Boardwalk Talk

The Reverend Canon Lucy Reid has been the lead parish priest at the Church of St. Aidan, Toronto, for the past 11 years. She retires at the end of May 2022. Originally from the UK, she and her spouse David Howells came to Canada in 1984 and worked many years together as parish priests in various places, including a 17-year stint in Guelph when Lucy was a chaplain at the University of Guelph. In this interview, she reflects on her earliest years in a village in England, her youthful and unquenchable desire to be a priest, her evolving and expanding theological vision, raising three independent-minded children, and the lessons learned in working for the church.

Christine MacMillan, an ordained Salvation Army officer who has lived and worked all over the world, currently chairs the World Evangelical Alliance's Global Task Force on Human Trafficking.

Eileen Henderson, long-time restorative justice advocate, sits on the board of Restorative Justice Housing Ontario.

Dr. Dennis O'Hara, emeritus professor in the St. Michael's College Faculty of Theology (University of Toronto), gave an engaging lecture at St. Aidan's Church, in March 2020, as part of a Lenten education series on "Caring for Our Common Home." This was one of the last in-person events hosted by St. Aidan's before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the suspension of public gatherings. O'Hara's lecture is just as inspirational now in the thick of the pandemic as it was when he delivered it pre-lockdown.

Dr. Michael Polanyi is a climate campaigner with the Toronto Environmental Alliance. He's also part of the Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation in the east end of Toronto. In the summer of 2020 he recorded a lecture at St. Aidan's Church on how local faith communities might respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michael Van Dusen is an ordained Anglican deacon, activist, runner, family man, and longtime Beach resident. He sat down to talk about his work, his many interests, the politics of the Beach community, the state of the Anglican Church of Canada, and more.