Anglican Family
The Cathedral is part of the Anglican Communion (worldwide), the Anglican Church of Canada (national), and the Anglican Diocese of Toronto (diocesan).
About Anglicanism
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About the Anglican Diocese of Toronto
The Diocese of Toronto is the largest and most diverse of 30 dioceses in the Anglican Church of Canada. It consists of 285 congregations in 217 parishes – as well as chaplaincies and missions in hospitals, schools, universities, and prisons – in an area covering 26,000 square kilometers. According to the 1996 census, of the nearly five million people who live within the diocesan boundaries, just under 10% claim to be affiliated with the Anglican Church, with about 90,000 people identified on parish rolls. The diocese is home to many ethnic and language-based congregations, including Chinese, Filipino, French, Hispanic, Japanese, Korean and Tamil. The present diocesan bishop of Toronto is Bishop Andrew Asbil who is assisted by four suffragan or assistant bishops, each assigned to pastoral oversight of an area of the diocese.
Visit the Anglican Diocese of Toronto website
The Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is an autonomous national church within the Anglican Communion consisting of over 800,000 members on parish rolls (although many more identify themselves as Anglican in the census). The first Anglicans in Canada were 16th century English explorers led by Martin Frobisher and his chaplain, The Reverend Robert Wolfall. The church did not become established here, however, until the consecration of Charles Inglis as bishop of Nova Scotia in 1787. He had responsibility for colonists and missionary work as far west as Niagara. The Canadian church developed and grew with the country, becoming administratively independent of the Church of England even as Canada became a self governing dominion within the Commonwealth. The head of the Anglican Church of Canada is the Primate – the presiding bishop of the national church. The current primate of the Anglican Church of Canada is Archbishop Linda Nicholls.
Visit the Anglican Church of Canada website
The Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is a worldwide family of Christian Churches with some 70 million members in 164 countries. In its country of reformation origin it is called the Church of England; in other countries, it is usually called the Anglican or Episcopal Church. Anglicanism worldwide shares a common liturgical and theological tradition, catholic and reformed, which is expressed in local contexts in a wide variety of languages and customs. While each national or regional church within the Communion is autonomous, the Archbishop of Canterbury is its spiritual head and the chief sign of its unity.
