New church plant draws young people

From his office window, Jack Taylor could see the old bell tower with its leafy vines and weathered bricks. Located behind the Art Gallery of Ontario in downtown Toronto, the tower is something of a local landmark. Although most of the church attached to it burnt down decades ago, the tall edifice still stands, attracting picture-takers and curiosity-seekers almost every day.

But there was something else that drew Mr. Taylor’s attention. In the buildings that had survived the old fire, a new church had been planted. It was called St. George’s, Grange Park, and its friendly signs welcomed one and all.

Unbaptized but feeling the need to explore his spirituality, Mr. Taylor decided to learn more about the church. He checked out its website and spoke to one of its lay pastors. Then he went to a worship service.

It was a decision that changed his life. A few months later, he was baptized in the church’s full-immersion tank. “I wanted to join the body of Christ,” he recalls. “It was a great experience.”

Now a member of the church, Mr. Taylor was one of about 120 people who turned out for the church’s first anniversary celebration on Sept. 7. The crowd, mostly made up of people in their 20s and 30s, enjoyed a party on the lawn followed by a service inside.

Planted by St. Paul’s, Bloor Street last fall, St. George’s has grown to about 100 worshippers on a Sunday. Many who come are looking for community, a place to belong in a sometimes cold and impersonal city. They are mostly young professionals and university students who live in the nearby condo and apartment towers and have found the church through word-of-mouth or social media.

“When I moved down into the city last September, I was looking for a church community to get involved with,” says Bethany Larmour. “After I tried a few that didn’t feel like the right fit, I tried this one. Everyone was so warm and welcoming and very intentional about seeking you out and getting to know new people. It felt like home from the moment I stepped in the door.”

Kate and Rohan Ailani had a similar experience. Recently married, the young couple went looking for a church in Toronto. “I always told my husband, if I could find an Anglican church that incorporates and relies on the Holy Spirit, that would be my perfect church, even though I knew there was no such thing as a perfect church,” says Ms. Ailani. “So we walk into St. George’s, and that’s exactly what we found – a church that respects liturgy and the readings and God’s word but also is so attentive to the Holy Spirit and inviting the Holy Spirit.”

Like other newcomers, she was impressed by the welcome they received from the vicar, the Rev. Dr. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, and others on the church’s ministry team. “When we came here on that first Sunday, I wanted to leave right away because I didn’t know anyone. But Tyler came and said, ‘I see that you’re new. Let me introduce you to some people.’ I’ve been going to church for my whole life – 34 years – and I’ve never felt so welcomed in a church.”

The couple have been regular worshippers since then. “We feel that there’s a place for us here, and we love that what they say is what they live. It’s like, we’re all in this together, we’re going to seek God together.”

A big part of the church’s warm and welcoming atmosphere is due to its lay pastors, Suzie and Nathan Hodgson. A friendly, Spirit-filled young couple, they do everything from greeting newcomers to leading large parts of the worship service and preaching regularly. Their enthusiasm for the gospel is infectious and genuine.

The couple was part of the 20-person group from St. Paul’s that planted the church last fall. Like Dr. Wigg-Stevenson, they’re on the staff of St. Paul’s and serve there as well as at St. George’s.

“We wanted to be part of building the Church in downtown Toronto, so when the opportunity came to be part of the team at St. George’s, we jumped at it,” says Suzie Hodgson. “It’s been so much fun, not only building a team of people who are excited about going on the adventure of planting a church but also opening up the doors of the church to people from the neighbourhood and inviting them in, to be part of a community and to experience life and faith and meaning in Jesus.”

Mr. Hodgson says the journey has been very Spirit-led. “We prayed a lot before setting out and we continue to pray. When you’re doing something like this, there’s a lot of risk. You don’t know if anyone is going to come, so out of your own sense of helplessness you pray a lot. But it feels like the Spirit has really led us so far and continues to by God’s grace.”

Dr. Wigg-Stevenson likens St. George’s to a new shoot being planted in an old pot, or a sprig of a tree growing out of an old trunk. “The way we tell the story is that this is one of the oldest churches in Toronto – the cornerstone was laid in 1844 and it opened in 1845 – and we’re the youngest church community in the diocese. We’re a new community in an old church.”

The original church, St. George the Martyr, stood on the site from 1844 to 2018, when it was closed by the diocese. It remained vacant or on “sabbath rest” until the new church moved in.

He says the new St. George’s has drawn a lot from the former one. “As we were thinking and planning, we tried to have what we did here liturgically, theologically and spiritually honour where we came from. This place has a charismatic history to it, in terms of foregrounding the reality and presence of the Holy Spirit, and that is embedded in our own liturgical structures. But there was also this catholic sensibility and ceremonial, which we’ve tried to incorporate as well.”

He adds, “We’re trying to live an ancient faith in a modern city. We’re trying to do something very old in a new way.”

Nowhere is that more apparent than in the worship service, which is held on Sunday afternoon. It is a rich blend of the contemplative and the charismatic. It includes ancient elements of the Anglican faith such as the Eucharist, a Eucharistic Prayer from the BAS, the Apostles’ Creed and the Confession of Sins, but unlike most Anglican services, it is “hosted” by a pair of people, and the worship is led by a contemporary praise band. The sermon is 20-25 minutes long and the priest, Dr. Wigg-Stevenson, “faces east,” away from the congregation, when praying to God during the Eucharist. “This is a retrieval of the ancient Eucharistic practice, which reflects that we are all together praying to God; we’re all facing in the one direction, praying on behalf of the people, Lord will you do this thing here,” he says.

A distinctive feature about the service is that it concludes with an extended time of prayer. This includes inviting people to the back of the church, where two-person prayer teams are ready to pray with them.

“We believe that God can and potentially will do something new in the life of anyone who walks through the door on Sunday, and that everything in the worship opens someone to the movement of the Spirit,” says Dr. Wigg-Stevenson. “Rather than being ‘done’ after Communion, that time for prayer stretches it out. It’s an extended response to Communion and everything that has come before – the word and the worship.”

The service clearly resonates with those in attendance. At the anniversary service on Sept. 7, the church was full, with congregants avidly soaking up the prayers and music. Almost everyone went up for the bread and wine during the Eucharist, and some visited the prayer teams at the back of the church.

“We welcome one and all, but we don’t disguise in any way, shape or form that our expectation is that God is real, God is alive and wants to meet with you today and that might well happen in the next hour and a half,” says Dr. Wigg-Stevenson, explaining the service’s appeal. “In fact, it probably will. You’re going to have an encounter with the creator of the universe.”

Young people in particular want to hear that message, he says. “It’s not an easy time to be a young person, in terms of Covid, the housing crisis, ecological despair, the rise of authoritarianism and a resurgence in misogyny and homophobia. Across the board, there’s not a lot to hope in if you’re a young person. I think they’re hungry to hear that God is real and loves them.”

Bishop Jenny Andison, rector of St. Paul’s, says she is grateful to see what is happening at St. George’s. St. George’s is a “mission church” of St. Paul’s, according to the diocese’s canons, so Bishop Andison is the rector there as well.

“We’re learning a ton,” she says. “We’ve made mistakes, and there’s definitely things we’ll do differently next time, but we’ve learned some really good things as well.”

St. Paul’s has a new 10-year vision that includes planting three neighbourhood churches in Toronto. “We’re hoping in two to three years, St. George’s will be standing on its own feet, and then we’ll be ready to plant again, so that St. Paul’s becomes a multiplying church,” she says. “This is happening all over the Anglican Communion; we haven’t invented anything here; we’re just trying to be faithful in our context and use the resources that God has given us to be a generous, multiplying Anglican church in the heart of the city.”

She says the vision isn’t about replicating St. Paul’s in other neighbourhoods. “St. George’s is not a franchise of St. Paul’s. It’s a giving away of resources so more people can encounter Jesus. I hope that delights and encourages Christians in the city. At St. Paul’s, all we want to do is play our part, whatever God is calling us to do in the Diocese of Toronto.”

Bishop Kevin Robertson, who has episcopal oversight of the areas where both St. Paul’s and St. George’s are located, says he supports St. Paul’s vision and the new church plant. “As an Anglican, Christian community, St. Paul’s is seeking to bring the gospel to people in the city, and I am very supportive of that,” he says. “I’m glad to be coming alongside St. Paul’s to support this. I very much see it as a collaborative effort with the diocese.”

He adds, “Thank God, St. Paul’s has been so blessed. They’re able to do these things because of the generosity of faithful Anglicans over the generations, and because of their new vision for church planting.”