Sunday, March 8, 2009

A bishop and his campaign for the poor


Dinners in the Johnson household have always been noisy affairs, full of debates about God or curfew time for the kids.

But they begin in silence. Complete silence.

"My wife is a Quaker," explains Toronto Anglican Bishop Colin Johnson of his spouse, Ellen.

"She was, and still is, an active member of the Society of Friends."

Like Anglicanism, the Society of Friends – as Quakers are officially known – is a product of the Reformation, but it took the message of developing a personal relationship with the faith many steps further. It stresses silence over ceremony, and inner reflection over pomp and circumstance.

Learning to accommodate his wife's beliefs goes back to when Johnson and Ellen Smith first met as students at the University of Western Ontario. For a young man newly committed to his Christianity but tempted from the United Church of his youth by the "beauty" he saw in Anglican tradition, it was a difficult time of reflection. Further complicating things was the love blooming with Ellen.

They met in their first week of classes while lining up to audition for the choir. After dating off and on for two years, the two got engaged. But then they called things off because of their religious differences.

"We like to say now that we had our divorce before we got married," laughs Johnson, who has three grown children with his wife. The couple will celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary in July.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Insight/article/598444

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