Synod Notes 2023
Every Synod starts with the opportunity for the bishop to give his charge. It is a chance for him to direct the diocese and cast his vision of what he feels the Lord is calling us towards. This past year we have as a diocese been a part of the theme “Casting the Net”. At this Synod the bishop took the chance to flesh out that idea and help us to understand what it meant to him and what it means to the diocese going forward.
The idea of Casting the Net comes from the biblical passages of Jesus telling the disciples of which side of the boat to cast the net onto. From their obedience they hauled in a great catch of fish. After this experience they pledged to follow him. The bishop is using this imagery to reach out to his churches to call them to follow and to be discipled.
In his charge Bishop Andrew talked heavily of the communities coming together. The Toronto diocese is after all made up of many people and many cultures gathered into one family around one table. Although we come from different places and different cultures, we do have similarities. One such constant is that we are all captured by stories. As we are grabbed by a story we are also changed and molded by the story. We become a part of it. This story predominantly for us is the biblical story. As we look at the story we reflect it to the world, and the story becomes manifest in us.
Although the bishop did not go explicitly into it, I believe there is also the obvious related idea that Jesus himself is the story manifest. Jesus is the WORD of God, he is Emmanuel, God with us, he is the law and prophesies of old come to life. Jesus was steeped in scripture and this is implicitly a call to each of us as his disciples to live that same life and to be transformed by the written word, and thus the living word.
The bishop took some time to reflect upon a recent visit to a church where he saw on the carpet a discolouration in the shape of an arrow. The discolouration was created by an arrow that directed people during the time of COVID. The sun shone through the window and faded the carpet all around the arrow. COVID likewise has left and indelible mark upon the Church. We continue to discover how we have been impacted only as time goes on.
Lastly the bishop said that the diocese will engage in a capital campaign. He recognized this is not the thing most of the Church is excited to hear, but in this case most of the funding will stay in the parish. At the end of 2024 churches will do a feasibility study regarding this campaign.
Following the charge Synod discussed many different topics and challenges facing the diocese. The most frequently addressed was the topic of affordable housing. Ideas were discussed but there were no motions that were voted upon for action. The diocese did stress the role of the property management team, which has been strengthened this year by new hires for the purpose of helping parishes develop their unused property.
There were many positive things discussed at Synod. I do wish the bishop had gone more into the call of Evangelism, Discipleship and our transformation by the story that we hold onto – but I also know we can’t expect our bishop’s office to do everything for us. So, the one take away I will have from this Synod is the one that was never said, a call to me and I hope a call to all of us that as we focus on the story that brings us together and binds us as one people we become more like Christ. As we silence the world, and turn of its portals and doors into our lives, we become like the one voice we do focus upon. May this Advent and Christmas season our hearts and minds, our ears and our eyes be captured by the one story that truly brings life.