Across the diocese, items once used in beloved church communities are finding new life and purpose through a creative new initiative. A new online Marketplace is helping connect surplus liturgical items with congregations that need them.
The project is a natural extension of the collaboration that has unfolded between the Property Resources department and diocesan Archives over the past two years. In the summer of 2023, the two teams combined forces to start visiting closed churches. Among their goals, staff collected liturgical items left behind when the buildings were shut.
“The vast majority of it was in usable condition or good condition. We were just realizing that we were creating huge stores of this used holy hardware,” says Mac Moreau, director of Property Resources.
The salvaged items were added to the growing collection in the Archives in the basement of the Synod Office.
“I think we have 20 boxes down here of various things. We just don’t really have space to store them long-term,” says Claire Wilton, the diocese’s Archivist. She’s still working through the boxes, but she estimates there are as many as 100 smaller items in the Archives, with some larger items stored off-site.
When Pamela Boisvert joined the Property Resources department in 2024, she was struck by an idea. She had seen the online store run by an organization she volunteers for, and she wondered if the diocese could build its own platform to rehome liturgical supplies.
She brought her idea to Mr. Moreau, and with agreement from the Archives team and support from the Communications department, the site was built. It was formally launched at Synod in November.
To access the site, users need to sign up for an account before they start browsing. For now, accounts will be limited to leaders from parishes in the diocese.
“We want to make sure that the items go to another church, and that they’re not going to be used in a way that would be inappropriate,” says Ms. Boisvert. “Depending on how it goes, maybe another phase would be to open it up to others.”
Once users are approved, they can see the catalogue of items, each of which has a photo, a description and the location where it’s currently being stored. Browsers can search for items and filter by category and condition.
Each item also includes a suggested price, with the option to name a different price. The goal is not to make a profit from the site, but simply to cover the small amount of overhead that comes with running the site.
“We’re going to do our best and guess at what an item’s fair value would be without trying to overprice it or underprice it,” says Ms. Boisvert. “We want these items out and being used in a church, and if the price is prohibitive, then we want to allow them to name their price.”
Buyers can pay by cash when they pick up their items, and pick-up dates will be arranged with staff on a regular basis.
As for the inventory, browsers can expect to see a variety of “holy hardware” and linens.
“We have a few chalices, quite a few cruets, a couple of flagons,” says Ms. Wilton. “There are frontals, superfrontals. We’re working our way through that.”
The team is taking special note of items with plaques or dedications given in memory of a loved one. Archives staff are tracking where those items end up so there’s a record in case a family member ever asks.
“My hope is that some of these items that have memorial will go somewhere else so that those people can be remembered beyond the church that is closed,” says Ms. Wilton.
Mr. Moreau echoes that idea. “There are stories behind each of these items,” he says. “So what use are they sitting on a shelf, either in a closed church that we use for storage or in the basement of the Synod Office – why not get them back into service?”
Ultimately, both the Archives and Property teams see the Marketplace as an extension of their mission to remember former church communities in the diocese.
“When we visited these closed churches, our objective was to understand better their story, to be able to carry that story and then be able to tell that story,” says Mr. Moreau. “And the work that we’re doing with the Marketplace and with these liturgical items is an important part of that story.”
As the Marketplace opens to its first wave of users, staff are already thinking about what comes next for the platform. They’re open to the idea of helping parishes offload liturgical supplies they no longer need, and the platform may open to other dioceses or ecumenical partners in the future.
To learn more and sign up for an account, visit www.marketplace.toronto.anglican.ca.
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