Church of the Ascension

As we mark September 30th, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation or Orange Shirt Day, we are called to remember the evils of residential schools and their connection to our institutional structures. While this is a painful time for many, we also remember this day with hope.

As we recognize the survivors, memorialize the innocent dead, and engage with our own country and church’s history with these places, we keep in the forefront our desire to move forward on the Two Row path our ancestors abandoned.

The idea of reconciliation is deeply embedded in the living of the Gospel. As is the call for truth. It is only with the ability to be profoundly honest with ourselves that we can hope to find the path forward.

We remind ourselves of our baptismal call. To be the church, the one body of Christ, broken in love for the world. Called to reconcile the world to Him through the emptying of self and power, through the taking up of the cross in acknowledgement of the sins of the world, through the death of what we once were and the resurrection of who we are meant to be.

Now is the time for radical honesty and abundant grace. Now is the time for us to truly commit to the Two Row way, to walk together in harmony, in equity, in partnership. With listening ears and open hearts, with eyes clear and lips full of the unending hymn of justice let us make the truth of Christ the centre of our lives and the reconciliation of Christ the centre of our work.

The Rt. Rev’d Todd Townshend, Bishop of Huron
The Ven. Rosalyn Kantlaht’ant Elm, Archdeacon for Reconciliation and Indigenous Ministry
The Rev’d Hana Scorrar, Indigenous Ministries Missioner

A Message from Bishop Todd Townshend

September 19, 2023

God Loves and Welcomes All

On Wednesday, September 20th there will be protests across Canada against what the organisers claim is “LGBT indoctrination in Canadian schools.” In many locations, counter-protests are being planned by a broad coalition of educators, labour, religious leaders, and other citizens concerned about the importation of American culture-war issues into Canada.

We are aware that there are protests and counter-protests planned across the entire Diocese from Windsor to Owen Sound and we are concerned that the wider public has the opportunity to see that the organisers of the protest do not speak for all religions or for all Christians as they claim to do. The diocesan web site has a banner with the words “God Loves and Welcomes All” and a shifting array of photographs that display images of diversity, inclusion, and welcome across the Diocese of Huron. https://www.diohuron.org/news/god-loves-and-welcomes-all Please consider sharing the link widely on your social media.

Should we be contacted by the media for a statement, our message—on September 20th and always—will be a message of respect and inclusion that reflects our basic belief: that God is love and that all of us without exception are created in the image and likeness of God. And just as God loves us, so we are called to love our neighbour and, as Christians, to behave in a manner that reflects this love.

+Todd

Bishop of Huron