The College of Bishops’ Pastoral Letter to Vestries, 2026
to be read or circulated on the Sunday of the parish’s annual vestry meeting
Beloved Siblings in Christ,
“So they cast [the net], and now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish.” – John 21:6
God’s goodness to the Diocese of Toronto amazes us every day. As your bishops, it is our joy and privilege to bear witness to the rich blessings, the varied gifts, the talents and skills, the sacrificial generosity, and the deep faithfulness of the Body of Christ in this Diocese. Every parish and community, and the many devoted Anglicans who make them up, inspire us. It has been a natural response for us to “Lift Up Our Hearts” in a spirit of gratitude and encouragement in 2025.
The very first Call of our Cast the Net visioning process was a Season of Spiritual Renewal. We heard over and over again that our Diocese is hungry to know and love God more deeply. During the season, more than 40 workshops were offered, geared to priests, deacons, lay leaders and people desiring to deepen their spiritual lives, hone leadership skills and discern God’s call. We held five “Lift Up Our Hearts” worship services: at St. James Cathedral; All Saints, Whitby; Trinity, Streetsville; St. James, Orillia; and St. Paul, Bloor Street. Large crowds gathered to worship, sing and pray for the renewal of the Church. Each one was a moment of grace and joy. The Season of Spiritual Renewal officially draws to a close with the end of the season of Epiphany 2026. Now a small group gathers to discern how we continue to grow disciples, enhance ministry and form servants of the Gospel, building on the foundation of what has been offered. Stay tuned!
The Netminders is a group of clergy, lay leaders and staff who continue to help parishes engage with the Cast the Net Calls and to bring them to life in each community. Every parish was invited to choose three or four Calls from the 20 – those that reflect the ministry that they are a part of now or hope to be in the future – and to bring them to Synod for discussion and mutual encouragement. With each part of the Body engaging our common Calls in different ways, we move as one.
At the annual clergy conference last May at Trent University, our speaker, the Very Rev. David Monteith, Dean of Canterbury, offered reflections based on Jesus the Good Shepherd, an image that resonated with our clergy, particularly in this time of disruption and uncertainty. Our clergy work so hard at hauling in the nets, and we say to them now, to all our priests and deacons: we see you, and we are grateful to God for the ministry that you do. The annual clergy conference is always a wonderful opportunity to renew friendships and make new ones, and this year was no exception. It was also our joy to host smaller clergy retreat days in the spring and fall. These were opportunities for clergy to gather in deanery groups for Bible study, to hear from their bishop and archdeacons, to deepen fellowship with one another and to share a meal. We want to respond to Call #12 to “continue and enhance support for all ordained people” as they engage in vital ministry.
Regarding shared ministry, our partnership with the Diocese of Brasilia continues to flourish, now entering our third year of seven. Our motto, “Partners in Christ, united in mission” (Parceiros em Cristo, unidos na missão) is grounded in Calls #4 and #13 regarding our participation in God’s healing work and ministries of service in the world. Dr. Paulo Ueti from Brasilia and the Rev. Canon Dr. Christopher Brittain from Toronto offered an online bilingual study day on liberation theology for clergy and lay leaders of both dioceses last March. The Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Espiuca from Brasilia invited us to seek signs of resurrection in his keynote address at the Outreach Conference in October. Bishop Mauricio Andrade participated in our bishops’ Advent series in December. Looking ahead, we will welcome Dr. Paulo Ueti as our guest speaker at this year’s clergy conference, and we can’t wait to receive a delegation of Brazilian youth for the ReCharge Youth Retreat. We also hope a small group of Toronto Anglicans can visit Brasilia this year.
We are pleased to be moving ahead with our work on equity, decolonization, diversity and inclusion with the hiring of our new EDDI Advisor, Dilesha Stelmach. Dilesha brings a strong experiential and educational background in this ministry, centered around Ephesians 4: 4-6: “there is one body, one Spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, Creator of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” With support from our HR department and the Bishop’s Committee on Intercultural Ministries, Dilesha is mindfully engaging, both practically and theologically, with our people – volunteers, staff, clergy – and with our infrastructure – policies, practices and the constitution and canons of the Diocese. She will be helping us to see the familiar in unfamiliar ways as we build up the ministry of every single beloved child of God in our Diocese.
To all our faithful people in so many vital ministries in our Church: thank you. To our hard-working churchwardens and treasurers, children and youth ministry workers, parish musicians, office administrators and envelope secretaries, altar guilds and custodians, ACW and outreach volunteers, and countless committee members: thank you. To our diocesan volunteers, members of Synod Council and participants on bishop’s committees: thank you. To the staff team at the Synod Office: thank you. Together we all make up the strong net of the Diocese of Toronto, and together, by following the ways of Jesus, we receive “more than we can ask or imagine” – so many blessings collected in our net that we are barely able to haul it in.
When the nightly news seems especially dire, when anxiety is pervasive and the future seems uncertain, God’s reign can feel far away. Yet our commitment to our baptismal covenant, our tenacious acts of faith, persistent resistance to the powers of evil, small but powerful acts of kindness towards our neighbours, and a deep, unshakable, unwavering belief that “the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it” (Psalm 24) will carry us through troubled times.
Please pray for us, as we pray daily for you.
Yours faithfully in Christ Jesus,
The Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto
The Rt. Rev. Riscylla Shaw
Suffragan Bishop of Toronto
The Rt. Rev. Kevin Robertson
Suffragan Bishop of Toronto
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