The zoom platform enabled us to welcome participants from the dioceses of Huron, Toronto, Moosonee as well as Ontario

Despite fewer numbers of participants, conversations and learning were rich and well worth enduring the discomfort of zoom, and having to prepare our own meals!

Our speaker this year was the Rev. Dr. Willard Metzger, the executive director of Citizens for Public Justice. Dr. Metzger’s topic was ‘Displaying Life as God Intended.’ He suggested that an individualistic way of viewing the gospel, “Jesus and me” is a narrower approach than Jesus intended. Rather, Jesus and his early followers saw his ministry as societal and redemption as communal, even global. He suggested that an overemphasis on personal and individual salvation can lead to spiritual egoism. He stressed that God’s passion is to restore the whole world, indeed, the cosmos.

Our day started with an opportunity for informal conversation, followed by deeply meaningful Morning Prayer, lead by very competent and experienced lay readers. Then we went into breakout rooms where we were asked to recall times in our lives when we experienced or witnessed various forms of discrimination or altruism. Rich conversations ensued.

Following the small group discussions, we had our minds sharpened with a lecture about attitudes and conditions in first century Palestine. After a break, our imaginations were sparked by a story from the gospels by Dr Metzger who is a master story teller. Through his gift of creative storytelling, Dr. Metzger was able to take us to first century Palestine and illustrate for us the societal and cultural setting in which Jesus addressed injustices. Again, discussions about the story content were deep and meaningful. The mornings ended with prayers and some music.

The chat function on zoom enabled us to share resources that will be valuable to us in our service as lay readers.

We came away refreshed, renewed and broadened in our faith, reflecting on the learning we received, and recharged for our service to Christ and the church. And we did not have to drive home!

We look forward to meeting in person next year. Providence Spirituality Centre, which has hosted us for many years is no longer available, so we are looking for a new venue.

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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 Lewis was known. He was consecrated bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Ontario at just age 37.

This new exhibit is just one part of ‘The Archives Project’—a sequence of steps the diocese has taken over the last number of years to rejuvenate the Diocese of Ontario Archives and bring it up to speed with modern archival practices. Beginning with the move from 90 Johnson Street to its current home beside the Synod Office at 165 Ontario Street.

Kelly, who is entering into her Master’s degree at Queen’s University and specializes in the Early Modern Period exploring the Arminian Controversy of the Dutch Republic, explains that the project has moved the Archives towards the digitization of records and the creation of digital directories using Microsoft SharePoint.

With provincial COVID-19 restrictions lifted, the Archives is now ready to move forward in offering limited public accessibility. Kelly’s work has been to assist the Archives reach that milestone. “What we want is to have some way of showcasing the archives and bringing exhibits out for the parishioners and the general public” she says, “We have a massive collection of a variety of things, we want that to be well known and available for people to enjoy whether they are researchers or just history enthusiasts.”

In launching the new exhibit, the first decision was what of the Archives collection made sense to profile for the public. Says Kelly: “We produced a total of eight different exhibit possibilities ranging from the history of music in the diocese to architecture to looking at parish documents as a means of tracing social history.” The choice ended up being a profile of John Travers Lewis as a homage to our general history and ties in with the celebration of the dioceses 160th anniversary this year.

The exhibit features a collection of Lewis’ books and personal effects belonging to both he and his second wife, Ada Leigh, along with photos and a biography of Lewis’ 40-year career with the diocese.

Kelly reflects on the need for people to engage with history at a personal level with the items themselves. “History is just like everything else in the present day, it is tactile and multifaceted in every single sensory way. It’s musical, is oral, is through patina, through texture…while you can digitize as much as you can, you can produce images, recordings, documentaries, you are still not getting the fullness of the items themselves. The only way to truly appreciate them is in the physical format.”

Along with producing the John Travers Lewis exhibit this Summer, Kelly worked with Diocesan Communications Officer Mark Hauser to record a series of videos showcasing the more notable items from the Archives collection—rare botanical engravings from the 1700’s to a book titled ‘The Sermons of John Calvin’ published in 1581 to a mystery relic belonging to Ada Leigh Lewis purported to be connected to the doomed Frank Expedition of 1845. These Archives Showcase videos can be viewed on the Diocese of Ontario YouTube Channel and provide greater insight and profile into the unique historical gems contained within the Diocese of Ontario Archives.

Kelly’s hope is that the public and parishioners alike will visit the Diocese of Ontario Synod Office and engage with ‘The Boy Bishop’ exhibit and the living history within our diocese that it represents, exploring the life and legacy of our first bishop, John Travers Lewis. “This exhibit,” she states, “provides insight into Lewis not only as a bishop and religious figurehead, but as a son, a father, a husband and a scholar.” It’s a great introduction to our Archives and will be followed by other future exhibits displaying our rich Anglican history in Eastern Ontario.

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