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Opening Plenary Session (9:00 - 10:00 a.m.)
REGISTER HERE for the Opening Plenary Session: “Seeking Signs of Resurrection.”
Keynote Speaker: The Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Espiuca is an Anglican priest, environmental and human rights lawyer and university professor in Brazil. He is the coordinator of advocacy strategies for our companion Diocese of Brasilia and the Communion Forest Facilitator for the Americas.
Morning Workshops (10:30 - 11:45 a.m.)
Please choose one of the following options:
A. Ten Years since the 94 Calls to Action: Where are we now? REGISTER HERE
It has been a decade since the 94 Calls to Action were released with the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which documented and amplified the voices of Survivors of Indian Residential Schools in Canada. The Bishop’s Collaborative for Right Relations in the Anglican Diocese of Toronto has been auditing our progress on implementing the 94 Calls to Action and honouring our responsibilities to reconciliation. Come to this collaborative workshop to learn about our sacred obligations and how you can work to advance the Calls to Action in the church and your neighbourhood.
Facilitator: The Reverend Leigh Kern (they/she) is the Right Relations Coordinator for the Anglican Diocese of Toronto. Leigh began attending the Outreach and Advocacy conference as a youth and continues to be inspired by this annual gathering that centres prophetic voices from our church and local communities. Leigh is passionate about how the histories of this Territory can help inform and direct liberatory pathways of healing and transformation. Leigh is also an artist, potter, and parent.
B. Encampment Theology – REGISTER HERE
The core of liberation theology is the understanding that we must interpret our scriptures and traditions from the perspective of the poor and oppressed. With that in mind, what can we learn from people living in encampments, and how can relationships with encamped people help shape our thinking and practice?
Facilitator: The Rev. Canon Maggie Helwig is a poet, novelist, activist, and Anglican priest, as well as the Chair of the Diocesan Social Justice & Advocacy Committee. Since 2013 she has been the priest of the Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields in Kensington Market. Canon Maggie’s most recent book is Encampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community (Coach House, 2025).
C. Creating Communities of Welcome: How Churches can support Housing and Shelter in their Neighbourhoods REGISTER HERE
Jesus called his followers to care for the widow and orphan, to welcome the stranger, to offer food and clothing to those in need. Poverty and homelessness in our communities is more evident today and solutions seem hard to find. Community opposition to shelters, housing and services for those experiencing homelessness has grown more strident. How can our churches respond to this? How can we effectively support efforts to house people in our communities? What does it mean to approach housing as a right?
Our speakers will approach this from three angles and share their experiences with shelter and housing projects in their neighbourhoods. The Rev. Stephen Milton of Lawrence Park Community Church will present the Roehampton Friendlies’ support of a new shelter at Yonge and Eglinton; Jamie Perttula will talk about his parish’s efforts to respond to the politics of locating a new supportive housing complex for adults getting out of homelessness; while Paul Dowling will speak of housing as a right, coming out of his many years of work and advocacy in the non-profit housing sector.
Facilitators:
The Rev. Stephen Milton is the lead minister at Lawrence Park Community Church in North Toronto, a member of the United Church of Canada. He chairs the monthly meetings of the Roehampton Friendlies, a church-led advocacy group on homelessness and housing issues. He is a regular at housing-themed protests and meetings outside and inside City hall.
Jamie Perttula is a former warden and longtime active member of Church of the Resurrection in east Toronto. He is involved in several ministries at Resurrection and beyond, and is passionate about the church being engaged with the community. In his work life, he is a transportation planner for the City of Toronto.
Paul Dowling is a volunteer with the community lunch program Beach United Church, which offers food and social connection for people, some of whom are homeless. He and other lunch volunteers are helping to support a proposed shelter nearby. During years of work in the non-profit housing sector, Paul has seen many instances of neighbours resisting supportive housing and shelters in “their” community.
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D. Basic Income in Canada: Catalysts, Controversies, Confidence REGISTER HERE
This session explores what’s driving forward the movement for a basic income, what we know about the evidence, especially lives changed for the better, and what challenges matter most to faith and human rights principles. It presents a basic income guarantee as hopeful public policy in which Canadian governments should have confidence.
Facilitator: Sheila Regehr is Chair of the Basic Income Canada Network, a retired federal public servant, former Executive Director of the National Council of Welfare, and member of a wonderfully diverse family.
Afternoon Workshops (1:00 - 2:15 p.m.)
Please choose one of the following options:
A. Planting Hope: the theology and practice of growing trees REGISTER HERE
Led by members of the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care, this workshop invites Anglicans to join the Communion Forest movement,and explores the theology and practice of growing trees.
Facilitators:
The Rev. Paige Souter is the Humphreys Chaplain for Trinity College who is deeply engaged by the intersection of ecology and justice.
The Rev. Susan Spicer is cross-appointed as priest to the parishes of St. John’s Ida and St. Luke’s Peterborough. She is excited by the Communion Forest movement, which invites us to connect to the God who plants a garden and invites us to work alongside them in it.
The Rev. Stephen Kern serves the parish of St. Philip’s Unionville, tends a flock of chickens and an organic farm and is passionate about helping people connect to God in creation.
B. Community Land Trusts: A growing movement for economic and housing justice – REGISTER HERE
This workshop will offer an overview of Community Land Trusts – what they are, why they are important in creating and preserving affordable housing, and how organizations like churches can help support them. We will focus specifically on the work of Kensington Market Community Land Trust, as well as discussing the history and global reach of the Community Land Trust movement, and the growing movement of CLT’s in Canada.
Facilitator: Kevin Barrett is a founding member and Co-Chair of the Kensington Market Community Land Trust in downtown Toronto. Kevin is a guitarist, producer, musical director, and composer, and a community activist. While making music across the country and internationally, he maintains a continuous presence on the Toronto scene, and operates a busy recording and teaching studio in Toronto’s Kensington Market. Kevin’s activist work has focused on anti-poverty, economic justice and affordable housing issues over many decades.
C. Harvest Justice: Twice the Speed of Lightning (Dramatic Presentation) REGISTER HERE
Please note: This session will be 90 minutes (1:00 – 2:30 p.m.)
Getting approved to work in Canada as a migrant farm worker seems like the opportunity of a lifetime for Diego, a new father from Guatemala. Upon arrival, however, Diego finds himself economically exploited, forced into dangerous work and living in unsanitary and cramped conditions. James, a Jamaican worker with years of experience in the program, takes Diego under his wing as he tries to advocate for changes to make the farm and program a safer place for workers.
As the injustices pile up, and with little opportunity for recourse, the play asks: what could be done to better support workers in Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program? How can we as Canadians work to ensure fair and safe working conditions for those doing essential work for Canada’s economy and food system?
Harvest Justice: Twice the Speed of Lighting, written by Catherine Frid, is an interactive Forum Theatre presentation created through interviews and conversations with current and former migrant workers. After seeing the play, participants will be invited to discuss the issues, direct the actors, or roleplay their ideas to discover how we can all create positive change.
Advisory: This production depicts the experiences of migrant workers on Ontario farms, and includes triggers such as depictions of racism, insulting gestures, and physical and emotional harm.
The Company: Mixed Company Theatre (MCT) has been creating powerful socially engaged theatre since 1983. They are dedicated to helping people rehearse for real-life situations of oppression, thereby empowering communities to address these issues and make strides towards a better world for everyone. The company specializes in facilitating theatre programs stemming from the Theatre of the Oppressed methodology originated by Augusto Boal. Over the years, MCT has adapted this methodology into a unique and effective approach to catalyze social change.
Closing Plenary Session (2:45-3:30 p.m.)
At the close of our program, we will gather together again to share reflections on what we learned during the day, and pray for each other in our respective ministries.
REGISTER HERE for our Closing Plenary Session