The joint confirmation service, attended by about 300 people, was organized by clergy in York-Credit Valley’s Etobicoke-Humber Deanery. “It really was a Pentecost experience, one of the most unique events I’ve ever been a part of,” says the Rev. Stephen Blackmore, the incumbent of St. Matthew’s and coordinator of the event. “It really showed the diversity within the diocese and our area, and it was amazing to see how people came together. Everyone talked and laughed and prayed with each other.”

He says the deanery will probably hold more joint confirmation services in the future, and possibly joint confirmation classes as well. “In a world that’s so divided and polarized, the Church’s message of being together under the banner of the risen Christ is a powerful message and one that we really want to embody and celebrate.”

The service also gave the younger confirmands an appreciation of the wider Church, he adds. “Hopefully moments like this, when they see how big and diverse the Church is, will prepare them for a future life in the Church,” he says.

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The inconvenient truth about congregational health, however, is that nearly 70 per cent of our parishes are experiencing decline. For some, the decline is gentle and hardly noticeable. For others, the decline has been severe – losing 40 per cent or more of their Sunday worshippers since 2012. As the decline intensifies, it leads to low morale among existing congregants and may eventually signal the closure of a church and disestablishment of the parish. About 20 per cent of our parishes are in, or perilously close to, this reality.

Our Church is in decline in terms of attendance and participation; it cannot be avoided. Across the mainline Protestant denominations in Canada and the global West – including Anglican, Evangelical Lutheran, Presbyterian and United churches – the decline has been happening since the 1970s. It is only recently, however, with the aging and passing of the first-born of the boomer generation, that the pace has accelerated.

There are glimmers of hope. Diaspora congregations – whose homelands include China, the Middle East, Africa and the Philippines – are growing at an unprecedented rate in the diocese. There are at least 14 of these congregations in our churches, representing a Sunday worship population of close to 1,000. These congregations are not factored into the data noted earlier. Another sign of hope is the emergence of worship centres in locations that have lain dormant for some time. These are commonly referred to as “reboots” in church language, and we currently have two.

The reasons for decline are countless. At the top of the list is societal change. When going to church stopped being obligatory, and when we abandoned the notion of a common pause day, it was only a matter of time before church worship itself became just another choice.

It is very hard to grow a church – let alone start one from scratch, as we are doing at St. Stephen in Maple. It takes special leadership, commitment and a knack for thinking outside the box. If we assume that people have spiritual needs beyond a nice walk down a country footpath, then we need to find a mechanism that captures their attention and engages their participation. It might mean holding services at times other than Sunday morning, or framing worship around a meal or other community gathering.

To this end, I have identified seven indicators that lead to church vitality in our diocese. Not every parish that is growing is doing every one of these things, though most are.

1. Giving to church ministry is exceptional. In our diocese, the average gift per year through envelope giving or pre-authorized giving is $1,509. In our healthiest parishes, the average gift is $1,900. Our top-giving parish has an average of over $4,000 per giver. Exactly 10 of our parishes have average giving over $3,000 per giver.
2. There is a breadth of engagement in outreach. Our top parishes often give more than 10 per cent of their total offertory to outreach initiatives: food banks, hot lunches, Out of the Cold, after-school clubs, Faith- Works, mission trips to the developing world, etc. Some, like St. Stephen in-the-Fields, Toronto, take outreach so seriously that it defines who they are, and they dedicate well over 20 per cent of their giving to this purpose. Churches need to look beyond their own walls and seek to involve as many parishioners as possible.
3. Newcomers are welcomed and invited to become involved in the ministry of the parish. The role of the greeter should be more than simply handing out the order of service. We need to present our very best to newcomers: welcome them at the door, interact with them at the Peace and during coffee hour, and then invite them to become involved in some ministry.
4. Clergy are active in promoting discipleship and Christian formation. The Rev. Canon Harold Percy notes in his book Your Church Can Thrive that “the failure to make disciple-making a priority is the basic cause of our current malaise and stagnation.” He contends that churches need to teach the gospel, teach people how to pray, read scripture, forgive, worship, give generously, model Christ in their lives and give witness to the work of the Holy Spirit.
5. The church makes connecting with young people a priority. Parish leaders often lament the absence of young people in their pews. Connecting with adolescents needs to be part of our core witness. How do we involve young people? Are they serving at the altar? Do they participate in reading the word of God, singing, playing an instrument, welcoming newcomers and organizing events? Young people are pining for opportunities to be active in the Church. We need to find ways to capture their energy and engage with them.
6. The church has a well-maintained website and uses various communication methods. If you’re still promoting the strawberry social from 2014, something has gone amiss. Healthy parishes use their online footprint to communicate with church members and seekers alike. They post sermons, weekly bulletins, ministry opportunities and lots of photos of church members doing stuff.
7. Healthy churches experiment with new liturgies, music, missional engagement, giving vehicles and roles for volunteers. If we believe we have already tried that, or that a certain idea won’t work, then we have no chance of being successful. I know of several churches that have grown their congregations by adding a third service targeted at a specific demographic or modifying the format of existing ones.

Our Church is going to experience unbelievable change over the next decade. We will become a lot leaner, and there will be fewer of us worshipping on Sundays in a traditional format. That doesn’t mean the remaining churches can’t be full of energy, vigour and hope. Perhaps worship will be held in the form of a sit-down meal or informal coffee hour. Perhaps our youth will be engaged in more hands-on ministry or mentored by lifelong members of the congregation. Perhaps our missional engagement will take place in a pub or with community service providers.

We have seen that while there is a place for traditional ways of doing church, those that are thriving are doing things differently – they must. It means that stewardship education, too, will need to adapt, becoming more closely aligned with discipleship and faith formation.

Change is unavoidable, but decline can be reversed. Many churches will close or amalgamate. Others will reconfigure their ministry to better respond to their demographic or geographic reality. Can we, collectively, realign the Church to arrest decline and set our churches on the path to health and growth? Will you take up the challenge to do church differently in your own worship community and help lay the foundation for a healthy, vital Anglican presence in the years to come? Are you open to being creative in the way you connect with the community, newcomers and young people?

Thinking that says “we’ve tried that before” or “it didn’t work” needs to be reconsidered. Just because an idea didn’t work at one time isn’t reason enough to not try again. A hallmark for any church of the future will be change and adaptability.

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Climate change, worsening inequality, the rise of hate groups, racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric, exclusion, violence, and a polarized political climate – these factors all seem to be growing. For many people today, paying attention to the news seems to be an invitation to greater alienation, anxiety and despair. A popular cartoon features one person saying to another, “My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.”

What does it mean to reach out to such a world, to seek God’s justice in such a context? How can our churches become centres of resistance in the face of injustice and hope in the face of despair? This year’s Outreach & Advocacy Conference will put such questions front and centre as we explore faithful and hope-filled ways to engage with the world around us.

Thea Prescod, this year’s keynote speaker, is a staff member at Sanctuary, a community ministry for street-involved people in downtown Toronto. She is also a member of the Wine Before Breakfast worshipping community, where she has preached on the prophetic call to “courageous, hopeful faithfulness.” She was a keynote speaker at the Junia’s Daughters conference for women in ministry this past May.

A diverse line-up of workshop leaders will wrestle with different ways in which churches can be “pockets of resilience” resisting the temptations of isolation and despair. Seasoned community advocate René Adams will examine the key role of compassion and love for neighbour in confronting the structural causes of poverty. Grant Jahnke and Karen Turner will look at how celebrating a Season of Creation transformed the capacity of their parish to address the looming threat of climate change, while the Rev. Stephen Drakeford and Angela Elzinga-Chen share how building partnerships with local environmental groups can enhance parish resistance, and young activist Lane Patriquin addresses the emotional, social and spiritual dimensions of ecological grief. The Rev. Lesley Barclay, Patricia Sinnott and Sharon O’Connor from the Durham-Northumberland region will explore the unique challenges and opportunities of outreach work in smaller towns and rural communities. Basilian Father and Christian peacemaker Bob Holmes will lead a workshop on Unsettling the Word, a re-reading of scripture that challenges typical colonial interpretations, while the Rev. Leigh Kern explores ways to lift Indigenous land acknowledgements from perfunctory statements to living invitations to reconciliation. The Rev. Christian Harvey, executive director of the Warming Room Ministry and deacon at St. John the Evangelist, Peterborough, will share possible ways for churches to respond to the crisis of homelessness with love, creativity and solidarity. And Tamique Erskine and the Rev. Claudette Taylor will offer a follow-up to their popular “Turning Tables” workshop from 2018, delving into questions of racial injustice, anger and solidarity.

Youth age 11-18 are extended a special welcome to attend the conference. During the morning workshop session, Alexandra McIntosh and Jillian Ruch, youth coordinators for the York-Credit Valley and York-Scarborough episcopal areas, will host a discussion on youth and the radical call to justice. Youth participants are encouraged to join one of the afternoon workshops and will have an opportunity to share feedback during the closing worship. All youth qualify for the half-price registration fee of $15.

The conference will be held on Oct. 19 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Havergal College, 1451 Avenue Rd., Toronto. This venue can be reached easily by car or TTC and is fully wheelchair accessible. To learn more and register, visit www.toronto.anglican.ca.

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In Inuvik in 2012, at the Northern National Event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools, Archbishop Terry Finlay said with powerful humility and honesty, “We made a mistake. We have failed the Church.” He was responding to the call for our Church to acknowledge and to begin to rebuild relationships from the pain, grief and genocidal damage of colonization, in our case done in the name of Jesus. We as a Church have acted in spiritual arrogance and ignorance in oppressing, denying and robbing the God- given gifts and inherent rights of language, faith, culture and land of the peoples of Turtle Island.

I am afraid we failed the Church again at our General Synod 2019, held this past July. Once again, we have acted in spiritual arrogance against those made in the image of God, this time our gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and two-spirited siblings in Christ, in denying the validity and sacredness of their love within the sacrament of marriage. By doing this, we have also undermined the integrity of our Christian communities in inclusivity across racial, geographical, economic and social divides. We are excluding where we are called to include, and it is wrong.

With a solid one-fifth of the Church op- posed to equal marriage, it is clear that we as a community are struggling to see God in the faces of one another and to recognize the intrinsic value in God-created difference. We as a Church are also wrestling with our theological understandings of salvation in relation to human sexuality. God does not make mistakes. How can we come to see our differences as a rich gift from our Creator, who made people and saw that they are good? How can we redeem ourselves when we have so harshly worked to dehumanize our siblings? What are the first steps we need to take in working towards reconciliation and right-relationship with those whom we have pushed to the margins? How can we decrease our human nature fearfulness and increase our Holy Spirit-inspired loving?

Saint Julian of Norwich teaches us that in the best cases, our mistakes bring us to self-knowledge and a humble seeking of God. In this painful and gut-wrenching case, what can we learn about ourselves as individuals, as Christians, as Anglicans, from this General Synod process? How can we move forward, recognizing that we have trespassed upon our own spirits when we have marginalized the vulnerable and the oppressed? Where are we being called to see and hear God’s heart beating in our communities, in our families, in our own selves? How can we move away from making legislative decisions about such significant and sacred matters?

It has been revealed to us through the past 50 years, with theological stumbling blocks around re-marriage of divorced persons to this current and ongoing struggle for equal marriage, that the whole Church holds marriage to be sacred. However, might it also be emerging that we are creating idols of ideals? Can we be fully human when we continue to deny others their humanity? In Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s teaching on “ubuntu,” he says: “My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours. In other words, we need one another in order to each discover our magnificence and allow it to shine by what we do with our lives.” (“10 Pieces of Wisdom from Desmond Tutu on his Birthday,” article, October 2015.)

It is my responsibility as a bishop to be a defender of the faith. What does “defense” look like? And especially, what is it that I am defending? The prophet Micah calls us to “do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God.” (6:8) Is it humble to make decisions on behalf of God and other people, about the sacredness of their loving relationships? When is it kindness to listen to my siblings with my deaf ears and my hard heart, an unwillingness to have my mind changed? How is it justice to marginalize those who are actually beloved of God, made in the image of God, our own family members?

In the expansive and inclusive experience of becoming fully human, we both make mistakes and we are encouraged to abandon fear. It is often fear that binds us to narrow paths and judgements. It is freedom in Christ that opens our hearts to new understandings of how God operates in our lives. Christ teaches us to unbind the chains of righteous indignation, to bless those who curse us, to heal the one on the margins and to welcome and feed the strangers in our midst – to treat them like family, as indeed you are “all my relations.”

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“We’ve put a stake in the ground that helps us build into the future, that says we plan to be here for a very long time,” says Bishop Andrew Asbil, the 12th and current Bishop of Toronto.

He thanked all those who took part in the campaign, which began last spring and ended with a reception at the Cathedral Centre on June 28. “I want to express a word of deep gratitude for the ministry of Anglicans across the diocese, and for their generous support of this program in particular,” he says.

With the completion of the campaign, The John Strachan Trust now stands at about $9 million. The trust provides most of the funding for the office of the Bishop of Toronto, with the rest coming from the diocese’s operating budget. The trust is expected to be able to fully fund the office by 2022, when all pledges to the recent campaign are expected to be fulfilled. The costs of the office include the bishop’s stipend, housing, travel, support staff costs and other expenses related to his or her ministry.

The Bishop of Toronto is the chief pastor of the diocese, working with four suffragan bishops to provide episcopal oversight to some 230 congregations and ministries in 183 parishes. The diocese extends from Mississauga to Brighton and north to Haliburton.

In addition to chairing Synod and other important meetings of the diocese, the Bishop of Toronto advocates on behalf of the poor, presides at confirmations and ordinations, and institutes clergy into their new parishes. The Bishop of Toronto is the diocese’s chief evangelist, teaching, preaching and interpreting the gospel in parishes and the wider community.

Endowing the office of the Bishop of Toronto is an important way to ensure the future of the Church, says Stephen Rodaway, ODT, chair of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation, the body that administers The John Strachan Trust.

“As a lifelong Anglican, I’ve inherited the Church and I need to make sure it’s there for future generations, whether its my children or my grandchildren,” he says. “The John Strachan Trust is a perfect example of how we can do that. It ensures that the support for the Bishop of Toronto is always there.”

He says he was impressed by the response to the campaign. “Anglicans never cease to amaze me. When they’re asked and there’s a good reason to give, they will give. They’re always willing to help and lend a hand.”

Blake Goldring, ODT, a member of St. Clement, Eglinton and the Bishop’s Company, says the endowment supports the Church’s leadership. “When you see leaders up close, you realize it can be lonely at the top. Challenges can be quite daunting, especially in the face of limited time and financial resources. To the extent this fund can assist our bishop in achieving his goals with less stress and friction, that is a highly desirable outcome.”

He praised Anglicans for their support of the campaign. “It is a great accomplishment and testament to the commitment among Anglicans in our community to ensure that our bishop is able to fulfil his mission in the best way possible,” he says.

Michael Cassabon, manager of major gifts and legacy giving for the Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation, said the campaign was a learning experience. Mr. Cassabon launched the campaign – his first in the diocese – shortly after taking up his position last year.

“One of the things I learned is that people have a great love for the diocese, the Church and the bishops, both past and present,” he says. “I heard so many good things about Archbishop Terence Finlay and Archbishop Colin Johnson, and about the hope, leadership and gifts that Bishop Asbil brings.”

He says it was often donors’ personal connections to the bishops that inspired them to give. “They wanted to honour not only the office of the Bishop of Toronto but the individuals themselves,” he says.

He singled out Mr. Goldring, ODT, for his support and enthusiasm. In addition to making a large donation, he introduced Mr. Cassabon to others who could give major gifts. “To have someone of Blake’s stature accompany me really affirmed the importance of the work we’re doing. For Blake to invest his time in our campaign was really gratifying. It was an honour to work with him.”

The dream of endowing the office of the Bishop of Toronto began more than 160 years ago with Bishop John Strachan, the diocese’s founder. “His dream was for a secure foundation for the Church, knowing that change happens as we go from generation to generation,” says Mr. Cassabon. “It’s helpful to know we now have the resources to help with that change, to make us more nimble and adaptable to fulfil our mission. I think that was Bishop Strachan’s dream, and this is one of the ways that we have realized it.”

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Anglicans in Canada should be glad he made that choice. As a trustee of the General Synod Pension Plan and a member of the national church’s Responsible Investing Task Force, Mr. Boeckner has helped the Church and Anglicanaffiliated organizations to invest not only wisely but responsibly.

In recognition of his efforts, Mr. Boeckner has been chosen to receive the Anglican Award of Merit, which honours lay people for their contributions to the Anglican Church of Canada. Five other people across the country have also been named.

The new Primate, Bishop Linda Nicholls, will present the award to Mr. Boeckner at his home church of St. Clement, Eglinton at a mutually agreeable time.

Mr. Boeckner, who is a churchwarden at St. Clement’s, says the award came as a surprise. “I hadn’t expected it. I don’t do what I do to gain recognition, but I was thrilled that it happened.”

An actuary by profession, Mr. Boeckner worked as a pension and benefits consultant for the second half of his career before retiring. He joined the General Synod Pension Plan’s board of trustees in 2008 at the invitation of a colleague.

“I thought that was great,” he recalls. “It would give me a chance to use my experience for the benefit of the Church.” The pension plan has a membership of more than 5,000 retired and active clergy and lay employees of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Mr. Boeckner chaired the board’s ESG (environmental, social and governance) Subcommittee, which sought to ensure that the plan’s funds were invested responsibly. “As stewards of God’s creation, we’re required to take care of it, so those of us who are involved with investing want to be sure that the organizations we’re investing in are doing the right thing,” he says.

In addition to being a trustee, Mr. Boeckner became a member of the national church’s Responsible Investing Task Force, created in 2016. The group’s mandate was to review and, if deemed appropriate, recommend changes to the investment portfolio and the investment policies of the national church and the General Synod Pension Plan in relation to ESG concerns.

Soon after it began its work, the task force discovered there were about 30 other Anglican groups in Canada that were also investing funds, including dioceses, theological colleges and foundations. The task force expanded its work to include those other organizations.

Mr. Boeckner says listening to Anglicans from across the country was a valuable learning experience. “Initially, many people were focused on a low-carbon economy, and therefore any church-related fund should not be investing in any oil and gas stock. But that’s kind of a simplistic way to tackle it. As we moved along, we came to understand that it’s a complex issue and as a Church we might be more effective in staying engaged in what’s going on in the wider world.”

A good example of how staying engaged can be effective, he says, was when the Church of England went to the annual general meeting of ExxonMobil a couple of years ago and, along with other shareholders, forced the company to start reporting to shareholders what the impact on its business would likely be if the world’s average temperature rose by 2 degrees. “If the Church of England had not held those shares, they wouldn’t have been entitled to go to the AGM and make that case,” he says.

The task force delivered a report to the Council of General Synod last year. It included theological foundations, highlights of current investing practices, and recommendations for increased engagement and updated practices by the General Synod Consolidated Trust Fund, the General Synod Pension Plan, and other funds associated with the Anglican Church of Canada.

In addition to the report, the task force produced a booklet called Investing with a Mission: A Guide to Responsible Investment and Church Funds. The booklet, which contains the task force’s research and findings, is a valuable tool for organizations wishing to further their engagement on ESG issues.

Mr. Boeckner says the task force plans to survey Anglican-affiliated groups across Canada, to see if any of the recommendations have been implemented. In the meantime, the pension plan has already taken action, he says.

“We’ve been able to work with our investment managers to get them to implement responsible investing,” he says. “Instead of taking our money away from them, we kept saying, what are you doing on ESG? Eventually they were prepared to become signatories to the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment. Now they’ll be responsibly investing not only our money but all the other money they’ve got as well.”

In addition to his work for the Church at the national level, Mr. Boeckner has been involved at St. Clement’s, where he is a reader, greeter, sidesperson and a former Synod member. Outside of his church-related activities, he is a member of the University of Toronto’s business board and its audit committee. He also chaired a mentorship program at U of T’s University College, helping students learn from professionals in their field of interest.

He says his faith is one of the main reasons why he has been involved in so many activities over the years. “My religion has two major aspects. One is my relationship with God, and because of my relationship with God I’m called upon to serve others or serve the wider world. You can’t have one without the other.”

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Ms. Taylor, who is an Ambassador of Reconciliation in the Diocese of Toronto, received the Association of Episcopal Deacons’ 2019 Stephen’s Award at the group’s conference in Rhode Island in June. The award recognizes diaconal ministry in the tradition of St. Stephen.

“It was very humbling and overwhelming,” says Ms. Taylor. “I feel this award is not so much about me as it is about the work done by all the deacons in the Anglican Communion, and in our diocese in particular.”

There are about 50 deacons across the diocese. A deacon is an ordained person who is a servant minister, doing work in charity, social justice and pastoral care. They enable people to carry out their baptismal promise to seek and serve Christ in all persons.

A deacon for the past seven years, Ms. Taylor says her work is all about social justice and inclusivity. “I truly believe that is the gospel of Christ, so that is what I have focussed on.”

As an Ambassador of Reconciliation, she has helped her parish understand Indigenous issues through events such as the Blanket Exercise and organizing trips to Six Nations of the Grand River. She has also raised up the contributions of black Anglicans to the Church and the wider community.

“I focus on how we, as the people of God in our diocese, can embrace each other and reconcile,” she says. “I always ask, how can we work together to enrich and understand each other and join each other in faith?”

Ms. Taylor is a member of the diocese’s Social Justice and Advocacy Committee. She also started the Social Ministry Group at her church, providing hospitality to members of the congregation and the neighbourhood through a community barbecue.

She says she enjoys being a deacon. “It teaches me and humbles me and makes me think what the gospel is really about.”

Deacons are vital to the Church, she says. “Deacons are important because they bring us back to the crux of what Jesus was saying. What is it like to truly live a Christian life? As a deacon, you see the good, the bad and the ugly. It not only humbles you but allows you to examine yourself – who are you and how do you get the message of Christ to these people, not be preaching to them but engaging with them in some way?”

About 14 deacons from the diocese attended the conference in June, with financial assistance from The John Strachan Trust. The conference included workshops on food security and advocacy for refugees, immigrants and asylum-seekers. Bishop Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, was the keynote speaker.

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Working for the Anglican Church was never part of Ms. Wilton’s plans. After getting her Chartered Accountant designation in 2002, she went back to school to do a master’s degree in library and information science. “I wanted to go into knowledge management in an accounting firm, but they all wanted five to seven years’ experience,” she said. Instead, she was hired for a contract position in the diocesan Archives, which turned into a permanent position.

While she says there’s no typical day in the Archives, they almost always include some kind of research request. “Helping people find answers to questions is my favourite thing to do. I love to do research,” she says. H

er work with parishes and individuals gives her plenty of that. “Often it’s people calling for a copy of their marriage record or baptismal record,” she says. “And then we get requests from parishes about their history, or what to do about certain records that they have, and whether we want them or not.” She and Sue Halwa, the Archives Assistant, also field requests from diocesan staff for old meeting minutes or information on the history of the diocese.

As she reacclimatizes to the Archives, Ms. Wilton says she’d like to spend some time considering how to manage the diocese’s electronic files. “Right now, they’re kind of just sitting in limbo,” she says. “Programs change, and sometimes you can’t open old documents, so it’s important to figure out how to store them permanently so they can still be accessed.”

This is something other church archivists are exploring as well. “There’s quite a nice little group of church archivists, and we touch base with each other. We’re all kind of exploring similar things, like electronic records management,” she says. “How do we do this, how do we budget for it, how do we implement it?”

Along with parish and diocesan records, the Archives also holds a few more unique items. “We have very old clerical garb that the Archbishop once wore to a historical society dinner. It’s interesting that we have these items and we don’t really get to display them,” she says. “We do hope to do a display at Synod on the Archives this year.”

In the longer term, Ms. Wilton says she’d like to keep developing resources to help parishes and researchers explore the Archives. “Mary-Anne coordinated the project to create the Guide to the Holdings of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario. It’s a great resource. So hopefully we can create some other resources more specific to the Diocese of Toronto,” she says.

For now, she’ll keep doing what she loves best – helping individuals, parishes, staff and researchers learn more about their own past and the history of the diocese.

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She led a 90-minute workshop on “compassion training,” as she calls it, at a bank in May. She also planned to lead workshops over the summer for the staff at a cafe and for a security team at an office tower. A clothing store and an eyeglass shop have also expressed interest.

“It’s new and I don’t know where it will go but I think it’s a beautiful and important way to be present,” she says. “In the end, the goal is to teach that we are all human beings and we all deserve respect. That’s what we’re called to do as Christians, and if we emulate that and teach that, it’s a powerful witness and way to ensure that the gospel is being lived out.”

Ms. Hocking says there are a lot of homeless and marginalized people who live or spend their days in the area around Redeemer, located at the corner of Bloor Street and Avenue Road in downtown Toronto. Some of them go into banks and other businesses and buildings for a variety of reasons – to sit down, to sleep, to get out of the cold, to ask for food or money – and the staff are unprepared to help them. Security guards are often called on to eject them from the premises.

After one such incident at a local bank, Ms. Hocking spoke to the manager, to see if there was anything she could do. The manager explained that her staff were often scared and didn’t know how to respond when a homeless or marginalized person entered the building and wanted to be served.

“The staff are doing their jobs as best they can but they don’t know what to do when that happens, and they’re not aware of any resources in the neighbourhood that can help,” says Ms. Hocking.

Out of that conversation, she came up with the idea of providing compassion training. Her workshop consists of three parts. First, she builds empathy by showing the sorts of challenges and barriers that homeless and marginalized people deal with every day. Second, she teaches de-escalation tactics and how to engage with the person instead of immediately calling security. Third, she focuses on resources in the vicinity, including Redeemer’s outreach program, called The Common Table, which provides meals, counselling and activities.

She says trained staff can make a big difference in the lives of homeless and marginalized people. “If we can train people and places to be compassionate, engaging and human – that’s a great outcome. If people are treated well, they might access a service that takes them to the next level of stability.”

Her connection with the bank has already produced results. Not only did the training go well, but the staff volunteered at The Common Table for a day and donated $1,000. The bank has also expressed interest in doing some fundraising for The Common Table and bringing in donated clothing in the fall. “It’s been a great partnership,” says Ms. Hocking. “It’s still in the infancy stage but we’re definitely partners in a whole different kind of way than I’ve seen with some other partnerships.”

She says providing the training to local businesses is a practical way for the Church to be a witness in the neighbourhood. “I think it’s really exciting. How often do you hear of a church teaching a bank? It’s such a great way to be present with our neighbours.”

The workshop might also change people’s impression of the Church, she says. “Sometimes churches that do large outreach can be seen as a sore spot in the neighbourhood, like they’re dragging in the riff-raff, but in fact those places are alleviating a lot of the issues that would otherwise be on the street. This is another way of showing that we are a strong, positive presence. We are an asset to our communities, and we have a lot of skill that benefits the businesses in the neighbourhood.”

She says the bank didn’t have a problem with the fact that she comes from a church. “Sometimes I think that’s more of a Church worry than an outside worry. Sometimes we make a big deal of that, but if we just be us and do the work, I think we’d be surprised at how welcome the world is for us to be present.”

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