June 1, 2020
Dear Friends,
Please allow me to introduce myself to all of you. My name is Andrew Kaye and I am excited to be joining you at St. Margaret-in-the-Pines as your priest. I am married to Cara, a gifted and passionate communicator of fashion and its ethics, and together we have three beautiful children: Rowan (8), Evelyn (5), and Wesley (3). I was raised in Grimsby in the Niagara Peninsula by my wonderful and loving family. Parents, grandparents, friends, and church easily commingled, and together they were a wonderfully formative part of my life growing up. My parents, who are very proud of my chosen vocation, would tell you it’s no surprise that today I am a Priest.
I was ordained deacon by the Anglican Church here in Toronto in May of 2018 and Priested in March 2019 at St. Timothy’s North Toronto, where I enjoyed serving as an Assistant Curate these last two years. Previous to my ordination I served as an intern in the beautiful diocese of Algoma, then as lay minister to your neighbour, Grace Church Scarborough before moving to St. Timothy’s North Toronto.
An odd quirk about my call to Priestly ministry is that I do not have a Master’s in Divinity, rather I studied theology at Wycliffe College for close to 15 years, first through a Masters of Religion and then as a ThD (doctor of Theology) student. It was shortly after I submitted the thesis proposal for my ThD that I began to respond to God’s call to Priestly ministry. This initially surprised me. I thought I wanted to be a university professor, to talk with others about Jesus. But a wise chaplain asked me why I entered theological studies to begin with, and when I told him it was to meet with people and talk with them about Jesus, he kindly informed me that what I was describing to him sounded more like ministry than academics. And so I began to follow a road that has led me to you, a road that I pray will allow my life to speak. Thanks be to God.
During my studies I supported myself, and later my family, financially by serving tables at various restaurants in Toronto. I loved this job. I delighted in bringing delight to others by offering them good food and good drink. I found this work and this exchange of delight to be a tremendous gift. My last week serving tables was the same week I was ordained a deacon and I am glad that I now continue to serve people at a different kind of table.
When not enjoying my family through walks, biking, swimming or at the dinner table, I have fun playing road hockey and squash, and over the last two years have been learning a passable left hook (for fitness!) at a local boxing gym. I delight in books (both sacred and secular) and love that moment in reading, in learning and in conversation when the learning of something turns into the love of something. The dinner table, I find, is a wonderful place for this dynamic to happen and so in less difficult times we love to host and be hosted.
Please know that you are in my prayers and I look forward with great anticipation to coming to know each of you in a deeper way so that my prayers for you may begin to take deeper shape.
Yours in Christ,
Andrew Kaye+