The Archbishop's Charge to Synod

If you haven't seen it yet, the Archbishop's Charge to Synod was very good this year. Archbishop Johnson pulled many pieces of the puzzle together for us: mission, Christology, the Our Faith Our Hope Campaign... it's all there. I was ecstatic, like who are working on mission here in the Diocese.



Incidentally, this was filmed by Tim Harry and myself. He was running the main camera and I had a second and also set-up the sound. Tim edited under the direction of Stuart Mann, who was producing the video.

-t

A Networked Diocese Roadmap

I prepared this material back in December (2012) as a discussion piece for a committee that was brainstorming around the Our Faith Our Hope Campaign's "Communicating in a Wireless World" mandate. It in no way represents anyone's thinking except my own, and in no way represents the direction our diocese is heading. It's simply what I presented to the committee. I have shared it before on Facebook, and simply never got around to posting it here. There is nothing confidential about it, so I just want to make that clear!



This is a "Prezi"--so you can navigate it by going back and forward in a linear way, at at any time you can manipulate it with your mouse if you want to zoom in or out or take a look at a particular point. Some of this won't make a lot of sense without the audio track of me discussing and talking, but I think those of you who are interested in church and social media will get the point. If the text seems kind of small, that's because this was designed to be projected on a big screen (and it was). I suggest clicking on the little rectangular icon on the lower right to go into full-screen mode. Hit "Escape" to exit out of it again.

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Turning the Tide: From Charity to Advocacy in Ontario

What are Anglicans doing about poverty in Ontario? This video was Executive Produced by Murray MacAdam for the Diocese of Toronto's Social Justice and Advocacy Committee to answer that question. It was Produced, Directed, and Edited by Tim Harry. My only contribution was to look at it a few times in the process and make suggestions about technical stuff like audio and color balance, etc. I think Tim (and, by extension, me) learned yet more about working with clients like the Diocese. For its part, the various people in the Diocese are learning more about how to produce videos like this one.

I am very proud of it. I think Murray and his team and Tim did a fantastic job. Probably the best video our Diocese has done to date. Note the terrific job done by Judy Maddren--who is the mother of my friend Jeremy Elliot. Many other volunteered their time and talents, as well, including Fiona Ryan (Messiah's Minister of Music) and even Charles Waterman (a Messiah Warden) contributed!

It's very good, and I feel like Tim has really showed us something about what he can do as he stepped up his game considerably with the challenge of this project!

Messiah Media Proposal

For the past several weeks (months?) I've been hinting about a secret proposal I've been developing for the Our Faith-Our Hope Campaign. This was a big Diocesan-wide capital campaign that raised about $50 Million for these purposes:

• 1. Strengthening Local Parishes $17,000,000
• 2. Building the Church for Tomorrow $14,000,000
• 3. Revitalizing Our Inheritance $14,000,000
• 4. Giving to Others $5,000,000

Under the "Building the Church for tomorrow" catagory we find these sub-areas:

• A) Leadership Development $6,000,000
• B) Pioneering Ministry $4,000,000
• C) Communicating in a Wireless World $4,000,000

What I developed is a project that tackles all three of those areas of "Building the Church for Tomorrow." “Messiah Media” is an organization proposed to equip members of our churches throughout the Diocese with the training and tools they need to communicate the Gospel in a wireless world. This parish-level initiative would supply resources, training, and equipment in Toronto and beyond. We are requesting an investment of $517,758 over a three-year period in order to establish training events, hire teachers, and create a production facility capable of producing professional quality studio and live-streamed events to benefit the entire Diocese.

The actual application is only about twelve pages long, but it also has a 30-minute companion video that features further explanations, me diagramming it out on a white board, and testimonials from a bunch of priests in the Diocese talking about how this would impact their ministries. That might not seem like a lot of material, but I know from being involved in similar scale projects in the past through FEWG/PEMG (the Committee that shepherds new church plants) that this is enough for now. Indeed, any more content than that would be mostly speculative since many details will only be worked out once a Board of Trustees is established and we get underway.

I have to say that it is the finest grant proposal I've ever written (and certainly the largest that I have taken the leading role to create). I give the credit for that to my excellent team of people giving advice and feedback. I don't want to name them now, but they know who they are. They really pushed me to develop certain key aspects of the proposal that I never would have thought of on my own. The fact that I was able to get so many people to help me with the proposal is evidence of how needed this is. I wish I could share both right now, but I'm afraid there is some information in there that needs to be embargoed until mid-June or so. However, if you ask nicely and I know you I'll probably send it to you! It exists in that weird gray zone between public and private.

The plan currently calls for hiring two full time staff members--one primarily to produce content and the other primarily to teach others how to use the new media technologies in various ways. The board will have the task of hammering out the job descriptions and actually recruiting the talent. We've got benchmarks sketched out for how many live events to stream, videos to produce, and education events to run. There are also plans sketched out for the long-term sustainability of the project.

My role? I expect that as "Father Founder" I will probably be the first Chair of the Board, but I would disappointed if I were the last. I imagine being involved for a few years to get this going, but I sincerely hope that we get enough people involved and passionate about leadership that there are plenty of people happy to take over once the training wheels are removed.

Part of me actually feels that $517k isn't enough for everything we want to do. But then I remind myself that this is just a start. This becomes a platform from which we can launch various side projects that could apply for funding on their own. For example, if someone wanted to produce a feature length documentary about homelessness in Toronto, I can imagine them using Messiah Media equipment and contacts and then applying for a grant to pay for the stuff that costs money. This gives us a foot in the door of media production, and that's critical.

The training events will cover virtually any and all new media and social media related topics. They will be driven by whatever people want to learn about.

So... exciting times ahead for Messiah!

-t

Episcopal Election Time!

The Diocese of Toronto is really big--some say the biggest in the world: 237 congregations spread across 26,000 square kilometres. It would be utterly impossible for one bishop to cover such a vast area, so the "Diocesan" Bishop (Colin Johnson) is assisted by four "Suffragan" bishops. In Toronto we also call these "Area Bishops" because they are each responsible for a particular geographic chunk.

One of these, George Elliott, is retiring, so an election has been called to replace him. Each active clergy person gets a vote, as do representatives of the non-ordained from each congregation. The number of "lay delegates" for the election depends on the number of parishioners on an average Sunday. Messiah gets one. They are elected an the Annual Vestry Meeting of each parish.

This will be my third episcopal election since moving into this Diocese seven years ago (the last two elected Linda Nicholls and Patrick Yu). With each election I find myself more and more invested in the process for several reasons. First, I actually know most of the people running--some of them quite well and some only by reputation. Second, I've become more engaged with Diocesan level projects that will be greatly impacted by the election. Third, I see how my particular parish will also be impacted by the decisions that this person makes (not so much directly, since we are currently in Patrick Yu's area and it seems unlikely that the Archbishop will shuffle the areas around, but indirectly as they collaborate with the other Bishops in a council known as the "College of Bishops"). And fourth, because I'm more connected than ever with my clerical colleagues, this is something we like to talk a lot about.

Incidentally, I was honoured to be asked to be an official nominator for one of the candidates: The Rev. Canon Dr. Isaac Kawuki-Mukasa. I know Isaac from when he worked as part of the Congregational Development Department of the Diocese. He came to Messiah a couple of times when I first arrived to facilitate some group discernment processes.

To help people decide their vote, the Diocese decided to produce a video interview which I will post below. I was not directly part of the team that produced this video, except that I provided some technical advice to Tim Harry (the Diocesan Videographer) as my church provides the space for his production office. (I'm hoping to expand this production capacity in the future, BTW, but that's another blog post). I've been working with Tim as a Producer, Executive Producer, video-geek, or dude-about-church for some time now, and it's been gratifying to see how his skills have been quickly increasing. He was under a lot of time pressure to produce this video quickly and at very little expense, and I think he did a fantastic job. I should also mention that he was assisted by Ian Ford on the shoot.



It's really neat to me to see how the production quality and turn around time of these video projects for the Diocese are getting better and better. But even more significantly, the culture around the use of media in the Diocese has shifted to the point that I think everyone just assumed that such a video would be created. It has become one of the many tools we use to communicate. There is also a facebook page specifically set up for people to ask their questions and for candidates to respond in a free-form social media dialogue. It's not much a step from this to honest-to-God evangelism with content intended for those outside the church family. I'm certainly advocating and working to make that a reality in various ways.

Anyway, back to the election! Here are the candidates:

• The Rev. Canon Andrew Asbil
• The Rev. Canon Allan Budzin
• The Ven. Peter Fenty
• The Ven. Gordon Finney
• The Rev. Canon Dr. Isaac Kawuki-Mukasa
• The Rev. Mark Kinghan
• The Rev. Warren Leibovitch
• The Rev. Canon Stephen Peake
• The Rev. Canon Jennifer Reid
• The Rev. Nicola Skinner
• Major The Rev. David Warren

As I said, I know many of these candidates well, but part of the nature of church election, versus a straight-up civil one, is that it is not considered polite to be too forthright about your support. One is always supposed to couch their opinions about who would make a good leader in various pious nods to humility or God's will or something like that. But buy me a drink and I'll tell you what I think (as, indeed, I think most people involved in this process will). There are substantial differences between these candidates, more so than the video would even suggest since it was difficult to get into depth with 11 candidates, three questions, and 40 minutes!

I find this process fun. Major aspects of how we live out God's call are at stake--and that's fun to discuss and debate. No smoke coming out chimney's, perhaps, but it's still an eccentric and foible-filled way to choose a leader!

"Developing Congregations"

Here is another video from the Diocese of Toronto. I was the producer for this one, as well, but most of the work was done by Matthew Carter. He shot all of this, edited, and directed it. He got some help from the Congregational Development department, too. This video is really intended for congregations to help them know what resources are available from the Diocese. Good stuff!



This was shot with a Canon XH-1AS... what a camera! It seems to do especially well outside!

-t

Update on the Messiah Challenge

It's no secret that The Church Messiah is facing a financial challenge. After a few years of balanced budgets we saw our income from givings plummet (mostly, according to our analysis, because of the hit the economy took) in 2010. We started a Stewardship Campaign in response, but it was delayed by several factors (my parental leave, a general loss of momentum in summer, and some parish deaths). With few cash reserves to rely on, we started to owe money to the Diocese--now the Diocese is understandably anxious. We had a meeting last night with some reps from the Accounts Receivable Committee and Bishop Yu. It went very well, and I have to say that we were encouraged. There is work to do, for sure, but it is "do-able." The biggest thing we have going for us at the moment is that we are, in fact, growing. If we can sustain this growth for the next few years we'll be fine. But this transitional period of adjustment is difficult.

I just want to say that I am very proud of my leadership team at the church. The Wardens, finance committee, and others have really been pulling together. A plan is beginning to take shape that gives me a tremendous sense of relief. I'm finally feeling like we have a handle on this thing. Whew!

Interestingly, at one point in the meeting I felt a very powerful feeling of affectionate and love for my little church. I'm sure all pastors feel this. It's perhaps the best part of parish ministry--sweet to taste.

-t

Conversations with Culture Blog

The Diocese has started a new blog entitled "Conversations with Culture." As the tag line says, it's "about the intersection of faith and contemporary culture." Contributors so far include Michael Calderwood (writing about Avatar), Nancy Truscott (speaking of Divorce and the Holidays), John Hurd (Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the ROM), and Joanne Davies (living in an anxious age). Good stuff. I recommend it.

-t

A Day at the Diocese

I had back-to-back meetings at the Diocese today. First there was the pre-meeting meeting. Then there was a meeting. Then a post-meeting meeting. Then another meeting. Then another post-meeting meeting. Uhhg. But at least they were interesting meetings. Several of them were about the upcoming Vital Church Planting Conference. I'm one of the organizers this year. One of my responsibilities is organizing the workshops. One of these will be given by Archbishop Johnson, so I had a meeting with him and two of my colleagues to brainstorm about the workshop.

It's the first time I've been in, or even seen, his Grace's Office. I've been in Bishop Yu's office a few times, of course, but never my boss's boss. It's nice without being opulent. Certainly it's much smaller than the positively palatial episcopal offices I remember from the Diocese of Connecticut! There were the usual religious nick-knacks: icons and crosses and portraits of his predecessors. I noted that the Archbishop doesn't care for the overhead florescent lighting, using window light and lamps instead. The couch was comfortable, seemed like it would work well for napping (my main criteria for judging couches). I showed him a baby picture of Henry and showed me a picture of his newest grand daughter.

The meeting itself went quite well. We had little difficulty organizing our thoughts about what we need to cover and how we will go about doing it. Eventually "++Colin Toronto" opened up a diptych-thing hanging on the wall to reveal a white board. I smiled, thinking of the white board in my own office that currently has notes about Holy Week. At the end of the meeting I took a picture of the white board with my cell phone camera and e-mailed to one of my partners in crime, who is going to type them up. I think we all felt energized by the upcoming Conference. The coffee his Assistants brought us didn't hurt, either.

From there it was straight into another meeting. This time it was the "Fresh Expressions Working Group." These are the folks that oversee church plants and other new ministries emerging in the Diocese as they come to the Diocese seeking support. It's a wonderful committee to be on, because we get to talk about all the new, wonderful things happening. it's exciting and humbling to hear about the kinds of ministry happening all around us.

Also, the sandwiches were quite good today. The Admin. Assistant that ordered them is new, and so the caterer was new, too. None of us get paid to serve on this committee, so good sandwiches are probably a sound investment considering that some very talented people volunteer their time on committees and boards like this! I look at people like Duke V. and Jenny A. with a certain amount of awe. Check out The Church of the Resurrection to see what I mean--Duke did an amazing job rebooting that parish. Jenny is now the Canon Missioner for the Diocese and has recently produced this Lenten Bible Study to help parishes begin to think in terms of the Missio Dei. The Diocese has come a long way even in just the last couple of years towards realigning the entire organization towards a missional future, and I'm really excited by the possibilities that creates for a place like Messiah.

The truth is, my participation in all these Diocesan projects is not entirely altruistic. The future of the Diocese and the future of my parish are very much linked, and the opportunities for Messiah's future are to be found in the conversations around Fresh Expressions and Missional Church. I'm learning a ton about the new reality of the church in the 21st Century through my service to the diocese and I expect that my parish will benefit. Churches that are willing and able to adapt to the new ways of being church will thrive. Those that don't are going to continue the long, slow slide into obsolesce. I'm not saying that "inherited" church won't continue, it will, but it will be touched by transforming grace, too. Mission is not optional.

It was an exhilarating five and a half hours straight of meetings for me. Sitting in the car to drive home I realized that my brain felt like cottage cheese left out on the counter too long. I spent the balance of the day working from home, answering e-mails and making calls. For supper I cooked a quick stir-fry to use up some veggies. So it goes.

-t

Building Communities of Hope and Compassion

This video was produced by the Diocese of Toronto for the May 2009 Synod. Pretty good. Clearly following the "Fresh Expressions" Videos from the UK--but that's a great place to start. The Diocese asked me to upload it to YouTube for them...



-t

Mission Church--like building a plane in the air

I was at the Fresh Expressions Working Group meeting today. This is the Diocesan Committee that looks after church planting. I'm new to the committee, which is an Episcopal Appointment, and found it very exciting to hear about many of the new churches which are being founded around the Diocese. I knew about most, but not all, of these projects.

Needless to say, Missional Church was much discussed, and we (like everybody else) are really learning how to do it as we go along. In relation to this, (Diocesan Missioner) Jenny Andison told us about this video:

Yep, that feels about right. We build airplanes in mid-flight in the church!

-t

Thoughts from a Tuesday

A busy day that started with some e-mails and phone calls and then the Trad Com (BCP Communion) service at Messiah. I regretted not transferring the Feast of Holy Cross to a Sunday, but at least I was able to transfer it to today! Not surprisingly, I had plenty to preach about on the Patronal Feast of OHC! A pleasant lunch with some of my parishioners followed.

In the early afternoon I drove down to Diocesan HQ for a meeting related to the Back to Church Sunday initiative. Bishop Poole was leading the meeting, but Bishop Johnson did stop by briefly to share some thoughts about the project. I couldn't help noticing that he was wearing a really flattering suit. And I admit thinking, "I wonder how many suits he had to buy when he became bishop?" Lol. He also shared that a new grand child was to be born immanently. Good for him.

After the meeting it was back to Messiah for a staff meeting. It went longer than usual, which I should have anticipated given that Eric is new on staff and it's the beginning of the church's programme year. We prayed briefly, then we debriefed last Sunday and planned for the next. Much of our time ended up focusing on the Confirmation Service/Bishop's Visitation/Back-to-Church Sunday marathon that will be September 27th! Now we've added a bouncy castle. Because everybody loves the bouncy castle! We also beginning to talk about the Christmas Pageant (yeah, really!).

In November Eric is going to the "Music that Makes Community Conference" in Atlanta. I've talked about paperless singing on this blog from time-to-time, and these conferences put on by the All Saints Company (the people that gave the world St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco) are the place to go to learn about that. I'm thrilled that Eric is going. In fact, he wanted to go long before he was called to COTM. It's a three day conference/workshop teaching the techniques of so-called "paperless singing." It's a method of congregational worship that recovers much older methods of making music in community. It uses techniques like call-and-response, lining, rounds, etc. to get a congregation singing together. Inevitably it feels much more organic, free, and intimate than head-in-hymnal, everybody-follow-the-organ, style singing.

Needless to say, I'd love to go to this conference. The only problem is that the same week I'm going to this year's Preaching College at St. Clement's. This is an invitation-only intensive four-day workshop for preachers. I'm wondering whether I can miss the last half-day and take the red-eye to Atlanta? The other option is to attend the same conference a few months later in January in San Francisco. I love San Francisco--but at that point I'll have a new baby at home and (probably) no desire to travel! Besides, there is a nice synergy that will happen if Eric and I are BOTH at the same conference. I had such a blast the last time I went to an All Saints Company conference, I'd love to share that with one (or more) of my worship staff.

One of the things I love about Eric that we have a shared language for talking about liturgy. I have yet to come up with anything (a term, a hymn, a resource, anything) that he doesn't know about. I suspect he may have a better liturgical library than I do! Going to a conference like this will only take that shared language to the next level: shared experience!

So I'm trying to figure out how to make that trip work!

Lots of other challenges at work. Many of which I just can't talk about for obvious reasons. Suffice it to say, my plate is full.

Meanwhile, Betsy's belly is getting bigger. She's feeling great except for a little bit of joint soreness in her hips. She's been getting good advice via Facebook about that. We are both reading and studying pregnancy stuff like the nerds we are!

The weather in Ontario is starting to turn cool. It makes me think about the need to schedule a firewood delivery and do more canning. Maybe we'll get the farmer's market again this weekend...

-t

Annual Review

Today I had my annual ministry review with Bishop Yu. We met in his new office down town, and I have to say I like having him down here better than before. Easier to get with, and it's kind of neat to stop by the Diocesan HQ and see various people I know there.

We followed a specific format based on form I filled out with questions like, "What were your greatest accomplishments in the last year," and so forth. we also talked about some of the things I felt could have been better. We spoke at length about some of the challenges and potentials in the congregation and how I'm addressing them.

About the most useful suggestion he made is to develop and execute a "Discipleship Making Strategy." this is something I've thought of before, but having him remind me how helpful this could be to Messiah's mission put it back in my mind. Perhaps after the Stewardship Campaign is over (Dec/Jan) we can start a programme like that.

In general, the bishop seemed pleased with what has been happening at COTM. It's nice that the numbers (both people and money) are up a bit from last year (though still below what they were just a few years ago). They are also still below the benchmark for a sustainable pastoral-sized parish. That means that theoretically there are not enough people to support a full-time priest. The magic number, incidentally, is 100. It takes about 100 average Sunday attendance per full-time priest on staff.

of course, I've written here before that I'm not sure these kinds of benchmarks are very helpful. They may be a way to understand what's happening when an inherited church is facing decline, but they don't lead us to an emerging future mission. Instead they tend to just make us want to try harder at what isn't working.

After an hour with the bishop we ended with some prayers and I went on my way.

-t

Rainy Days...

My softball game was rained out on Monday night. Sailing will probably be rainy, too, but that won't stop us unless the lightening comes. It may give me a chance to try out the pair of rain pants I picked up from MEC a few days ago. Have I said that Mountain Equipment Coop is one of the best stores in Toronto? Good prices on excellent equipment. I was particularly impressed with their selection of bags and packs the last time I was there. Would be kind of nice to have a waterproof duffel bag specifically for sailing gear. Kind of a go-bag for water fun. Anyway, the rain has been much needed. Our tomato plants seem very happy.

But last night I had a disturbing dream. In it, I was told that the Diocese rejected my application for an innovative ministry fund grant to fund the ARC. In the dream I was furious. I mean, livid! I demanded a meeting with the Bishop in which I told him exactly how I felt. I knew I was jeopardizing my future in the diocese, but I really didn't care. I was that angry.

In reality, something like this may just happen. I give the grant application a 50/50 shot. If I don't get it, we can still proceed, it's just going to be a lot harder. And if we don't get it, it's really going to shift the way I think about the Diocese. So far I've really been trying to work within the structures of the diocese to grow my church, but what if those structures are working against the mission of COTM?

I really feel caught between two different worlds and modes of ministry. On the one hand, there is the traditional inherited church with its traditional models of ministry. It's beautiful and comfortable and holds the spirit. On the other hand is something new that is also spirit filled. I feel like I can see what this new kind of church looks like--I've seen compelling glimpses in many places. Yet I'm not quite sure how to make it over that tipping-point edge. Within my parish setting I've got lots of freedom--more than enough--to explore and experiment. But what to do?! I've tried to create networks and alliances to connect our mission to the larger mission of the church, but I'm encountering resistance and apathy. It's frustrating to put my heart into something like the Anglican Resource Centre and get a shrug from the very people that are supposed to be encouraging the kind of mission it represents. We parish priests are being told that whatever is going to happen has to happen at the parish level, yet I'm also told in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that I really don't have the permission to do a lot of the things that I want to do. It's a very confusing time to be a parish priest.

I feel as though a breakthrough is coming. I just have to be patient and hopeful and continue to develop the pastoral relationship and missional imagination of this church. That means more talk and more sharing.

Rain is predicted for this afternoon. Off and on. Maybe some thunderstorms....

-t

Bishop's Company Dinner 2009

This evening a healthy contingent of Church of The Messiah folks (10 of us) went to the "Bishop's Company Dinner." This is an annual fundraising event in the Diocese of Toronto that raises money for the relief of clergy in need. Most problems that clergy run into cannot be truly solved with money, but it can certainly help! The dinner is a real mix. There are, of course, the people that give the money. Then there are clergy, of course, that come courtesy of the generosity of those donors! As you might expect, it ends up being a kind of who's who of the Diocese.

We had a blast at our table. I swear we were laughing more than any of the other tables--thank God we were at the edge of the room and not the centre! Of course, I'm an extrovert so I really get off on a room full of people I know! Lots of networking. Lots of laughter. And naturally I used the opportunity to move some of my projects forward! More about that later, perhaps.

Man, I love my peeps.

-t

A New Tripod

Kind of an odd day. Slept in some, then to work. In the afternoon I went with Kerrie to the Diocesan Offices. We had a meeting to pick up several boxes of youth and children's ministry resources. These have been sitting in a storage room waiting for a better home, which I hope the ARC will provide. Going through the boxes we saw some excellent books and materials. Tomorrow we'll bring them to the ARC's first home at St. John's York Mills.

Being at the Diocesan Offices meant having some other random but important conversations about other things. The place is especially busy right now because Synod is only a few months away. There is a lot to organize and plan before that. I've got things to do for that, as well, since my team is presenting one of the workshops!

From there it was back to church. Made some progress clearing stuff out off my desk. Then I had a conference call with the other members of the Stewardship Committee. I've never tried a church meeting like this before, but it actually worked quite well for all of us. All we had to do was call a certain number and then enter a code to get into the conversation. I wonder whether we'll ever get to video telepresence...

After that I stopped by Henry's Camera/Video store to get a new tripod for the church video camera. The old one is falling apart and was never very good to begin with. The new one has a much nicer "fluid pan" head. I ended up also getting UV filters for both cameras and a flash cap. Before doing the videos at Holy Cross this summer I may have to pick up some kind of better audio and light solutions. The Canon HV20 is a great video camera, and with the right microphone and lights can easily match cameras worth thousands more. Henry's is a really interesting place to browse--lots of wonderful toys!

-t

Bishop Johnson in the News

My boss

My Diocesan Bishop, Colin Johnson, and his family were profiled in the Toronto Star today. Most people know that Ellen, the Bishop's wife, is Quaker, but it was interesting to read some of the details of how they worked out their religious differences in order to be married. It turns out they got a little help from their Bishop at the time, Ted Scott:

Former Anglican primate Ted Scott, a mentor of Johnson's, helped the young couple find their way before they got married.

One weekend in particular, when Johnson was doing a field placement in Chatham as part of his studies to become a priest, Ellen was visiting. Scott happened to be in the southwestern Ontario city for a confirmation, and offered Ellen a lift back to Toronto.

In the four hours they drove the 401, Scott and Ellen talked about life, love and faith, and the woman received affirmation from the very top of her future husband's church that she need not change for the man she loved.

"He welcomed her to the family and told her she didn't have to be something she wasn't," says Johnson, still in awe at the generosity of the gesture some 30 years later.

The couple was married shortly thereafter, in 1977 at the Quaker Meeting House in Newmarket. (source)

I think one of the most important role bishops have is being permission-givers, even when it's not apparent that permission is needed! The equivalent moment of parish leadership is probably simply staying out the way of a good work begun!

-t

Clergy Conference Recovery

I just got back from a three-day Clergy Conference for the Diocese of Toronto. They usually hold these every other year. It's a chance for the clergy to gather to learn, share, pray, and network. I had a great time, and the general buzz was positive. I took some pictures and hope to be able to do a fuller report tomorrow. I think one of the highlights was introducing a new guy to the clergy of the Diocese. He's an American just called to a well-known parish. He started there last Sunday, so it his first big Diocesan event. What an introduction: three days living and eating with about 170 clergy!

Key memories: ordering pizza at 2 A.M., a table at lunch applauding the Utilikilt I was proudly wearing, and one of the best Diocesan-event Eucharists I've attended in years.

-t

Linda Nichol's Ordination

That picture is from Linda Nichol's ordination as Bishop at the Cathedral this morning. It was fun, as usual, to gather with my colleagues. These kind of events with hundreds of clergy can't help feeling a bit triumphalist, though! Anyway, it was a nice service and I was glad to seem many friends in one place.

-t