Church continues to serve after fire

As he began his sermon, the Rev. Don Beyers had to hold back tears. It was the Sunday after St. Anne, Toronto had burnt down and the congregation was holding a worship service in the church’s parking lot.

But Mr. Beyers’ tears were of joy and wonder, not grief and despair. “I looked around the congregation and thought, ‘Wow, you’re all here.’ Everyone had the choice to get up and go somewhere else, but they were there. And seeing the love in their faces and eyes and their passion and beauty – it was transforming.”

The weeks following the fire on June 9 that destroyed the historic church and its Group of Seven artwork were full of moments like that. Amidst the shock and sadness were acts of kindness, resilience and deep faith.

“God is at work here,” says Mr. Beyers, the incumbent of St. Anne’s. “It’s not like the church burned down and God went somewhere else. I think God is more present than ever now.”

About 95 people attended the service in the parking lot, which included a choir of 30. Volunteers set up the speakers, chairs, altar and other equipment. Two new families joined the church.

In addition to its regular Morning Prayer services, the church has started an outdoor Morning Prayer service at nearby Dufferin Grove Park. A local café has become a hub where Mr. Beyers can meet with church members and local residents. And the church plans to start a Spanish-speaking mass in October to serve the parish’s growing Latino population.

The initiatives reflect St. Anne’s deep attachment to the local community and its determination to carry on as a church even though it has lost its beloved building. “My theology is that the parish isn’t so much about the building as the people, and right now we’re seeing that in a way we’ve rarely seen before,” says Mr. Beyers. “Even on the afternoon of the fire, people were asking me how can we continue to hold our community dinner, how can we carry on with our ministry to the neighourhood?”

Although the sanctuary and its iconic Byzantine dome were destroyed by the fire, the church hall and offices were spared, providing the parish with space for its regular worship services and programming, which includes everything from bible studies to its monthly community dinner.

St. Anne’s Hall has long been an important gathering place in the city’s west end, providing space for arts groups and other not-for-profit organizations, and that will continue, says Mr. Beyers. “It was already a busy hub but now it’s going to be a lot busier, and that’s a good thing. The hall is on Dufferin Avenue, so on some days people will be seeing us standing outside, welcoming people into our new worship space.”

As for rebuilding the sanctuary, he is cautiously optimistic. “We have dreams of rebuilding the church,” he says. “Will it be on the same scale as the previous church? No, obviously not. We have to talk to the diocese, and it’s going to take a few years to work through the process. But we hope that whatever space we create, we do it with our community, that it reflects the community, and that the artwork that adorns it will come from Canadian artists.”

He says the church and the diocese have an opportunity to create something special at St. Anne’s. “The church was a national symbol before the fire, but can this be a national symbol of the Canada of today and tomorrow, and a sign of unity in a time of great divisions in our world?”

The church had an Indigenous garden and held a Sacred Circle on Sunday mornings so that parishioners could listen to Indigenous members of the community. He hopes the garden and Sacred Circle can be re-established.

“Whatever we do here is an opportunity for us to engage more deeply in truth and reconciliation,” he says. “This is a moment when we can do something right – right by the community, right by our Indigenous siblings, and right by persons who have often been exiled by the Church. Whatever we do here has to be a symbol of that.”