Campaign sparks ideas

Each Wednesday, a group of people from St. Peter, Erindale, go for a hike in a Mississauga park. The hour-long walk includes prayers, a reflection, some stretching exercises, and a chance to experience God’s creation in the company of friends.

What’s unusual about the walk is that it had its origins in the Our Faith-Our Hope campaign.

As the Rev. Canon Jennifer Reid and her leadership team visited parishioners to talk about the campaign, they asked them to think about what new ministry initiatives they would like the church to do.

“I wanted the parish to dream and say, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat if—,” recalls Canon Reid. “So people started coming up with ideas.”

One of those ideas became the Wednesday morning hike. Maryanne Collins, a fitness instructor at the church, leads the group, which meets at a different park each week. The group has about 17 people, including some from outside the church.

The newcomers are seniors who were looking for people to walk in the parks with, says Canon Reid. “That it was run by a church made it more appealing to them, and they are quite happy to talk about faith issues and to pray.”

The walks were held each week during Lent. They were so enjoyable that the decision was made to continue until the end of June, and possibly start them up again in the fall.

“We’re seeing something that’s really interesting here,” says Canon Reid. “We can afford it because the campaign gave us the ability to hire Maryanne to lead it. Now we’ve got the freedom to try some things.”

The church is going to use some of its money from the Our Faith-Our Hope campaign to hire a part-time parish nurse. It’s also going to put aside money for innovative youth projects.

The building and the music program will also benefit from the campaign. The church used its first payment, for $30,000, to pay off the debt on a new roof. It also plans to buy and install a new organ.

Canon Reid is glad the church decided to spend some of its campaign money on things in addition to the building. “It’s a beautiful building and we love it, but we’ve got people whose heart is really for worship and for Christ and for giving. It’s about what other things we can do for God.”