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About the author
Faith Seeking Understanding: Medical Assistance in Dying was compiled and edited by:
The Reverend Dr. J. Eileen Scully serves the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada as Director of Faith, Worship, and Ministry. She holds a PhD in Systematic Theology from St. Michael’s College, Toronto. In her role with General Synod she is responsible for liturgical development and serves several networks supporting local ministries. She lives in Waterloo, Ontario and is an Honorary Assistant Priest at the parish of St. John the Evangelist, Kitchener.
Essay contributors include:
The Reverend Dr. June Maffin is founder of “Soulistry: Artistry of the Soul” and a retired Anglican priest, having served in the Dioceses of both New Westminster and British Columbia. A published author and Creative Spirituality Artist, she has served in a leadership capacity in many diocesan, provincial, national and international bodies of the Anglican church and served as consultant to the women’s desk of the Episcopal Church of the U.S.. The subtitle of her doctoral thesis, “Making Faithful Decisions” was ‘Christian Ethical Decision-Making around Euthanasia’. Prior to ordination, she enjoyed careers in broadcasting, script writing, print journalism and education.
Dr. Cate McBurney is an Oblate of the Sisterhood of Saint John the Divine in Toronto. Holding graduate degrees in nursing and theology, and a doctorate in Bioethics, she has ministered within Ontario health care for nearly thirty years. Both at the bedside and as a clinical ethicist, she has had a particular interest in resolving moral quandaries in end-of-life care. Her doctoral dissertation was on the use of the so-called principle of double effect in the case of palliative sedation. She has been involved in MAiD at the bedside and at the level of policy development.
The Reverend Dr. Trish McCarthy has served as an Anglican priest for 30 years, in rural and urban settings. She has three Clinical Pastoral Education units and her Doctorate of Ministry project is de facto a Pastoral Care curriculum. Throughout her parish ministry, Trish met with parishioners sometimes in hospital or other institutional settings. During the first ten years of her ministry, Rev. Trish learned a lot during her training and seven-year volunteer work as a Victim Service Advocate both in Hanna, Alberta, and then in the Niagara Region, Ontario. Since 2010, she has had the pleasure of sharing her wealth of pastoral experience and insight in her teaching as a Professor for Emmanuel and St. Chad College (Seminary) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. During Regional Archdeacon work, Rev. Trish facilitated leadership and ministry workshops and retreats for lay and ordained folks and interfaced with people of several First Nation communities.
Dr. Bruce Wheatcroft is a retired church musician who served parishes in Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal, taught school, and undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Alberta and at McGill University. An organist and conductor, he has broadcast extensively for the CBC, and is known for his elegant performances as a recitalist in Canada and abroad. He holds degrees in performance, musicology and theology. A serious accident in 2001 brought permanent disability ending a distinguished career. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014, in 2020 he suffered a pressure palsy paralyzing his right arm and was confirmed with Severe Spinal Stenosis in 2021.
The Reverend Dr. Chris Salstrom is an Honorary Assistant at St. Stephen and Bede, a Lutheran/Anglican Parish in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She has been a Chaplain for over a decade and is a passionate researcher and advocate for the profession. She is currently serving at Riverview Health Centre; specializing in care for both the complex continuing care and the special needs dementia care populations. She came to her passion in ministry after a career in accounting.
The Reverend Donald Shields is a priest in the Diocese of Toronto and has been a hospital chaplain for over 25 years. He is a registered psychotherapist in Ontario. Don is an honorary associated at St. Thomas Brooklin. He hold two master degrees in theology. Don’s hobbies are photography, music, and creative writing. Don facilitates mental health recovery groups as part of his chaplaincy work and also works with those who are grieving life losses. He enjoys mentoring colleagues in therapeutic techniques related to spiritual care and psychotherapy.
The Very Reverend Bertrand Olivier has been overseeing the work of Christ Church Cathedral in Montreal, Quebec, for over five years. He was previously incumbent of the parish All Hallows by the Tower in the Diocese of London, England, following two incumbencies in Southwark diocese. Prior to ordination, Bertrand headed a London-based international communications consultancy specializing in healthcare. Originally a French national, he has a particular interest in pastoral liturgy as well as issues of justice and peace. He is a member of the Iona Community.
The Reverend Marty Levesque, originally from Ottawa, currently serves the Diocese of Huron at All Saints’ Anglican Church in Waterloo, Ontario. Marty holds a BA in Philosophy with a Minor in History from Carleton University, as well as an MDiv and MA from Huron University College. Marty’s ministry began at Counterpoint Church, a church he planted in 2009. Following his ordination in 2010, Marty moved to London, Ontario, and served St Andrew Memorial, leading the parish through a revitalization. Marty took up ministry at All Saints Waterloo in 2016 where he is leading the community through a new building project: the building of a new church facility and community centre. Marty’s ministry and studies has become increasingly centred on place and space: the church and secular society. He is also interested in social media, marketing, and church growth.
The Reverend Miranda Sutherland is Jamaican and a priest in the Diocese of New Westminster, British Columbia. She was called to the priesthood 12 years ago after decades of working in the private and public sectors. She is the Chaplain of the Anglican Church Women in the Diocese of New Westminster and her growing interest is now in Intentional Interim Ministry.
Sister Kathryn Tulip, SSJD is a member of the Sisterhood of Saint John the Divine in Toronto, Ontario, entering the religious life after a 38-year career in finance and administration. She has a devoted interest in pastoral care for the dying, chaplaincy, and ethics. Her various ministries have included work in hospice agencies as a board member and volunteer, and presently provides spiritual care at St. John’s Rehab Hospital.
The Reverend Canon Dr. Paul Friesen is part of a household of five, whose two delightful adult daughters return from time to time to join their parents and the family Duck Toller in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His biological mother, stepmother, and father lived and died in the Christian faith. He has been most shaped by the Mennonite tradition, and the classical Anglicanism which he entered in his 20s. His life has been enriched by roles as a labourer in construction and gardening, then as a probation officer, and finally as a professor and priest. He has served as a lay leader at Little Trinity, Toronto, as a curate St. Mary Madgalene, Toronto, as a chaplain ad priest-in-charge at King’s College Chapel, Halifax, and as the rector of St. Paul’s, Halifax. He has taught or offered lectures at Tyndale University, Wilfrid Laurier University, Wycliffe College, the University of King’s College, and the Atlantic School of Theology where he still offers courses.
The Reverend Dr. Peter Armstrong grew up in Nova Scotia. After completing his undergraduate degree in Halifax, he worked overseas as a labourer, during which time his sense of call was confirmed. Ordained in 1989, Peter has served in a rural parish, an urban parish, and in a team ministry in the Diocese of NS & PEI. He completed a D.Min. in 2015. Peter currently serves at St. Brice’s, North Bay, Ontario. He has had parishioners who have opted to participate in the MAiD process, and those who have not. Peter is married to his spouse Nancy. They have two adult daughters, and a new grandson.
The Reverend Canon Maggie Helwig is a settler living on the land covered by the Dish With One Spoon wampum, and serves as the rector of the Church of St Stephen-in-the-Fields.
The Reverend Angie Hocking is a deacon in the Diocese of Toronto who has worked alongside folks experiencing homelessness in Toronto, Ontario, for 16 years. Currently she is a Community Minister in Regent Park with the United Church of Canada, as well as a neighbourhood deacon for the diocese in the lower east side (All Saints Sherbourne, St. Simons St. Peters, and St. Barts). Both of these roles allow her regular opportunities to lead worship, community organize, engage with pastoral care and outreach, and capacity build. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Outreach at Church of the Redeemer (Anglican) for ten years. She has learned that none of us can be free until we are all free; our liberation is indeed bound up together.
The Reverend Dr. Gordon Maitland is the national chairman of the Prayer Book Society of Canada (PBSC). Founded in 1986, the PBSC has members all across Canada, from all age groups and walks of life, both clergy and laity.
The Very Reverend Chris Dow is the Dean of St. Jude’s Cathedral in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and a student in Bible, Liturgy and Culture at the Theopolis Institute. He is married to Amy and they are the proud parents of Clara, Abigail and Hannah.
Dr. John Berkman is Professor Ordinarius of Moral Theology at Regis College, University of Toronto. He teaches and writes in moral theology and moral philosophy from a Thomistic perspective on a variety of topics, including the Holy Spirit and ethics, healthcare ethics, the ethics of killing and ethics and non-human animals.
The Reverend Ben Crosby is a priest of the Diocese of Massachusetts (The Episcopal Church) serving in the Diocese of Montreal and a PhD student in ecclesiastical history at the McGill University School of Religious Studies. He studies the English Reformation and believes strongly that investigating the Christian past can help us proclaim the Gospel today. He has previously written on euthanasia in Canada for Plough Quarterly.
The Reverend Dr. Ian Ritchie taught Bible in Nigeria (1980-85), and returned to Canada to do a Ph.D. at McGill University, which he completed in 1993. He was Professor of Religion and Culture at Concord College, Winnipeg (1995-1999). After moving back to Kingston in 2000, he was ordained in 2002, and has ministered at many churches in the Diocese of Ontario up to the present. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Queen’s University School of Religion, and taught World Religions at St. Lawrence College. He served on the task force that produced In Sure and Certain Hope in 2016.
The Reverend Canon Dr. Jesse Zink is principal of Montreal Diocesan Theological College and canon theologian in the Diocese of Montreal. He is the author of several books, including A Faith for the Future and Backpacking through the Anglican Communion.
The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner (Ph.D., Yale University) is Professor of Historical Theology at Wycliffe College, a seminary of the Anglican tradition at the University of Toronto. He is the author and editor of several books on the theology of the church, biblical interpretation, and the Holy Spirit. On matters relating to human suffering, including assisted suicide, see A Profound Ignorance: Modern Pneumatology; and A Time to Keep, a work on human mortality. A former church worker in Burundi and an Anglican priest, he has served parishes in various parts of the United States and has been active in the affairs of the global Anglican Communion. He is married to the Rev. Annette Brownlee, Wycliffe College’s Chaplain, and they have two children.
The Reverend Canon Lizette Larson-Miller, PhD, is canon precentor for the Diocese of Huron (Anglican Church of Canada) and former Huron-Lawson Chair of Liturgical Studies at Huron University College. Her first degrees were in music, followed by an MA in liturgical studies (St. John’s, Collegeville), and a PhD in liturgical history and sacramental theology (GTU, Berkeley). She is the author of four books and numerous articles, including Sacramentality Renewed (2016), and has been president of both Societas Liturgica and IALC (a network of the Anglican Communion). She was ordained in 2003 and has served in a number of Episcopal and Anglican (Canadian) parishes in addition to teaching liturgy at several universities. She is currently the Professor of Liturgy and Sacramental Theology at Bexley Seabury Seminary in Chicago.
The Reverend Dr. Christopher Craig Brittain is Dean of Divinity and Margaret E. Fleck Chair in Anglican Studies at Trinity College in the University of Toronto. His research focuses on contemporary social and political theology, Anglican ecclesiology, and religious responses to disasters and terrorism. His publications include: The End of the Anglican Communion? The Crises of a Global Church (2018), Plague on Both Their Houses: Liberals vs Conservatives and the Divorce of the Episcopal Church USA (2015), Religion at Ground Zero: Theological Responses to Times of Crisis (2011), and Adorno and Theology (2010).
The Foreword was written by:
The Most Reverend Linda Nicholls is the first female Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, a role she's had since 2019. Previously, she served the church as Bishop of Huron (2016-2019), Area Bishop of Trent-Durham, Diocese of Toronto (2008-2016), Coordinator for Dialogue for Ethics, Interfaith Relations and Congregational Development at the national office, and almost twenty years as a parish priest in the Diocese of Toronto. With degrees in music (BMus) and education (BEd) Linda taught high school music and math at Woodstock International Christian School, India for five years before theological studies at Wycliffe College (University of Toronto) and ordination as a deacon (1985) and priest (1986). She also holds a Doctor of Ministry degree (University of Toronto, 2002).
