ELIE GETS IT!

“The Lord could be that homeless guy that you see.”

Elie gets it! “I just wandered into the Church. I eventually decided to step up to the baptismal pool and be baptized because there was a story in the Bible about all those guys that had to go to the Lord’s supper. But one guy said I’m too busy … with this, too busy with that. So, I just had to step up to the baptismal pool and just go for it. And I haven’t looked back since.” Elie turns for support to St. Stephen in-the-Field’s parish on College near Kensington Market in Toronto, a FaithWorks ministry partner. “I am unable to get my own house … because there is limited funds.” “I like to pray a lot … so that the Lord can help me.” “The problems are being dealt with by the Lord.” “The Lord could be that homeless guy that you see.”

Elie gets it! We are all created in God’s image and likeness. This is the basis for the personal relationship we can each have with God. Jesus teaches us how to have a personal relationship with God. We are taught to love God with our whole being and our neighbour as ourselves. Jesus cares so much about every human being that he says, “I was hungry and you gave me food … as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me”. (Matt. 25:35-40) He said this to teach us how to enter into the ultimate relationship with God by entering God’s kingdom.

You, our donors and supporters, get it! You know that God’s love is limitless and shared with all. You have put aside other cares and offered your time, talent and treasure to FaithWorks as a reflection of God’s love for all, especially the most fragile and vulnerable among us. You see God’s image in the people around you, even in “that homeless guy.” You have loved and shared generously, without looking back.

Thank you for your support of FaithWorks. Each and every donation makes a difference, as each and every person impacted by FaithWorks matters.

Thank you to all our donors, large or small, new or ongoing, individual, parish, corporate or foundation. Thank you to our dedicated volunteers in parishes and at the Diocese. Thank you to our ministry partners who struggle to bring well-being and security to so many.

Jesus taught us to experience our relationship with God by loving one another. Alleluia! You get it.

Thank you for giving wholeheartedly

The impact of your donation to FaithWorks was felt across the Diocese and throughout the world. The need for the services provided by FaithWorks’ ministry partners increased by 36% last year and almost 145% since 2021. This presents us with greater challenges than ever before.

In 2024, almost 49,000 people were served, including:

• 29,248 people were fed, sheltered, nurtured and befriended (up 33%)
• 16,836 refugees, new Canadians and migrant workers (up 310%)
• 9,253 Indigenous people (up 108%)
• 7,675 families in need (down 15%)
• 4,045 at-risk women, children and youth (up 37%)
• 10,464 people touched by the prison system (up 250%)
• 4,791 young adults living with mental health challenges (up 135%)
• 1,582 people impacted by HIV/AIDS (up 215%)

Thank you to our corporate and foundation donors

Thank you to our Corporate and Foundation Donors who contributed $399,800 to FaithWorks in 2024. Your generosity makes it possible to improve the lives of thousands of individuals and families.

$100,000 or more

• Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation

$50,000

• BMO Bank of Montreal
• Fast Family Foundation

$25,000

• New England Company

$15,000

• Anglican Foundation of Canada
• Burgundy Legacy Foundation
• Letko, Brousseau & Associates

$10,000

• Canso Investment Counsel
• Estate of Peter Sabbagh
• Hayhoe Family Foundation
• Rogers Gardham ODT

$7,500 – $9,999

• Shift Happens Coaching
• Andy & Beth Burgess Family Foundation
• Manulife Investment Management

$5,000

• Foster Hewitt Foundation
• Grant Thornton Foundation
• Koskie Minsky LLP
• NHI Nurse Homemakers International
• Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
• Smith Boake Designwerke

<$4,999

• Aqueduct Foundation
• Ray & Pat Burton Foundation
• Clairmark Consulting

Thank you to our parishes

As communities of compassion and hope, our parishes are the heart of the annual FaithWorks campaign. 89% of parishes participated in the 2024 campaign. Contributions from our parishes were $866,500. Parishes retained $101,146 for local outreach ministries. Grants to the Archdeaconries for outreach totaled $43,650.

Thank you to our ministry partners

Our FaithWorks Ministry Partners struggle tirelessly each and every day to share the transforming power of God’s love with thousands of people in need. We thank our Ministry Partners for being powerful agents of the love that is changing lives and changing the world.

• A Place Called Home, Lindsay
• Alongside Hope (PWRDF)
• Anglican United Refugee Alliance (AURA)
• Flemingdon Park Ministry, Toronto
• North House, Durham
• One City Peterborough
• Philip Aziz Centre for Hospice Care, Toronto
• Samaritan House Community Ministries, Barrie
• The Dam, Mississauga
• Toronto Urban Native Ministry
• All Saints’ Church – Community Centre, Toronto
• Holy Trinity, Trinity Square, Toronto – Community Hub
• St. James’ Cathedral, Toronto – Foot Care Clinic
• St. James, Orillia – Breakfast & Lunch program
• St. Margaret, New Toronto – Outreach program
• St. Saviour, Orono – Migrant Worker Ministry
• St. Stephen in-the-Fields, Toronto – Outreach program

For more information or to donate, visit www.faithworks.ca

The post Thank you for giving wholeheartedly appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me … As you did it to one of the least of these members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:35,40)

We were greeted by the beaming smile of the Rev. Canon Dr. Alison Falby, who welcomed us to All Saints. She showed us how the venerable church building is being used every day to offer food, drink, shelter and rest, in addition to prayer and worship. The historic and beautiful architecture and stained-glass windows are fulfilling their purpose by inspiring giving and sharing in the service of God.

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”

Two hundred meals are served four days a week. Amazingly, most of the food is donated. As the need increases and donations become harder to find, it is a struggle. But people need more than food and drink. They need support, guidance, community, belonging and inspiration, like in a family. All Saints offers all these things. There are mats on the church floor for people to sleep on during the day after having walked the streets all night. There is clothing, harm reduction kits, nursing, foot care, case management, housing referrals and assistance (Homes for Tomorrow), spiritual and pastoral care, all in a community atmosphere. There is a weekly art and music program, with movies on Mondays. It is easy to see how All Saints is the place where people can find belonging at the corner of Sherbourne and Dundas. Here they experience God’s unconditional love for everyone.

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

No one is a stranger at All Saints. Everyone is welcome. Whether a person is wrestling with the cravings of addiction, the voices of mental illness, the pangs of hunger, the precariousness of homelessness, the emptiness of loneliness, the threat of violence, or any other form of deprivation, they are welcome. Everyone is a member of Jesus’ family and has a place at All Saints.

“As you did it to one of the least of these members of my family, you did it to me.”

In the faces of those who serve and those who are served, we saw Jesus’ face. The staff and volunteers radiated a joyful love, reflecting God’s presence in their lives. Their dedication and hard work are an inspiration. It’s no wonder that so many who have been helped at All Saints wish to help others, when and if they are able.

Janice Hodgson, the chair of the FaithWorks allocations committee, described the visit to All Saints as eye-opening. “I knew that All Saints works with individuals struggling with homelessness and food insecurity, but their non-judgmental approach to everyone who walked through their doors, including those with addiction and mental health issues, was inspiring. Their dedicated staff are doing what they were established to do – caring, befriending, feeding and sheltering those less fortunate than ourselves,” she said.

Your donation to FaithWorks supports outreach to people who struggle with various challenges across our diocese. Each ministry partner offers unique gifts and abilities of comfort, guidance and assistance. All Saints is a shining example of outreach ministry. This was obvious during our visit. The bonds of family that connect FaithWorks and All Saints were reinforced during those few hours that we were there. It truly is “a corner of belonging.”

The post God’s unconditional love at Sherbourne and Dundas appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

The Diocese of Toronto’s annual FaithWorks campaign raised $1,482,700 in 2023 in support of Anglican-affiliated ministries throughout the Diocese and around the world.

The mission statement of FaithWorks is from the Gospel according to Matthew 25:35,36,40.

Jesus said, “I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” … and Jesus finishes, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

It is personal, for Jesus. God’s love for us is vast and limitless, but not impersonal and faceless. Jesus takes on our individual struggles for food, shelter, and safety, for companionship and community. He makes them his own too.

It is personal, even though we hear of vast numbers of victims of conflicts around the world, thousands who struggle for food and shelter in Canada, and so many caught in the tragedy of addiction. Those numbers hide the faces of individual people who hurt, people like Amber and Cliff. Each struggling person has their own story.

It is personal, for us, when we offer support; a donation, volunteering our time, a shoulder to cry on. We too can make someone else’s struggle our own personal struggle when we offer more than is comfortable.

Thank you for your support of FaithWorks. Each and every donation makes a difference, as each and every person impacted by FaithWorks matters.

Thank you to all our donors, large or small, new or ongoing, individual, parish, corporate or foundation. Thank you to our dedicated volunteers in parishes and at the Diocese. Thank you to our ministry partners who struggle to bring well-being and security to so many.

Jesus taught us how to change the world. We do this one person at a time.

It is personal.

The impact of your donation to FaithWorks was felt across the diocese and throughout the world. The need for the services provided by FaithWorks’ ministry partners increased by 32% last year and almost 70% over the last two years. This presents us with a greater challenge than before.

In 2023, more than 36,000 people were served, including:

• 22,050 people who were fed, sheltered, nurtured and befriended
• 4,163 refugees, new Canadians and migrant workers who received support
• 2,047 young adults living with mental health challenges
• 2,998 people touched by the prison system
• 4,449 Indigenous people who received pastoral, outreach and mentoring services
• 8,996 families who received assistance
• 503 people impacted by HIV/AIDS
• 2,955 women, children and youth who received life skills and housing support

THANK YOU TO OUR CORPORATE AND FOUNDATION DONORS

Thank you to our Corporate and Foundation Donors, who contributed $474,000 to FaithWorks in 2023. Your generosity makes it possible to improve the lives of thousands of individuals and families.

$100,000 – $150,999

• Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation
• Wilson Family Foundation

$50,000 – $99,999

• BMO Financial Group
• Fast Foundation

$20,000 – $49,000

• The Hayhoe Family Foundation
• New England Company
• VPC Group

$15,000 – $19,999

• Anglican Foundation – Apostolic Catholic Trust
• Burgundy Legacy Foundation
• Letko, Brosseau & Associates

$5,000 – $14,999

• Rogers Gardham ODT
• Manulife Investment Management Holdings

$1,000 – $4,999

• Aqueduct Foundation
• The Foster Hewitt Foundation
• Margaret Sisley Foundation
• Nursing & Homemakers Inc.
• Ridley College
• Society of St. John the Evangelist in Canada

THANK YOU TO OUR PARISHES

As communities of compassion and hope, our parishes are the heart of the annual FaithWorks campaign. 88% of parishes participated in the 2023 campaign. Contributions from our parishes were $835,700. Parishes retained $107,055 for local outreach ministries. Grants to the archdeaconries for outreach totaled $42,050.

Thank you for being communities of love and hope.

THANK YOU TO OUR MINISTRY PARTNERS

Our FaithWorks ministry partners struggle tirelessly each and every day to share the transforming power of God’s love with thousands of people in need. We thank our ministry partners for being powerful agents of the love that is changing lives and changing the world.

• A Place Called Home, Lindsay
• All Saints Church Community Centre, Toronto
• Anglican United Refugee Alliance (AURA)
• Flemingdon Park Ministry, Toronto
• Jubilee House, Orillia
• Migrant Worker Ministry, Durham
• North House, Durham
• One City Peterborough
• One Roof Community Centre, Peterborough
• Philip Aziz Centre for Hospice Care, Toronto
• Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund
• (PWRDF)
• The Foot Care Clinic at St. James Cathedral,
• Toronto
• St. Stephen in-the-Fields – Outreach program,
• Toronto
• Samaritan House Community Ministries, Barrie
• The Dam, Mississauga
• Toronto Urban Native Ministry

The post It is personal appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

“The Dead Sea in the Middle East receives fresh water, but it has no outlet, so it doesn’t pass the water out. It receives beautiful water from the rivers, and the water goes dank. I mean, it just goes bad. And that’s why it is the Dead Sea. It receives and does not give. In the end, generosity is the best way of becoming more, more, and more joyful.”

This passage reminds me of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. He had condemned himself to a path of misery, loneliness and death. His fist was clenched tight, holding onto everything he had received and believed to be his exclusively. His life became a desolate place like the Dead Sea.

We can easily fall into this trap. Archbishop Tutu offers us a way out. He offers us a way to avoid this trap in the first place. He offers us generosity as a path to joy. He would have us understand and experience that opening our hearts to others, opening our clenched fists to share with others, taking the risk to reach out to help others brings us joy. It is like finding an outlet for the Dead Sea, or the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge. Yes, we are transformed by generosity! We build new relationships. We have a positive impact on the world. We better see true value and meaning beyond material possessions.

We are called to share in God’s joy. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.” Jesus says (John 15:11). We are called to be joyful. “Rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy.” Peter exhorts us (1 Peter 1:8). “We rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.” Paul teaches us (Romans 5:2). I rejoice that through your generosity to FaithWorks, you have experienced the transformative and divine joy of generosity.

Thank you to all our donors, large or small, new or ongoing, individual, parish, corporate or foundation. Thank you to our dedicated volunteers in parishes and at the Diocese. Thank you to our ministry partners who are on the frontline of the struggle to bring well-being and security to so many. I pray the joy of generosity be yours. I pray your generosity leads you to a fuller experience of God’s love. I pray that you will continue to help the most vulnerable among us.

2022 results

In 2022, the impact of your donation to FaithWorks was felt across the diocese and throughout the world. There was a 35% increase in the need for services provided by FaithWorks’ ministry partners.

Thank you to our Ministry Partners

Our FaithWorks Ministry Partners struggle on the front-line each and every day to share the transforming power of Christ’s love with thousands of people in need. We thank our Ministry Partners for being powerful witnesses to the love that is changing lives and changing the world.

• A Place Called Home, Lindsay
• All Saints Church Community Centre, Toronto
• Anglican United Refugee Alliance (AURA)
• Couchiching Jubilee House, Orillia
• Flemingdon Park Ministry, Toronto
• Inn from the Cold, Newmarket
• Migrant Workers Ministry, Durham
• North House, Durham
• One City Peterborough
• One Roof Community Centre, Peterborough
• Orillia Christian Centre “The Lighthouse”
• Philip Aziz Centre for Hospice Care, Toronto
• Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF)
• Samaritan House, Barrie
• The Dam, Mississauga
• Toronto Urban Native Ministry, Toronto

Thank you to our corporate and foundation donors

Thank you to our Corporate and Foundation Donors who contributed $234,900 to FaithWorks in 2022. Your generosity makes it possible to improve the lives of thousands of individuals and families.

$50,000 – $99,999

• Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation
• BMO Financial Group
• Fast Foundation

$20,000 – $49,999

• Fleck Family Foundation
• New England Company

$15,000 – $19,999

• Anglican Foundation – Apostolic Catholic Trust
• Letko, Brosseau & Associates

$5,000 – $14,999

• Bicknell Foundation
• Fiera Capital Corporation
• Rogers Gardham, ODT
• Smith-Boake Designwerke
• VPC Group
• Worker Sisters of the Holy Spirit

$1,000 – $4,999

• Caldwell Securities
• Foster Hewitt Foundation
• Margaret Sisley Foundation
• Nursing & Homemakers Inc.
• Oriole Foundation
• Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP
• Uplands Foundation

Thank you to our parishes

You are at the heart of the annual FaithWorks campaign as communities of compassion and hope. 93% of parishes participated in the 2022 campaign. Contributions from our parishes were $871,700. Parishes retained $82,368 for local outreach ministries. Area grants totaled $43,145. Thank you for being communities of love and hope.

Visit www.faithworks.ca for more information or to donate

The post We are called to share in God’s joy appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

“One City Peterborough is a non-profit charitable organization. We operate on the belief that everyone belongs, and it is together that we flourish. To that end, we focus on supporting those who have experienced homelessness and/or criminalization towards their full inclusion into the community.

“Some of our programs look to create stability and increase wellness for those experiencing criminalization and homelessness, such as housing, employment and support programs; some of our work focuses on advocating for systemic change such as challenging laws that criminalize individuals; and some of our work addresses immediate needs, such as survival gear for folks sleeping outside.”

This would not prepare me for the eye-opening visit that the Rev. Christian Harvey, co-executive director, would lead me on. We began with a tour of the main house where the offices are located. Along with the administrative offices were two special rooms. There is the art therapy room. By helping the participants to develop their creative side, the art therapist helps them peer into their inner selves, explore their feelings and come to greater self-awareness and healing. There is also the simple joy of learning to draw and paint.

There is also the music room. It is a popular place to enjoy a tune, meet with friends and release the tension of the day in a healthy way. A wide variety of instruments are available for participants to enjoy. I’m sure there is never a dull moment here.

Christian also took me to visit one of their homes that is currently being renovated to better serve senior ex-prisoners who are struggling with mobility issues and other effects of aging, while struggling to find food, shelter and a job.

What was most moving for me was a room being created for prisoners in palliative care, that is, those who are in prison and near death. In prison, as you near death, you are assigned to a cell in isolation, often without windows. Worse than dying so alone, the myth in prison is that if you die in prison, you automatically go to hell. How terrifying this situation must be as the end draws near.

So, One City Peterborough is negotiating with Corrections Canada to allow palliative care prisoners to be transferred to its seniors’ home and die with others around them in a room with big, beautiful windows overlooking a garden.

I have been taught that a person is considered palliative if they are within six months of dying. Corrections Canada would like to release a prisoner to One City Peterborough’s care for only the last week of their life. OCP is negotiating for two weeks.

This is just a glimpse of my visit to One City Peterborough and what FaithWorks is about. Allowing someone to pass their last week or two in this life with some humanity, compassion and hope for eternal life is what your donation to FaithWorks supports. It is an expression of God’s love and mercy.

This article originally appeared in Faithlines. One City Peterborough is a FaithWorks ministry partner.

The post My visit to One City Peterborough appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.