Church raises more than $1 million

Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto, has raised the most money so far of any parish in the diocese during the Our Faith-Our Hope campaign. As of March 5, it had raised $1.2 million, surpassing its goal of $902,000.

Don Cranston, the parish’s campaign chair, says he was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. “I wish life was that easy all the time,” he says.

He recalls asking one parishioner for a major gift, and, as he was going into his fundraising spiel, the parishioner cut him off. Telling Mr. Cranston that the church had been the bedrock of his life, he asked, “How much are you looking for?” and when he heard the figure, said, “Done.”

In fact, the only setback Mr. Cranston experienced was that there were not enough volunteers to do all the visiting and phoning. “But despite that headwind, things went very, very well,” he says, adding that on the last night of telephone solicitation, the volunteers raised an amazing $24,000.

Part of the reason for the success was the fact that the campaign was also tied in to Grace Church’s centennial. After 100 years, the parish wanted not only to look back at its history, but to plan for a future. With the parish’s share of the Our Faith-Our Hope money, Grace Church will improve the accessibility of the building, work on congregational development, and become a centre for the arts and music.

“It’s unleashed a lot of energy and ideas, and the laity are being empowered to effect some of these changes,” says the Rev. Canon Peter Walker, incumbent. “We’re reinventing ourselves for a second century.”

He says the campaign forced the congregation to focus on what it wants to do now and in the future. That, combined with a vote from vestry to balance the church’s operating budget for the first time in years, has given the congregation a new outlook.

“There can be a lot of doom and gloom, but I think in our centennial year, we’re in a good position,” says Canon Walker. “We voted for a balanced budget and exceeded our campaign goal, and that gives the parish some room to manoeuvre and be imaginative and creative in the next couple of years.”

In addition to praising Mr. Cranston and the lay volunteers who contributed to the campaign, Canon Walker paid tribute to the efforts of the Rev. Christopher Caton, the associate priest. “He did a lot of work, a lot of calling and visiting. I think it was very much a collaborative effort between the clergy and the laity.”

Mr. Crantston says the campaign has raised the question of stewardship in the parish. As volunteers talked to donors, some of the newcomers in the church began asking what they should be giving regularly. “It’s a sign that we perhaps have to do more work on the stewardship side,” he says.

Now that the money has been raised, the campaign is not over. “What we have to do at both the diocesan and parish level is to ensure the money is invested wisely and the mission of the church continues to expand,” he says. “This is just the beginning.”