We wish you a peaceful and enjoyable summer.

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The Common Table Farm came through a tough season last year. We faced a funding cliff that threatened to close our farm; it was an incredibly stressful time! Thankfully, with the support of many generous people, we have been able to secure enough funds for another season. We’re thrilled to be able to continue growing food for folks in need of support and nurturing hands-on learning for kids and youth.

As I gear up for the coming season, I thought I’d turn to our core volunteers to hear about what they find meaningful about the farm and share their thoughts with you.

Andrew never shies away from a tough job: he will take on flipping compost or broad-forking, two tasks that require some muscle and plenty of fortitude. The first word that comes to his mind about our farm is “wholesome.” Andrew finds the farm refreshing and life-giving; he enjoys meeting good people here and finds the work satisfying.

Kristen is our intrepid learner – new to farming and eager to learn every step of the way. She appreciates the farm for what she describes as “the beautiful urban farm environment.”

Our farm is indeed a wonderful oasis. This green space is a precious gift within the density of Toronto. As city dwellers, it’s common to spend a lot of time indoors. Our farm offers an encounter with the daily shifts of weather, sunlight and temperature. Here we meet numerous plants, animals, insects and birds that populate our city. I have seen time and again just how healing this encounter is for many people. They are revived and invigorated as they spend time outdoors. As our produce packer extraordinaire Bishop Patrick White has observed, working directly with the soil deepens the experience of meaningful work.

For other volunteers, the word “community” stands out. Suzanne and Marianne are both incredibly dedicated volunteers who have been hanging out with us since 2022. They honed in on our ethos of growing not only food but community. We experience this at the farm, growing both individually and collectively as we plant, maintain the garden, and harvest. As Masanobu Fukuoka astutely observes, we are not only farming plants. We plant seeds for new friendships and connections, we contribute to each other’s “maintenance” through weekly conversations, and we harvest the fruit of all this collective work – a sense of well-being, purpose and fulfillment.

Natalie, who volunteers with her son Ben, finds the farm “supportive.” It brings to my mind the many ways we try to farm in a responsible manner, providing literal supports for climbing plants, avoiding tillage to support the soil’s health, and not using pesticides to protect the earth. I am heartened to hear that the farm also supports people! We can each find welcome here. The farm provides a nurturing scaffold where everyone belongs. Not only that, it is “fun” – Ben’s word for the farm! Having a good time is indispensable and not to be underestimated!

Which leads us to Mary’s descriptor for the farm: “gratitude.” Mary started volunteering with us after participating in a compost tea workshop. The farm certainly is a place of thanksgiving. We thrive because of the contributions of many, whether it’s a foundation that can provide funding, someone who can donate a financial gift or flower seeds, a volunteer who can tackle a thistle patch, a summer worker who helps to train others, agency partners who lend equipment, a bee pollinating our eggplant row, microbes who keep our soil healthy, or the dragonfly who graces us with her beauty…

Gratitude is around us at the farm, in every seed that germinates. It culminates when we harvest to share fresh food with others, knowing it will be enjoyed around their table. There is so much to be grateful for when we realize our dependence on each other, the earth and the Spirit that draws us into this collective work.

I know that I am being cultivated as a human being at the Common Table Farm. I am grateful for this place and the people who make it what it is!

To learn more about the farm or to support its work, visit www.flemingdonparkministry.com.

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Three projects scheduled to open in April and May – Hollyer House at Christ Church Bells Corners, Cornerstone Housing for Women’s Eccles Street residence and Carebridge Community Support’s residence in Smiths Falls – represent 109 units. When combined with the 42 units at Cornerstone’s Princeton Avenue residence, which opened in 2018, a total of 151 units have been completed. And many more are in various stages of development.

In related news, Cornerstone, an Anglican ministry, announced that it was moving its crowded emergency shelter on O’Connor Street to Carling Avenue at the end of April. The new accessible location increases capacity 145 per cent, from 61 to 150 beds.

Other projects in the 125th anniversary campaign are progressing well. The extension at Ellwood House, affiliated with St. Thomas the Apostle in Alta Vista, Julian of Norwich’s Anchor project in Nepean and a proposed residence in Perth supported by St. James the Apostle are expected to add more than 100 units, for a grand total of about 260.

Bishop Shane Parker said that, having reached the initial goal, “we need to restate our commitment to doing our part to increase the stock of affordable housing.”

He said the diocese’s Homelessness and Affordable Housing Working Group is working with him to define a new affordable housing strategy, to be adopted by Synod this fall. In the meantime, he said, parishes continue to seek out opportunities to support new affordable housing initiatives in their local communities.

The bishop pointed out that in our baptismal covenant we vow to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being.  “This is clearly intended to be accompanied by meaningful action,” he said. “We know about the intensification of need and danger on the streets of our diocese. The opioid crisis is a very real part of the distress on our streets, and the housing crisis is a major contributing factor.”

Perspective

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In a letter to college board chair Carol Boettcher, Bishop Andrews noted that the June 2025 date will mark the end of his ninth year in the role and his 40th year of ordained ministry.

“It is time for me to devote what remains of my strength and attentions more fully to (my wife) Fawna and my family,” he wrote. “There is never a perfect time to leave a job, and because of the importance of the college in the mission of the Church, and how fulfilling it has been for me to work with such a gifted and dedicated staff, faculty and board, it is tempting to stay longer. But I believe that Wycliffe has reached the point where we need, and deserve, new leadership.”

Ms. Boettcher received the letter with some sadness, but also understanding and thanksgiving. “We are thankful to God that He has blessed Wycliffe with Stephen’s deeply spiritual, steady and reflective leadership,” she said. “During a time of great change in society and in the Church, Stephen has shepherded the college through the development and implementation of our strategic plan and has shown great wisdom as we navigated the unknown waters of the pandemic and other transitions. He has been the leader Wycliffe needed in these uncertain times, and we are grateful.”

She expressed gratitude that the timing of Bishop Andrews’s announcement allows the college ample time to make a careful transition to a new principal. She said an extensive search process has already started, and that she expects that a new principal will be in place by the time Bishop Andrews leaves.

Wycliffe College

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The project is a partnership between Sifton Properties, Homes Unlimited (London) Inc., the diocese and the cathedral. Sifton Properties will donate the building and oversee reconstruction for Homes Unlimited, which will assume operational responsibilities for the property.

Construction is expected to begin this summer and to be completed in the fall of 2025. The building will have 80 one-bedroom and 14 two-bedroom units. The collaboration is seen as an innovative not-for-profit private partnership model that may contribute to the city’s goal of creating 3,000 new affordable housing units, said a statement by the diocese.

Huron Church News

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Readers were invited to read the bible aloud in one-hour blocks on Zoom and Facebook in the 100-hour marathon organized by the Diocese of Athabasca.

People were moved as they took part in and viewed the marathon online, says the Rev. Peter Clarke of St. Mark Anglican Church in High Prairie, which organized and initiated the event. “After people had read for their hour, we received a lot of kind messages detailing how much they enjoyed the experience – many said they felt blessed,” he says. “We had people from all across Canada and from other countries.”

One of the special readers was the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby. Archbishop Linda Nicholls, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, also read. Bishop David Greenwood of the Diocese of Athabasca read in the first and last hour.

Readers represented a variety of churches and read from various translations of the bible, says Mr. Clarke. “One person reading from Germany chose to read the bible in Flemish. Another person read in Shona, the language of Zimbabwe. Somebody from the Philippines read from the Ilocano translation of the bible, plus others read in four different dialects of that country.”

He says the readings inspired him. “Personally, I find it wonderful how I can listen to somebody read the bible in another language and follow it in my own bible. Last year, a person in Mozambique read in Portuguese and – surprisingly – I could follow all the way to the end of the chapter.”

Mr. Clarke initiated the marathon when St. Mark’s opened its doors to people from other local churches and the community to read scripture. After the event was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was resurrected in 2021 and expanded online around the world. It will return next year.

South Peace News

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On the first day of the conference, the Rt. Rev. Lennon Chang, Bishop of Taiwan, warmly welcomed the participants and thanked them for their courageous presence, as Taiwan had just experienced an earthquake and its many aftershocks. Volunteers picked up guests from the airport and looked after all their needs. Their kindness and hospitality were widely appreciated.

The second day of the conference was held at St. John’s University in Tamsui, which is an hour and 20 minutes by bus from Taipei. St. John’s is one of the Anglican universities in Asia. It was founded in 1879 by Bishop Samuel Schereschewsky. Like many universities in Taiwan, St. John’s is challenged by declining student enrollment. The low birth rate and aging population in Taiwan called for a creative solution. The university received government approval and funding in 2023 to build a 200-bed long-term care facility on the campus; it is about to offer programs and courses related to senior care.

Many western missionaries were forced out of China when the Communist Party took power in 1949. The last group of missionaries and priests left in 1952. Many of them became the first wave of the Chinese Christian diaspora in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. As a result, Chinese Anglican leaders saw the need for a conference or fellowship for clergy and missionaries to support each other. Thus began the first World Chinese Anglican Clergy Fellowship in 1953.

I gained a few insights from this gathering and would like to share them with you in this article. First, all the diaspora congregations face a similar situation. Chinese parishes in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States and Canada struggle with multi-lingual challenges. Chinese language is no longer the preferred language for our second-generation members; therefore, we need to provide worship services for them in their language of choice. In addition, it is challenging to find priests or lay pastors to lead these congregations and to do discipleship. Many incumbents need to run at least two or even three congregations each weekend in various languages; that translates into double or triple the effort when preparing bulletins, sermons and worship rosters. This extra work is taking a toll on many Chinese clergy. Some parish priests also provide cross-cultural ministry to local immigrants such as Indians, indigenous Malays and Indonesians. As a result, they are ministering to up to five congregations in five dialects. The Diocese of Sabah in East Malaysia recently organized a three-day children’s worship conference with more than 400 children under 12 years of age from across the diocese. The hosting parish, Christ Church, has more than 200 Sunday school students and five congregations. The incumbent, Archdeacon Moses Chin, served at St. Michael and All Angels in Sandakan, where my wife and her family worshipped in 1980s. It was wonderful to reconnect with him and his wife, Lorraine, in Taiwan after almost 40 years.

Church planting seemed to be the unofficial theme of the conference. Sydney, Australia has 23 Chinese Anglican congregations and most of them are Mandarin- speakers from China. Bishop Stephen Soe from West Malaysia planted nine congregations under his leadership. The most impressive church planting work was done by Archbishop Ng Moon Hing, the retired Archbishop of the Province of Southeast Asia. He planted 50 congregations before he became the bishop of West Malaysia. Then, after he was consecrated bishop, he helped the parishes to plant another 50 congregations in his diocese. He said the most frequently asked question he receives is, where did he find so many church leaders to maintain the new church plants? People tell him, “Our congregation is not large enough to plant a new church. We do not have enough manpower. We need more leaders.” Archbishop Ng said, “The most important thing in church planting is the vision. We cast the vision. Then God will provide.” He said that when the mother church planted a mission, the congregation doubled. A few years later, they planted another mission, and the congregation quadrupled in size. He reached out to Indigenous people all over Asia through interpreters, and many accepted Jesus. In 2015, Nepal experienced a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, resulting in close to 9,000 casualties. The Provincial Relief Team started delivering food and other essentials to local villages where they had set up a mission many years earlier. On one such trip, they discovered that one of the villages was half-empty because most of the villagers had gone to a wedding celebration. While they were pondering what to do with all the supplies in their helicopter, three different groups of people arrived in that village, having walked three or four days to get there. The three patriarchs from the villages told the relief team that they had been praying to their gods for food after the massive earthquake. They saw a man in white robes like Jesus in their prayers and were told to take the journey to that site and they would find food. After meeting the relief team, they praised God for His providence. After their second meeting with the relief team, they all believed in Jesus. A few months later, Nepalese priests travelled to each of their villages and baptized more than 3,000 people. Archbishop Ng also confirmed over 700 adults in that area. The experience was overwhelming!

I had the opportunity to present a snapshot of Chinese Anglican ministry in Canada. Currently, Canada has a total of 14 Cantonese and four Mandarin congregations, if we include those who left the Anglican Church of Canada due to the 2002 motion on the blessing of same-sex marriage in the Diocese of New Westminster.  These Chinese Anglican congregations are in Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Edmonton, Toronto, Richmond Hill, Markham, Mississauga and Oakville.

We often talk about downsizing churches, more amalgamation or cluster ministry in Canada, yet the Canadian population continues to grow and now it surpasses 40 million. The conference helped me realize that the question is not about us having too many churches, but rather we need more missional leaders who share the vision and mission to reach out to our communities.

Bishop Chang of Taiwan reorganized the Anglican seminary, Trinity School for Christian Ministry, in 2020 to reflect a new endeavour in the changing world to response to God’s call. The first cohort graduated last year. Bishop Chang’s goal is to equip all seminarians to plant churches. This affirms the missional theology that it is not the Church who has a mission, but it is the missional God who uses the Church to do His mission. We are called to do God’s mission and bring the good news of Jesus Christ to all.

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