The app is an unexpected result of the pandemic. As the reality of COVID-19 and church closures set in last March, so too did an increasing desire – or need – to pray. In particular, there was a renewed interest in praying the daily offices, says the Rev. Chris Dow, incumbent of St. James, Caledon and a national councillor with the Prayer Book Society of Canada.

The Rev. Mark Regis and the Rev. Jonathan Turtle, also of the Diocese of Toronto, approached Mr. Dow with the idea of developing a daily prayer app using the Book of Common Prayer. He ran it by Gordon Maitland, the national chairman of the PBS Canada, who enthusiastically supported the idea.

By Advent I, the start of the liturgical year, the Common Prayer Canada app was up and running for both Android and iOS phones as well as a web-based version for desktop computers. Mr. Dow said the development team wanted no barriers to acquiring the app, so they made it available for free. By mid-December it had been downloaded more than 600 times.

Mr. Dow is quick to point out that replacing the physical prayer book is not the goal. The app includes links on how to buy and use your own Book of Common Prayer. But with churches shuttered, access to the familiar maroon, pocket-sized book is limited.

The team sought feedback during the beta-testing stage from several prayer book devotees, including Martha Riddell, a recent Master of Divinity graduate of Trinity College and the child and youth minister at St. Olave’s, Swansea in Toronto. She says she meets many young Anglicans from evangelical or other denominations – on social media as well as in real life – who love the prayer book. The Eucharist can be overwhelming for some people who are new to Anglicanism, but not so the daily offices. “I have Baptist friends who love the prayer book because there is so much scripture, but also they love the structure of Morning Prayer. It’s a real tool of evangelism right now.”

Here’s how the app works:

• Choose whether you’d like to say daily offices or family prayers. The app automatically sets the day’s appointed scripture and collects.
• If you choose daily offices, you can select prayers for Morning, Mid-day, Evening or Compline, as well as the Litany and the Supplication. If you choose family prayers, you can specify morning or evening.
• Choose from the vast list of occasional prayers and thanksgivings that are meaningful to you. The list of prayers even includes one from the 1918 Book of Common Prayer, “In the time of any common Plague or Sickness.”
• Finally, just press “pray” and the order of service is laid out for you in one easy scroll.

There are other deeper settings as well, such as your preferred Bible translation, whether you’d like the 30-day or 60-day Psalm cycle, a long or short confession and prayer after confession (or an absolution if you’re a priest). The app makes it easy to adjust the size of the text as well.

For laypeople like me who might find Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer daunting, the family prayers are a comfortable alternative. They take just a bit less time to say and are designed specifically for home use. Set notifications to remind you when you want to pray and let this handy tool sharpen your prayer discipline for 2021.

For more information on the app, visit http://prayerbook.ca/resources/bcp-app/ or download Common Prayer Canada from your app provider.

The post Just press pray appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

However, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting church closures and suspension of the Eucharist, many people in the diocese may be unable to meet these requirements this year. Accordingly, Diocesan Council has addressed these issues so as to make it possible for Anglicans in the diocese to be considered members of vestry and eligible for election to Synod.

At its Dec. 17, 2020 meeting, Diocesan Council addressed these issues in a series of motions.  The first motion declared that for the purposes of Canon 14, “regularly scheduled services of worship” shall include any service conducted by conference call or virtual meeting platforms, whether live-streamed or pre-recorded, for the period since March 13, 2020 and on a continuing basis until Diocesan Council declares otherwise.”

Council further passed a motion declaring that “lay members of the diocese have not had the opportunity to communicate within the meaning of the Constitution since March 13, 2020 and continue to be without that opportunity by virtue of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”  While some Anglicans may have received communion in one kind after churches were re-opened in September, others will have stayed away from in-person services or declined to communicate, due to the ongoing health risk. These Anglicans can thus be certified by their incumbents or chairs of vestry meetings as eligible to serve as lay members of Synod, provided they meet the other requirements for that office. Diocesan Council will reverse this declaration at the point in the future when Council is satisfied that it is safe to return to worship.

Finally, the number of lay representatives each parish or designated ministry is entitled to send to Diocesan Synod is based on the average weekly attendance at that parish or designated ministry. Given the restrictions on in-person worship during the pandemic as well as the difficulty of determining reliable attendance numbers for virtual forms of worship, Diocesan Council passed a motion declaring that, for the purposes of Diocesan Synod in 2021, each parish vestry or designated ministry will be eligible to elect the same number of lay members as that parish or ministry elected for Diocesan Synod in 2019. This declaration follows a similar approach recently taken by the Council of General Synod in determining the number of delegates for General Synod 2022.

These motions will ensure that the diocese’s parish and diocesan governance bodies can be properly constituted despite the unusual conditions of this pandemic year.

The post Council resolves constitutional, canon Issues for vestries appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

St. Thomas, Huron Street’s refugee committee was having a difficult time finding an apartment for the family of five, who landed in Toronto in September after fleeing Syria for Turkey.

Michael Rowland, a member of the committee, says it was a major challenge to find suitable accommodations for the family in Toronto’s tight housing market. “It’s a huge challenge and very expensive,” he says.

Mr. Rowland and another committee member searched the Internet, enlisted the help of a real estate agent and went door to door, but had no luck. The apartments were either too small, too expensive or too far away.

To compound the problem, Mr. Rowland and his colleague were working under a tight deadline. The refugee family had to leave the church’s rectory, where they were temporarily staying, by Jan. 1 so that repairs could be made to the building for the parish’s new incoming rector.

“I was beginning to despair and lost many a sleepless night worrying about this,” recalls Mr. Rowland. “That’s when the Holy Spirit intervened.”

The committee was working with AURA (Anglican United Refugee Alliance), the sponsorship agreement holder. Upon learning of the problem, AURA advised the committee members to tell everybody they knew that they were looking for housing for a refugee family. Their best chance of finding an apartment, they were told, was through personal networks and connections.

It worked. Mr. Rowland, who is a member of the Toronto Chamber Choir, happened to mention to a fellow chorister that he was looking for accommodations for a refugee family. It turned out that the chorister was also a member of a refugee sponsorship committee that had just welcomed a family from Syria two weeks earlier.

Shortly after that conversation, Mr. Rowland received an email from his friend in the choir, saying that she had found an apartment for St. Thomas’s refugee family. It was a two-bedroom apartment near the corner of Yonge and Davisville in mid-town Toronto and, astonishingly, it was free for a year. It even came with an underground parking space.

“It was incredible,” recalls Mr. Rowland.

He took the family, whose last name is Murad, to look at it that day and they were delighted.  There were other Syrian refugees living in the building and they soon struck up conversations. They moved in on Dec. 30 and two of the three children enrolled in the local public school.

Looking back on the episode, Mr. Rowland praises the building’s landlord, O’Shanter Property Development, for its compassion and generosity. The company’s motto is “Managing to do the right thing” and it has provided free accommodation for other refugees in Toronto. The company is a family-owned business managed by Adam and Jonathan Krehm.

“It’s a sustained commitment that they’ve made,” says Mr. Rowland, referring to the Krehm brothers. “It’s so transformative for refugees. It’s a fundamental need that they’re addressing. They don’t proclaim it loudly but it was extremely heartfelt and fundamental to their values.”

It was the first time that Mr. Rowland participated in refugee resettlement and he says he would do it again. “To me, outreach work is the most significant manifestation and connection I make to the Holy Spirit. There are other ways, of course, but the rubber really hits the road in how we engage and support our broader community.”

The post ‘Holy Spirit’ helps family find home appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

“ARE WE THERE YET?”

Do you remember that question, yelled from the back of the car when you were a kid – or when your kids were kids – on a family road trip? Usually it was followed by, “HOW MUCH FURTHER?” and “I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM – NOW!”

My parents’ diversionary tactics in the face of such verbal onslaughts from me and my three siblings included, “It’s just around the next corner,” though which next corner was never detailed, or “Who has the Lifesavers? Someone pass around the Lifesavers” or “How about another game of I Spy with My Little Eye?”

I joined PWRDF (Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund) in 2001 as the Latin America/Caribbean program coordinator. In 2010, changes at PWRDF brought a change in my work as I took up the role of public engagement coordinator. 2010 was also a General Synod year at which PWRDF wrapped up the anniversary celebrations marking its 50-year “road trip” as the official development and relief agency of the Anglican Church of Canada.

And so, as my contribution to the celebrations and to meet some of the Anglicans I would be working with in my new role, I proposed that I take a road trip from General Synod in Halifax, through Springhill, Nova Scotia, site of the 1958 mine disaster that precipitated the creation of PWRDF, to St. Anne-de-Bellevue, a Montreal suburb and site of General Synod 1959, where PWRDF officially came into being. This 1,400 km road trip was dubbed “Le Tour de PWRDF” because it involved me and my trusty road bike, Olive, named for my grandmother.

I rode alone but met and stayed and shared the story of PWRDF and its partners around the world, with folk in Anglican parishes along the way. It was an amazing experience on all sorts of levels. Recently, I pulled out the daily blog entries and photos that were posted on the PWRDF website. So many good memories. My final blog entry contained 20 learnings I had along the way. Here are a few of them:

Always a hill

“There is always a hill at the end of the day! And in the case of the route from Charny to Thetford Mines in Québec, there are six hills! Once I had committed to cycling up a hill, there was generally no other choice but to get to the top without stopping, especially because I was cycling with clip-on shoes/pedals. Unless I could be really sure that there was no traffic coming over the crest of the hill, there was no turning across the road to get enough glide to unclip. So, it was pedal or fall over! Physical limits are what we make of them. And now I have legs of steel.”

Canadians are friendly

“Canadians are friendly and helpful in both official languages. Whenever I asked for directions, I always got helpful (!) responses, and when I explained that I spoke only a little French, the person I was speaking with would usually just smile, nod and carry on in rapid-fire Québécois! Canadian Anglicans are equally friendly and hospitable. I had more good parish and home-cooked meals than I can count, not to mention good, hot showers and comfy beds.”

Time for a shower

“It is never impolite to warmly greet one’s hosts and then immediately request a shower, as in, “Hello, it’s very nice to meet you. Could I have a shower? No really, you want me to have a shower!”

Spaciousness opens up

“The relationship between time and distance is different when you are on a bike. It took me a day to cycle 100 km, the distance it would normally take an hour or so to drive in a car. And so time slowed down, the intensity of the urban life I lead in Toronto diminished, and a certain spaciousness opened up. That was such a gift. That and time to think, but interestingly, it wasn’t the deep thinking I thought I might do about moving forward into a new job at PWRDF, or other changes-in-life themes. It was more thinking about how my body was feeling (‘Man, my butt hurts.’), what I would have to eat on my next break (‘Hmmm, energy bar or muffin?’), how amazing the eagle and the eagle’s nest I just stopped and took a photo of looked, and who I might be meeting down the road.”

A good news story

“The (now former) Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, often describes PWRDF as one of the good news stories of the Anglican Church of Canada. I learned that indeed it is. And it is good news because Anglicans in parishes large and small across this country support PWRDF and the work of our partners in many creative and meaningful ways. An organization doesn’t get to celebrate its 50^th birthday without the steadfast commitment of many, many people, some of whom I had the privilege to meet along the way.”

In the writings of the Apostle Paul, we also encounter a road trip. In his letters to early Christian communities, he too responds to the question, “ARE WE THERE YET?” as he and the early churches faced a time horizon of Christ’s return that went from being “just around the next corner” to an ever more distant future. Paul’s message: Live like Christ in faithful community in the here and now and in the midst of Empire.

The road trip we are on now called COVID-19 has us asking the same question, “ARE WE THERE YET?” Our physical, mental and emotional limits are being tested in ways they never have before. We don’t know how many more corners there will be, how many hills we will still have to climb. But we have one another and, to quote the great theologian Mr. Rogers, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people helping.”

Whether it is Paul to the early church, my parents with their endless patience and stash of Lifesavers on childhood road trips, the communities of faithful Anglicans and PWRDF supporters I met on Le Tour de PWRDF or health care leaders like Dr. Bonnie Henry who encourage us to “Be kind. Be calm. Be safe,” it is people – helpers, in relationship – who will see us to the end of the road trip.

The post Are we there yet? appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

In 2008, Maureen Chandler founded the prayer shawl ministry at St. George, Haliburton, modelled after a prayer shawl ministry in a church near Boston, Mass. She started with a small group of knitters who, with her encouragement, prayerfully knitted shawls. When urgently needed, a shawl could be provided in a few days, by passing from knitter to knitter as time was available.

Since then, the church has gifted more than 1,200 shawls, including 48 this past October to those in need, as well as to countries around the world including Serbia, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States. The knitters feel privileged to participate in this ministry, particularly during isolation due to COVID-19. Many feel it helps maintain their own health by giving them purpose each day.

The shawls are blessed by the parish priest and labelled with a cloth tag, “For your healing in Christ’s Love, St. George’s Church, Haliburton, Ontario.” The shawls are prayerfully chosen and then wrapped in cellophane representing the gift of prayers and God’s goodness. The accompanying card says, “Blessed with prayers for your healing in body, mind and spirit.”

Over time, 41 crafters have been involved in this ministry, many of whom were recipients of shawls.

St. George, Haliburton’s prayer shawl ministry has helped to knit the community together as the shawls become a visual reminder of God’s love and the prayers and the support of our community.

St. George, Haliburton

Church meal warm hearts

The idea was to provide a suppertime meal followed by a light worship service at St. Peter, Cobourg, primarily for those who were new to church. As time went by, the meal became the focus and a small group of 15-20 remained for the service. As the “Thursday Night Lite” (TNL) crowd went from being a group of individuals to being a community, it became apparent that there was a need in the area not only for a nutritious meal but companionship as well.

While some members of the parish were happy to participate in preparing and serving the meals, others initially expressed concerns about “those people” in the parish hall and a possible drain on the parish’s already strained finances. Quickly, in spite of some criticism, TNL started to pay for itself. People who came for a meal were happy to drop a toonie or more into the donation jar if they could, and donations came from others in support of the program. Occasionally, health groups would arrive prior to the meal to answer questions or direct people to affordable health care services.

During the pandemic, TNL continues as a take-out and delivery service to a growing group that receives over 100 hot meals per week. The people who can pick up their meals come early and chat outside with their neighbours. For some, this may be their only true interaction with members of their community during the week.

Once the pandemic is over, the program will continue, as it has now become part of the DNA of the parish. However, to improve the program, it will be necessary to canvas the participants to understand what brings them to the church. Is it the food? The companionship? Both? Or is it the need to be near people who care? Whatever the reason, St. Peter’s parishioners are happy to share with this new community and are ready to welcome its members back into our Great Hall once the pandemic has been quelled and we can gather again.

St. Peter, Cobourg

Church helps others in new ways

COVID-19 put a full stop to St. David Anglican Lutheran church, Orillia’s free Sunday morning breakfast that was shared with neighbours. With physical distancing and health requirements, it didn’t have the capacity to change the breakfast, so the congregation was not able to gather.

“Many families broke bread with us every week, and missing this one meal is a huge hit to their weekly budgets,” says the Rev. Lori Pilatzke, pastor and faith leader at St. David. “Not to mention the loss of being able to physically gather with our community. We pivoted to find ways we could provide support with our community partners.”

St. David’s now provides free masks to neighbours by hanging them on a Warming Cross located outside its building, at the corner of Regent and James Streets in Orillia. The church’s outreach committee prepares a simple lunch for guests at the Lighthouse, which serves homeless and vulnerable local residents. And the congregation’s Harmony Centre’s free one-to-one counselling sessions are back in-person as well as being held by Zoom and phone.

When the church received a surprise gift of a pandemic grant of $2,400 from Canadian Lutheran World Relief, members unanimously agreed to give $1,000 to the Sharing Place Food Bank. “Right now, the food bank is focused on feeding families and on school breakfasts,” said outreach committee member Sandy Donald. “We always seek ways to partner with others who share our love.”

The Sharing Place Food Bank’s School Fuel program is in 16 schools in Orillia and feeds more than 1,000 children every day.

St. David Anglican Lutheran Church, Orillia

Community pitches in for the needy

One not-so-little church, St. Michael and All Angels, on the corner of St. Clair and Wychwood Avenues in Toronto’s west end, faithfully ran a small foodbank called the Beeton Cupboard for more than 30 years. It was quiet, not very well known, but very useful to those who knew it was there.

Then COVID-19 hit and the Beeton Cupboard became a well-known place in the neighbourhood, seeing an increase of over 200 per cent of households that started to come for food security.

This little foodbank in a room of the church needed help. Who stepped up? An incredible community! Not once since COVID-19 became the governing factor has The Beeton Cupboard run empty. With the help of Second Harvest, the community was able to ensure that everyone got food any Wednesday – no questions asked – and yes, you would never, and will never, be turned away.

The Beeton Cupboard provides more than just food. It has given a coat to a man who was freezing, toys for the children who are having birthdays, a make-your-own-birthday-cake kit for a 15-year-old who doesn’t know her mom is out of work again.

Why do we do all this? Because our brothers and sisters deserve love and respect. We are family and when one of us is struggling, it’s one too many.

St. Michael and All Angels, Toronto

The post Parish News Roundup appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

FaithWorks is a charitable program of the Diocese of Toronto. We offer support to our ministry partners as they serve the needs of people who are Indigenous, homeless, hungry, at-risk women, children or youth, immigrants or refugees, or struggling with HIV/AIDS. We help them build communities of compassion and hope. As followers of Jesus, we offer new life. FaithWorks feeds, shelters, nurtures and befriends over 20,000 people in our communities and around the world every year.

I see my job as a ministry. It is to inspire and help people look further beyond themselves than they already do and extend a helping hand a little farther than they already do. As Christians, we understand that a core explanation and expression of Christ’s command to love one another is found in Matthew 25:31-46. I see FaithWorks as a way to channel our energies in response to this challenge and calling to love God and others.  To this end, my responsibility is to provide vision by opening up and maintaining channels of communication between our donors (individuals and parishes) and our ministry partners and the people they serve. In this way, the voices of the vulnerable can be heard and their needs known, while the love of those who are able to give can be given expression. In this way, the work of the Holy Spirit is manifest.

2021 is the 25^th anniversary of FaithWorks’ founding. The 25^th anniversary campaign will focus on the people FaithWorks serves through our ministry partners. Over the past year, our ministry partners have interviewed a number of the people that they serve and obtained permission to share these stories with us. Those of us in more fortunate circumstances are often not aware of the struggles others endure to obtain the things we take for granted. For example, during these shutdowns due to the pandemic, even finding a washroom is a struggle for someone without shelter. There is also the shame and stigma that accompanies many challenges and situations in life. We are also often unaware of the struggles that the front-line workers of our ministry partners must endure to help those they serve. Offering food and shelter, protection and safety, friendship and counselling became much more difficult and expensive this past year of the pandemic. By telling these stories on our website and e-newsletter, I hope to express a vision for FaithWorks and inspire a response to our challenge and calling. During this 25^th anniversary year, we will also reminisce on the history of FaithWorks and its founding.

As with everyone, we have shifted greater emphasis to online operations. Our website – faithworks.ca – is updated for the 25^th anniversary. It is a focal point for anyone interested in FaithWorks’ mission. A visitor will be informed, inspired and enabled to help. FaithLines, our bi-weekly e-newsletter, continues to be a key channel for the exchange of information and inspiration between donors (individuals and parishes) and ministry partners and those they serve. It warms my heart to see the information and stories carried by this friendly reminder resulting in people being motivated to offer sleeping bags, tents, food, their time and labour to local ministry partners, as well as financial donations.

This has been a difficult year for so many people. Everyone feels a little more fragile and vulnerable. Yet so many people expressed their love of God and their neighbour through their generous donations to FaithWorks this past year. Many even went above and beyond their previous support. Phone conversations with donors, hearing their words of unwavering open-heartedness, have been so moving. Seeing people pull together, each according to their ability, for the common good and glory of God, has been inspiring. Being part of this outpouring of faith and love, witnessing the Holy Spirit work among us, is the best part of my ministry. In that light, and considering the good work FaithWorks renders to those who truly struggle, there is nothing difficult about my ministry. “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:30)

I was born and raised in Toronto. Upon finishing my undergraduate degree, I worked for a few years as an auditor for then Revenue Canada when it was located on Adelaide Street East, diagonally across from the Diocesan Centre. So I’m back in familiar haunts. I also studied for and worked as a landscape designer for a few interim years. For most of my life, 25 years, I was the parish priest of the Greek Orthodox Church in Mississauga. It was the challenge of a lifetime as we gathered a scattered flock, developed a wide variety of programming and built the new church complex, by the Grace of God. I began worshipping at St. James’ Cathedral just over six years ago.

Five years from now, I hope to still be the FaithWorks campaign manager. I am finding great personal satisfaction in this role. I also see further potential for growth, in FaithWorks and me.

My favourite passage from scripture is Psalm 23. I know the Lord is watching over me. I need to keep listening for Jesus’ voice, like a sheep. I am reminded of standing at the hospital bedside of a pious and faithful woman, Anastasia, many, many years ago. She was gasping for her last breaths as her battle with cancer was nearing its end. She told me she wasn’t worried. She simply saw herself as a sheep following her Shepherd wherever He led. That moment still moves and inspires me.

The post I know the Lord is watching over me appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

Most countries did not allow seafarers to come ashore while in port, and Canada was no different. When the St. Lawrence Seaway opened up at the end of March, and we were only allowed to visit ships at the foot of the gangway, we offered to do some shopping for them.

In the beginning, the seafarers were almost reluctant to ask us to shop for them – maybe they were embarrassed. Between our encouragement and their increasing frustration at not being allowed off their ships, the lists got longer and longer…. and more imaginative.

Between April and October, we averaged about $10,000 a month (U.S.!) shopping for everything from soup to nuts, from boxes of Ramen noodles to bags of pistachios. In November, with the possibility for a few of them to return home, the shopping lists ramped up, as did the dollar volume.

But for every minute we had to spend in a lineup or running around a store looking for any number of items, the gratitude we received made it all worth it. Their joy sadly reminded us that we got to go home every night, surrounded by our own walls and families, while these brave and dedicated people, who make sure we get 90 per cent of everything we need or want or use, were surrounded every night by oceans and steel, thousands of miles away from their families and friends.

And then it was Christmas. It is our tradition to deliver a Christmas Ditty Bag to every seafarer entering our ports (in Oshawa, Toronto, Hamilton and Port Colborne) between Dec. 6 and 24. This year the number of gift bags we delivered approached 700. With the generous support of the ITF (International Transportworkers Federation), Falvey Cargo Insurance and a “Secret Santa,” among many others, and with incredible handmade donations of hats, scarves and mittens as well as hundreds of bunk-sized quilts made by legions of dedicated hands, we were able to offer a bit of Christmas to every single seafarer, whether they were Christians or not. In fact, the non-Christian seafarers go absolutely wild when they receive their Christmas Ditty Bags, as they worry that we will forget them – something that is not possible.

One moment was particularly moving, and it wasn’t our gift. One young woman cadet (very rare!) has a boyfriend, also a seafarer on another ship, who found out where she would be in the week before Christmas and sent her a gift of a new cell phone. Well, he sent the gift to us so we added a SIM card and top-ups, wrapped it up and delivered it on Dec. 22. She had no idea what we were doing and needed just a tiny bit of prompting to realize it was from her boyfriend, not the Mission. Watching her reaction was the biggest gift of all! Delivering these packages is an incredibly moving and humbling part of our jobs, something none of us would miss. This particular delivery was the best ever!

2020 may be over, but the protocols aren’t. We expect that we will continue to operate much as we have in the coming months, but because of the vaccines there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And a long, dark tunnel – for seafarers especially – it has been. Please don’t forget them. Continue to keep them in your prayers. And please don’t forget the Mission to Seafarers. The amazing volunteers and staff at our Mission centres around the world are, outside of their families, the only people who remind seafarers that they are essential to the world.

The post For seafarers, a bit of Christmas cheer goes a long way appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

Over the holidays, we received many calls from our community members currently incarcerated in Ontario’s prisons and jails describing their experience during COVID-19. Currently, there are active outbreaks at all primary prisons across the province. As many readers are aware, we have been advocating for the human rights of prisoners, calling for a change to the negligence of care for their physical well-being and a lack of healthcare that often exacerbates treatable and manageable conditions. During the pandemic, these conditions have become much, much worse and we see a system reeling as it tries to implement basic public health measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

From our conversation with prisoners, one of the first prisons to see the outbreak was OCI (Ontario Correctional Institute) in the mid-spring of 2020. This is a prison that is primarily focused on mental health and substance use rehabilitation, where many go to take programs that would divert them from longer sentences. One of the main vectors of disease in the prison system are the staff and security officers who move between the prison environment and the community. Soon after the beginning of COVID-19, all prisons implemented lockdown measures that disallowed family and community support from visiting the inmates. In spite of this measure, there was a large outbreak that began at this prison facility. The remedy for this outbreak was to augment OCI’s population by sending its prisoners to other regional prisons. This then led to the outbreak being spread across several institutions, with one of the hardest hit being the Toronto South Detention Centre. To mitigate the further spread of the virus within this facility, the administration instituted lockdown procedures (meaning that prisoners are locked in their cell for an extended duration), and discontinued programs and essential services. For prisoners, this has meant that they have had no access to laundry, cleaning products, running water or personal protective equipment. Even more challenging, during this time of great upheaval and anxiety, all typical connections to families and supports have been taken away, replaced with a courtesy phone card that allows for about two 15-minute phone calls per day to a landline. In Canada’s prisons, the deplorable conditions and response to the pandemic are only mounting, and little is being done to remedy this accelerating crisis.

These same conditions are also mirrored at the federal level, where prisoners serve sentences greater than two years. We received a call on New Year’s Eve from a prisoner who is a health organizer, who had just been let out of lockdown after more than a month of being confined to a unit. The inmate indicated that all federal prisons in Ontario now have outbreaks. This spread was caused by the shipping of COVID-19-positive people from the intake unit at Joyceville prison in Kingston to other institutions across the province in mid-December. This was done to clear space for intakes from provincial prisons. At the time of the transfers, staff knew there was an outbreak at Joyceville greater than 30 people, and their response was to ship people to other institutions to make more room for the intake.

Now, with massive and uncontrolled outbreaks in provincial prisons, this will quickly overwhelm the federal jails, which are often located in smaller communities with less health infrastructure. There is not adequate access to healthcare in the prison system, with shared sanitation, lack of ventilators, at most two infectious disease nurses at each institution, and very little isolation space.

In December alone, more than 1,400 prisoners in Canada contracted COVID-19 in prison. In demonstration for their health rights, prisoners have led a hunger strike campaign, and have invited you to join them by abstaining for food for one day and lifting up their calls for dignity and healthcare to your Member of Parliament. This is an issue that we can all lend our voices to, even in ways that seem small. Prisoners are members of our families, communities and the Body of Christ. They are not disposable.

The post Prisoners need our help as healthcare deteriorates appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

In March of 2020, at the same time as the globe was convulsing under the emerging realization that we humans were very vulnerable to this little virus, my mother Ruth, with whom I am very close, shared with us kids that she had at most a few months to live. Her doctors were very certain of this, although there were some peculiarities in her condition that caused us to have hope that there might be other factors that would extend her life. So we put my Mom on all the prayer lists we could! And the flood of encouragement, compassion, support and kindness really helped with perspective and isolation in the threshold time being occupied between this world and the world to come.

We know that we are living in a time of true gift, mystery and promise. Even though the world around us was shutting down, my siblings and I still had this tangible relationship to uplift us and sustain us in this time of deep anxiety. The mystery of the human body continues to baffle: the really good, attentive and diligent medical care that Mom has received, along with the spiritual prayer support, have worked so well together that, as I write this, she is still alive and relatively well, functioning independently, loving her children and grandchildren, her dogs, her friends and neighbours and community with that beautiful grace of knowing the value of a seriously precious opportunity to express love in the here and now.

The promise of God’s eternal love for us in this world and in the world to come has sustained me and my Mom in hope beyond our sorrows. In some ways, this experience of facing my Mom’s imminent death and working to understand God’s promises to us – Emmanuel, that God is with us – has given me a long view of hope, purpose and lovingkindness. Many who are reading this will have experienced the death of friends, neighbours and loved ones in this past year, whether through COVID-19 or other causes. Our deep pain at these un-commemorated moments of profound loss is compounded and multiplied as grief piles upon grief without proper acknowledgement or honour. Our God of Love, who knows you from when you were formed in the womb, is with us – is with you. We are beloved, and our tears are precious in the sight of Jesus. Know that you are not alone in your grief, and that there are many who are holding you in prayer this very moment. Let us be galvanized, too, by our grief and our realization of the preciousness of life, remembering that our purpose as disciples of Christ and as Church is to serve the least, the lost, the lonely. Can we look intentionally at how we understand the values of our faith in politics and policies, hearing again the teachings of Jesus to remind us of our responsibility to care for one another? What does loving our neighbours look like in practical action?

I cannot help but feel that we are in a time of deep re-orientation as a Church – a time when we have outgrown the usefulness of some of our habits and habitats, and we now have opportunity to strategically and intentionally grow into new ways of being responsive to God’s call to us in the prophet Micah to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.” We pray to God for humility in abundance, so that we can see the needs around us and creatively address them. This pandemic is a time of great transition and upheaval, in our Church, in our communities, and across the globe. Part of our pain and anxiety in transition is in letting go of certainty. In learning to appreciate the beautiful moments that we have left together with my Mom, I have come to trust and hope more surely – not because of our goodness, but because of God’s promises to us. God’s lifegiving and liberating love will keep us – as a family, as a church family, as a global community.

The post Letting go of certainty appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

Eunice Blakeley, ODT
St. Matthew and St. Aidan, Buckhorn
Mrs. Blakeley was nominated by St. Matthew and St. Aidan, Buckhorn for exemplifying discipleship and humility through her care of others, dedication to ministry, and building relationships within the community. Providing critical leadership at important times in the parish, Eunice has served as churchwarden, pastoral visitor, secretary of parish council, coordinator of lectors, intercessors and scheduling, and has worked within the ACW and planned parish events. Daily prayer and scripture reading uphold Eunice in her faith journey.

Alison Bradshaw, ODT
Trinity, Streetsville
Mrs. Bradshaw was nominated by the Bishop for her active service since she and her family moved to Canada in 2004. With two small children in tow, Alison jumped into children’s ministry, supported parish stewardship campaigns, served as churchwarden, represented the parish at the diocese’s Synod, and led small groups with her husband and others. Her ongoing Christ-centered and sacrificial service to her parish and the diocese shine through as her children now take up roles of servitude in ministry.

Barbara Burling, ODT
St. Andrew, Alliston
Ms. Burling was nominated by the Bishop for her 55 years of exemplary leadership and service to the Church. Lending her professional background in business administration to support parish work, Barbara has held roles in a few parishes, including as churchwarden and recording secretary. When others hesitated, Barbara stepped up – inspiring others with her dedication, devotion, and thoughtful servant leadership. She now serves as a compassionate coach for the parish’s churchwardens’ team.

Jessica Carrington, ODT
Grace Church, Markham
Ms. Carrington was nominated by Grace Church, Markham for 36 years of joyful service and steadfast leadership within the Caribbean community. Jessica has served as chalice bearer, lector, chorister, event coordinator and organizer of Black history events and Caribbean dinner dances. She has held roles as president and board member with Barbadian organizations in Canada. As one who demonstrates faith in both word and action, Jessica is known for faith in God, shining as a light to the world.

John Carrington, ODT
Holy Trinity, Thornhill
Mr. Carrington was nominated by the Bishop for his lifelong dedication to the Church, utilizing his professional skill and leadership to serve. Passionate about congregational health and development and theological education, John has devoted his energies to National Church Development and Christian education for all ages. Youth group and Bible study leader, advisory board and former board member of World Vision Canada and Wycliffe College, John’s contributions are recognized at home and abroad.

May Chiu Kong, ODT
St. John, Willowdale
Mrs. Chiu Kong was nominated by St. John, Willowdale for her quarter-century service to build up parish life across different languages, cultures and traditions while introducing Anglican spirituality to the wider Christian community. As lay anointer, Cummer Lodge nursing home service leader, advisory board member and lay member of Synod, May shares her gifts of hospitality and bridge-building to make friends of all ages, encouraging young people to develop and contribute their talents to Church and society.

Geraldine Currier, ODT
St. John the Evangelist, Peterborough
Mrs. Currier was nominated by St. John the Evangelist, Peterborough for her selfless and unwavering commitment to the service of her community and parish. For 45 years, Gerri has looked after the physical and spiritual needs of neighbours, serving in every facet of parish life and ministry. Despite living beside the church and being able to walk, Gerri drives around town to collect people for worship – a beloved parishioner and a joy to serve alongside.

Catherine Dennison, ODT
St. Matthias, Bellwoods
Ms. Dennison was nominated by St. Matthias, Bellwoods for over 30 years of faithful service, having built the children’s worship program using her keen awareness of the needs of children. Catherine combined worship, prayer, scripture, ESL, intergenerational involvement, gardening, special events, food and fun – advocating for children and youth at every advisory board meeting. Feeding the parish (including the parish cat) with food and love, Catherine is the one whom young adults seek out when they return.

William Greenidge, ODT
St. Hilda, Fairbank
Mr. Greenidge was nominated by St. Hilda, Fairbank for over 50 years of service in various ministries, including rector’s churchwarden, board member of St. Hilda’s Towers & the Lewis Garnsworthy Residence, lay reader, eucharistic minister and lay anointer. William also serves as chairman of the advisory board, coordinator of Bible study and representative to Synod and deanery meetings. Respected in the parish and diocese, William is held with great affection by his parish.

Patrick David Greig, ODT
St. Mary Magdalene
Mr. Greig was nominated by St. Mary Magdalene for his lifelong service to the parish, fellow parishioners and the disadvantaged in society. Having served as churchwarden and long-standing envelop secretary, David has organized plant sales, art shows and fundraising campaigns to support outreach, refugee sponsorship and the annual FaithWorks appeal. Author of “In the Fullness of Time,” the parish’s history published for the 1980 centennial, David is the parish historian and a respected, generous and steady presence to all.

Sharon Hanns, ODT
St. Mary, Richmond Hill
Ms. Hanns was nominated by St. Mary, Richmond Hill to recognize her ceaseless dedication to her parish and the diocese. Sharon embodies the love of God – at the altar, amongst the vulnerable and those in need, and in the community through her service as churchwarden, selection committee chair, lay pastoral visitor and anointer, lay Synod member, chorister and chancel guild member. Sharon’s leadership during COVID-19 was the rock that kept parishioners yoked to Christ and allowed them to weather the storm.

John Huggins, ODT
St. Stephen in-the-Fields
Mr. Huggins was nominated by St. Stephen in-the-Fields for 65 years of deep commitment to the parish in good times and bad. Known to speak up for what he believes, especially in the face of opposition, John has worked to support those who are excluded or overlooked, combining administrative gifts and constant attention to detail with a deep vision of God’s kingdom of love and justice. John is a proud father of four, and his children have also made their mark on their communities.

Harold Ian Jones, ODT
Epiphany and St. Mark, Parkdale
Mr. Jones was nominated by Epiphany and St. Mark, Parkdale for his immeasurable contributions to the parish and community, spanning development of strategic budgetary plans and increased congregational tithing, clearing wildlife out of the attic, and teaching youth steel pan. Former director of Covenant House and a long-time resident and presence in the Parkdale neighbourhood, Ian may be found quietly polishing the brass for the Altar Guild every week, offering his time and talents without fanfare and with much grace.

Ronald Joshua, ODT
Ascension, Don Mills
Mr. Joshua was nominated by Ascension, Don Mills for dedication in serving the Lord Jesus Christ and his brothers and sisters. A humble man, unseeking of recognition, Ron has given his time and talent as churchwarden, auditor, Synod member, chair of the advisory board, the parish council, the nomination committee, the anniversary committee, the deacon discernment committee, and director and treasurer of the Don Mills Foundation for Senior Citizens, a long-term care facility founded by the parish to provide care and recreation for seniors.

Joan Kempadoo, ODT
St. John the Baptist, Oak Ridges
Mrs. Kempadoo was nominated by St. John the Baptist, Oak Ridges for her deep commitment to Jesus and her half-century of service in ministry, including Sunday School, Chancel Guild, ACW, advisory board and parish selection committee. Joan epitomizes St. John’s mission to “Make Jesus Known” and “Create Jesus-centered disciples everywhere.” Her love for others, passion for Jesus and sense of humour have empowered Joan to contribute to the changing worship styles of her parish.

Mark Kolberg, ODT
St. Martin in-the-Fields
Mr. Kolberg was nominated by St. Martin-in-the-Fields for his exceptional service for over 20 years as property manager for the century-old church building and rectory. Mark brings his professional expertise in civil engineering to this activity – the parish is in good hands! As a long-time resident in the parish community, Mark led a major renovation in 2003 that expanded and renewed the church, while improving accessibility and ministry for the needs of the neighbourhood.

Lorna Krawchuk, ODT
St. Cuthbert, Leaside
Ms. Krawchuk was nominated by the Bishop for her extensive work in the community, her parish, and the diocese. A churchwarden, youth group leader, choir member, ACW president, chair of the All Saints Church-Community Centre, and volunteer with Girl Guides for 35 years, Lorna has been generous with her gifts. Involved in the Don Watershed Regeneration Project, Leaside Property Owners, a Leaside Matters founding member and a Margaret Bahen Hospice board member, Lorna is active and always finding new ways to lend a hand!

Cecelia Laurel Martineau, ODT
St. Chad, Toronto
Ms. Martineau was nominated by St. Chad, including the Ahadi Ministry, for her service in time and resources as lay reader, chalice bearer, coordinator of community suppers and churchwarden. Laurel has implemented COVID-19 guidelines for the parish, and during normal times is the ever-present greeter and loves to prepare meals for 100 people at a time! A mature, prayerful Christian, well respected by fellow parishioners, Laurel embodies what a welcoming church community should look like.

Clarke Mayhew, ODT
St. Thomas, Millbrook
Mr. Mayhew was nominated by St. Thomas, Millbrook for 64 years of service to his parish and community. A seasoned multi-point parish specialist, Clarke has volunteered in every role possible, especially filling roles in services when priests were unavailable. Already a recipient of the Bishop’s Award for Faithful Service and the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for community service, Clarke continues to serve others with vitality and great care.

James Maynard, ODT
Christ Church, Woodbridge
Mr. Maynard has been nominated by the Bishop for his exemplary Christian witness and service to his church community, and diocese. A steadfast leader as churchwarden, teacher, cemetery board secretary treasurer and Bishop’s Company Dinner volunteer, Jamie has also co-chaired the parish’s outreach committee, helping to raise more than $70,000 for local and international projects. Lending his professional background as president of an insurance company, Jamie faithfully serves as parish treasurer and freely shares his knowledge to support other parishes in the diocese.

Reta June Money, ODT
Parish of North Essa – Christ Church – St. Jude, Ivy
Mrs. Money was nominated by the Bishop for modelling what it means to be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ through loving God and neighbour. For 55 years, June has served in every leadership capacity in her parish, lending her background as elementary school principal to serve with courage and generosity of spirit. June has become the beloved matriarch of her parish, and they are delighted to support this award for a lifetime of faithful service to God and His Church.

Judy North, ODT
St. Cyprian
Mrs. North was nominated by St. Cyprian for embodying the best of the parish in her quiet, unassuming manner, combined with fierce determination to serve and reach out in ministry. Never seeking accolade, Judy has given decades of service in visiting homebound parishioners and leading fundraising campaigns and outreach events to care for those who need help. Like an iceberg, most of her work is unseen but Judy’s tireless devotion is a bright light visible to all.

Richard O’Conor-Fenton, ODT
Parish of Campbellford, Hastings & Roseneath – St. James, Roseneath
Mr. O’Conor-Fenton was nominated by St. James, Roseneath for exemplary service as lay reader and for his outstanding volunteer ministry. Bible study leader and community outreach and seniors’ visitor, Richard also helped to engineer a music system for services to continue in the Civic Center after a fire destroyed the parish in 2019. Alongside his wife Allison, Richard enthusiastically travels around with the music system in the trunk, to reach out to people and provide spiritual leadership to the whole community.

David Paradis, ODT
St. Margaret, Barrie
Mr. Paradis was nominated by the Bishop for being a Diocesan Remote Tech Volunteer before such a category was invented near the beginning of the current pandemic. A self-taught “techie,” David mastered recorded online worship, and possesses the patience and ingenuity to teach others in clear and simple terms. David has consulted on most rural and small church Reach Grant applications for technology, logging more deployments than most volunteers see in a decade, with kindness and informed guidance that epitomizes Christian generosity.

Ryan Ramsden, ODT
Grace Church in Scarborough
Mr. Ramsden was nominated by the Bishop for his years of youthful leadership at Diocesan Council, the diocese’s Synod and General Synod. A gifted musician and ministry leader, Ryan uses his many talents to make LGBTQ-friendly Church on Tap a missional success at Christ Church, Deer Park. The glue that has made his own parish’s four-into-one amalgamation work, Ryan works tirelessly to support justice, outreach, and mission in our diocese.

James Rehill, ODT
Christ Church, Stouffville
Mr. Rehill was nominated by Christ Church, Stouffville for his 50 years of service as choir director and organist. In addition to leading the music ministry on a volunteer basis, Jim has been involved in local outreach, seniors’ ministry, leading the welcoming committee, and has become the unofficial parish historian. A beloved former high school teacher who annually gives an award in his name for sportsmanship, Jim continues to volunteer his time for the good of the community.

Louise Reid, ODT
St. Peter, Scarborough
Mrs. Reid was nominated by the Bishop for 41 years of service as a skilled embroider with the ACW Ecclesiastical Needlework Committee. Travelling on Mondays to the Diocesan Centre, Louise looks forward to creating beautiful pieces and to fellowship with the group. It is possible you have seen Louise’s handiwork in churches across Ontario and Quebec. At 92, after logging more than 8,500 hours, Louise cannot wait to get back to it, hopefully in 2021!

Margaret Reid, ODT
Nativity, Malvern
Ms. Reid was nominated by the Bishop for her faithful service in almost every volunteer role there is at her parish and in the diocese. Prayerful, effective and dedicated, Margaret is grounded in her love of the Lord. Margaret has given extraordinary service as a parish selection coach and Reach Grant panelist in the Bishop’s Diocesan Volunteer Corps and continues to serve as she mentors new volunteer coaches.

Joan Reid-Bicknell, ODT
Christ Church, Woodbridge
Mrs. Reid-Bicknell was nominated by Christ Church, Woodbridge for faithful service to the church community, locally and at the diocesan level. The variety of ministry positions Joan has held is broad, encompassing the complete spectrum of executive, administrative, social and music ministry within the parish. Joan is specially known for her dedication to worship at Christ Church where, as a second-generation organist and choir director, her leadership is appreciated by children and adults alike.

Malcolm Shiner, ODT
Holy Trinity, Thornhill
Mr. Shiner was nominated by Holy Trinity, Thornhill for fervent commitment to the life of the parish and creating fellowship through the use of drama. What sets Malcolm apart is the attitude and devotion he brings to all undertakings, from writing and directing seven plays to churchwarden to chair of the 190th anniversary committee. His lively laughter and endless energy make him a joy to work with. Being the best he can be, Malcolm brings out the best in everyone.

Geraldine Sperling, ODT
St. George on Yonge
Mrs. Sperling was nominated by St. George on Yonge for applying her treasure of talents to the church’s advantage, as a volunteer with the diocese’s Human Resources department, a Synod member, a churchwarden, the FaithWorks campaign chairperson, recording secretary and editor of weekly parish emails. In her spare time, Geraldine is the substitute organist, a lay reader, intercessor and a choir member. Now the consummate host of virtual coffee hour, Geraldine’s active participation is a strong example of putting faith to work.

Sheila Tait, ODT
St. Olave, Swansea
Ms. Tait was nominated by St. Olave, Swansea for her tireless contributions to the life of the parish. As property chairperson, Sheila overseas all matters, from roof installation to crumbling plaster to return to in-person worship trainer of volunteers in disinfecting protocols. She has served as churchwarden and member of the ACW. She has earned the affectionate moniker “Sheila the Great” by her parish family to describe the great affection in which she is held by all.

Marion Thompson, ODT
St. Mark, Port Hope
Mrs. Thompson was nominated by the Bishop for her decades-long service across the diocese and for representing the Diocese of Toronto at General Synod for three terms. With a diploma in Lay Ministry and contributing regularly to parish worship, Marion has been an active volunteer at St. Peter’s foodbank, Casey House AIDS Hospice, and St. Simon’s Out-of-the-Cold Program, and a Bridge Prison Ministry Board Member. Marion faithfully embodies Christ’s words to feed, care, welcome and visit friends and strangers alike.

May Webster, ODT
St. John, West Toronto
Mrs. Webster was nominated by St. John, West Toronto for her continued and unbroken service to the parish for 51 years. With a professional background in administration, May has lent her skill to organize people and resources that enable the church to function. Dedicated and committed to the church, the community and the clergy, May’s support is more than the parish could have ever asked for.

John Whincup, ODT
Redeemer, Bloor St.
Mr. Whincup was nominated by the Bishop for astute leadership in the diocese and in his parish. Taking up roles as chair of the board of management at Redeemer, chair of the Bishop’s Company dinner committee, lead consultant of the diocese’s strategic plan and director of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation, John has a particular gift for helping communities articulate their dreams while staying grounded in reality. A person of vision and deep faith, John leads with a spirit of possibility.

The post Their light shines, their works glorify appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.