Canada news briefs: Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario

Tower restoration gains support

Thanks to the generosity of 1,400 Anglicans in the Diocese of Huron, the appeal for the restoration of the tower at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, Ont., raised $70,000 in just seven weeks. That’s just $30,000 short of the $100,000 target set for the diocese. “All of us are extremely pleased by this tremendous diocesan support,” said Diane Stewart, who chairs the appeal. The entire campaign to restore the tower requires $1 million. The parish itself has raised $554,000 of its $600,000 goal. The diocesan appeal, made to 20,000 households in February, asked supporters to buy bricks at $15 each to replace deteriorating bricks in the tower. Huron Church News

Parish funds loos for the Himalayas

Parishioners at St. Paul’s, Westdale in Hamilton, Ont., asked one of their members who is also a member of the Trans-Himalayan Aid Society if there was anything they could provide for people in that part of the world. The answer that came back was not what they expected: toilets. But now, thanks to some fundraising efforts matched with support from the Canadian government, St. Paul’s has helped the people in the Kulu valley to get 57 outdoor toilets. One of the many efforts to raise funds began with a young St. Paul’s member drawing a giant cardboard outhouse, which was then sectioned into jigsaw pieces. The pieces were sold under the slogan Loonie For A Loo. Karen Trollop-Kumar, a parish member, worked as part of a medical team in the Himalayas for 11 years. She gave first-hand testimony about hygiene problems the people there face without proper toilets. Niagara Anglican

Peace monitor evacuated

Dorothy Hector, an Anglican from the Diocese of Ontario who traveled to Kosovo this spring as a civilian peace monitor, had no sooner arrived than she had to be evacuated. Ms. Hector arrived only a week before the NATO bombing began. She spent a grueling week returning to Canada, traveling from Kosovo to Skopje, then through the mountains to Thessalonika, Greece, before flying to Vienna for a flight to Toronto. Ms. Hector said she was permitted only 15 kilograms of luggage on her return so she had to leave behind almost all her clothes. She escaped with her laptop computer, family pictures and a change of clothes. Dialogue

Sword protesters arrested at St. Paul’s

Rev. Don Heap, an Anglican priest and former MP, was one of three protesters arrested in a Good Friday protest outside St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Toronto. Mr. Heap and two Roman Catholic men were arrested trying to climb a fence to reach the St. Paul’s War Memorial. The men had been lobbying church authorities for months to melt down a sword inlaid in the cement cross, and turn it into a ploughshare. The church refused. Mr. Heap told 150 supporters that the sword in the centre of the cross is “a blasphemy, a total violation of the message and person of Christ.” The wardens of St. Paul’s issued a statement saying no changes would be made. “St. Paul’s remains deeply committed to Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace, and to the proclamation of his gospel. The sword of the cross stands at rest, in the shadow of the almighty cross of Christ.” Toronto Anglican