Integral to this ministry of healing was care for the soul – pastoral care, as we know it today. Like the healing ministry of nursing care, care for the soul has evolved over time as well. This evolution was captured well in St. John’s Chapel on Jan. 17 when Bishop Kevin Robertson, the area bishop of York-Scarborough, installed the Rev. Joanne Davies as the new full-time Anglican chaplain to the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, of which St. John’s Rehabilitation Hospital is a part.

Over the past several years, the Sisters and the Diocese of Toronto have collaborated in complimenting the excellent pastoral care provided by the Sisters with the provision of a priest chaplain. St. John’s Rehab is unique in that it is one of only a few remaining health care facilities which still has its founding religious order as its principle pastoral presence.

The Sisters provide a ministry of presence to those who face the challenges of rehabilitation after illness or accident. Such a journey back to health touches upon each dimension of who a person is – their physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual parts which make up a whole person.

The diocese, through the work of its Chaplaincy Committee, supports Ms. Davies as a priest chaplain who works with the Sisters, providing a full range of religious and spiritual care to the staff and patients at Sunnybrook and St. John’s.

As the Reverend Mother, Sister Elizabeth Rolfe-Thomas, shared with the congregation during her homily, the service of installation was the culmination of a deep and growing relationship with the diocese regarding the building up of an innovative ministry which combines the traditions, principles and dedication of the Sisters with Ms. Davies’s enthusiasm and creativity in attuning the spiritual care provided at St. John’s to the needs of the patient.

Such evidence of this creative thinking was in full display during the reception hosted by the Sisters as Ms. Davies padded around the refectory in her brilliant flamingo pink slippers – an obvious sign she feels wonderfully at home in this new and evolving ministry.

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Throughout the season of Epiphany, the church has replaced the sermon with a conversation between the incumbent, the lay associate minister and the congregation. The new format has created a buzz in the parish and even attracted the attention of the local press.

The series, called Holy Shift! How to Navigate a Changing World, features the Rev. Canon Dawn Davis and Philip Hamilton sitting on bar stools at the front of the church, discussing some of the most pressing issues of the day. The congregation is then invited to ask questions and give comments as well.

The conversation isn’t just a talk about current events. Throughout the discussion, the speakers, both at the front and in the congregation, talk about God, Jesus Christ and how their faith informs their opinions on the issues.

Canon Davis and Mr. Hamilton select the topics each week, based on what is in the news and what’s on the minds of parishioners. The election of Donald Trump and his executive orders on immigration and other subjects has provided ample material for discussion.

Some of the topics have included “What is Truth?”, an exploration of how the Gospel can help Christians navigate between facts and so-called alternative facts, and “Who Stole My Church?”, addressing numerical decline and Christ’s vision and mission in the midst of that. On the Sunday after the massacre at the Quebec City mosque, a local imam was one of the speakers. All the conversations are available in audio on the church’s website, www.trinityaurora.ca, and additional commentary is posted on its Facebook page during the week.

Canon Davis says parishioners like the format because it gives them a chance to participate in conversations about important and challenging topics in a safe place. “We’re in a moment of drastic change in society, when things are shifting quickly around us, and we wanted to slow the pace down and find a space that’s safe for us to reflect together on what is the role of our faith in the midst of all of these changes,” she says.

She says the impact on the parish has been profound. “When people are coming out of the church, the place is bubbling and everyone is talking. I’ve had parishioners tell me this has elicited huge conversations in their homes or between friends. A number are connecting with people and going out for coffee after church to further the conversation.”

In addition to the conversation, the format includes one other important element. After each talk, the congregation is given a “spiritual takeaway” to help them navigate the change they’ve just talked about. For example, after the “Who Stole My Church?” talk, parishioners were asked to reflect on if they’ve ever had a spiritual encounter with God and if they had told anyone about it. If so, they were encouraged to tell a loved one about it.

The spiritual takeaways have led to some surprising moments of grace. The week after the “Who Stole My Church?” talk, a parishioner stood up and shared his spiritual story with the rest of the congregation. “It was a holy moment,” recalls Canon Davis.

The takeaway exercise is not without some light-hearted moments – an important aspect of the format. If people complete the takeaway, they are given a sticker. “There’s some whimsy to it because part of the survival kit is holy humour,” explains Canon Davis.

People can also attend small-group discussions on Tuesday and Wednesday nights to start to build a Rule of Life for navigating today’s turbulent times. The groups have seen an uptick in attendance since the series started.

One of the interesting aspects of the series is that Canon Davis is a baby boomer and Mr. Hamilton is a millennial. Mr. Hamilton says they often have different perspectives on an issue, something the congregation appreciates.

“In most parishes, being a millennial in church is like being a unicorn – there aren’t too many of us around – so I think the majority of our parishioners, who are of the baby boom generation, find it really helpful to hear the two of us interact and hear in our conversations some of the conversations they’re having with their children,” he says. “The way Dawn and I approach problems and even truth is very different, and people have found that really helpful to hear two different opinions.”

The two often disagree, which is not only accepted but a welcomed part of the format. “That’s what’s been fun about it, that even in our preparation we’re trying to teach people and model for them what it is to disagree well and to have different opinions and to still be unified in purpose and mission and vision,” says Mr. Hamilton.

Canon Davis agrees. “Holy Shift is really a listening platform. We can be listening to the generation that went before us or the generation that comes after us. We can be listening to all the diversity in our parish. It’s helped us be a lot more respectful of other people’s perspectives.”

She says churches need to respond in creative ways in these changing times. “I think there is so much change going on that we have to be pretty light on our feet and make sure that our churches and our liturgies are responding to the spiritual needs that people have right now, because if they don’t we’re going to miss an incredible opportunity for Christ to speak into people’s lives.”

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The two families, 13 people in all, were sponsored in 2015 by two Presbyterian churches – St. Andrew, Humber Heights and St. Timothy, Etobicoke – and three Anglian churches, St. Philip, Etobicoke, St. George on-the-Hill, Toronto and San Lorenzo-Dufferin Ave.

During the past year, the Rev. Hernan Astudillo and his congregation at San Lorenzo had not yet had the opportunity to welcome and greet the families. “It was a chance for them to see the people that they had helped to bring to Canada,” says Margaret Henderson, a member of St. Andrew’s who sits on the sponsorship committee. “It was just a very joyful time.”

The families, who are Christian, helped lead the service. Christine and Carol, both teenagers, sang a few songs, and their mother and aunt served at the altar during the Eucharist.

The sponsorship project began with Hanna Bytion, a longtime member of St. Andrew’s whose brother and sister were living in Syria with their families. She had been trying to sponsor her brother and sister-in-law, along with their six children, without much success. “In the meantime, she’d asked our church if we might bring her sister, so we approached the other churches,” says Ms. Henderson. “When the other application didn’t work out, we took that one on as well.”

With the help of the churches, the applications for both families were approved. Ms. Bytion’s sister Poline and her four children arrived first, on Dec. 10, 2015. “They came on the first plane from Syria, so that was quite exciting to be part of the first group,” says Ms. Henderson. The second family followed a few weeks later.

“When they first came, the 13 of them, they all lived with their sister, and that was a pretty crowded situation,” says Ms. Henderson. “They then found other places to rent, and so they’re in their own places now.” Several of them have found work in family members’ businesses, and they are determined to support themselves financially.

They are also eager to keep sharing the hospitality they’ve received. “They’re very appreciative and friendly, and when you go into their homes … you can’t leave without having something to eat,” says Ms. Henderson.

The families, in particular the women and girls, have found a church home at St. Andrew’s. “We’ve really enjoyed having them there. The teenage girls are very lively, and they enjoy participating,” she says.

As the families continue to thrive in Canada more than a year after their arrival, Ms. Henderson says she is struck by their determination to succeed. “They didn’t bring much with them, but they’re able to survive doing their own work,” she says. “It’s been kind of amazing how they’ve done that.”

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Romero House is a community of welcome and support for refugee claimants in the west end of Toronto. We commit to walking alongside refugees as they seek safety and a new life in Canada.

I spend my days encountering remarkable people – newly arrived refugees who have undergone incredible journeys to get here, passionate and committed volunteers and supportive donors. My main role is to encourage and support the interns, who are the heartbeat of Romero House – the young people who give a year or two of their lives in service to the community. They are really the people who run Romero House. My role is to accompany them and to ensure all that we do is done in the spirit of our Way of Being as a community.

Right now I am really excited about the Community Host Program, an initiative that has been supported and encouraged by the Diocese of Toronto. This is a program that allows individuals and families to fill a deep need for emergency housing by offering a room in their home to a newly arrived refugee family. It is a sign of real Christian hospitality. It is the voice of the church speaking God’s love very loudly in this moment in history – a moment in which fear is trying to build walls between people. Through this program, we are meeting Christians who are choosing to open their doors in trust and faith, who are choosing to break down walls rather than build them.

The best part of my job is that is I don’t do it alone. I am held up and accompanied by a faithful and tremendous community. The second-best part of my job is the amazing food that is shared by my neighbours. The smells and tastes of Romero House are glorious.

There are no “worst” parts of my job, although many things are difficult. I am a witness to injustice every single day. And in that, I am given a choice to simply observe it, or to do something.

I grew up in Calgary and moved to Ontario to study at the University of Guelph. After graduating from International Development studies, I spent an incredibly formative year as an intern at Romero House. It was during that year that I started to shift my mindset from one of helping people in need to walking alongside those who suffer. I took that learning into three years of working with students in campus ministry at the University of Guelph.

When I was working in campus ministry, I really loved my job. I spent my days in deeply meaningful spiritual conversations with young people figuring out their relation to God. But I felt a deep yearning, a call of sorts, to be near to Romero House. The community and its Way of Being connected with my soul. So I left Guelph and moved back to Toronto to become a neighbour of Romero House. I started studying theology at Wycliffe while volunteering at Romero. And then the call came to move back in and step into my current role. There was a need, and I felt a total sense of being in the right place.

My spiritual journey is far from a linear one, with lots of turns, backtracks and circles. It is hard to say where it began – probably as a child in a Sunday school classroom. As long as I can remember, I have been trying to figure out who I am in relation to God. I have felt welcomed and at home in a number of different Christian traditions over the years and have come to see the presence of God in the world through ecumenical movements. My faith is what grounds my work and my life. God is my reference point. Prayer is what roots me. Our little community of interns and staff meets for prayer every morning, which is by far the most important part of my day.

I have learned that “refugee” is simply a label that is put on someone for their particular situation in life. But everyone I meet at Romero House is really just a person. My sister or brother.

I don’t really think about the future in terms of where I would like to be or what my goals are. I believe that I am in absolutely the right place right now. And I am deeply committed to my work and community. I am not really thinking of or planning for anything else. I am open to the leading of the Spirit. And that might be that I am at Romero House for the rest of my life. Or I could be somewhere else in five years that is not even on my radar. But I am choosing to live now, in this moment, and to be faithfully committed to it.

I don’t necessarily have a favourite passage of scripture. But the one that is speaking to me right now is the Gospel reading from Matthew 5:1-12. In stark contrast to the politics of power and self-importance, the Beatitudes reveal the politics of God. They reveal the Kingdom values of humility, mercy and peace. They give us a very clear idea of how the church is to be in the world. They give us a deep hope.

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Outreach is an integral part of our Anglican community; it is our faith in action. When we reach out our hands to support others, we share Christ’s love with people who need it most. As parish communities, we help to improve the lives of people who live in our neighbourhoods. As a diocesan community, we bring hope where there is despair and compassion where there is a broken spirit.

FaithWorks is our shared ministry of feeding, sheltering, befriending and nurturing the most vulnerable people in the diocese. Because of the faith-filled support of individuals, parishes, foundations and corporations, we are able to touch the lives of 10,000 people every year. According to Archbishop Colin Johnson, “FaithWorks is a ministry of encounter and compassion in which we walk with people who are marginalized and vulnerable.” For 20 years, we have been actively committed to and engaged with this ministry. Together, we have raised more than $25 million.

In 2016, FaithWorks raised nearly $1.5 million. Thank you to everyone who donated to the campaign! Although we almost reached our target, it was the first time in its history that FaithWorks received more money from sources other than parish campaigns. Parish participation is critically important to the ability of FaithWorks to support our Ministry Partners who are Christ’s hands and feet in the diocese.

It was an extraordinary year. We know that it took hard work and tremendous sacrifice for parishes to balance their commitments to FaithWorks with the call to support the settlement of Syrian refugees. Your continued support of FaithWorks is both humbling and inspiring. For parishes who decided to focus on the Syrian refugee crisis, remember that FaithWorks needs you!

So as we begin the 2017 FaithWorks campaign, imagine what outreach could look like in your community and your parish this year. Imagine homework clubs for at-risk youth, safe housing for women fleeing abuse, supporting reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and helping newcomers and refugees call Canada home. Through FaithWorks, all of this and more is possible.

This Lent, you can be love in the world by making a donation to FaithWorks. We have included in this issue of The Anglican an envelope that contains a brochure sharing FaithWorks outreach work and an invitation for you to make a donation. You can respond by mail or online at www.faithworks.ca. Please give! Imagine the impact that being love can make!

Across our diocese – in parishes, community ministries, homes and workplaces of faithful men, women and young people – Christ’s work goes on in support of our mission and moves us forward in building communities of hope and compassion. What we do in reaching out to those in need has a bigger impact on Canada than you imagine.

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One of the many joys of welcoming others is the opportunity to get to know people who are different. In the parish where I served for the past five years, welcoming a family into our midst gave us profound insights into a language, culture and religious tradition that was not our own. Not surprisingly, building the bridges of those new relationships over time reminded us how much we have in common, notwithstanding our perceived differences.

It is vital that this work of tearing down walls continues. Over the past few months, the world has witnessed an increase of suspicion and mistrust of “the other.” The proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico threatens the further separation of two peoples that, though divided by citizenship, are united in so many other ways. In a speech in Berlin 30 years ago, American President Ronald Reagan famously challenged his Russian counterpart, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” But now, a new president is threatening to erect new walls with the aim of keeping people apart. The recent executive order to restrict entry into the U.S for people of seven Muslim-majority countries is another kind of wall. It paints entire nations and peoples with a single brush, and heightens a sense of xenophobia around the world. Even here in our own country, we were shocked and saddened by the murder of six Muslim men at a Quebec City mosque in late January. Again, a reminder of the walls that divide us.

In the face of such disheartening news, I have found consolation and encouragement in the response of people of faith. I have heard stories of churches in our diocese redoubling their efforts to sponsor more families, especially from the countries on the U.S. watch list. In early February, I was moved to see a group of Anglicans from St. Anne, Gladstone Avenue form a “ring of peace” outside a mosque in the west end of Toronto. With their Jewish brothers and sisters from a neighbouring synagogue, they stood in solidarity with Muslims to “express our common humanity.” A year ago, the people of St. John the Evangelist, Peterborough raised funds for a local mosque after arson destroyed their building.

As we begin the season of Lent once again this year, we are reminded of the walls in our own lives, and are asked to consider how we might allow God to tear them down. This year, what might we give up or take on that would help us remove those walls that we have constructed between ourselves and God, and ourselves and each other? How might we recommit ourselves to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ in a world that seems overcome by fear and division? How might we pattern our lives in accordance with the one who was lifted high on the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself? Well, going back to the basics of Lent is a good start. The invitation on Ash Wednesday is to observe a “holy Lent” by self-examination, penitence, prayer, fasting, almsgiving and by reading and meditating on the word of God. (BAS, p.282.) In their own ways, these disciplines may help us to consider the ways that we have built and maintained walls in our lives. Hopefully, they will also lead us to a vision of being transformed in the image of God. For at the end of this Lenten path lies the resurrection of Jesus, which is the ultimate tearing down of every wall, including sin and death.

I wish you a holy Lent. With God’s help, may the walls come down, and may we be brought together in the love and service of Christ.

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A couple of years later, he reused the line in his play Lady Windermere’s Fan as the definition of a cynic.

It is a good line for us to think about as we enter into the season of Lent. We live in a society driven by economic bottom lines – everything becomes a commodity, assigned a price tag, its worth determined by the market (whatever that market might be).

I’m sure it’s not unrelated that our society is beset by a cynicism that is not only community destroying but soul destroying. People can be bought for a price (just when we thought slavery was dead). Truth is a commodity up for sale (just when we thought objective scientific evidence would free us from delusion). What’s deemed valuable is what fetches the highest price.

But price and value are not the same thing, and the very cynical Oscar Wilde knew that. Value includes a sense of the importance or intrinsic worth of something or someone. It is not related to what we could fetch for it on the market. It may indeed be priceless – without price.

This Lent, I invite you to consider the values that undergird our diocesan strategic plan, Growing in Christ. It names five: faith, compassion, collaboration, accountability, boldness.

Many think that Lent is a time to focus on our sins and shortcomings. The great spiritual guides direct us to focus less on the vices that lead us into sin and look instead to the virtues we aspire to. How do our lives and actions align with our values?

How do we nourish our faith in God who is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How do I grow in knowing God in my intellect, in my affections, in my activity? How do I respond to God’s love for me in personal and communal worship?

Loving compassion is the primary stance of God toward creation, revealed in Jesus Christ. Our love of God needs to overflow into our love for our neighbour, also God’s beloved, as God’s love has overflowed for us. How do we express our compassion in attitude and act in our daily dealings with family, friends, colleagues, strangers? Are the vulnerable the particular subjects of our love?

The Christian life is never solitary. From the beginning, we have been called to live in companionship with others. The biblical invitation is to exercise our unique gifts collaboratively, for each needs the others’ gifts for all of us to live fully and maturely. We do not need to compete for God’s love and attention. God has already given that to us.

What we do actually matters – to us, to our world, to God’s mission. It also matters how we do it. Both way and act are important. As part of a communion of saints, through time and place, we are mutually accountable to God, each other and ourselves for what we do and how we live. We bear one another’s burdens. We share in each other’s triumphs. Our baptismal vows remind us that our failures are not a measure of our worth but a chance for a new start. Accountability, then, is about constructive critique leading to growth, rather than punitive judgement that cynically pronounces nothing can improve.

Because we have hope in the living God who has raised Jesus from the dead and empowers us with the life-giving Spirit, we are called to live boldly and without the anxious fear that can trap and constrain us. Do we value boldness – the courageousness that empowered the apostles to proclaim the Good News that transforms the world? Boldness, unless it is linked to faith, compassion, collaboration and accountability, can be impulsive recklessness or irresponsible conceit. Linked to these other values, however, boldness can mobilize our creative imagination and productive energy, joining us to God’s mission to reconcile the world to himself.

This Lent, explore these values and see how they shape your life, as well as the life of your parish and our diocese. Pray about what we can do and how we can more clearly live by the values we affirm.

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York-Scarborough

York-Credit Valley

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The congregations come together for a special joint service every January and have welcomed a who’s who of bishops over the years. On Jan. 15, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, celebrated the Eucharist and preached. In his sermon, he compared the story of the Holy Innocents – baby boys killed at Herod’s decree – to the current violence around the world, particularly in South Sudan.
He said the Sudanese Community Church of Toronto is truly ecumenical, noting how it brings together Sudanese Canadians from different ethnicities, tribes and denominations.

As violence and political unrest continue in South Sudan, the congregation feels the pain. Last year, it held three special prayer vigils and memorial services for family members and friends who were killed back home.

“This annual joint service helps us stay connected to the plight of our South Sudanese brothers and sisters,” says the Rev. Robert Mitchell, incumbent of St. Olave’s. “We are privileged to have the congregation share our space.”

The service included a procession for the Holy Innocents and musical selections from the Sudanese choir in both English and Juba Arabic. A delicious African lunch was enjoyed by all.

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“This is an amazing experience,” said Ms. Forbes, a member of St. Anne, Gladstone Avenue in Toronto as she stood with about 250 Christians, Jews, Muslims and others as worshippers entered the mosque for Friday prayers. “There’s so many people and so much love being expressed.”

Ms. Forbes was one of hundreds of Anglicans across the diocese who took part in events and organized gatherings in support of Muslims in the days after the Quebec City shooting, which left six dead and 19 injured.

“I don’t think there’s anywhere that Christ tells us to just sit back and let things happen,” she said. “We’re called to be voices and get out there and express what we believe in through our presence. That’s why we’re Christians. I’ve always believed that if you can, you should. You make whatever effort you can.”

The “ring of peace” outside of the Islamic Information and Dawah Centre on Bloor Street – one of seven held in Toronto on Feb. 3 – was organized by the Rev. Gary van der Meer, the incumbent of St. Anne’s, and Rabbi Elyse Goldstein of nearby City Shul synagogue. It was held with the support of the mosque.

“We want to be in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters, to express our common humanity, and we’ve invited our neighbours to come and do that with us,” said Mr. van der Meer. “We’re here to greet Muslims as they come in with a smile or a handshake or to say hello. We’re here to say we support you and to be in solidarity with each other.”

The idea was inspired by a group of Muslims in Oslo, said Rabbi Goldstein. In 2015, as Jewish communities across Europe were reeling from anti-Semitic attacks in France and Denmark, Muslims organized to stand guard around the synagogue in Oslo while those inside offered Sabbath prayers.

“I was very moved by that and I said it’s time for us to pay it forward,” said Rabbi Goldstein. “The Jewish community has to come out and be in support of the Muslim community. I think the world thinks Muslims and Jews should not be supportive of each other and we needed to break that stereotype.”

Many in the crowd carried signs that read “We Stand with our Muslim Neighbours”, “Interfaith Support for All” and “Jews and Christians United.” The line of supporters stretched down the sidewalk and continued on the other side of the street. Cars and trucks honked their horns in support. Among those in attendance were 40 pupils from a Jewish day school.

Rabbi Goldstein said it was important that faith groups responded to the Quebec City massacre. “If we don’t love our neighbour as ourselves, who’s going to?” she asked. “It’s that simple. We’re the ones who preach this, and if we don’t practice it, then the world is in a sorry state.”

She spoke for many in the crowd when she said, “This is Canada. These are our values. We have to pray with our feet and make it happen. It’s beautiful to see everyone come out. It’s really beautiful and respectful – the way things are meant to be.”

Both Mr. van der Meer and Rabbi Goldstein were invited into the mosque to speak to worshippers before prayers began. Mr. van der Meer spoke about “the inappropriateness and impossibility of walls” and the need to take them down.

Like St. Anne’s, churches throughout the diocese responded to the attack in Quebec City with love and support for the Muslim community. As news of the tragedy spread on the morning of Jan. 30, dozens of churches took to social media to post messages of prayer for the injured, the wounded and the wider Muslim community. Information about inter-faith events and vigils happening in cities and towns across the diocese was also shared widely among Anglicans online.

Bishop Peter Fenty joined in the outpouring of grief and support, sharing a statement of solidarity on behalf of the diocese:

“We believe that ‘Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, … love never ends’ (1 Cor. 13: 7-8). Hatred does not win, and we must by our living overcome hatred with love.

“We stand in solidarity with the Muslim community in Quebec City, here in Toronto and in all our communities, as we grieve with them. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are obligated ‘to strive for peace and justice among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.’ Let us model that behaviour every day with the hope that others may be inspired and influenced in the same way.”

Some Anglicans also reached out directly to their Muslim neighbours. The Rev. Canon Eric Beresford of St. Timothy, North Toronto and the Rev. Daniel Brereton of St. John the Baptist (Dixie) in Mississauga each wrote a letter to his local mosque, offering support and prayer. After Mr. Brereton hand-delivered his letter, a Muslim man asked him to stay and join him in his prayers.

Along with messages of support, churches such as St. Mary, Schomberg and Church of the Redeemer, Bloor St. opened their doors for anyone who wished to stop in and pray. Many others in Mississauga, Uxbridge, Fenelon Falls, Peterborough, Toronto and beyond planned prayer vigils in the following days.

One such church was St. Peter, Cobourg, whose members organized a candlelight vigil of reflection and prayer on Jan. 31. Candles were lit for each of the six victims, and their names were read aloud. The vigil was sponsored by Interfaith Northumberland, a group that includes representatives from local Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities.

“Many came from different faiths and from many denominations of Christianity,” said Suzanne Lawson, a member of St. Peter’s who helped organize the vigil. “All this happened when the word went out at noon on Tuesday, and the vigil was at seven, thanks to social media.”

The Rev. Canon Douglas Graydon, coordinator of chaplaincy services for the diocese and honorary assistant at St. John, West Toronto, was among those who attended a vigil near Gerrard St. E. and Coxwell Ave. in Toronto on the evening of Jan. 30. “My neighbourhood mosque is small, hidden away on a side street off the always-busy Gerrard Street,” he said. “With only a few hours of notice, over 1,000 of my neighbours gathered in front of that mosque in a rally of solidarity and grief.”

Imam Noor Irkakar offered blessings to the crowd, who held candles or carried banners of peace, solidarity and support for immigrants and refugees. Religious leaders from many of the nearby communities of faith were present.

“These were my neighbours who came out on a cold winter’s night to show love and compassion for their neighbour, regardless of land of origin or faith. But were we also standing witness to the value of being each other’s neighbour,” said Canon Graydon. “It was for me a reminder that love always triumphs over hate, and that we as a neighbourhood, or nation, value all people.”

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