Article describes a number of AIDS related outreach projects operated within the diocese of Toronto for local populations and overseas in Africa. Includes the story of the Rev. Doug Willoughby, an Anglican priest who is himself HIV-positive and the diocese's involvement in the Philip Aziz Centre, a non-profit home hospice for people living with AIDS. Describes the work of The Teresa Group, founded by Penelope Holeton, an Anglican lay woman, to help children in Toronto living with AIDS, and also the fundraising work of St. Clement's, Eglinton, which has contributed to the work of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and which in August 2006 "held a reception for grandmothers from Kenya who [were] in Toronto for the International AIDS Conference and the Stephen Lewis Foundation's Grandmothers' Gathering".
The Rev. Doug Graydon is chaplain to Casey House, a 13-bed hospice for people with AIDS in downtown Toronto. "It is not easy being an Anglican priest in such a place. People with AIDS, particularly those who are homosexual, have experienced the church as a judgmental, rather than loving, community. Distrust characterizes their relationship with it."
"'All of us belong to God', said Canon Douglas Graydon to Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, at a gathering held to discuss same-sex marriage in the Canadian Church. 'The question is whether we belong to the church'. It was a question many LGBTQ Anglicans brought forward in a question and answer session that took place February 16 [2016], after a talk Hiltz gave following the 'queer Eucharist' service hosted monthly at St. John's Anglican Church, West Toronto". The event was attended by about 150 people. Speakers included: Canon Douglas Graydon, the Rev. Alison Kemper, the Rev. Joyce Barnett, Clayton Chrusch and Jessica Davis-Sydor. In answer to a question about his personal views on the issue, "Hiltz responded by saying that while he personally supports same-sex marriage in the Anglican church, his position as president of General Synod places limitations on what he can or cannot say as a representative of the Canadian church" (p. 13).
"In a nod to changing times, the Anglican Church of Canada's latest report on physician-assisted dying, rather than opposing the practice, recognizes it as a reality. The report offers reflections and resources around assisted dying and related issues, such as palliative care" (p. 1). The report, entitled "In Sure and Certain Hope: Resources to Assist Pastoral and Theological Approaches to Physician Assisted Dying" was prepared by the church's task force on physician-assisted death, chaired by Canon Eric Beresford. The report, released 9 June 2016, "opens with an introduction to the issue, and moves on to a discussion of related theological concerns and questions. It discusses how palliative and pastoral care ought to be provided to those facing the end of their lives. It includes suggested prayers and litanies and a list of books and other resources" (p. 9). "The report includes personal reflections by Anglican priests, including Canon Douglas Graydon, a member of the task force who also specialized in end-of-life care for more than 20 years" (p. 9).