Twelve years ago on February 12th, 2011, I stood at the lectern of St. George’s Cathedral to address the assembled delegates of the Electoral Synod of the Diocese of Ontario who had just elected me to serve as the twelfth bishop of our diocese. I remember looking at my wife Jeanie and wishing her an early “Happy Valentine’s Day”. I remember speaking about my sense of deep appreciation to the delegates for their trust that the Spirit had called me
One of the greatest joys I experience as an Anglican is being part of a church that exists from a local to global expression. The Anglican church we most often experience, lives in villages, towns and cities across our diocese. This is where we primarily put our faith in action, living out both the Great Commandment and the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. Faithful Anglican congregations respond to a multitude of local needs within those communities from thrift stores, drop-in
St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Cardinal hosted Bishop Michael Oulton on a Sunny Sunday morning in early October this year to celebrate the Parishes 150th anniversary. As part of his visit, the bishop offered a prayer of blessing for 50 pine saplings that were handed out to the congregation to commemorate the parish anniversary. The idea came from the bishop himself and his Lambeth call to action in our diocese for all parishes to participate in the Anglican Communion Forest
Archives Summer Intern Kelly Goslin reaches into a gray cardboard box and retrieves a cream-coloured bishop’s mitre. Despite its 100+ year old age and slight signs of wear, the mitre is in excellent shape and once belonged to the first bishop in the newly formed Diocese of Ontario, Bishop John Travers Lewis. Lewis’ mitre and other personal artifacts are on display in a new museum style Archives exhibit located at the Diocese of Ontario Synod Office titled: ‘The Boy Bishop’—as
In March 2020, when COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, the impact was immediate to refugee sponsorship groups like the Diocese of Ontario Refugee Support (DOORS) and others like it across the country. Temporary travel suspensions were put in place both domestically and overseas. There were delays in processing existing applications. DOORS Refugee Settlement Co-ordinator Mimi Merrill reflects on 2020 as the start of what was already a difficult journey for refugees around the world. COVID-19 only made things worse.
The road to reconciliation can be long, fraught and filled with uncertain moments along the way. The challenge we have in making the commitment to embark on that journey in the first place is that the precipitating events necessitating the journey have pain, injury, heartbreak, anger and helplessness as just part of the mix created through people’s actions or inactions toward one another. Our Scriptures witness to the reality that human relationships are often subject to intractable division brought about
Bishop Michael Oulton is pleased to announce the appointment of the Reverend Douglas Michael as Dean of Ontario, Rector of Kingston, and Incumbent of the Cathedral Church of St George effective August 15, 2022. Doug was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He received his Bachelor of Theology (Honours) from Rhodes University (Grahamstown) and his Master of Applied Ethics (University of the Witwatersrand). Douglas was ordained as deacon in 1999 in St Mary’s Cathedral, Johannesburg and was ordained to the
The last two years have created a lot of grief and consequently there’s no shortage of topics to engage and reflect upon. The Justice & Peace Commission—Anglican & Roman Catholic— is offering four Zoom sessions on Wednesdays at 7pm beginning March 9. Speakers’ presentations will be made available on the Diocese of Ontario’s website (www.ontario.anglican.ca) and the Archdiocese of Kingston’s website (https://romancatholic.kingston.on.ca). Zoom link will be made available through the Diocese of Ontario communications in March. The sessions will consider
This is a difficult article to compose. I am writing against the backdrop of lockdown and anti-vaccine mandate protests stretching into weeks in Ottawa, with the city under an intractable siege within the downtown core and the Parliamentary precinct. These protests have spread across the country, laying bare a seething rage that was just below the surface of our society. We will soon be moving into the third year of the global pandemic with patience waning, nerves frayed and rifts