09/02/2025
Please note up-coming events:
Social Justice & Advocacy Update September 2025
Welcome! This monthly resource connects you to the work of Social Justice & Advocacy at the Diocese, events that may be of interest to you and your fellow-parishioners, and our Diocesan Outreach Prayer Cycle.
News & Events for September 2025:
Season of Creation Resources and Celebration
Register now for Outreach & Advocacy Conference October 18, 2025
News & Events from Alongside Hope (formerly PWRDF)
No to Hate, Yes to Immigrants Rally at Christie Pits, Sept. 13, 2025
"The Poverty Game" All Saints Collingwood, Sept. 13, 2025
Refugee Sponsors workshop, Sept. 20, 2025
"Draw the Line" Rally for People, Peace and the Planet, Sept. 20, 2025
AURA Walk & Roll for Refugees 2025
Schomberg Country Run
Bible Remixed Courses for Fall
Orange Shirt Day/National Day for Truth & Reconciliation, Sept. 30
Outreach Prayer Cycle for September 2025
1. Season of Creation Resources: The Season of Creation takes place globally from September 1 - October 4, bringing Christians around the world together in prayer and action for the care of God's creation. This year's theme is "Peace with Creation." Drawing on Isaiah 32:14-18, the theme laments the impact of human destruction of the Earth along with a hope for all creation to find peace in the outpouring of God's justice. Resources for celebrating the Season of Creation can be found here.
This year's Diocesan celebration of the Season of Creation on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Paul, Midhurst (5 Noraline Ave., Midhurst ON) All are welcome!
One way your parish can celebrate the Season of Creation this year is to get involved in the Communion Forest Movement. First initiated at the Lambeth Conference in 2022, is a global initiative comprising local activities of forest protection, tree growing and eco-system restoration undertaken by provinces, dioceses and individual churches across the Anglican Communion to safeguard creation. The Bishop's Committee for Creation Care, together with Bishop Andrew and Mary Asbil, invites Anglicans in the Diocese of Toronto to take part. Learn more and find resources to help your parish participate in the Communion Forest here.
2. Register NOW for Diocesan Outreach & Advocacy Conference: The 2025 Diocesan Outreach & Advocacy Conference, “Seeking Signs of Resurrection” will take place online on Saturday, October 18 from 9:00 a.m. 3:30 p.m.. We are pleased to have the Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Espiuca, from our companion Diocese of Brasilia, as our keynote speaker. As an Anglican priest, environmental and human rights lawyer and professor, coordinator of advocacy strategies for the Diocese of Brasilia, and Communion Forest Facilitator for the Americas, he has a wealth of experience and expertise to share with us.
The conference will also feature a range of workshops on timely justice topics, Register today for this free event through our Diocesan website.
3. News/Events from Alongside Hope (formerly PWRDF). Our partner in global relief and development, Alongside Hope (formerly known as the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund) works with partners in Canada and around the world. Learn more and support their work in the following ways this month!
Sign up to join a monthly online prayer service for the work of Alongside Hope. The services are held on Zoom the second Thursday of each month at 1 p.m. Eastern. For Thurs. Sept. 11 the reflection will be offered by Beth Lorimer, KAIROS Ecological Justice Program Coordinator and former member of Alongside Hope's Youth Council.
Join the online book study of Becoming Kin by Patty Krawec, an Indigenous writer who invites us to reimagine kinship, land, and solidarity through the lens of history, memory, and Indigenous ways of knowing. The book study runs on Monday nights at 7 p.m. (Eastern) from Sept. 15 - Oct. 20. Each session will be led by a different Alongside hope volunteer or staffer. Register here.
From now to Oct. 4, participate in the Wild Ride to support safe births in Mozambique and Madagascar. Participants can raise funds by walking, cycling, baking, crocheting, or any other activity. Learn more and sign up here!
4. No to Hate/Yes to Immigrants Rally, Christie Pits, Sept. 13, 2025: Join a community rally against a racist and anti-immigrant event planned for Sept. 13 at Christie Pits Park, Toronto. The park has a rich history of anti-fascist organizing and connects Koreatown to the East African, Latinx and South Asian communities further west along Bloor. The community rally runs from 12:00 - 2:30 p.m. and will be followed by snacks, games and community workshops till 4:30 p.m.
5. The "Poverty Game" at All Saints Collingwood, Sept. 13, 2025: Living in poverty isn't fun - and it's certainly not a game. The "Poverty Game," however, is an interactive exercise that offers a unique insight into the hard choices facing many of our neighbours. On Saturday, Sept. 13 at 2:00 p.m. All Saints Collingwood (32 Elgin St., Collingwood ON) will be hosting a session of the Poverty Game, followed by a discussion with Elin Goulden, Diocesan Social Justice & Advocacy Consultant. Refreshments will be provided. This event is free and all are welcome.
6. Refugee Sponsors workshop, Sept. 20, 2025. The Private Refugee Sponsor Network (Ontario) is hosting a free online workshop for private refugee sponsors on "Handling Crisis in Sponsorship" on Saturday, Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to noon. What would you do if faced with a crisis during sponsorship, such as domestic violence, child welfare issues or tenants' rights? Learn about your responsibility and where to go for professional guidance on these issues. After the event, you are welcome to join a discussion with other sponsors who have experienced these issues. Register at shorturl.at/0Zz1C
7. "Draw the Line" Rally for People, Peace and the Planet, Sept. 20, 2025 Injustice, violence, and climate destruction are all interrelated. On the weekend of Sept. 19-21, people all over the world are uniting to rally for people, for peace, and for the planet. In Toronto, organizations including Toronto350, Climate Fast, Fridays for Future Toronto, Idle No More - Ontario, Migrant Rights Network - Ontario, Seniors for Climate Action, and more are joining a march from Yonge and Dundas at 2 p.m., culminating in a rally at Queen's Park at 4 p.m. Learn more here.
8. AURA Walk & Roll for Refugees 2025: Our partner in refugee resettlement, AURA (the Anglican-United Refugee Alliance) has helped Anglican and United churches to resettle thousands of refugees over the past four decades. AURA's annual community fundraiser, the Walk & Roll for Refugees, takes place the last weekend in September. Choose a fundraising event, sign up as an individual or team, and invite family, friends, and fellow parishioners to take part and/or donate! AURA is hoping for at least two new Anglican teams to sign up this year. You can even get matching T-shirts for your team! Learn more and sign up here.
9. Schomberg Country Run: Founded in 2011 by the late Rev. Sheilagh Ashworth, the Schomberg Country Run is an annual event, raising tens of thousands of dollars to promote reconciliation with First Nations through the support of clean water initiatives. The run takes place on the last Saturday in September. Visit/contact the Anglican Parish of Lloydtown to learn more.
10. Bible Remixed Courses for Fall: This fall, Bible Remixed is offering two online courses that may be of interest:
"A Harvest of Justice: James at the End of Empire" with Dr. Brian Walsh. The Epistle of James vividly proclaims the story of Jesus into a world of authoritarianism, violence, deceit, and oppression. What are its lessons for us today? This course runs on Sunday evenings from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m from Sept. 28 through Nov. 2. Cost is on a sliding scale.
"Gender, Sexuality, and the Bible" with Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat. The Bible has often been used as a weapon in debates about gender and sexuality. This course will examine the way the Bible has been used in the recent Human Sexuality Report of the Christian Reformed Church, and explore other biblical interpretations of these issues. Attention to questions of hermeneutical context as well as the Ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman context of the biblical text will provide a lens for engaging with this topic in a way which reflects the generous, welcoming, and redemptive character of the God we find in the biblical story. This course runs on Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8:30 p.m. from Sept. 9 through Oct. 28 and is being offered through the Institute for Christian Studies.
To learn more and to register for either of these courses, visit bibleremixed.ca
11. Orange Shirt Day/ National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Sept. 30, 2025 The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation takes place on September 30 every year, to remember Indigenous children taken by the residential school system. Many never returned home; those that survived experienced harms that led to lifelong and intergenerational trauma. Residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad started the Orange Shirt Day movement in 2013 to honour survivors and their stories. Resources for observing Orange Shirt Day/National Day for Truth and Reconciliation can be found on the Truth and Reconciliation page of our Diocesan website. More resources will be added through the month.
The Mohawk Institute in Brantford, ON was an Anglican residential school which operated from 1831-1970. After years of restoration, the Woodland Cultural Centre will officially unveil the former Mohawk Institute residential school as an interpretive historic site on September 30, 2025. Find out more about the opening day ceremonies here.
What would you do if faced with a crisis during sponsorship? Where would you go for support for domestic violence or child welfare issues? How would you advocate for a newcomer facing eviction or who has to appear before the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB)? Join us at this workshop to acquire new sk...
