Who we are

San Lorenzo Ruiz Anglican Parish is a vibrant and diverse community of believers of the Christian faith. The majority of parishioners are immigrants from the Philippines, but our doors are open to anyone who would like to worship with us. Whether you’re a newcomer to Canada, visiting from another country and looking for a place of worship, or you want to explore the Christian faith – San Lorenzo Ruiz will always have a place for you. You are most welcome to join and worship with us.

We’re located in the parish of St. Peter and St. Simon the Apostle on Bloor Street East in Toronto. Despite our downtown location, a lot of our parishioners come from areas outside the GTA, as far as all corners of Ontario – such as Hamilton, Barrie and Innisfil.

Our People

The majority of our members are Filipino immigrants, and San Lorenzo provides a home church for these immigrants. They are mostly Episcopalians who hail from the various ethnic regions of the Cordillera, Ilocano, Visayas and Tagalog areas in the Philippines, but we also have people of non-Filipino nationalities who join us in our worship, witness and mission.

What We Believe

We believe in what the Bible says about the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We also believe that all people are God’s creation and worthy of Jesus’ redemption. Here at San Lorenzo Ruiz, everybody can journey together, celebrate together and grow in relationship with God and with each other.

Our History

The parish of San Lorenzo Ruiz started from a humble beginning of a handful of people who gathered for worship in an old schoolhouse in St. Jamestown, Toronto in 1991.

This small congregation’s inception into the Anglican Church communion began in 1992, when it rented a space at St. Peter’s Anglican Church on Carlton Street for its worship services. The Rev. Gordon Finney, incumbent of St. Peter’s at the time, facilitated the entry of this new congregation into the Anglican Diocese of Toronto.

The Rev. Ariel Dumaran, its first pastor, got introduced into the Anglican method of liturgy and eventually paved the way for his ordination in the Diocese of Toronto. The handful members of the congregation who were from other Christian faiths were likewise introduced to Anglican liturgy and its role in the wider church in its witness and mission. Eventually, the members were all received into the Anglican denomination.

A year later, on June 2, 1993, the Most Rev. Terence Finlay, Bishop of Toronto at that time, formally received this small congregation of 25 parishioners into the Anglican Church of Canada, under the Diocese of Toronto. The good bishop also gave the name San Lorenzo Ruiz to this congregation in honour of the first Filipino saint, Lorenzo Ruiz, who was martyred in Japan for his Christian faith.

With the recognition of the congregation as part of the diocese, the reception of its members and the ordination of the Rev. Ariel Dumaran, San Lorenzo Ruiz parish paved the way for a Filipino witness in the Diocese of Toronto.

With the turn of the century, the congregation started to “wander in the wilderness” of Toronto. It was like a ship moving from port to port: from St. Peter’s Carlton, the parish “sailed” to St. Bartholomew’s Regent Park in 2000; four years later, they “set sail” again and landed at St. Matthew’s Riverdale; two years later, San Lorenzo Ruiz “set sail” once more for a basement apartment at 240 Wellesley Street. As the congregation grew, the “pilot of the ship” once more steered it in another direction, and on July 7, 2007, San Lorenzo Ruiz found its temporary port at St. Peter and St. Simon the Apostle. It is here where we have anchored up to this day.