“I am really excited by it,” says Bishop Andrew Asbil. “We’ve been hearing over and over again in Cast the Net’s consultations with clergy and laity a deep need to steep ourselves in prayer and discipleship and a renewed sense of our life in Christ. My hope is that this will lead us to a deep and profound joy in the gospel of Jesus Christ and a sense of communities large and small feeling a part of a rekindling of the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Toronto.”

Cast the Net, the diocese’s visioning and strategy process, has consulted with about 1,000 clergy and laity since last fall. One of the major themes emerging from the discussions is a desire for spiritual renewal – for people to re-connect with their faith, to deepen their own discipleship and to be more articulate about their life in Christ.

In response to that desire, Cast the Net’s steering committee originally proposed a year of spiritual renewal, to be held in 2024. However, it was felt that a two-year time frame was more realistic to plan and hold activities. Therefore, the Season of Spiritual Renewal will start with Synod this November and run until the fall of 2025.

The steering committee is proposing that the season unfold in four phases:

• Clergy will be oriented to the project with easy-to-use educational and promotional materials. Every parish will be asked to participate in a three-session program of bible study and reflection on mission, co-led by teams of clergy and laity, online or in person. There will be additional resources for young adults, youth and children, to engage them in what it means to be committed to a life in Christ. Materials will be available in a variety of languages, reflecting the cultural diversity of the diocese.
• Bishop Asbil and others will travel throughout the diocese, conducting and preaching at special services with a focus on strengthening the people of the diocese in their work and of being the Church. Services will include inspiring music, testimonies, scripture and sermons, as well as time for anointing and prayer for those who seek it. The services will be held in easily accessible venues and will also be available virtually for those who cannot attend in person.
• The bishops and others will preside and preach at liturgies in large locations. Baptism, confirmation and reaffirmation will be offered. These will be lively, diverse celebrations of Christian commitment and service.
• Sunday worship celebrations will include times for lay people to share testimony about how they experience God as active in their lives, or share “Spirit sightings,” where they see the Holy Spirit of God at work in the world. Every parish and congregation will be invited to engage in an examination of mission opportunities within their region. Many of these will be held in regional groupings. Reports from these efforts will be brought back to Synod.

The College of Bishops requested that $400,000 be set aside from the diocese’s Our Faith-Our Hope funds to support the season, including the hiring of a coordinator and an administrator and coordinator of volunteers. Synod Council approved the request at its June meeting.

Bishop Asbil believes the time is right for the Season of Spiritual Renewal. “I think every parish understands that where we were before the pandemic is not where we are now. On the one hand, we feel the vulnerability of that but on the other hand we feel the possibility of it, too. And there is a real sense of kindling of new ideas and a new sense of God’s spirit working with us.”

The Very Rev. Peter Elliott, one of the Cast the Net’s coordinators, echoes his words. “I think the pandemic – that period of being disbursed and losing the pattern of regular church attendance – has had an impact on people, and it’s a new day. Things have changed and we need a renewal of the Spirit to face the challenges that this new day is bringing,” he says. “In some ways, the season of spiritual renewal is casting the net on the other side.”

He says Bishop Asbil has the gifts to lead the year. “In my view, Bishop Andrew is one of the most gifted communicators of the Christian way in the church in Canada and in the whole Communion. So let’s put his gifts to the fore. Rather than sitting in meetings and puzzling over problems, what if the bishop’s time could be used to do one of the things he does the best, and communicate out the faith and the importance of that in daily life and work?”

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The success of this project started in 2016. PWRDF was embarking on a historic four-year maternal, newborn and child health program funded by donors and the Government of Canada with a 6:1 match. The project budget was approximately $20 million, and PWRDF was responsible for raising $2.8 million through donations. The Diocese of Toronto’s Our Faith-Our Hope campaign gave a generous donation of $500,000, which was critical to kickstarting that $2.8 million. 

One of the successes in year one of the program was the installation of 30 “solar suitcases” in rural health clinics in Mozambique. The hard plastic boxes open like a suitcase, they are installed on the wall of a clinic and then connected to a solar panel mounted to the roof. Bright, plentiful sunshine flows into the panel and the suitcase, powering a headlamp, a ceiling light, phone charging ports and a fetal Doppler. 

Since the suitcases were installed, PWRDF’s Mozambique partners have seen a dramatic increase in healthy births during the night, and greater acceptance of going to the clinics to have a trained birth attendant present at the birth. The suitcases are still in perfect working condition. Any repairs that were required were easily made by those who had been trained in 2016.

So in 2021, when the opportunity presented itself to install more solar suitcases, the Diocese of Toronto came to the table again, this time with a grant from FaithWorks for $10,000. 

Olinda Magaia, Executive Director at EHALE, joined PWRDF for a Zoom celebration of the program’s success and spoke about the excitement for the new suitcases. “People, after they see what the solar suitcases have done to other communities and their impact, they call me and say, ‘you have to protect us, you have to bring a solar suitcase to us,’” said Ms. Magaia through a translator.

As there was no government match for this program, PWRDF had to be more creative in its approach to fundraising. Many churches took up the cause, including St. John, East Orangeville, a small but mighty parish in Caledon. St. John raised enough for two suitcases. “We have a very small parish, only about 30 worshippers on average each Sunday,” says Mark Hauck, a warden and a PWRDF board member. So how did they raise $11,600? 

Two factors were key, says Mr. Hauck. One, parish leadership. “Our incumbent, Archdeacon Elizabeth Hardy, is extremely organized and was behind the project from the beginning.”  The other factor was having a beginning, middle and end to the campaign.

“We started in late June by deciding at the parish leadership to undertake this. We started providing information on a Bristol board display in the church and answered any questions from the parish.”

Near the middle, they invited PWRDF Executive Director Will Postma to come and speak. “We were able to gather outside, and he answered even more questions.”

Toward the end, the Orangeville newspaper picked up the story. “They published a Q&A with our priest, Archdeacon Hardy, and also invited people outside the church to give.”

In the end, the parish raised the funds through 27 gifts, two of which were anonymous. 

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Three women from different backgrounds, but with one thing in common: they are all spending a year living and working at the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine’s convent in Toronto.

Since 2016, the sisterhood’s Companions on an Ancient Path program has offered a spiritual gap year to women over the age of 21. Fifteen women from across Canada and overseas have participated in the program, and applications are open for the 2020-2021 cohort.

“One of the real gifts of this program is that it opens up space in a woman’s life to think, to experience, to create community, to deepen one’s faith or maybe struggle with faith,” says Shannon Frank-Epp, the program’s assistant coordinator. “A lot of women come here and say, “I don’t know what I believe anymore.” And this is a safe space to go deeper.”

While at the convent, participants – called “companions” – live, work, pray and learn alongside the sisters. Their room and board is fully paid for by the sisterhood, a Canadian order that was founded in 1884. The sisterhood has received generous grants from the Diocese of Toronto’s Our Faith-Our Hope campaign to fund the program.

Sr. Constance-Joanna Gefvert, coordinator of the program, says the gap year isn’t a recruitment tool for the sisterhood, although a couple of companions have joined the order. “The purpose of it is to help women deepen their spiritual lives and have the tools they need to live a discerning Christian life and a life of discipleship,” she says.

Companions need not be Anglican. Many have come from different denominations, including the Pentecostal and evangelical traditions. They have often been referred to the program by their parish priests, chaplains or friends.

For Jasmine Lo, 25, the experience has grounded her in her faith and provided her with valuable work experience. A music therapist, Ms. Lo helps patients at St. John’s Rehab, a hospital located next to the convent that was founded by the sisterhood and is now part of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

“Being here, I feel really privileged,” she says during an interview at the convent. “We have a sense of peace and a time to be open to God.”

Halfway through the year, she says she has learned a lot about herself. “It has nurtured me. I’ve learned that it’s important to just be myself, to be authentic in my therapy practice as well as my faith journey.”

Born in Vancouver and raised in Hong Kong, she hopes to return to the former British colony to help those who have been traumatized by the ongoing protests and riots. But she’s keeping an open mind. “This is a really interesting journey that I’m on and I look forward to where it is going,” she says.

Florence Au, 55, says the pace of life at the convent is a world away from her busy life in Hong Kong. “It can be sort of hectic here, but in a nice way that grounds you. You aren’t attached to work all the time, like you can be in your other life. Whatever you are doing here, you have to stop and go to prayer. God is at the centre of everything.”

A spiritual director back home, she has been able to apply her skills at St. John’s Rehab and the convent’s guesthouse, where people often stay for retreats. She says living alongside the sisters has been a unique opportunity.

“I can see God through the sisters,” she says. “I can see how they age so gracefully and how wise they are and how they live with one another.”

She encourages other middle-aged women to apply to the program. “You need to embrace change, whatever stage of life you’re in. It’s harder when you’re older, but you have to try. Some things I don’t want to change in my life, but it’s good to be open to possibilities.”

Kelsea Willis, 24, is on her second year in the program and is discerning a call to the religious life. “I was very comfortable with the sisters and they were comfortable with me,” she says, recalling her first year. “It felt that I wasn’t ready to go when the time came, that there was more to be explored here and more to do.”

Before being accepted into the program, the native of Lethbridge, Alberta had quit her job and moved in with her mother. “I wasn’t living the life I knew I wanted to live or the life I knew I should be living,” she says. “I was feeling so disconnected from everything. I was looking for a community or something that would bring together the person I wanted to be and the values I wanted to live out, with the person who I was.”

Her parish priest recommended the program to her. “He said, ‘I think this would work for you.’ It was in line with some discernment that I was going through at the time, but I didn’t know how much fruit it would bear.”

As it turns out, it would bear a lot. Ms. Willis beams as she describes her life at the convent. She is the sacristan at St. John’s Rehab’s chapel, assisting the chaplain, the Rev. Canon Joanne Davies, and also helps out in the convent’s chapel. “I’ve really enjoyed living intentionally and always with the sisters, praying with them and being a member of the community. They are great women, and they are my friends now.”

She encourages other women to give the program a try. “Go for it. If it feels right, you’ll know. I’ve learned that if there’s something you really want to do, and you feel that it’s the right thing to do even though you have to change your entire life to do it, it’s worth doing.”

For more information about the Companions on an Ancient Path program, email Sr. Constance Joanna Gefvert at cj@ssjd.ca or visit www.ssjd.ca.

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The campaign, launched in 2010 to “renew, reimagine and revitalize” the Church, raised $32 million and gave out 192 grants, ranging from $1,400 toward the tuition for a professional development course to $418,000 for major renovations to a church building. Parishes could also keep a percentage of the funds they raised.

“It has been a huge benefit to parishes and it has been spread right across the diocese,” says Peter Misiaszek, the diocese’s director of Stewardship Development.

There were five categories of grants that parishes and congregations could apply for: adaptive re-use of parish facilities; communicating in a wireless world; enabling parishes to become multi-staffed; leadership development; and pioneering ministry.

In addition to grants for parishes and individuals, the diocese distributed $1.5 million from the campaign’s “Giving to Others” category. Three gifts of $500,000 each were given to the Anglican Military Ordinariate to fund the office of the Bishop Ordinariate in perpetuity; to the Council of the North to support regional gatherings of clergy and lay leaders; and to the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund to improve maternal, newborn and child health in Africa and in Indigenous communities in Canada.

After the last round of grants were approved in the fall of 2018, the campaign was left with about $1.2 million. Instead of going through another round of grants, the diocese plans to divide the remaining money among the four episcopal areas, to be disbursed according to the aims of the campaign.

“When it was announced in 2018 that funds from the campaign would be exhausted in the next couple of years, many parishes took that to mean imminently,” explains Mr. Misiaszek. “As the result, the last two rounds saw twice as many applicants than usual. If we experienced a similar response again, the allocations committee knew it wouldn’t have the funds available and it would be impossible to determine what project was more important than the other.”

The plan to divide the remaining funds among the four episcopal areas is expected to go to Diocesan Council for approval in the spring.

Mr. Misiaszek praised the work of the campaign’s allocation committee, which recommended to Diocesan Council twice a year which grant applications should be approved. The committee decided to disband late last year.

“The allocations committee did an exemplary job,” he says. “Most of the proposals submitted were honoured. The fact that we’ve been able to reinvest in parishes tells me that people are passionate about their faith and they want to invest in it.”

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The gift will come out of the diocese’s Ministry Allocation Fund, 10 per cent of which is tithed to projects or ministries outside the diocesan budget. Previous grants have included $100,000 to the Diocese of Athabasca to help youth after the fire in Fort McMurray, $500,000 for refugee sponsorship, and $100,000 to replenish the national church’s Anglican Healing Fund.

The new centre, which will be built near Front and Cherry streets in the city’s West Don lands, will include healing gardens and outdoor therapeutic spaces, meeting and counselling space, a Family, Child and Youth unit, expanded services for LGBTQ clients and palliative care services.

The centre will be owned and operated by Anishnawbe Health Toronto (AHT), which provides traditional health and healing programs for First Nations, Metis and Inuit people and their non-Indigenous family members in Toronto. Founded in 1987, AHT is Canada’s first fully accredited Indigenous community health service.

“We’re really excited to have this tremendous support from the Anglican Church,” says Julie Cookson, the executive director of the Anishnawbe Health Foundation, the fundraising arm of AHT. “We’re grateful that this has come forward and we’re hopeful this campaign is the start of a friendship between AHT and the Indigenous community and other groups across the city.”

Toronto has about 70,000 Indigenous people, the largest and most diverse Aboriginal community in Ontario. According to a recent study, 90 per cent of the community lives at or below Canada’s low-income line and one-third are precariously housed or homeless; chronic health issues such as diabetes, asthma and arthritis are much more prevalent than in the general population. Mental health issues affect 80-90 per cent of AHT’s clients.

AHT currently provides services at three locations in Toronto, including its main centre at 225 Queen St. E. The organization plans to move all its services to the new building in the West Don lands. Construction is expected to begin in 2019 with completion by the end of 2020.

The total cost of the project will be $31 million, with $17 million coming from Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long Term Care’s capital program, an estimated $4 million from the sale of AHT’s Queen Street property and other government sources, and $10 million from a public fundraising campaign. The land was a legacy gift of the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games, held in Toronto in 2015.

Ms. Cookson says the new building will convey the cultural richness of the Indigenous community and foster reconciliation through the reclamation and restoration of traditional healing practices. One of the Truth and Reconciliation’s Calls to Action (#61) calls on churches, in collaboration with Indigenous organizations, to establish funding for healing and reconciliation projects at the local level.

She says the four-storey building will be part of an “Indigenous hub” for the city. “It will be space where the Indigenous community and the city can come together and recognize the strength and beauty of Indigenous culture.”

Archbishop Colin Johnson said he was pleased that Diocesan Council approved the grant. “It recognizes the ongoing commitment of the Diocese of Toronto to healing and reconciliation – in this case specifically with Indigenous populations that live in the City of Toronto and beyond,” he said. “The urban Indigenous population is one of the most underserved, and this reaches out using money that we have raised through the sale of property to support people for whom connection to the land is so important.”

As part of its commitment to healing and reconciliation, the diocese contributed $5 million to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement and created the Robert L. Falby Memorial Endowment for Aboriginal Ministry. The diocese’s Our Faith-Our Hope campaign gave a $500,000 grant to the Council of the North and the Anglican Council of Indigenous People for healing work with clergy and caregivers in remote communities. The Rev. Chris Harper, the diocese’s Indigenous Native Priest, serves as pastor to the diocese’s Indigenous population.

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A $250,000 grant from the Diocese of Toronto’s Our Faith-Our Hope campaign has established The Most Reverend Frederick James Hiltz Scholarship Fund, named after the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

“I’m enormously grateful for the generosity of the diocese to establish this scholarship,” says Archbishop Hiltz. “It’s a wonderful act and it’s very humbling to have my name attached to it. My prayer is that the scholarship will prove to be a great blessing for the people who receive it and have the opportunity to go to St. George’s.”

Four to five scholarships will be awarded annually. All active clergy of the Diocese of Toronto, members of religious orders, postulants and laity, including Diocesan Centre and parish staff, are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to applicants in the Diocese of Toronto but others across Canada can apply as well.

The scholarships will cover the full cost of tuition and related expenses for programs at St. George’s College, which offers a variety of courses on Jesus, early Christianity, the Holy Land, the Bible and Muslim-Christian relations. Several courses combine classroom learning with visits to key sites in the Holy Land.

Archbishop Hiltz says he was surprised that the scholarship was named after him. “It came right out of the blue. It’s beautiful.” Although he has visited St. George’s College many times, he has not actually studied there – a situation he hopes to remedy soon. “To do a course there is on my bucket list,” he says.

He is pleased that the funds will allow people to visit the Holy Land, which he says can be a life-changing experience. “Most people who’ve been to the Holy Land, particularly the Diocese of Jerusalem and St. George’s College, say it flavours forever the way they read the scriptures and the way they preach. When you’ve walked the land and met the people, your view of the Church’s witness there is enhanced.”

The scholarship fund was named after Archbishop Hiltz because of his deep commitment to the college and the Diocese of Jerusalem, says Bishop Philip Poole, a retired suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Toronto and one of the people responsible for creating the award.

Since Archbishop Hiltz was elected Primate in 2007, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Diocese of Jerusalem have undertaken several initiatives to strengthen ties with each other. Canadian Anglicans observe Jerusalem Sunday each spring. The Companions of Jerusalem was established to support the Anglican Church in the Middle East. Archbishop Hiltz and national church staff have visited the diocese five times and Archbishop Suheil Dawani of the Diocese of Jerusalem has come to Canada on several occasions.

Archbishop Hiltz says the scholarship fund is a recognition of the close ties between the Canadian and Jerusalem churches. “In many respects, when I look at the scholarship with my name attached to it, it’s very humbling. For me, it’s a recognition of the Anglican Church of Canada’s commitment to the Diocese of Jerusalem and St. George’s College.”

One of the college’s most popular courses is a 10-day program called The Palestine of Jesus, which gives people the opportunity to study at the college and then explore the major holy sites in Israel. While there, students can worship at St. George the Martyr Cathedral in Jerusalem, which has a Sunday service in both English and Arabic.

“We hope that people who take these scholarships will come back and spread what they’ve learned and experienced throughout our Church,” says Bishop Poole. He has taken courses at the college and calls it a “gem” of the Anglican Communion.

St. George’s College is located in the cathedral close, which also houses the office of the Bishop of Jerusalem. The diocese covers five countries – Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria – and is home to about 30 parishes. It has four main priorities: hospitality, healthcare, education and reconciliation.

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Those are just a few of the ways that the diocese’s $500,000 Our Faith-Our Hope grant to the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) made an impact in Africa last year. The funds also supported an Indigenous midwives program in Canada, Peru and Mexico.

“The funds provided by the Diocese of Toronto have had a real impact on the lives of thousands of people in a very sustainable and lasting way,” says Zaida Bastos, director of PWRDF’s Development Partnership Program. “The medical equipment, water wells, construction of infrastructure and loans will continue affecting the lives of beneficiaries long after the projects are over. PWRDF is very thankful to the diocese for its generous gift and the lasting impact it is having towards alleviating poverty in target countries.”

PWRDF used the grant for its maternal, newborn and child health program called All Mothers and Children Count. The $500,000 grant was matched by $3 million from Global Affairs Canada, which gives $6 for every $1 that PWRDF contributes to the program. The program is being implemented in Rwanda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Burundi with local partners who are focussed on health and food security.

Here’s a summary of how the Our Faith-Our Hope grant made a world of difference:

Medical equipment in Burundi

Village Health Works, a partner of PWRDF, operates in 18 villages in the provinces of Vyanda and Rumonge. They used the funds to buy a polymerase chain reaction machine (PCR), as well as to help build a nutrition centre and a house for nurses. The PCR machine, located in the main clinic in Kigutu, is the only one of its kind in Burundi. It is essential in helping assess the status of HIV/AIDS patients and their treatment protocol, especially in pregnant women and children with HIV/AIDS. The housing facilities for nurses have allowed the clinic to retain more skilled health staff, who are providing around-the-clock service for patients. The new on-site nutrition centre diagnosed and treated 2,233 children for malnutrition last year.

Solar panels in Tanzania

PWRDF’s partner in Tanzania is the Diocese of Masasi. Funds were used to equip 12 rural clinics in the district of Tunduru with solar panels, which provide reliable, affordable and clean energy. The clinics can deliver services around the clock, including night births. More than 400 pregnant women were referred to receive services.

New water wells are making safe drinking water available to more than 33,000 people in 20 villages in Tunduru. Women and girls no longer must walk for hours each day to fetch water, which exposes them to risk of rape and other violent attacks; now it takes about 20 to 30 minutes, and girls can go to school.

The grant also enabled PWRDF to organize a trip to Tanzania to see the work in Masasi first-hand. The delegation included a videographer who produced two videos (both available for viewing on PWRDF’s You Tube channel), as well as Elin Goulden, the Social Justice and Advocacy consultant for the Diocese of Toronto.

Equipment for Rwanda

PWRDF partner Partners in Health/Inshuti Mu Buzima used the funds to buy equipment such as an anesthesia machine, fetal monitoring machine, hospital beds and incubators. The equipment was distributed to 43 health centres and three hospitals in Burera, Southern Kayonza and Kirehe districts. The agency also bought an ambulance and assigned it to one of the remotest districts, so women could safely get to a clinic to deliver their babies.

Solar suitcases in Mozambique

PWDF partner EHALE used the funds to buy and install 30 solar suitcases in rural clinics that do not have electricity. In the past, nurses and midwives would hold cellphones in their mouths and use its light to help them see to deliver babies in the dark – sometimes as many as 10 in a night. The risks of infection and obstetric complications were very high. A solar suitcase – mounted to the wall and attached to solar panels on the roof – provides medical lighting and power for mobile communication, laptop computers and a fetal doppler with rechargeable batteries. Clinics with solar suitcases registered 7,161 nocturnal births last year, and 31 babies were resuscitated. EHALE was also able to equip 27 health clinics with baby scales, patient beds and mattresses, sterilizers and other medical disposal products.

Micro-finance in Mozambique

The Our Faith-Our Hope grant provided funding for 392 women to start or run a business through CCM Pemba, a micro-finance initiative in Pemba, Mozambique. The loans have enabled women to build and expand businesses that include restaurants, convenience stores, food stands, catering, hairdressing and more. Some of the women are now paying university fees for their children. Other women are able to cover medical expenses and improve their housing. Many have become employers, contributing to the development of the local economy. The loans range from $500 to $2,000 with an interest rate of 4 per cent, compared to the local bank institutional rate of 25 per cent or more. The delinquency rate is 0.0 per cent.

Indigenous midwifery in Americas

Ryerson University’s Aboriginal Initiatives is working with KINAL Antzetik in Mexico and CHIRAPAQ Indigenous Women group in Peru to develop a midwifery curriculum that affirms and validates Indigenous midwifery best practices throughout the Americas. The grant enabled partners to compile examples of Indigenous midwifery curriculum developed by and for Indigenous learners in Nunavik, Manitoba and Six Nations in Ontario. Partners also presented findings in Toronto at the International Congress of Midwives last April.

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Adaptive Re-Use of Parish Facilities

St. Martin, Bay Ridges (Pickering)
$12,750 to address accessibility concerns. The parish installed an automatic door opener to allow easier access, created an accessible washroom and received estimates for further accessibility projects. “We at St. Martin’s envision the day when our worship space will be fully accessible. The Re-Imagine Church grant has helped us start that process,” said Joe Moore, churchwarden. The parish later received another grant of $55,000 to continue its accessibility work.

St. Peter, Erindale
$75,000 to install a lift that is used daily to give worshippers and visitors full access to all floors of the building. “Thanks to the OFOH support, we were able to open up our church to new ministry opportunities by gaining accessibility for all,” said the Rev. Canon Jennifer Reid, incumbent. “We see the future as much rosier – people are delighted with the lift.”

St. George Memorial, Oshawa
$35,000 for accessibility upgrades. The parish is installing an exterior accessibility ramp and modifying an existing internal ramp. It is also hoping to replace existing entrance doors that have begun to rot and are not energy-efficient.

St. Stephen in-the-Fields, Toronto
$418,000 for major building renovations. The grant provided for roof and foundation repairs, new hardwood floors, and a renovated kitchen and washrooms. St. Stephen’s was able to expand its capacity for outreach and community work, enhance its worship space and ensure the long-term stability of the building. “Our volunteers are delighted by the size and functionality of the new kitchen, and we are already providing better meals for our guests,” said the Rev. Maggie Helwig, incumbent.

St. George, Grafton
$145,000 to revitalize the interior and exterior of the church and parish hall. The remodelled hall is a hub in the community, hosting an internet café, a quilting group, men’s breakfasts, circles of prayer and other regular events in a comfortable, modern meeting place.

Communicating in a Wireless World

St. Bride, Clarkson
$15,000 for new audio equipment, projectors, screens and cameras. Prayers and hymns for worship services are projected rather than printed, video content is used during sermons, and the parish is finding new ways to use video during services. “The grant has helped make it possible for us to communicate the Good News in more impactful ways through the use of visual media,” said the Rev. Canon Stephen Peake, incumbent.

St. Paul, Newmarket
$30,000 to renew its technology and develop a robust online presence, including a new website and branding. “As a parish without a main-street presence, this grant enabled us to develop an online presence that has become our point of entry for newcomers,” said Colleen Keats, churchwarden. “More people are saying they found us and learned of our ministries and events via our web presence than before.”

Diocesan Communications Department
$58,700 to help 18 parishes build seeker-friendly websites, followed by $52,580 for a second phase of 20 parishes. Parishes work with a web designer, photographer and social media coach to enhance their online presence and develop communication strategies. “This has been a very engaging and fruitful process for us. We have become much more intentional in our use of social media,” said the Ven. Stephen Vail, incumbent of All Saints, Whitby, after participating in the program.

Christ Memorial Church, Oshawa
$27,298 to enhance its technology for mission. The parish upgraded its technological equipment, developed a new website, started posting sermons online, created a Facebook page and improved its capacity for graphic design. “We are so grateful for our OFOH grant,” said Michelle Nichols, churchwarden. “The whole process stimulated and continues to stimulate new engagement with social media, communications and even our ‘branding.’ What a lift this has been!”

St. Cuthbert, Leaside
$4,000 to upgrade the church’s sound system to accommodate assistive hearing devices. The project increased participation in worship by those with hearing impairments and created a more inclusive and welcoming atmosphere. “I think the hearing devices are wonderful – I would be lost without them,” said one parishioner. “When people were reading the Prayers of the People or anything from the pulpit, I couldn’t hear at all. I think they are a wonderful idea.”

Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto
$12,000 to develop a mobile app for Apple and Android phones to connect with the congregation and the wider community. It includes readings, daily prayer, videos and photos. “The Grace Church app has opened many new doors in the parish in connecting in a wireless world. We have spread the music of Grace Church well beyond our doors,” said Chris Leonard, director of administration.

Enabling Parishes to Become Multi-Staffed

St. Olave, Swansea
$49,000 to hire a child and youth minister to nurture the spiritual lives of children and their parents. The parish has also held events outside of regular worship times to reach more families who aren’t able to attend on Sunday mornings. “Our Our Faith-Our Hope grant helped us revitalize our children’s ministry and support our youth with the addition of a staff member. Without this much-needed investment, our volunteer resources would have been stretched beyond capacity,” said Janice Douglas, coordinator of the parish’s Junior Church Leadership committee.

St. Mary Magdalene, Toronto
$75,000 to hire a part-time associate priest responsible for children and youth work. Under the leadership of the Rev. Jennifer Schick, the parish has found new ways to connect with its youngest members. “We’re trying to grow our ministry both inside and out,” she said. “We’re also aware that we need to reach out to the wider community, too.”

Leadership Development

The Rev. Peter Mills, St. John, Ida
$2,500 for tuition fees to pursue a graduate certificate in missional leadership and formation at Wycliffe College. “This grant enabled me to participate in the Missional Leadership certificate course, which has invigorated my preaching and leadership. I have been given some tools that will help me cultivate a community with a missional heart,” said Mr. Mills.

Pioneering Ministry

St. Paul, L’Amoreaux, Toronto
$60,000 to establish a chapel ministry at Silversprings Park, a large low-income rental complex located at Finch and Birchmount in Scarborough. The chapel offers weekly services, pastoral care, Christian study and service, and a satellite office for St. Paul’s L’Amoreaux Centre. It also enhances the development of community support programs.

St. John, West Toronto
$26,870 to support a new part-time youth worker with a focus on LGBTQ youth. The church hired Cormac Culkeen, who has started a monthly queer Eucharist and a weekly youth drop-in while making connections among LGBTQ youth in the parish and the wider community. “We know that LGBTQ youth do not have an easy walk of it in high school, so that’s what we set out to do: create a space for them to explore the possibility of faith in their lives,” said the Rev. Samantha Caravan, incumbent.

Sisterhood of St. John the Divine
$100,000 to support the Companions on an Ancient Path program, a year-long experience in intentional community for young women. “We feel this program answers a need that is expressed by young people in our church – how to be more grounded in their spiritual life and also to develop skills that will be useful in pioneering ministries that they may be involved in,” said Sister Constance Joanna Gefvert.

The last chance for parishes and individuals to apply for Our Faith-Our Hope grants will be September 2021. Grants are awarded twice a year, in the spring and fall. Each category has its own application guidelines and forms, and all applications need the support of the church’s area bishop. The next deadline is April 15. For more information, visit the diocese’s website, www.toronto.anglican.ca.

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The diocesan fundraising campaign launched in 2010 with the goal of providing financial resources to renew, reimagine and revitalize the Church of tomorrow. Donors pledged about $41 million for mission and ministry both inside and outside the diocese. The first grant allocations were made in 2013, and since then, more than $9 million has been given to parishes and individuals across the diocese, in addition to the portion kept by parishes.

“I think it’s been very successful,” says Canon Paul Baston, chair of the allocations committee, which meets twice a year to review applications and approve grants. “The intent was from the beginning to reimagine church, to develop a new approach and find a way to continue the ministry and make it more attractive.”

There are five categories of grants that parishes and congregations can apply for: adaptive re-use of parish facilities; communicating in a wireless world; enabling parishes to become multi-staffed; leadership development; and pioneering ministry. Grant amounts have ranged from $1,400 toward the tuition for a professional development course to $418,000 for major renovations to a church building.

Canon Baston says he thinks the focus on these categories will have a lasting effect across the diocese. “Things like accessibility are improved – elevators and that sort of thing – and communications, definitely,” he says. “I think there’s more awareness of the use of communication within the worship service, but also beyond that, among people that aren’t attending church and among the parishes themselves.”

In addition to grants for parishes and individuals, the diocese has distributed $1.5 million so far from the campaign’s “Giving to Others” category. Three gifts of $500,000 each have been given to the Anglican Military Ordinariate to fund the office of the Bishop Ordinariate in perpetuity; to the Council of the North to support regional gatherings of clergy and lay leaders; and to the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund to improve maternal, newborn and child health in Africa and in Indigenous communities in Canada.

Though the end of the grants is in sight, there is about $5 million still available to be allocated. “I think all of the different sections have a lot of potential,” says Canon Baston. “I would encourage parishes to continue applying and looking at the guidelines to see if they fit.” Grants are awarded twice a year, in the spring and fall. Each category has its own application guidelines and forms, and all applications need the support of the church’s area bishop. The next deadline is April 15. Applications will be assessed by the allocations committee in early May, and its recommendations will be forwarded to Diocesan Council for final approval.

Canon Baston says he is looking forward to continuing his work with the allocations committee. “It’s been, for the whole committee I think, a wonderful experience to be involved with and have the opportunity to make some recommendations about where the money might go,” he says. “It’s been a lot of good, hard work by the talented and committed members of the committee. It’s been a delight to work with them.”

To learn more about the Our Faith-Our Hope campaign and how to apply for grants, visit www.toronto.anglican.ca/ourfaithourhope.

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Some of the changes to the building itself are small, but Susan Abell, ODT, the diocese’s interim chief administrative officer since last November, is enthusiastic about their impact. “What we’ve done are things I’ve seen done in other workplaces, and the whole intent is to make it more functional for the people who work here or who come here,” she says.

One of Ms. Abell’s favourite projects has been improving signage around the building, starting with the front doors. At her suggestion, the blue diocesan logo was added to the window, and the street number was given much greater prominence. The coats of arms above both doors were also repainted, and planters with colourful flowers were added outside the main entrance.

“When I first came, I remember thinking, ‘What is that sort of yellow brick building?’ The crests shine kind of like a beacon now. It’s not only to houseclean; it’s also to identify that this is a part of the Anglican Church in downtown Toronto,” she says. “We’re working to be part of the neighbourhood, to be seen as neighbours.”

Inside, offices and cubicles are now equipped with nameplates featuring each staff person’s name and department. “It gives people a place that’s theirs. It’s not about ownership; it’s identifying this is the person and this is the work that’s being done in this space,” says Ms. Abell.

Signs have also been added to make the washrooms on each floor more visible, while new directories on the second and third floors help visitors orient themselves when they step off the elevator.

Other efforts are more involved, including plans to give the boardroom a much-needed technical upgrade. Funded by an Our Faith-Our Hope grant, the meeting space will be fitted with a complete audio and video system to help people see and hear each other better.

“It’s more than just cosmetic; it’s improving the acoustics in the room,” says Pamela Boisvert, secretary of Synod. “Right now if it’s a larger gathering, if you’re at one end and someone is speaking at the other end, you just can’t hear them.” Almost 100 meetings were held in the boardroom in 2016, with both internal and external groups using the space.

The upgrade will include speakers suspending from the ceiling, along with hand-held microphones. The video component will include either a built-in projector or a smartboard. The hope is that this technology will allow for video conferencing.

“I think this is one area that we’ve really lagged behind in terms of technology,” says Ms. Boisvert. “What we’re planning for the boardroom is typical in any other boardroom, so this is just to bring us up to the modern day.” She hopes the upgrades will be installed and in use by the end of the year.

Some of the building updates have been far more low-tech. Several of the second-floor meeting rooms are now equipped with whiteboards, and each room has a clock to help schedules stay on track. The Diocesan Centre roof was also replaced during the summer, a much-needed repair.

Ultimately, Ms. Abell expects that a review will be conducted within the next year to evaluate the needs of staff and others in the diocese and determine how the Diocesan Centre might change to accommodate them. “We’re in an amazing place, the geography, having the trees around, and the park. I think it’s got a lot of positives in the environment,” she says. “Now we need to go to another level.”

Among staff, a few titles have been changed to better reflect the work being done in certain departments. In administration and property resources, David Badian, formerly manager of property resources, is now director of property resources. Pamela Boisvert has been appointed secretary of Synod, after serving as interim secretary for several months. In human resources, Amy Talbert’s title is now manager of human resources.

The biggest change is yet to come, with the hiring process currently underway for an executive director. This new position will take over from the former chief administrative officer role. The executive director will provide leadership to all departments in the Diocesan Centre and work closely with Archbishop Colin Johnson to implement Growing in Christ, the diocese’s strategic plan. The role is expected to be filled later this fall.

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