In the wake of the death of George Floyd, people of colour in Canadian churches raised (once again) the ongoing issue of racism in the church. Prominent among this response has been Black Anglicans of Canada, based in Toronto and led by members of the Diocese. This organization laments the failure of the church to implement the recommendations of a report from 1994 on racism in the Anglican Church and highlights the small number of people of colour among clergy and theological students.

In related fashion, the ongoing revelations over church-run residential schools for indigenous Canadians continue to be a scandal in the country, as is the limited substantive response to implementing the recommendations of the 2015 final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The report includes a call, not only to decolonialise government and church structures, but also theological curriculum for training church leaders for the post-colonial Canadian context.

Indigenous, African Canadian, and Chinese Canadian ethnicities are the dominant non-white populations in southern Ontario, in the Anglican Church, and among the Faculty of Divinity’s current student body.

We are making contact with potential advisors for the 2022-23 academic year and hope to make an announcement before the beginning of the fall 2022 academic term.