With the coming of spring and the promise of better weather just around the corner, we have the opportunity to consider the creation of outdoor sacred spaces where small, physically distanced groups can gather for liturgies, and individuals can find solace in a prayerful, contemplative natural environment. By gathering in a natural setting to worship, we not only learn about who God is from creation, but we also join with all of creation in praising God.

To assist in finding and creating the appropriate location on your church property or residence backyard for outdoor worship, The Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care has published “Worship in the Shelter of Creation,” a helpful guide that is available in both digital format and a printable brochure on the diocese’s website.

In it you will find helpful information on six important considerations for choosing the space.  And once you have selected a location, there are suggestions to help you decide how to shape your space to establish its focus, how to include the elements of creation in your space, and how to engage your senses.

While many services such as Compline, Ante-Eucharist, and Morning, Evening and Mid-day Prayer are easily adaptable for outside use, you will also find liturgies specifically oriented towards connecting with creation such as Garden Blessings, a creation-focused Eucharist, and a service of lament for coming to terms with ecological grief.

The guide, along with the liturgies, can be found on the diocese’s website under Creation Care, www.toronto.anglican.ca/creationcare.

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Whatever was lacking in material comfort, however, was made up for in an extraordinary sense of gratefulness and generosity. My father learned first-hand from his parents the importance of saying thank-you and sharing as their means allowed. There is something about going without that inspires giving and sharing.

Giving to support the needs of the Church was – and still is – paramount for my father. Forever etched in my memory was the weekly ritual of him setting aside a sum of money each Friday on the kitchen counter for the collection plate at church. Growing up in the ’70s, I was amazed how he could afford to give so much. His giving was non-negotiable.

The act of making giving a priority left an indelible mark on my own attitude toward money and giving. His pattern of giving money and volunteering his time to both Church and charity was the foundation for my own commitment to working in the not-for-profit sector.

How much do you give? What do you think is appropriate?

In the Anglican Church, and among mainline Protestant denominations, average household giving is quite low compared to other faith groups. In the Diocese of Toronto, annual household giving pre-COVID-19 amounted to $1,575 in 2019. On a weekly basis, that works out to just over $30. As a percentage, we give about 1.7 per cent of our gross incomes to the offertory plate. That amount is slightly higher when we add special appeals for outreach.

Is that enough? For some it might be. I have a feeling, however – especially given our relative wealth compared to others in our midst and around the globe – that we can do better. Most parishes benefit from a handful of generous benefactors who quietly provide support in helping make ends meet. In many cases, the gifts from two or three parishioners makes the difference in balancing the books.

I believe our giving reflects our relationship with God. For some, giving is an afterthought, based on what is left over from one’s weekly budget. Others give out of sense of duty; they feel obliged to give but are not inspired to give. Those who have a deep spiritual relationship with God and recognize that everything we have is a gift from God tend to have giving levels that reflect a profound sense of gratitude. They give proportionately, consistently and joyfully.

My father’s example taught me that everyone should be invited to be generous according to their abilities. He believes that everyone should give something, on the basis that even the poorest among us are gifted children of God with talents, skills and the capacity to be generous.

Is 5 per cent enough, or should it be 10 per cent?

I can’t tell anybody what the right amount to give is because the gift is always personal, impacted by life’s circumstances and reflecting our relationship with God. What I can say is as you deepen that relationship, as you more fully embrace Christian discipleship, giving loses its obligation. At this point, the question is no longer how much should I give, but have I given enough?

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In the face of systemic racism and unjust structures, thank God for those who get into good and necessary “trouble”. Some of us in the diocese recently attended the annual White Privilege Conference and heard stories of good troublemakers. One was a young Black woman named Bree Newsome. On June 27, 2015, 10 days after a White supremacist shot and killed nine Black parishioners in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, Bree Newsome climbed a 30-foot flagpole on the lawn of the South Carolina Capitol to remove a Confederate flag. As she made her way back down with the flag clenched in her hand, she recited the words of Psalm 27: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?”, and “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Bree Newsome was arrested when she got to the bottom of that flagpole, but within two weeks of her “troublemaking”, the Confederate flag was removed for good from the grounds of the South Carolina Capitol.

As disciples of Jesus, how do we stir up “good trouble” as we strive for justice and peace among all people and seek to respect the dignity of every human being? Certainly there are those like Bree Newsome who acted with courage and conviction, even breaking the law and facing the consequences. Others are allies and advocates, standing alongside those in the struggle.

At the White Privilege Conference, we explored another way of stirring up good trouble: being co-conspirators. To be a co-conspirator means more than allyship or advocacy. A co-conspirator is someone who is right there in the thick of it with those who are conspiring. In the case of Bree Newsome, a co-conspirator was a young White man named James Tyson. As Newsome climbed the flagpole in her helmet and climbing gear, police officers approached and considered their options. According to reports, Tyson heard them talking about using a Taser on the flagpole, which would send an electric current up the metal pole and send Bree Newsome crashing down to the ground. So, Tyson reached out and grabbed hold of the pole with his hand, believing that the police would not use their Tasers with a White man holding onto it. When Newsome got to the bottom, Tyson was arrested alongside her. He didn’t just stand at a distance and keep a supportive watch as an ally or advocate might. He put himself on the line. For those who seek to dismantle racism and other forms of bias, it’s not good enough to just stand at a distance and agree. We must take risks, get involved, and become co-conspirators.

The word “conspiracy” comes from the Latin words “con” and “spire” – “breathe together”. We have just celebrated the Day of Pentecost, when the risen Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples (John 20:22). According to the Book of Acts, early followers of Jesus from various places and in different languages came together in one great chaotic, Spirit-fueled conspiracy, so that the saving work of God in Christ might be known, lived and shared. (Acts 2)

Is it not time for a new conspiracy? Does our Church and world not cry out to conspire for justice for those who are marginalized, disregarded, treated with contempt and violence? Can we breathe together so that there will not be another Black man crying out, as George Floyd did a year ago, “I can’t breathe”?

History shows that this work will not be accomplished easily. Racism and bias are woven deeply into the fabric. That’s why we need good troublemakers and co-conspirators, who will not rest until God’s justice rolls down like a river, and righteousness like a mighty stream. (Amos 5:24)

This spring, we have begun to roll out the Foundations of Anti-Bias and Anti-Racism workshops within the diocese. The College of Bishops, Chancellors and Dean attended these two-day training sessions in May, the Synod Office staff will do so in June, and then members of Diocesan Council in September. Later this year, the training will come to all clergy and parishes across the diocese. As the Diocesan Diversity Officer, I ask you to please make this training a priority when it becomes available to you. It’s a step along the way, but an important one as we take up the work of troublemakers and co-conspirators in the transformation of our Church and world.

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And then suddenly our callous demeanour cracks. The horrifying news photo of a Greek soldier carrying the limp body of a little Syrian boy, Aylan Kurdi, with tiny shoes still on his feet that he would never gambol and run in again, jolts us to our senses. The drama of that child, needlessly drowned from a boat refused safe landing, shocks millions into awareness of the Syrian refugee crisis. This keeps happening – the surges of displaced people rising and falling, with waxing and waning Canadian awareness of their needs.

And so it has always been with the new arrivals, Canada’s geography reflecting wars and disasters: Scots driven out by the Highland Clearances ending up in Nova Scotia, Huguenots from the French Wars of Religion, and the Irish down east escaping the Potato Famine. United Empire Loyalists from the American War of Independence, Blacks fleeing slavery and discrimination, Jews in Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg away from endless pogroms and the Holocaust, Finns in northern Ontario, Russians, Ukrainians, and others from the former Soviet Union in the Prairies, the Chinese and Japanese in B.C., those fleeing Partition in India, and then victims of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, the American draft dodgers from the Vietnam war, the Czechs in 1968. Oh, and don’t forget Chileans and Guatemalans…

Though Canada may be a land mainly of refugees, they have not always been welcome. The most shocking example was Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s refusal to admit Jews fleeing the Nazis in the 1930s and ’40s, when he famously declared, “None is too many.” Their boat turned around and took them back to their death.

Usually we behave better than that – or sometimes we do. The modern tradition of refugee assistance really began in the late 1970s with people crammed into rickety boats across the stormy seas fleeing Southeast Asia. Anglican churches raised money and formed committees to help Boat People settle into their new home, providing practical and emotional support. An even bigger effort helped Somalis arriving with much bigger families. St. Clement, Eglinton sponsored two related Somali families – 18 people – headed by women at risk. A year later, the one surviving husband was released from jail, found his four lost children in Mogadishu and then there were 23 here, in the middle of Mike Harris’ Common Sense Revolution. Their welfare payments fell by a thousand dollars. After paying rent, each had about $3 a day for everything else. Dozens of volunteers helped on a regular basis.

AURA, the Anglican United Refugee Alliance, assists and guides churches co-sponsoring refugees. It matches certified UNHCR refugees with willing congregations and acts as the legal Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH). Like many other committees, the St. James Cathedral and Community Refugee Committee was formed as a response to the Syrian civil war and refugee crisis. In the fall of 2015, parishioners and clergy at the cathedral, like so many parishes across Canada, sprang into action. However, from the start the cathedral decided to widen the circle of volunteers beyond those who showed up on Sunday mornings. With a mix of cathedral parishioners, parishioners from around the St. James Deanery and neighbours without any previous association, the Cathedral Community Refugee Response was born, chaired by the Rev. Canon Kate Merriman.

The first tasks were bureaucratic but somehow exhilarating: learning about refugee visas and the difference between government supported and “blended” visa refugees, undergoing training by AURA staff both on settlement and cultural competency, getting police checks, establishing budgets and planning fundraisers. There were also basic functional questions to resolve, such as what would be the organizational structure of the group, what kind of refugee cases would we be comfortable supporting, and how would we communicate outside of meetings. Very few of the volunteers had undertaken refugee settlement before, and for a few months the members consulted regularly with volunteers from previous settlement teams and settled refugees themselves. In the spirit of the moment, donations came in readily from all corners, thanks to a few experienced fundraisers on the team. After months of work, the committee was ready to submit an application to AURA to support a Syrian family of two parents and up to three children.

And then everything ground to a halt. In late 2015 and early 2016, with many faith-based and secular refugee resettlement committees willing and eager to welcome new Canadians, the overburdened system struggled to process the applications of displaced people across the globe. And so the committee volunteers planned, learned, prepped, and fundraised some more as the wise staff of AURA warned us that things often went very slowly and then very, very fast. They also suggested that while many groups were specifically interested in helping Syrian families, a group open to other types of refugee cases could get to the critical work of supporting new Canadians much faster.

In the end, it did happen very fast. The committee deliberated on whether we could take on another type of refugee case, and ultimately decided yes, we would help whoever needed help. In late April 2016, Kate got the call and the committee members got an email with the subject line “AURA is offering us a case.” It was not a family but a single man, and he was not Syrian but Iranian. We had three hours to decide. We said yes, and then scrambled to adjust our plans accordingly. A year later, with temporary housing, a computer, culturally appropriate foods, and a translator all lined up, one rainy July evening, after only a short delay due to unrest in Turkey, we welcomed the newest Canadian permanent resident at Pearson airport.

That first year was a crash course in life as a newcomer, not just for him but for most of the volunteers. How do you choose between the need for income and the need to learn English? Where was the line between support and paternalism? How did anyone on such a limited budget find housing in Toronto? But for all the hardship, the rewards were unimaginable. By the time we were discussing “Month 13” – the transition to living without financial support from the committee, and how to sponsor a daughter still in Iran in coming to Canada (she would be our third case and today lives with her father) – it was hard for several volunteers not to think of this man as family.

Since 2016, the cathedral committee has sponsored a Syrian family of five, the daughter of the first man we supported, and a single mother and her young son. Fundraising has not always been as easy. We tire of disaster stories we cannot solve. Other issues take our attention.

We have come to understand that settlement does not and perhaps cannot happen in 12 months, and as trusted confidantes and people experienced with Canadian systems and institutions, we have often been asked for guidance with thorny issues well after our financial support has ended. Housing has become far more expensive in Toronto and we have despaired of slashed financial support for the resources we had turned to for everything from language classes and translators to childcare and psychological support. And nothing could have prepared us for how much worse everything became with the unique challenges of a global pandemic.

But still the rewards have been beyond imagining. We have seen the photographs of brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews who are now dead, squeezed a hand in support, and then looked up to see the dazzling smile of a child shouting “look at this” in newly acquired English. We have become adopted grandparents, aunties and siblings.

If you haven’t been in a sponsorship group, you’re missing one of the most enlightening, rewarding projects you can ever have. But don’t worry. The sad thing is that there will always be a need and we must be vigilant and humble. You may find racism among co-workers with the best intentions, and those with an inability to comprehend the severity of all the new residents have endured. You will stretch your mind more than you ever have, learn like you never have learned before, and make mistakes, but you will have cheered on accomplishments from first escalator rides to first jobs, helped decorate first apartments, and eaten truly stunning meals with our new friends. Our new families.

A teacher working in St. James Town in Toronto said the difference between co-sponsored refugees and government-sponsored refugees is night and day. Five times as many co-sponsored refugees find jobs than government-sponsored people. And, as one new Canadian, a Muslim woman, often would say, “I wasn’t worried. I had the Church!”

Elizabeth MacCallum and Brooke Sales-Lee are members of St. James Cathedral’s Community Refugee Committee.

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In 2019, Synod adopted a motion to develop an affordable housing plan for the diocese, to “determine the feasibility of building affordable housing on diocesan-owned lands; prioritize strategic partnerships with industry experts in the fields of planning, development, and affordable housing provision; and to establish specific achievable targets (e.g. 250 units by 2024).”

The diocesan Property Working Group is working towards presenting an affordable housing plan to Synod in November of this year. While the group determined that setting a target for a specific number of housing units by a certain date, without consideration of the needs of the local neighbourhood and worshipping community, was rather arbitrary at this stage, it is developing a framework for property development in the diocese while encouraging parishes to assess their own situation and, where appropriate, to consider alternate uses of their property, including affordable housing.

To that end, the working group, together with diocesan staff and the Rev. Dr. Jason McKinney, is offering a series of online meetings to educate parishes and encourage them to explore potential redevelopment options. The first event, “Common Ground and the Common Good: Church Redevelopment in the Diocese of Toronto,” will be held on the morning of Saturday, June 12. This online workshop will include an exploration of the theology of land use and examples of recent successful housing developments on church land. There will also be discussion of what assistance the diocese could offer parishes through the redevelopment process. This event is designed especially for clergy and lay leaders of parishes who are considering redevelopment, but also welcomes anyone in the diocese with an interest in creating affordable housing.

The June event will be followed up by a series of summer seminars that will take interested parish leaders deeper into specific aspects of the redevelopment process, such as getting a congregation on board, seeking out partnerships for construction and operation of housing units, securing funding, and more. Finally, another event is planned for September for parishes planning to take the next steps in pursuing redevelopment.

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Just over three weeks later, on April 18, he died at Oshawa hospital from the effects of COVID-19. He was 78.

“He died with his boots on,” says Archbishop Colin Johnson, one of the panelists at the discussion and longtime friend and colleague. “He was passionate about prayer and he loved the Church. He was a real ambassador for Christ.”

In the days after his death, former parishioners, clergy and bishops posted messages on websites and social media, expressing their love and appreciation for Bishop Bedford-Jones and his wife Bonnie, who was also battling COVID-19 and is expected to recover. “Bishop Bedford-Jones was a wonderful man,” wrote Beverly Jeeves. “When I was a member of St. George’s Church in Newcastle, Ontario, he would often preach. His infectious smile and kind words will remain in my heart.”

Bishop Andrew Asbil, the Bishop of Toronto, described him as “a raconteur like no other. He had the ability to hold the attention of an entire room when he told a story. He loved the Church and the Diocese in particular, knowing something about the history of every parish. A man of great joy, delight and of deep faith.”

Born in Toronto, Bishop Bedford-Jones attended Trinity College at the University of Toronto, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1965 and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1968. He and Bonnie, who was also a student at Trinity College, were married in 1967.

Bishop Bedford-Jones was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Toronto in 1968 and served as the assistant curate, director of Christian education and then vicar of St. James Cathedral until 1975. He became the incumbent of Epiphany, Scarborough in 1976, serving there until 1983, when he became the incumbent of St. Aidan, Toronto. In 1988, he became the executive assistant to Archbishop Terence Finlay, who was the Bishop of Toronto at the time. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Diocese and often provided Archbishop Finlay with a history of the parish he would be visiting on a Sunday morning.

From 1991 to 1994, Bishop Bedford-Jones served as the incumbent of St. George Cathedral in Kingston, Dean of Ontario and rector of Kingston. St. George’s Cathedral had been devasted by the sexual abuse of several choristers by choirmaster John Gallienne, and Bishop Bedford-Jones sought to bring healing to the congregation. “He found ways to let us express our pain without increasing our divisions,” says John Spragge, who was a parishioner of St. George’s at the time and now attends St. John, West Toronto. “He was profoundly gentle, perceptive and tolerant. He was exactly what we needed at the time. No one could have done better.”

Bishop Bedford-Jones was elected suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Toronto in 1994, serving first as the area bishop of York-Scarborough and then as the area bishop of Trent-Durham. The Ven. Elizabeth Hardy, who served under him as the archdeacon of York-Scarborough, said he was always fair and polite, no matter what the situation. “He was a lovely, lovely person,” she recalls. “He was wise and empathetic. He was someone you wanted to be friends with. You knew you could trust him. You could not find two more welcoming and hospitable people than him and Bonnie.”

One of Bishop Bedford-Jones’s passions was education. In 1979 he received a Master of Arts in educational theory from the University of Toronto, and he served as the chair of the Ontario Provincial Commission on Theological Education several years. In 1991, he earned a certificate in spiritual direction from the Toronto School of Theology/Shalom Institute and became a spiritual director and mentor to many clergy. He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Trinity College in 1991.

Another of his passions was music. He was an accomplished pianist and organist. At the diocese’s Synod and other church functions, he would sometimes play the piano, lightening the mood with a selection of compositions. Recently, he was scheduled to play the organ for St. John, Bowmanville’s online worship services on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter. He played for the Good Friday service, which was videotaped in early March, but had to withdraw from videotaping the Palm Sunday and Easter services due to his illness. “When we thanked him for the gift of his music, he said that it was a gift to himself, and that he felt close to God playing the magnificent hymns on the organ,” recalls the Rev. Lucia Lloyd, priest-in-charge of St. John’s. “He mentioned in an email to me that one of his favourite hymn tunes was Lasst Uns Erfreuen, the tune of ‘Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones’ and ‘All Creatures of Our God and King’ with all those glorious alleluias. We were planning on his playing that at our Easter service. I picture him playing it and singing it along with us from heaven, among the ‘bright seraphs, cherubim and thrones’ and the ‘archangels, angels’ choirs”.

He was an engaging storyteller and enjoyed talking with people at events such as the Bishop’s Company Dinner and Synod. “He connected people, and connected the past to the present,” recalls Archbishop Johnson. “He drew people to him and had real humility.”

He had deep roots in Ontario. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were clergymen, and Laura Secord was a distant relative. His great-great grandfather, the Ven. Dr. Thomas Bedford-Jones, was the rector of St. Alban’s in Ottawa and was a friend of Sir John A. Macdonald, who became an Anglican at a private ceremony at the church, where his wife was already a member.

While in the Diocese of Toronto, Bishop Bedford-Jones was the link bishop to the Community Ministries Board, the Planning and Development Board and the Miriam Dobell Healing Centre. He was on several committees and task forces, providing guidance for such things as diocesan communications, the diocese’s clergy conference, professional development for clergy, the candidates for ordination stream, evangelism, the process of electing bishops and prayer. He was the registrar of Provincial Synod and served on its executive council and on several task forces. At the national level, he was chair of the Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee of General Synod.

Bishop Bedford-Jones retired in 2008 but remained active in the Church, serving as the interim priest-in-charge at St. Jude, Wexford in 2010 and interim priest-in-charge at St. Peter, Cobourg in 2015. Wherever he went in retirement, people recognized him and wanted to chat. Even in hospital, he inspired people. A nurse in the intensive care unit where he was placed recognized him as the bishop who confirmed her, and she took special care of him.

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