Fresia Saborio
“After graduating from the MDiv at Montreal Dio, I was ordained as a transitional deacon and immediately after, I moved to the Eastern Townships to serve my curacy. It was a big change from the church environment of Montreal, but I adapted quite quickly. The warmth with which the community received me helped me to embrace the challenges of the new ministry.
During the time I was at Dio, I loved attending Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer with my classmates. This prayer practice turned out to be the discipline that is sustaining me the most in ministry. Another valuable lesson learned was the stewardship of time and learning how to prioritize, not looking for perfection but allowing the grace of God to work through us.
During the weekdays when I am preparing my Sunday sermon, I remember the love for preaching all the professors had. Their passion has stayed with me. I cannot underline enough that the community of friends made throughout seminary has become the support network of colleagues that keeps providing me with encouragement and with a sense of walking this journey together”

Ben Stuchbery
“I began my curacy at St. James’, Hudson and St. Mary’s, Como in September 2021 under the supervision of the Ven. Sophie Rolland.
The pandemic has made the last eight months an especially challenging moment to begin a new ministry. When I started in September, the parish was just re-opening to in-person worship. By Christmas, we were back online, and would not re-open until the beginning of March. I entered a parish that had either lost or put on hold many of the events and social groups that tied the community together. I found I needed to be very intentional in reaching out to parishioners to introduce myself, and to hear their stories. That work is starting to bear fruit. I’ve kickstarted a pastoral care team. I’ve led two book studies. I’ve organized two quiet days for prayer and conversation. I’ve taken the lead on our monthly Messy Church. I wrangled some volunteers for a Passion Play on Palm Sunday. All of that on top of administering the cemetery, preaching, and leading worship (the heart of my pastoral responsibilities).
I am drawing constantly from my studies at Dio and from the Clinical Pastoral Education program. I am learning to trust my gifts for pastoral ministry. Prayer is where I continue to find my energy. This is the greatest gift Dio gave to me: the habit of prayer. Even on days when I don’t pray in a formal way, I carry with me an ongoing awareness of God thanks to my habit of prayer.”

Jon Jameson
“My time since graduating from Dio has been quite a blessed whirlwind. I was able to continue serving at the Church of St. Mark and St. Peter (CMP) in Ville St Laurent, the church that I did my In-Ministry Year at, as Honorary Assistant as they moved back into more regular in-person services. They have greatly blessed me and my family as a community of faith and it was a joy to serve with them. In the fall, my band Delta Spirit was finally able to get back on the road (we were shut down as Covid emerged) and we made a new album that will be coming out this summer. Finally, I accepted a call to St. John’s Church, located on one of the historic squares in downtown Savannah, Georgia. It is a wonderful Episcopal church that upholds the Prayer Book tradition. The cross-border move, that included buying a home over FaceTime, was quite an adventure, but we are loving it down here! I continue to be grateful for the formation and education that Dio provided, and I pray that it will continue to serve and bless the Church as we seek to share the saving gospel of our Lord until he comes again.”