The Anglican Diocese of Ottawa (ADO) has a long history of helping refugees from around the world and all faiths come to Canada. As a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) under the Canadian government’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees program, the Refugee Ministry Office partners with constituent groups who want to sponsor refugees. Those constituent groups include Anglican parishes and groups of other faith-based or community-based groups and can include people seeking to sponsor their family members.

As we mark World Refugee Day in 2026, Perspective shares one family’s story.

Murtaza Ishraq was a well-known television broadcaster and commentator in Afghanistan. He was also a key spokesperson for a stability and convergence team in the 2019 presidential election. His wife, Masuma, was a law professor and writer on women’s rights.

So, when the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August of 2021, their lives changed overnight. Masuma had to leave the university and stay home, and they were immediately threatened. An American non-governmental organization (NGO) helped them escape to Pakistan.

That got them out of immediate danger, but their situation in Pakistan was not good. Overwhelmed with people coming across the border from Afghanistan, the Pakistani government was not issuing work permits or documents that would allow the refugees to stay in the country. That meant that the couple had to pay high-priced rent for a place to stay in Islamabad out of the money they brought with them with no way to earn money. The water was bad, and their baby couldn’t drink it, so they eventually moved to a smaller city where the rent was less expensive, but they were still stuck in a bad situation with nowhere to go and no way to make a living.

Fortunately, that’s where Patricia Wilson and the non-profit Ottawa Centre Refugee Action (OCRA), came in. OCRA was founded in 2015 to help bring Syrian refugees to Canada and had begun to focus on Afghan people. “I was reaching out to sponsorship agreement holders in Ontario, particularly in Ottawa in 2021 and 2022,” Wilson said. “We had been contacted by people trying to bring various Afghans out. Most of them had fled to Pakistan, and we were looking for help at the sponsorship agreement, holder level.

“I remember sitting here in the summer of 2022. I didn’t think anyone would get back to us,” Wilson said. And then she got a call from the Refugee Ministry Office, letting her know that the Diocese had accepted OCRA as a constituent group, allowing them to sponsor refugees.

Since then, ORCA has bought eight groups — 37 people, including sponsoring Murtaza and Masuma and their son, who arrived in 2023.

It’s not easy starting over in a new country, but Masuma told Perspective that  she is happy to be safe in Canada and to be able to work. Murtaza is working as an Uber Eats driver in afternoons and evenings, so that he can take an English course during the day. Masuma was working as an early childhood educator until their second child was born nine months ago. Later, she hopes to return to university and study Canadian law.

After sharing their story with Perspective, Masuma wrote to says she would “like to sincerely thank the Anglican Church for helping our family reach Canada and find a safe place to live. We will certainly never forget their kindness and support.”

Special thanks to the Refugee Ministry Office’s devoted case managers Reem Abu-Afieh and Ishita Ghose for all of the work they do to make stories like this happen.

The post World Refugee Day: One family’s journey to Canada appeared first on Perspective.

It all needed to be fixed before the newly hired incumbent, the Rev. Robert Camara, who was moving to Perth from Montreal with his partner in December, could live in the house.

The parish considered selling or demolishing the house, but it had a heritage designation, so that limited their choices. They decided to do the renovations, which were expected to cost $100,000.

Fortunately, parishioners Ray and Elaine Hook stepped up to the challenge of raising funds as a labour of love and a way of thanking the people in the parish who cared for them when Elaine was seriously injured in a car accident. They donated $10,000 to get the fund started and used $5,000 to match donations over $100.

Parishioner Christine Erdos is a designer who offered to redesign the kitchen as a donation to the church.

At first, the Hooks hoped to raise $25,000, but as Ray kept the congregation updated on their efforts, donations kept coming, and they set new targets of $50,000 amd then $75,000. Eventually, they had raised $102,500 through donations that mostly came from within the congregation. “Our donors collectively from the church family. have just amazed us with their generosity and their support,” said Ray, adding that they are working on creating plaque with all of the donor names (aside from those who want to remain anonymous) that will be placed on a wall in the rectory.

The Rev. Robert Camara added that he and his partner were very grateful for the beautiful renovation work that has made the rectory so much more comfortable and for the warm welcome from the parish.

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He and parishioners at St. Albans, where he is the incumbent priest, were inspired to create some pilot projects on campus serving meals to students over the last few years. They began by serving meals at one of the student residences where students who didn’t have meal plans lived.

Throughout this past academic year, St. Albans teamed up with the student union, which has its own food insecurity initiative “Fed up.” They moved their program to a central hub area on the main campus and served three lunches and a dinner each semester. The meals were cooked by St. Albans’ parishioners with student volunteers on campus, and to encourage students to cook nutritious and low-cost meals for themselves, the team handed out recipes for the dishes they were serving.

Not surprisingly, the free meals have been a big hit with the students. Garner reports that they served a burrito dinner for their last meal of the semester in mid-April to 385 students. The students are grateful, and Garner says the volunteers often hear that the meal is the only one some students will eat that day.

Students have enjoyed the opportunities for social connections the meals create. Encouraged to sit down and eat and talk together, students offered feedback that the project has had a positive effect on their health. Aside from the food, they benefited from the social connections and a greater sense of belonging.

St. Albans volunteers also made efforts to take a break and sit down to eat and talk with students. Garner was pleased to hear that the students appreciated the opportunities to connect with the adults from the parish. Although, he expected that it would be most appealing to have student peers serving the food, feedback from the student union included comments that the students valued opportunities to have conversations with the adult volunteers from the parish. They appreciated having an adult ask how they were doing, how their day or semester was going, and the sense that these adults cared about them.

The St. Albans group has sought and welcomed partners from other parishes, denominations and faith groups to bolster their efforts in whatever capacity they can contribute. Even if a group can’t take on providing a whole meal, contributing to part of a meal is a valuable way to get involved and support the project. For example, Garner said, a number of United Churches got together and offered to donate dessert for the final meal of the term in April. Initially, they estimated they could provide about 150 servings. However, their bakers participated enthusiastically, and they ended up bringing more than 500 servings. “It was this overwhelming amount of food. That just created such joy…. It was great,” he recalled.

“My hope is next year to continue to cultivate relationships with churches and other groups who can provide supplemental things, like baking biscuits when we were doing soup and that sort of thing. I’m looking for all sorts of ways to lower the barrier to entry to churches and other groups,” he said, suggesting that sometimes people feel overwhelmed by a big problem like student food insecurity and feel that they can’t do anything. “I think the real power of this is that there are smaller ways to …come and be involved.”

Garner acknowledges that the meals can’t solve the problem of food insecurity on campus, but he was pleased to see that highlighting the problem and advocacy work seems to be spurring some action on the issue. The president of the university created an initiative to write an action plan for food security for the whole campus. Garner served on the committee with one of the deans in medicine and St. Albans was included as an external partner.

Pilot project aims to counter students’ social isolation

The Rev. Michael Garner has seen that students at the University of Ottawa, like many people in the broader society, have more communication tools at their fingertips than humans have ever had, but many are socially isolated. He says that loneliness is sometimes described as an epidemic in our digitally connected society where people need more time and real connection with other people in person.

Garner has worked closely with the U of O Student Union on issues of food insecurity, and one day ran into Meredith Kerr, the executive director, in Costco. “What are we going to do about loneliness on campus?” she asked him.

He says his first thought was “I have no idea.” But it was immediately followed by, “I know exactly what we are going to do.” Peg Herbert, a parishioner at St. Albans had come to mind.

“She’s a remarkable woman,” he said. Among the many cool things she has done is starting an organization called Chosen Grandma, which pairs retired women who don’t have grandchildren, or don’t have grandchildren in the city, with single moms, single parent families, creating this connectedness. The idea has caught on and Chosen Grandma has been featured on the CBC news. Garner noted that Herbert is developing this charity even though there are additional legal challenges because there are minors involved, but the point is to give children a “chosen grandma.” He realized that Herbert had all that valuable experience creating connections in a safe way.

So, while standing there in Costco, he thought, “‘We’ll just take Peg’s idea and apply it on campus.’ And that’s what we’re doing,” he told Perspective.

Room Enough is a pilot project will match 10 students with 10 families or households in the next academic year. “It’s really about facilitating the need of students, the desire of these households to connect … and support each other and learn from each other,’ he said. The pilot for this academic year will be a test run to see how this works, see what doesn’t work. They will track participants’ feedback on their mental health, the connection between the students and their matched households. “If we have a positive outcome and we have some data, we’ll go to the university to look at scaling it up for more people to participate in the next year.

The diocesan Future Fund awarded the project a grant of $10,000, which Garner says will help hire a student to be a part-time co-ordinator for the program.

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This year’s campaign — Watt’s Possible — builds on the spirit of the 2025 Wild Ride, which raised more than $60,000 to provide Solar Suitcases in health clinics in Mozambique and Madagascar. In 2026, we’re shifting the focus to St. Luke’s Hospital and its transition to a reliable source of energy – solar power. This will help ensure quality health care can continue despite frequent power outages and expensive diesel fuel.

Riaz Diab is a nurse in the emergency department at St. Luke’s Hospital. He describes the challenges of caring for patients during the power outages. “I remember one time I was working in the ER, we had multiple patients connected to monitors and other patients needed suturing. The electricity suddenly went out. We had to use flashlights and manual equipment.”

The Wild Ride fundraising goal is $60,000, enough to purchase and install 70 of the 407 solar panels that are part of this project. Each panel will cost roughly $865, which includes delivery, installation and training. Every gift will be matched by a generous donor, doubling the impact!

As a supporter of Alongside Hope, you can contribute directly to the Light for St. Luke’s campaign, or you can take on a personal challenge as a part of the Wild Ride. Every participant chooses an activity that is meaningful to them and uses it to raise funds and awareness for the campaign. There’s no single way to participate. Some participants may take on physical challenges, while others may choose to be creative. The Wild Ride is designed to be a flexible way to fundraise that’s accessible to everyone. Activities could include:

• Walking or running challenges
• Cycling or rollerblading
• Swimming laps
• Kayaking or canoeing
• Dancing challenges
• Reading goals
• Baking or cooking projects
• Knitting or crocheting
• Fitness challenges
• Hiking
• Photography projects
• Hosting a community event
• Creating music or art

By registering on our Wild Ride page on the secure Canada Helps platform, participants are encouraged to collect pledges from family, friends and their community members as they work towards their goal. Learn more about how to participate at our online info session on Thursday, June 4 at 1 p.m. ET.

Register for the Wild Ride info session

At its heart, the Wild Ride is about so much more than fundraising. It’s about people coming together to support a hospital that is providing care in incredibly difficult circumstances. Funds raised through supporters will help keep operating rooms functioning during power outages, reduce dependence on costly diesel generators, and most importantly, provide stability to a community that has felt unstable for years.

When the world is hurting it can be hard to know how to make a difference. But every act of compassion can bring hope. Join us this year in discovering Watt’s Possible by being a part of the Wild Ride.

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Our Creation Matters Working Group organized a service focused on environmental issues and a celebration of Earth Day at our 10:30 Sunday service on April 26. Everyone was encouraged to use their non-fossil fuel mode of transport to get to church—bicycles, tricycles, scooters, walking shoes, and bus passes.

We have installed new bike racks to keep parishioners’ bicycles and other vehicles safe while at the church.

Others have participated in the Salad Garden Project, the Cycle Fitness morning, or made crab apple jelly from foraged fruit.

There is also ongoing work to make the church building itself greener.

Lights have been changed;

More vegetarian meals are being served at parish events

The parish has provided financial support to Water First, a non-profit group that helps with water issues in First Nations communities.

During the season of Advent, we had a gifting ceremony to honour and better understand our Indigenous neighbours and their cultures. Our gifting ceremony was for books. Debora and Marc Fleming, members of St. Matthew’s, gave several books to the parishioners. The object of the giving was that people would read the books and pass them on to others and discuss the contents.

Our belief is that many small steps will add up to a big effect.

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The Church of St. Barnabas has always been grateful for your prayers, support, and friendship, and we continue to appreciate them now more than ever.

Over the past year, we have prayerfully considered the necessity of replacing the floors of the church, the sacristy, and the church hall. The Vestry has approved this project for 2026-27, and a committee has been formed to oversee the various steps involved, led by an experienced architect, John Donkin, who has strong ties to our parish.

On Saturday, June 27, at 4 p.m., we will be hosting a fundraising concert featuring the London Trio Plus. This event is more than just a concert; it is greater than just about floors that are beautiful and functional; warm and inviting evoking a sense of peace and reverence to all. It is about a community within Centretown and beyond.

While St. Barnabas continues to be a home of Anglo-Catholicism it also serves as a welcoming space for numerous initiatives within our city, These include: St. Luke’s Table every Saturday, Music and Beyond Concerts during the summer, and STEM camps in the summer months July to August (Monday to Friday), STEM Camp is a not for profit organization founded in 2013, offering up fun and educational summer camp experiences for kids 4-13 all across Canada, including Ottawa.

Music, voice and organ lessons provided by three experienced and talented teachers who help nurture future musicians and host Royal Canadian College of Organists Ottawa Centre, exams and seminars.

Once a month, we open our doors to the city with a Community Tea fully funded by St. Barnabas. This is a drop-in tea with finger foods and door prizes for anyone living in Centretown and beyond—whether they are homeless, have a home, live alone, or with family.

The Sons of Scotland Band also holds their rehearsals here every Monday. We actively contribute to and participate in the Centretown Foodbank and Centretown Churches Social Action Committee, and provide a place of worship and community for university students away from home.

We are a member of Multifaith Housing and recently participated in the Annual Tulipathon Walk, and our church raised over $2000.

Furthermore, the Old Roman Catholic Rite Church meets at St. Barnabas every month. We continue to be a place where people can turn to in great times of prayer, need and celebration.

This project has an impact on the City of Ottawa and beyond. If every member of the above-mentioned groups, along with anyone reading this article, were to contribute $10 dollars towards this initiative, we could raise a significant amount. Remember, a friend in need is a friend indeed.

With your support, we can ensure that St. Barnabas continues to be a welcoming home for many, transcending the Christian faith. Together, we can extend our hands in unity and demonstrate the love of Christ through this concert, as we work to gift St. Barnabas with new floors.

We are excited that the London Trio Plus group was available to provide this concert, which marks one of the first of many fundraising endeavors to come. The dynamic London Trio Plus (LTP) Ensemble is a gospel and harmonic vocal group based in Ottawa. The group is made up of three London sisters—Vanessa, Valerie, and Celeste. The “Plus” in their name signifies a larger flexible group beyond the initial trio, which includes additional family members and friends as vocalists and band members.

Under the expert direction of Valerie London, the group has thrilled audiences for over 20 years, with harmonious and uplifting music – sharing their talents through concerts and other community initiatives. The group continues to delight audiences throughout Canada and the Caribbean, with voices in perfect harmony. This talented group has produced concerts, written and arranged several pieces, organized festivals and mentored young performers. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to listen to this enthusiastic group of musicians.

Date and Time

Saturday, June 27 at 4 p.m.

Tickets

$40 per person

$70 for a couple, with a freewill offering for children 12 and under.

Here is the link to purchase tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/fundraising-concert-by-london-trio-plus .

Target

Our goal is to raise $10,000.

Parking:

Due to road construction, there is very little on-street parking in the immediate area of our church.

PAID parking is available at 381 Kent Street (Medical Building) for $5 for an unlimited time. This parking lot can be accessed from Gilmour Street off Kent Street.

I deeply value your support and prayers for the successful launch of the Floor Fundraising Activities.

God speed to you all as you make your way to the concert, on Saturday, June 27 at 4 p.m.

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Canon George Kwari

The post St. Barnabas hosts a musical fundraising concert featuring the London Trio Plus appeared first on Perspective.

The initiative had a diverse group of participants last year — parishioners from Christ Church Bells Corners as well as other Anglican parishes, other denominations, and one person who said he had never attended any kind of a worship service before, said Archdeacon Monique Stone, who leads the contemplative walks and outdoor worship service.

Those who drove to the Beaver Trail for the first walk of this year were rewarded by many early spring beauties — delicate trillium flowers and other tiny blossoms lined the trails, ferns were unfurling. Bird songs provided the music for a service of readings, prayer, contemplation and sharing the Eucharist.

Each service is adapted to the abilities of those who attend.

Forest church services are planned for the first and third Tuesday of each month until Oct. 6. A full schedule with the changing locations and other details is posted on the Christ Church Bells Corner website. 

Please note services will be cancelled if The Weather Network (weathernetwork.com) has a Red Weather Alert message on the top of the screen for ‘Bells Corners’ as of noon on the day of the service due to rain, lightening, thunder storm, extreme heat OR if there is lightening at the time of the service starting.

Related  article:

Creating church in the forest 

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On Sunday, May 3, more than 200 guests enjoyed butter chicken and nan bread and many other culinary delights with ice cream for dessert. Not surprisingly, the dinners are a hit. Incumbent Archdeacon Monique Stone says more than 300 attended a dinner before Christmas last December.

The meals are an ecumenical and interfaith effort. Parishioners from Christ Church Bells Corners work together with volunteers from Bells Corners United Church, First United, Saint Martin des Porres Parish, and the Jami Omar Mosque to invite everyone and transport people from two nearby emergency shelters to the dinners using a rented school bus.

Alison Bridgewater, a volunteer from Bells Corners United, told Perspective that they sometimes say that they should rename Old Richmond Road as the ‘Road to Heaven’ because there are so many places of worship along it.

And they have more partners in the effort from South Nepean Community Health Centre and the City of Ottawa.

Another important partner is FAMSAC, the community food cupboard that operates on the ground floor of Hollyer House, an affordable housing project spearheaded by Christ Church Bells Corners and built on part of the church’s property where the church rectory formerly stood.

There is also a full commercial kitchen, so Stone says they can cook all the food there, which helps keeps the costs of the meals lower.

And in one more happy bit of symbiosis, guests were greeted at in the church hall by Joan Wright, president of the community gardens, and Cathy Séguin who helps run the program, which provides fresh vegetables to FAMSAC in the summer months. Cathy and Joan were handing out packets of seeds and small pots of soil, so guests could enjoy getting flowers or vegetables growing at home.

Christ Church Bells Corners is collaborating with their neighbours on three more community events:

June 13 (10 am to 1 pm) — Indigenous Month Community Celebration — Mādahòkì Farm Dancer Performance (10:30 to 11 am), Reconciliation Rock Paint Station and collaborative art project

Oct. 25 (3 pm to 5 pm) — Trunk or Treat — Costumes optional, free treats for all 

Dec. 20 (4 pm to 7 pm) — Holiday Meal — Free dinner for all — Halal, Kosher, gluten free

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