For many years the congregation has been glued together in part because of Connect Groups. Members gather in informal affinity groups, now mostly online, to build community, pray, study the bible, share life and support one another.

Before COVID-19 lockdowns, elder seniors – those in their 80s to over 100 – used to gather in person. Suddenly isolated from each other, volunteer Elizabeth Beecham began to gather this tightly knit group on Zoom.

“Tech was not the barrier. If they had devices, seniors went online,” she says.

Suddenly the church doors were flung open to them once again. Without the obstacles of complicated transportation to in-person services, the group has flourished. Zoom allows these parishioners – lifelong Anglicans who built up and carried the church over the years – to see each other, chat and catch up. In this safe space, even the most vulnerable elders can comment on the sermon, talk about whatever challenges they face and see old friends who are no longer able to gather at St. George’s.

Ms. Beecham has led this group since 2020, at first to succeed her own mother, who had run in-person gatherings in the past. She carries on because this volunteer ministry is so rewarding, and she knows it represents authentic community. Her own roots in this community run deep. She recalls that her parents’ first act upon immigrating to Canada was to worship at St. George’s. Her ministry of listening and caring has connected her not just to her mother’s church friends but to people she now knows more fully.

The door is open for newcomers – usually seniors who have moved in with their grown children from outside Toronto. These uprooted people find new friends in the Connect group. Membership is fluid: while some come, some stay and others move on. Ms. Beecham does her best to communicate with group members and keep everyone up to date.

Many participants bring a deeply held faith into the group, and some do not. Professional caregivers or grown children get their elders online but then often stay for the session. Ms. Beecham says they’re welcome to be full participants. They join in prayer and discussions and are encouraged with special prayers of thanks and support for caregivers. Evangelism happens organically, as the parish compassionately shows that it cares for these vulnerable and cherished members. Helpers and elders alike have the option of worshipping on Sunday through Facebook or viewing the recorded service later on YouTube.

At Christmas, parish volunteers bake goods for housebound people. Dedicated volunteers drop off cookies, brownies and hot chocolate at elders’ homes so that everyone online has the same joy in sharing these treats during the Connect Group meeting. And caregivers aren’t forgotten, receiving their own Christmas fare.

The ministry of listening to each other is often the most important act of community. Caregivers attend with patience as seniors share their life stories, sorrows and achievements. This group of friends validates each other in a modern recreation of old-fashioned community where people meet, sing, pray, gossip and laugh with each other.

Some challenges still exist. Members have multiple medical appointments, and their schedules are subject to changes beyond their own control. Caregivers also have scheduling conflicts, but the group meets even when only two or three are gathered together.

“There’s lots of juggling,” says Ms. Beecham. After much experimentation, she has pulled back from the Covid-era weekly gatherings and now holds meetings once a month. Those seniors who connect only by phone also miss the joy of seeing their friends and being seen.

“If I could dream about our future, we would have video-enabled tech for everyone facing in-person barriers,” she says. She hopes to explore the option of purchasing refurbished devices.

She also envisions fostering communication between generations. She knows seniors have much to offer youth and youth to seniors, and that youth can be just as isolated as seniors. She hopes to see some sort of mentoring that would build up intergenerational connections using this shared technology.

Ultimately, people do long to see each other in person despite many logistical barriers. Some can gather for special events, and all of them look forward to the Rev. Ali MacIntosh, the parish’s priest-in-charge, visiting online and providing in-person pastoral care. At St. George’s, online and incarnational care go hand in hand.

This ministry has broken down the walls that isolate elder seniors and opened wide the doors at St. George on Yonge. “Our elders know that they are part of our congregation,” says Ms. Beecham.

For more information on hybrid ministry, visit www.toronto.anglican.ca/parish-resources/hybrid-ministry or email onlineministry@toronto.anglican.ca.

The post Church’s seniors thrive in digital community appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

That picture rings of rosy nostalgia, but rural life has changed since the ’60s, and the days of overflowing Sunday Schools are past. Walmart, payday loans and Timmy’s have sprouted up in our old strawberry fields. Our scattered churches wonder what the unknowable future will hold for them.

What we do know down here at 135 Adelaide St. E. is that we do not know everything. We know that as rural people, you understand your own situations better than anyone else. And we know that listening to you, hearing your concerns and creative ideas, will help us find our way to God’s future for our churches.

If you have questions and answers about the future of rural churches, Bishop Andrew Asbil invites you to join him for conversation at Trinity Church, Aurora on Saturday, Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

We need to serve you, so please contact me at emccaffrey@toronto.anglican.ca. I will collect the questions you have now to help us plan the event. (Spontaneous questions will also be welcomed at the workshop!) Register and sign up for a free lunch at that same email address.

We know that our Creator, the Lord of the Harvest, doesn’t give up on us; the Spirit lifts us up. We know that our Church is God’s Church and is eternal. Before I left home for the big city, my farmer Dad adapted to changing markets: feedlot farming moved to market gardening and then to custom woodcutting, maple syrup production, and Christmas tree horticulture. The Church will change, and seedtime and harvest, day and night, and the redemptive, compassionate work of our Saviour will endure. Come and join us as we join our God in God’s mission.

The post Bishop to host conversation about future of rural churches appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

This is a practical book of theological reflection. Author Mary Stewart, a life-promised oblate of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, pioneered volunteer management in the health industry and has written and consulted on church volunteerism since the early 1980s. This new book distills her accumulated wisdom.

Ms. Stewart targets new clergy and veteran priests who are taking up new assignments, and especially lay leaders and churchwardens “seeking to reflect on the current operational status” of their churches. This book is more than a programmatic fix; rather, it offers a structure upon which your parish leadership might assess its ministry and dream about a different future.

This book offers more than dreams. The first chapter challenges you to imagine, and then draw up, an image of your parish as a jigsaw puzzle. Then Ms. Stewart leads you on a step-by-step process to improve current volunteer structures or design new ones by: identifying the pieces already in place; imagining what the complete picture looks like; determining the missing pieces; and completing the picture by implementing that vision.

This is only one of a dozen metaphors the book offers. You cannot miss the author’s sense of humour when she aptly compares managing change in the church to draining a swamp, stitching a patchwork quilt or baking a cherry-topped cupcake.

I recommend this book because Ms. Stewart does not by-pass the most important planning step in volunteer management and organization: refection. I would love to fix every problem I encounter; wouldn’t you? I diagnose problems quickly and tend to jump to quick solutions. The Church as a Volunteer Organization reminds us to slow down, collect all the data, and take time to pray and think things through before we act. We need to let God’s life-giving, comforting spirit breathe through these exciting times of change and challenge.

Ms. Stewart rightly invites us to “reflect on the church as a volunteer organization with staff support.” Our churches are full of talented lay people and gifted ordained, theologically trained clergy. If you are looking to forge a better partnership of the two in your parish, this book is for you.

The post Book distills author’s wisdom on volunteerism appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.