is most interesting!)

The Christian attitude toward death, while changing over the centuries, has been inextricably linked to the biblical accounts of our belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the saving power found in Christ and the hope of eternal life. It is entirely fitting that the church be the place from which a Christian life is celebrated and that the ordained leader of the church be the minister of the service. The church is the one place that can mark all of life’s passages – birth, baptism, confirmation, marriage (and, yes, divorce and remarriage), joyful times, sorrowful times, and death.

That’s the theory, but what happens in practice? It is sad to say, but there is sometimes an uneasy professional relationship between the clergy and the funeral industry. Like most of life, it pays to be proactive in this area as well. Here are a couple of thoughts you might consider, remembering that all of us will die:

• Tell your family what your wishes are. In my family, we were very fortunate that both our father and our mother were very open with us about their wishes regarding their “funerals.” They spoke to us about it and they wrote it down. And, God bless them, they gave us the wiggle room to decide at the time of their deaths what was best and what was practical so that we did not live with the guilt of knowing we missed something.
• Get a will. If you don’t write down your wishes, then by default someone else will decide it for you.
• Pre-plan your funeral with a funeral director. Every funeral home offers a wide variety of services, from very inexpensive to very elaborate. Tell the funeral director that you are a member of a church and that you want the involvement of the church and your local minister. If you wish the church to be the location of your funeral service, tell them that. There is no reason they cannot accommodate your wishes.
• Pre-plan your funeral with your priest so that he or she is aware of your wishes. Write it down and have it put in the parish files. Clergy move!

In my personal experience, both as a consumer of their services and as a priest, I have enjoyed a good relationship with very professional and sensitive people in the funeral industry. But these are not always the reports I receive from clergy. There seems to be an increasing tension between the church and the funeral industry in some places.

When a death occurs, call your priest first and your funeral home second. That way, you can ensure that both professionals work together to help you and support you through this difficult time. Make sure that the cleric is consulted immediately about the time and place of the service. The funeral industry no longer assumes it is dealing with people of faith, so if you wish to have the church involved, contact it early on. Clergy will benefit from establishing a good, open relationship with all the funeral service providers in the community and sharing with them the kinds of expectations they have.

It is not surprising that more funeral services are being led by “civil celebrants” or “rent-a-Revs” than by parish clergy. Why should that be? Certainly, there is an increase in those who have no religious faith and who, for the sake of their own integrity, do not wish a religious presence. However, I suspect that is not the full reason. Here is what I have heard from funeral directors and people who don’t think they can be buried from the church. It is not complimentary: clergy do not always answer their phones and they take a day or two to get back to a family requesting their presence at a funeral; clergy are unwilling to lead the funeral services of non-members; clergy are not flexible with their calendars.

Some funeral homes report that the quality of the clergy leadership at funeral services is quite uneven. Some clergy do not take the time to meet with the family ahead of time, some try to get through the service at breakneck speed, and many provide no follow-up at all. I have fielded complaints from people on these very matters. One adult son was furious that a priest took his father’s service by coming to a funeral home 10 minutes before the start of the service and whipping through it in 20 minutes, never mentioning his father’s name once and leaving without evening speaking to the son! And to make matters worse, the father was a parishioner! Incidents like this may account for why funeral homes have taken over the ministry of bereavement counselling and follow-up, an area that once was firmly in the church’s domain.

It always saddens me when tension between funeral professionals and the church somehow infect the marking of the death of an individual. A little pre-planning and communication can make a world of difference. “Can I be buried from my church?” Absolutely.

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Near the end of our trip, I took some time to offer a prayer of gratitude for all who made the trip possible. It was our decision to go. We thought through the plan. We joined some cousins who came along. We saved up the money. We ordered the tickets. We went. It was “our” trip, “our” holiday.

But as I thought about it, I began to realize how many other people made it possible for us to take “our” holiday. The travel agent. The airport staff. The flight attendants. The pilots. The traffic controllers.  The restaurant cooks and servers. The hotel staff. The drivers. The guides. The border control agents. The shop venders. The list goes on and on and on, both the obvious front-line people who provide the direct service as well as all the people you never see (or think of) who provide the food, fuel, documents, currency exchanges and infrastructure that make it all possible to travel. “My” trip became “our” trip. I literally depended on thousands of unnamed people to enjoy the trip I thought of as “mine.”

My prayer of thanksgiving became much longer than I had planned!

We live in a web of relationships which make living possible. In an age that has increasingly become focused on the individual, it is so easy to forget how interconnected we are. My decisions, actions, well- being and happiness are not anywhere nearly as autonomous as I might like to think they are.

There is a night prayer in the American Book of Common Prayer’s office of Compline (p. 134): “O God, your unfailing providence sustains the world we live in and the life we live: Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep, and grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other’s toil; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

This time of year brings this interconnectedness into particular focus. It is the time of annual meetings, where new officers of the parish are elected or appointed. On any particular Sunday – or weekday, perhaps – we might “decide” to “go to church” or not. We can frame it as, “It is between me and God,” but the parish church is there because of the countless hours of dedication of churchwardens and clergy, chancel guilds and servers, treasurers and diocesan officials, Sunday school teachers and catechists, pastoral care visitors and financial contributors. I thank God for all who contribute their time and talent, wisdom and money, prayers and presence to the mission of Christ in our parishes and communities. It makes a difference. “Our common life (as a church) depends on each other’s toil.”

We are also entering an unusually early season of Lent. Lent is a time for reflection, prayer, giving and confession. The Ash Wednesday liturgy in the Book of Alternative Services includes a Litany of Penitence, pp 283-285. One parishioner objected to praying it because “I haven’t done most of those things!” That’s hopefully true of most of us as individuals, but we all participate in a society where someone else has, whether on our behalf, in our name, or by our indifference. My sin, as well as my virtue, has impact and influence on those around me. “My” actions or inactions affect not only me but “us.” And so my repentance is important not only for confessing a sin and establishing a right relationship between me and God, but equally importantly between me and my neighbour, even those I might not know very well or even at all. This corporate dimension of our faith – its “political” aspect – is also why prayer (including thanksgiving and intercession) and almsgiving are also central to a good Lenten discipline.

May you have a gracious Lent. As St. Paul writes in Philippians, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

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The post-graduate degree – the only one of its kind in Canada – is often a requirement for those seeking ordination in the Orthodox Church. Previously, students who wanted the degree had to travel to seminaries in the United States, usually a prohibitively expensive undertaking.

“It was really quite a barrier, so the opportunity we’ve been given here at Trinity College is amazing,” says the Rev. Fr. Geoffrey Ready, an Orthodox priest and director of the program. “It’s a great benefit to the Orthodox Church across Canada.”

Trinity College’s faculty of divinity has been offering courses in Orthodox Christianity for the past 10 years and the new degree, established last year, is an extension of that, says Fr. Ready. “We decided to take it to the next level,” he says.

Three students were enrolled in the program in its first year and Fr. Ready is hoping for up to 12 when the next school year begins in September. The degree includes courses in Biblical studies from an Orthodox perspective, liturgics and pastoral ministry.

The Rev. Canon David Neelands, dean of divinity, says the enhanced Orthodox curriculum and the new students it will attract will benefit the college. “I think it’s a great development,” he says. “It will benefit us and a new population.”

Anglican students enrolled in Master of Divinity or Master of Theological Education programs at the college can take the Orthodox courses towards their degrees. “Orthodox historians and theologians have a lot to offer in terms of early church writers and history, and Anglicans have a long tradition of interest in Eastern Christianity – its icons, its spirituality and its authentic character,” says Canon Neelands.

The Anglican and Orthodox churches have a long history of mutual hospitality and learning. The late Bishop Henry Hill of the Diocese of Ontario devoted years to dialogue between the two churches.  More recently, the Rev. Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan and the Rev. Canon Philip Hobson have been involved in Anglican-Orthodox discussions.

Canon Neelands says that while the Anglican-Orthodox collaboration at Trinity College is unique in Canada, there are many other instances of cross-denominational learning. The Vancouver School of Theology and the Montreal School of Theology, for example, provide courses for Anglicans, United Church members and Presbyterians, while the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax offers courses for Anglicans, United Church members and Roman Catholics.

Fr. Ready is hoping the Orthodox curriculum and scholarship at Trinity College will raise the profile of the Orthodox Church, which he calls a well-kept secret. “It’s partly our fault because we haven’t been engaging the world as we ought to have. One of the main benefits of having our seminary at a university is that it gives us the opportunity to engage with the world and really tackle modern questions.”

The Orthodox Church, also commonly known as the Eastern Orthodox Church, has between 225 and 300 million adherents worldwide, making it the second largest single Christian denomination. It is comprised of 14 self-governing churches that are in communion with each other. There are about one million Orthodox Christians in Canada, mainly belonging to the Greek, Russian and Ukrainian traditions.

Fr. Ready is hoping the Orthodox programs at Trinity will act as a bridge between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church, which includes the Coptic, Armenian and Ethiopian traditions. The two churches are not in communion with each other. “We have both Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox lecturers on faculty, so we’re trying to bridge both families, which is another unique aspect of our program,” he says.

To celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Jan. 18-25), the Orthodox and Anglican traditions at the college will be holding an “Eastern Christian Service of Supplication for Christian Unity” in the college’s chapel on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. The chapel is located at 6 Hoskin Ave., Toronto. All are welcome.

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“Social justice issues do not only have a political dimension,” says Archbishop Colin Johnson. “The church also needs to speak about the biblical dimensions that impact or arise out of these issues. This opportunity for a discussion at an official body such as a parish vestry is important, regardless of the results of the decision.”

The formal work of the TRC wrapped up in June 2015 after a seven-year process. The commission held public hearings across the country for survivors of the Indian Residential School system and collected more than 6,200 statements from survivors and their families. These events documented decades of physical, sexual and emotional abuse suffered by thousands of Indigenous youth in more than 130 schools across the country, many run by Christian churches. In order to share these stories and insights, the TRC released a final report along with 94 calls to action directed to Canadians in all walks of life.

Although the formal process has come to an end, the work of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians requires ongoing commitment and effort to address a problematic history and move together towards a better future. In their summary report, the commissioners of the TRC wrote that for churches, “demonstrating long-term commitment requires atoning for actions within the residential schools, respecting Indigenous spirituality and supporting Indigenous peoples’ struggles for justice and equity.”

Archbishop Johnson echoes these priorities, noting that action on this issue is particularly important “because of the role the church had in residential schools, the number of Indigenous people who continue to be members of our church and the biblical call to be agents of truth and reconciliation. How we engage in that, not whether we engage in that, is the matter for discussion.”

This year’s vestry motion pursues this discussion by encouraging parishes to learn more about the TRC and the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada and calls for strong government action on two key recommendations contained in the calls to action. The motion affirms the federal government’s efforts to initiate an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and encourages ongoing commitment to this work. The motion also calls on the provincial government to develop an educational curriculum for all grade levels that addresses the history of the residential school system and highlights the contributions of Indigenous people to the history and culture of Canada.

Workshops were held in January in each episcopal area to build the capacity of interested parishioners and clergy to facilitate engagement in their parishes on the issues addressed in the motion.

The advocacy work of this motion carries on from earlier work that has been done, both locally and nationally, to heal the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Anglican Church. The results of the motion will be collected by diocesan staff and used in the diocese’s advocacy work with both the federal and provincial governments.

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Since that first conversation back in September, Mr. Squires and a small group of parishioners at St. Saviour, Orono have been joined by Anglicans from nearby towns and villages, Christians of different denominations, Muslims, social service agencies and community groups.

Supporters include the owners of the local café, dentists, clergy, migrant workers, an imam, retirees, a banker, a hedge fund manager, university students – more than 80 people from all over Trent-Durham. Even the local newspaper editors have chipped in.

“It really is a multi-faith initiative,” says Mr.  Squires. “The Anglican church started it, but we now call it the Orono Community Syrian Refugee Sponsorship.”

The goal, he says, is to bring a refugee family to Orono, a village just north of the town of Newcastle off Highway 35. The group is well on its way to doing that, having raised $23,000 by the middle of December.

Mr. Squires says he has been amazed by the number of people who have offered to help. “Many of them I’ve never met before. Just last night the Rotary Club of Bowmanville phoned and said we’d like to give you $2,500. It’s been incredible.”

Mr. Squires, who has never been involved in a refugee sponsorship before, says the planning group started small. “We didn’t cast our net wide. People just kept on volunteering, so we added them to the list.”

(His parish priest, the Rev. Kevin Wong, has since moved to All Saints, Markham, where he is the interim priest-in-charge. The Rev. Canon Susan Sheen is the new interim priest-in-charge of St. Saviour, Orono. Both priests support the effort, as does the local deanery clericus.)

The initiative gained momentum in early September, when an article about it was published in the Orono Weekly Times. The group also set up a Facebook page and an online portal for donations. The rest was done by word-of-mouth.

Two of the people who read about the initiative were Dr. Nosheen Zaidi and Dr. Aleem Lalani, a husband-and-wife couple who operate a dental practice in Newcastle. “Our main reason for wanting to support this cause from the beginning was knowing first-hand what families of refugees go through and the barriers they face,” says Dr. Lalani.

Both of his parents migrated to Canada from East Africa during Idi Amin’s dictatorship in Uganda in the 1970s. “Their home, business and savings were suddenly seized by the government and they were facing persecution,” he says. At that time, the federal government made arrangements for several thousands of refugees to come to Canada.

“My parents were one of the lucky ones that were accepted into this amazing country with open arms – a land of true opportunity,” says Dr. Lalani. “If it wasn’t for this opportunity, I would have never known what it would have been like to live a life of peace and security, nor would I have had the opportunity to study and obtain the opportunity to go to university and pursue my ultimate passion – dentistry. When I look at the images of what is going on in Syria, it is truly heart-breaking. I cannot imagine living each day of my life with such fear and uncertainty. We just knew we had to help out in whatever capacity we could.”

Like many people supporting the Orono sponsorship, Dr. Lalani and Dr. Zaidi have pledged practical support as well as financial help. They will be providing free dental care to the refugee family. Others have offered to translate and to give English lessons.

Mr. Squires says he has been inspired by a quote from Archbishop Colin Johnson, who wrote in The Anglican that bringing refugees to Canada was all about building communities. Archbishop Johnson was writing about his own experience of sponsoring a family from Vietnam in the late 1970s.

“I cut that out and put it on my computer because he is right on,” says Mr. Squires. “One of the most incredible parts of this has been the friendships we’ve made with complete strangers.”

He says he has been moved to tears by some of the fundraising efforts. Desley White, a migrant farm worker from Jamaica, gave a dozen cedar and pine wreaths he had made to St. John, Bowmanville, to raise funds for refugee sponsorship. From the sale of the wreaths, the church donated $100 to Orono’s efforts. “It’s been a blessing to see the ripple effect of giving,” says the Rev. Christopher Greaves, the incumbent of St. John’s.

Mr. Squires says a nine-year-old boy makes woolen “hope dolls” and sells them for 50 cents apiece, giving the money to the cause. “The stories are amazing,” says Mr. Squires. “It’s missional work.”

He adds: “I believe that if one small congregation in a rural Ontario church can achieve this, then every church in Canada can do the same, and many are indeed doing it. Archbishop Johnson is right. Any community can do it – it’s possible.”

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