The first question in the survey asked Synod members if they agreed that the General Synod members elected at the diocese’s Synod in November 2021 should serve as members representing the diocese at the next session of General Synod when that gathering is scheduled.

General Synod was supposed to be held this summer but was postponed to at least 2023 due to the pandemic. The diocese’s Constitution states that at a regular session of Synod immediately preceding a meeting of General Synod, Synod must elect its General Synod members.

Of the 346 Synod members who replied to the question, 315 answered “yes” and 31 answered “no”.

The second question in the survey asked Synod members if they agreed that Synod Council members elected at the Synod in November 2021 should remain in office until the end of the regular session of Synod in 2023, which coincides with the end of the diocese’s governance pilot project.

The regular term of office for a Synod Council member is to serve until the end of the next session of Synod. This is usually for two years; however, since the diocese is holding a meeting of Synod three years in a row, it was recommended that the current members continue in office until the end of the governance pilot project, to provide continuity. The pilot project is expected to conclude with the 2023 Synod.

Of the 346 Synod members who responded to the question, 332 answered “yes” and 14 answered “no”.

Since the Synod members who responded to the questions indicated their overwhelming agreement that those elected in 2021 to General Synod and Synod Council should continue to hold these positions, the planning for Synod on Nov. 17-18, 2022 will take this direction.

The survey was emailed to 597 voting members of Synod on May 27. As of June 24, 346 responses were received, translating into a response rate of 58 per cent.  A reasonable response rate is anything above 50 per cent.  

Here are the diocese’s General Synod members:

Bishops

• Bishop Andrew Asbil
  (Bishop of Toronto)
• Bishop Riscylla Shaw
  (Bishop Suffragan)
• Bishop Kevin Robertson
  (Bishop Suffragan)

Youth Member

• Finn Keesmaat-Walsh
  (Church of the Redeemer, Bloor St.)

Clerical Members

• The Rev. Canon Dr. Stephen Fields
  (St. James Cathedral)
• The Rev. Molly Finlay
  (St. John the Baptist, Norway)
• The Rev. Roshni Jayawardena
  (Trinity-St. Paul, Port Credit)
• The Rev. Mark Regis
  (St. Mary and St. Martha)
• The Rev. Canon Nicola Skinner
  (Grace Church, Markham)
• The Rev. Claudette Taylor
  (Epiphany and St. Mark, Parkdale)
• The Very Rev. Stephen Vail
  (St. James Cathedral)

Lay Members

• Chris Ambidge, ODT
  (Church of the Redeemer, Bloor St)
• Yvonne Murray, ODT
  (St. John the Divine, Scarborough)
• Gail Smith
  (St. Andrew, Scarborough)
• Marion Thompson, ODT
  (St. Mark, Port Hope)
• David Toycen, ODT
  (Trinity, Streetsville)
• Laura Walton, ODT
  (Holy Trinity, Clearview)
• Mary Walsh, ODT
  (St. John the Baptist, Oak Ridges)

The membership of Synod Council is as follows:

Office Holders

• Bishop Andrew Asbil (Chair)
• Bishop Riscylla Shaw
• Bishop Kevin Robertson
• Canon Clare Burns (Chancellor)
• The Rev. Andrew MacDonald
  (Honorary Clerical Secretary)
• Sheila Robson
  (Honorary Lay Secretary)
• Canon Robert Saffrey
  (Executive Director), non-voting

Committee Chairs

• Chancellor Clare Burns
  (Risk and Governance Committee)
• Delores Lawrence, ODT
  (Human Resources Committee)
• George Lewis, ODT
  (Finance Committee)
• Stuart Hutcheson, ODT, and Peter Patterson, ODT
  (Property Committee)

Bishop’s Appointments

• The Rev. Kenute Francis
• The Rev. Lucia Lloyd
• Major the Rev. Canon Brad Smith
• Finn Keesmaat-Walsh
• The Rev. Kevin Wong

Elected at Synod

• Chris Ambidge, ODT
• The Rev. Canon Simon Bell
• The Rev. Canon Dr. Stephen Fields
• The Rev. Canon Sister Constance Joanna Gefvert, SSJD
• The Rev. Maria Ling
• Heather McGregor, ODT
• The Rev. Jesse Parker
• David Toycen, ODT
• Laura Walton, ODT
• Eirene Khean Cheng Wee

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“Homelessness is one of the big challenges in Ontario, and the Property Committee and the diocese want to do what we can to combat that and to provide opportunities for people to live in homes,” says Peter Patterson, ODT, the committee’s co-chair along with Stu Hutcheson, ODT.

Mr. Hutcheson says it can be difficult for parishes to redevelop their property to include housing. The process requires a lot of time and expertise, especially in legal and property matters. For parishes that sell their property to a developer, the challenges can be even greater. If a developer pulls out of the project or hands it off to another, the parish can have little or no say in the outcome. Buildings are sometimes poorly constructed and managed, and the parish can be treated as just another tenant.

In response to those challenges, the Property Committee is looking at creating a template that parishes could follow so that the redevelopment process is easier, safer and more efficient.

One of the guidelines under consideration is that parishes retain ownership of the property, giving them more control over the project. Another is that work requiring expertise in legal and property matters is done at the diocesan level, not by individual parishes, to avoid duplication of both effort and cost. The committee is also exploring the possibility of working with a non-profit developer that works with faith-based groups on housing projects.

The committee is hoping that the guidelines will result in buildings that are environmentally friendly, well constructed, professionally managed and maintained after completion, provide ample worship and community space and provide a funding stream that supports ministry. The committee would like to see at least 30 per cent of new units devoted to affordable housing, so that a community is created that comprises a mix of residents.

Mr. Patterson says that coming up with a template that can be repeated will save the parishes and the diocese time and effort. “You can spend a lot of time going through all the municipality’s rules and regulations trying to get approval for your project. But if you use a template approach that is repeatable, then eventually you’ll know the people on the other side of the table and they’ll be familiar with your process. That will speed things up for approval.”

An effective proposal can even result in grants from the municipality or other levels of government, helping to bring down the costs of the project, he adds.

He says each redevelopment process is different, so the templates would vary according to the need.

The committee is already trying out its ideas with two parishes. “We want to see if the template idea and everything that goes with it can be mapped out and put into action, but that’s going to take a little while,” says Mr. Patterson. The group will report on its progress to Synod Council.

Mr. Hutcheson says that even with an effective template, the redevelopment process can take time. “The process isn’t typically fast, as it involves needs assessments, city zoning, site plan approvals, financing arrangements as well as construction. Five years is not an unreasonable timeline from start to occupancy.”

Mr. Patterson says the time is right to come up with a template for property redevelopment. “I think we’re in a bit of a new world with our churches after the pandemic, and there are going to be more opportunities for parishes to reconsider their properties and exactly how they would be best set up. There are going to be opportunities for centres of excellence, amalgamations and mergers, and a lot of these are going to end up with property opportunities. It feels like a good time for this to be underway and the diocese to be looking at it seriously.”

While building affordable housing is important, it’s not the only thing that parishes can do to address issues of poverty and homelessness, he says. He praises churches, individuals and the diocese for getting involved in outreach ministries such as Out of the Cold and food banks and advocating for a higher minimum wage and other ways to help lift people out of poverty.

The diocese presented a workshop to parishes in June 2021 that provided a theological perspective on land and an overall governance framework for development projects. Over the course of the summer 2021, a series of four webinars were offered that covered a variety of topics that included looking at other faith-based housing projects, planning for inclusion and diversity, ecologically sustainable development, financial sustainability, and looking at development through the eyes of a non-profit developer. A wrap-up and reflection on these was held in September.

Parishes indicated that they were looking for greater clarity and guidance around the redevelopment process and more support from the diocese as they consider whether redevelopment is the next step in their faith journey. The Property Committee’s work in this area is a response to that.

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The budget has already gone through several revisions to reach this point. “The first process involves each of the directors and other people responsible for budget items making initial submissions to the budget working team, which is essentially the Finance Committee of the diocese,” says Canon Rob Saffrey, the diocese’s executive director. The Finance Committee, which reports to Synod Council, includes six lay and clerical volunteers, supported by diocesan staff.

After a first draft of the budget resulted in a deficit of $1.2 million, the committee asked the directors to look at their submissions again, reduce expenses if they could and consider not spending on any new projects in 2023. That second look, along with a $200,000 reduction from re-modelling episcopal leadership in the diocese, significantly lowered the deficit. “People did a fair and honest attempt to reduce expenses,” says Canon Saffrey. “The large part of the deficit is due to decreasing revenues, not so much increasing expenses.”

The remaining deficit of $593,100 will be funded by a $400,000 grant from Our Faith-Our Hope to support curacies in the diocese, with the remainder covered by a draw down of capital. “Basically, we have surplus funds from prior years, and we’re going to use some of those funds now,” explains Canon Saffrey.

Part of the challenge in crafting the budget was not knowing what ministry will look like emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. “A number of areas quite reasonably had difficulty in estimating what their normal activity should be and would be in 2023,” says George Lewis, ODT, chair of the Finance Committee. “This is reflective of as much of a normal year as we can guess, coming out of COVID.”

Patricia D’Souza, the diocese’s controller, produced a detailed analysis of long-term historical givings to predict what level of income the diocese can expect in 2023 and going forward. Meanwhile, with Church life starting to return to normal, many areas of ministry that were on hold during the pandemic are starting up and spending money again.

Despite a hard look at both revenues and expenses, the Finance Committee members felt obliged to recommend the deficit budget. “That is not a result that we are satisfied with from a longer-term point of view, but we felt it was responsible to highlight that this is our structural deficit given our existing mission, operations and revenue sources,” says Mr. Lewis.

That structural deficit of about $500,000 is something diocesan leadership knows it will need to address in the coming months. “If we do nothing, we’re going to continue to have deficits in that range,” says Canon Saffrey. “Long-term deficits aren’t sustainable in any organization, so what is the diocese doing to address the budget shortfall going forward?”

With no plans or desire to ask for more financial support from parishes, diocesan leaders will be looking at new sources of revenue and consulting broadly with Anglicans about how to potentially cut expenses. “There’s no low-lying fruit anymore in terms of reducing items in the budget. I think that every dollar spent is well spent. If we’re going to reduce expenses, it needs to be part of a broad conversation with input from lots of people so that whatever we end up doing, people understand why and it’s supported,” says Canon Saffrey.

Mr. Lewis echoes those thoughts. “There’s no easy fix to the current situation. We have many strengths, missional and otherwise, but also opportunities to operate on a more sustainable basis,” he says.

Still, both Canon Saffrey and Mr. Lewis see cause for hope in the diocese’s immediate future despite the difficult decisions yet to be made. “We know that change is absolutely going to happen and has to happen. What I’m optimistic about is that with a strategic focus, there is life and there’s hope,” says Canon Saffrey. “We are going to have to change and to end some of the things that we’ve been doing. I do believe there’s a good long-term future for the Church, but it’s going to be a bit of a bumpy road in the interim to get there.”

The diocese also continues to have a strong financial bedrock in terms of property and the investments that help fund its operations. “There’s a tremendous legacy that we have and great stewardship that has been done of our investments to date by the Investment Committee, which oversees the managers of our fund. I see that continuing to be of importance,” says Mr. Lewis. He says he’s also buoyed by the increasing generosity of individual Anglicans. “While our numbers of congregants have declined over time, the average givings have increased, such that overall revenues from givings have remained relatively constant.”

The diocese is already starting to consider what the way forward will look like. The next budget will be a two-year budget for 2024-2025 developed alongside Cast the Net, a new visioning process designed to help the diocese meet the challenges and opportunities of the next five years. That process will take place over 18 months, with recommendations and calls to action coming to Synod in November 2023.

“The important thing is that the budget is really a reflection of what’s in the strategic plan, and that we have the resources to carry out the strategic plan. It’s not so much whether our expenditures are going up and down, but that we’re focused on an end,” says Canon Saffrey.

Mr. Lewis says he hopes that Cast the Net will help the diocese develop a vision for how it can operate on a more sustainable basis while supporting its mission and ministry. “We as a Finance Committee are delivering what might be a blunt message, but it’s not one without hope; in fact, it’s done in a way to challenge us and to point the road forward,” he says. “There’s this opportunity and, in fact, necessity to put the diocese on a sustainable financial footing.”

In the meantime, he says he’s honoured that Bishop Andrew Asbil asked him to chair the Finance Committee and grateful for the efforts of his fellow committee members: Mario Bartolozzi, the Rev. Molly Finlay, Leslie Hajdu, ODT, Vice-Chancellor Mark Hemingway and the Rev. Leonard Leader. “I’m tremendously impressed by the dedication of the lay and ministry teams I get to work with and observe the wonderful work they do,” he says. “We’re off to a strong start.”

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Since February, the Episcopal Leadership Implementation Team (ELIT) has been hard at work on a plan to roll out new leadership structures in the diocese. Comprising a mix of lay people and clergy, and with the support of diocesan staff, the team is chaired by Susan Abell, ODT and the Rev. Canon Stephen Kirkegaard. “It’s almost like a stool – we want to get these positions mobilized and implemented, and there’s lay input, clergy and staff to make it happen. We need them all,” says Ms. Abell.

The team’s work builds on the efforts of the Episcopal Leadership Working Group, which reported on new options for leadership following Bishop Peter Fenty’s retirement. The group submitted its report in April 2021, and members of the diocese participated in several town hall meetings to share their thoughts.

After considering the recommendations and feedback, Bishop Andrew Asbil announced at Synod last fall that the diocese will move forward with three bishops supported by archdeacons, a new senior leadership position. He also tasked ELIT with developing the job description and making recommendations on how to fill these roles. “I think the name is our task – implementation. What we were really trying to figure it out is how we make this actually work,” says Canon Kirkegaard.

The team has been meeting every two weeks since February to do just that. It anticipates that there will be five archdeacons, each with oversight of particular deaneries. Two archdeacons will work with each suffragan bishop, and one will work with Bishop Asbil on the deaneries he oversees.

The work will be part-time, and the role will be open to both clergy and lay people. “I think Bishop Andrew’s vision is to build greater breadth and depth of leadership in the diocese. Some of the archdeacons might be recently retired people with administrative or managerial gifts,” says Canon Kirkegaard. “Some of them might be clergy in the middle zone of their ministry, and this would be a great way for them to continue to develop gifts and help shape the diocese, not just in the present but prepared for the future.”

While the team is aware that Anglicans might see the archdeacons as simply another layer in a hierarchy, Ms. Abell is clear that this extra support is needed to help bishops, parishes and clergy work together. “The goal is to enhance the leadership that’s available. It’s about expanding the capacity to lead, and to lead effectively. There’s no two ways about it – three bishops instead of five is a contraction,” she says. “It’s so regional deans, parishes and clergy can have more available to them, to help with the gap that was there to start with.”

Canon Kirkegaard echoes those thoughts. “They’re really there to help the bishops with their work, and of course as they help the bishops, they help all of us,” he says. “It’s not that the bishops are going to be less involved; this way, they’re going to be more effectively involved.”

The job description developed by ELIT outlines the archdeacons’ responsibilities under the bishops’ direction. Much of the work will be administrative tasks, including overseeing the work of area councils, holding deanery events and coordinating the work of regional deans and clergy. There may also be opportunities for archdeacons to represent the bishops at events like celebrations of new ministry in parishes. “If a parish is applying for grants, for example, the archdeacon would help them shape it up, and the bishop would see it when it’s ready to be signed. They’re there to help clergy who are looking to retirement, or a parish looking at a ministry plan,” says Ms. Abell.

Beyond helping with day-to-day tasks, the leadership offered by the archdeacons may also create opportunities for the bishops to expand their ministry in new ways. “They might have different projects or goals come into place, or interests and passions,” says Canon Kirkegaard. “A bishop might be taking a portfolio of ministries, and those portfolios might change. The archdeacons provide that territorial groundedness.”

The job description received final approval in late June, and everyone is now looking to the next steps of the process. ELIT has helped to craft a recruitment plan outlining how to find the right people to fill these roles. “We’ve been making lists of who needs to know about this or would be interested,” says Ms. Abell. “It’s developing the criteria for people who might be interested, how they’re going to show that and what’s expected of them.”

The diocese started inviting applications at the end of June, with a closing date of Sept. 8. “The idea is to get the word out throughout the summer so that we can start interviewing in the fall and the archdeacons are actually at work for the start of the new year,” says Canon Kirkegaard.

At that point, the process will be in the hands of the Bishop’s Office and the human resources department. For her part, Ms. Abell says she hopes this new model of leadership will continue to be a learning process for the diocese as it unfolds. “It’s important to use the time to look at it every so often and review it,” she says. “We can have intentional response, listen to how it’s going, what the real needs are.”

As the work of ELIT begins to wrap up, its co-chairs say they’re thankful for the gifts of their team members and the dedication of diocesan staff. “I’m impressed with the wealth of intelligence and resources we have,” says Canon Kirkegaard. “It’s good work and important work, and it’s definitely been a team effort.”

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In 2019, Synod approved two motions relating to creation care: Motion #10 encouraged parishes and individual Anglicans to curtail their use of single-use plastic products, while Motion #15 urged the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care to develop a diocesan environmental plan that would address such matters as diocesan spending practices, travel policies, land use and development, helping parishes reduce their carbon footprint, helping clergy buy or lease zero-emission vehicles, developing modules for formation on the connection between creation care and the gospel, and promoting reduced consumption as part of a Christian rule of life.

While the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care reports to Bishop Andrew Asbil rather than to Synod, it has made the following progress on these motions in 2021-22:

Concerning Motion #10 and single-use plastics, the committee has produced a colour poster suggesting alternatives to single-use plastics commonly used in parishes, especially in the kitchen, children’s ministry, and cleaning and waste management. This poster can be found on the Practical Greening page of the diocesan website, www.toronto.anglican.ca/creationcare.

Regarding Motion #15, the committee has focused primarily on promoting community gardens using the community garden toolkit it created in 2021; creating educational and liturgical resources to help make the connection between creation care and the gospel; and working with other dioceses on finding ways for parishes to reduce their environmental footprint. It has promoted this work in posts on a dedicated Facebook page and in monthly articles in The Anglican newspaper.

The committee is encouraged by the many parishes around the diocese that have embarked on new or expanded community garden projects in the past year. Several of these projects have focused on adding native plants to attract and sustain pollinator species of insects and birds. Garden projects have been especially popular during the pandemic as a lower-risk way for parishioners to work together. They also provide a visible witness to the local community of a parish’s commitment to caring for creation – and often a way for neighbours to participate in that endeavour.

A major piece of work in the past year was creating the resource “Ecological Grief and Creational Hope: A Lent Curriculum for all Ages.” Each unit of this six-week curriculum offers deep reflection on a scriptural text, questions for reflection, prayers, suggested activities, and resources for digging deeper. It also identifies adaptations for using the resource with children and youth. Several parishes in the diocese offered the curriculum during Lent, and it has been picked up by dioceses across Canada and the United States. It’s also being adapted for use during other seasons of the Church year, including the Season of Creation.

Work continues on updating the Green Congregation Guide, with input from the Diocese of Niagara and the interfaith organization Faith & the Common Good. The committee is also exploring how our diocese might become involved in a Net Zero Churches network proposed by members of the national church’s Creation Matters Working Group. The goal of the network is to connect dioceses across the Anglican Church of Canada, provide recommended solutions for parishes looking to reduce their carbon footprint, and help connect parishes with the expertise and financial incentives to implement those solutions. The committee is talking with Bishop Andrew Asbil and the diocese’s Property Committee to see how the Diocese of Toronto might participate in this initiative and how it might fit in with the diocese’s strategic planning and vision.

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Joy Packham, ODT, a member of the regional ministry of St. Margaret, Barrie, Trinity, Barrie and Good Shepherd, Stayner, and Robert Hart, ODT, a member of St. James Cathedral, are surveying groups and individuals and will report on their findings in September. They were appointed by Synod Council in June.

The governance pilot project was implemented in January 2022 with the first meeting of the newly constituted Synod Council, an amalgamation of the former Diocesan Council and the former Executive Board. The group provides strategic direction for the diocese between Synods.

Synod Council is chaired by the diocesan bishop and currently has 25 members, both clergy and lay, from across the diocese. It has five committees: the Audit Committee, the Finance Committee, the Property Committee, the Human Resources Committee and the Risk and Governance Committee. The committees are responsible for making decisions and recommendations within their remit.

The goal of the new governance structure is to facilitate and streamline decision-making, allowing more time for thorough discussions, says Canon Rob Saffrey, the diocese’s executive director. “The main question we get from parishes and others is: how do we move this forward? The governance pilot will make getting approval for a new building, for example, more streamlined, and it will make this question easier to answer.”

Ms. Packham and Mr. Hart have extensive volunteer experience in the diocese. Ms. Packham, a retired municipal IT manager with a professional designation in project management, has served the diocese in the areas of congregational development, finance and stewardship. Mr. Hart, a retired high school principal, has held a number of leadership positions at the cathedral and is a member of the diocese’s Volunteer Corps.

For the evaluation, Ms. Packham and Mr. Hart are interviewing a cross-section of people, from those who are involved in or affected by the diocese’s governance structure on a regular basis to those who may have only a passing experience of it.

“For us, we see the evaluation process as having two groups – what we’re calling the inside group and the outside group,” explains Mr. Hart. “In the inside group are Synod members, Synod Council or committee members or anybody who works at the Synod Office whose life is being impacted by the new model. The outside group is made up of people who are coming to Synod Council for business, to see from them how they find the process. We’re especially interested in talking to people who previously had to work with the old model – if they see the new model as more efficient, easier to navigate, more user friendly and equitable.”

By early July, they had surveyed Synod Council members and committee chairs, and planned to send a slightly different version of the survey to people who have represented groups that have made presentations to the committees or Synod Council itself.

They are both keen to make the evaluation process as transparent as possible and have an email address where they can be reached: governancereview@toronto.anglican.ca. “If anybody has a question or comment or concern about the new governance structure, they can communicate that to us,” says Mr. Hart.

The pair will report their findings to the Risk and Governance Committee and Synod Council in September. The findings will help those groups assess if the governance changes have been successful and if follow-up action is required.

“We’re basically trying to find out if the new structure is efficient – is it working,” says Ms. Packham.

They emphasize that their job is not to pass judgement on the changes or make recommendations; rather, it is to collect feedback and data.

Synod Council has been meeting monthly since January. At its February meeting, it approved a policy that defines the decision-making authority of Synod Council and the authority that it delegates to its committees. The policy gives a committee the ability to approve certain items, recommend them for approval or report up to council.

“All of the committees are up and running and have held several meetings,” says Canon Saffrey. “They have reviewed their terms of reference documents and developed annual work plans. Committee chairs are reporting regularly to Synod Council.”

The constitutional and canonical changes required to carry out the pilot project were first considered at Synod in 2019; following that, some amendments were made, discussed at diocesan “town hall” meetings and then approved at Synod in 2021. The constitutional and canonical changes included an amendment stipulating that elections to Synod Council take place at Synod, rather than at area Pre-Synod meetings, to ensure a robust voting process. Another amendment stipulated that the nominating committee for Synod elections consider the geographical, gender, age, theological, racial and ethnic diversity of the diocese to ensure a diverse slate of candidates and that Synod Council is representative of the diocese.

The pilot project will last until late 2023, when Synod will vote on whether the changes should be made permanent or the diocese should revert to the old structure. An update on the project will be sent to the next regular session of Synod, which will be held online Nov. 17-19, 2022.

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