A New Call for Stephen Fields ‘82
The Reverend Canon Dr. Stephen Fields, Class of 1982, has been called to serve as Sub-Dean and Vicar of St. James Cathedral in the Diocese of Toronto.
Fields was born in Barbados and is a graduate of Codrington College and the University of the West Indies and The Graduate Theological Foundation, where, in 2019, he received the Doctor of Ministry degree with a concentration in Transformational Leadership.
After his time at GTS, Fields served in his home diocese for 11 years and the last 28 in Toronto. In Toronto, he has served as a member of the Diocesan Council, the Executive Board, the Postulancy Committee, and several other committees, boards, and working groups. His most recent appointment was as a member of the Episcopal Leadership Working Group, the group charged with examining and reporting to the Diocesan Bishop on alternative models for the exercise of episcopal leadership, oversight and pastoral ministry within the Diocese. He is one of the facilitators for the Anti-Bias and Anti-Racism (ABAR) workshops that will be offered to Diocesan clergy and lay leaders as part of the Diocese’s anti-Racism, anti-Bias work.
Fields is very passionate about justice issues and continues to serve in the church and wider community addressing these concerns. He was a part of the leadership team for the No Longer Strangers Project, a multicultural ministry initiative of the diocese, and was the founding coordinator of The Black Anglicans Coordinating Committee, now succeeded by the Black Anglicans of Canada.
Very much a part of the wider Anglican community, he has chaired, or shared in coordinating, several international gatherings, including the Fifth Caribbean Anglican Consultation (CAC), and the Local Committee assisting International Planning Committee of the Third International Afro-Anglican Conference (AAC). Both events were hosted by Toronto.
The CAC is a biennial conference that examines the ministry and ministry needs of the clergy, and those of the congregants from the Caribbean and the Caribbean Diaspora, to determine how the congregants are contributing to the life of their church communities, and how the Church is responding to their needs. He continues to coordinate the CAC’s online monthly forums. The AAC is a gathering of Black Anglicans from around the world, which met every 10 years. The first conference was held in Barbados in 1985 while the second was held in Capetown, South Africa in 1995 at the invitation of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
He is a prolific composer of short prayers and is a student of the guitar. His ministry is supported by his wife, Lucy, an educator, and their two sons, Marc and Luke, with whom he enjoys traveling and vacationing.
Canon Stephen has received many awards, including the African Canadian Achievement Award (Excellence in Religion, recognizing his ministry in the church and the wider community. He was appointed an Honourary Canon of St. James Cathedral, in Toronto in 2004. He has been featured in several publications, including both editions of the “Who’s Who in Black Canada” and “Some Barbadian Canadians: A Biographical Dictionary”.