Christmas Appeal 2023 -- Thank You!

Thank you to everyone for supporting our church.

These first few years of striving to establish ourselves as an Orthodox Christian mission in downtown Toronto was an exciting but extremely challenging time. It is hard to believe that 2023 was our first full year of services, not limited by public health closures or relocation!  Also worth noting was that the Canada Revenue Agency recognized our charitable status in April. Hence, we launched our first Christmas appeal, hoping to retire any debts remaining from the pandemic period and put us in a sound financial position for 2024.  

​Thanks to the generosity of so many, our appeal has been a tremendous success!

Renovating in 2019.

Without you, this would not have been possibleIt’s easy to forget that in 2019 we moved not once but twice!  We searched for new premises, transferred our properties, incorporated, and redefined our position within the diocese.  Finally, with the considered and invaluable contributions of the entire community, we carefully formulated a constitution and bylaws that reflected our aspirations.    

In April 2019, by the grace of God, we stepped foot into a big wide parish hall in St. Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Cathedral, and we set out to turn it into a church that could accommodate our mission.  With the help of so many hands a basement hall was transformed into a place of mission:  where we could cook, feed, teach, meet, worship and build and nurture an Orthodox church life.

This meant not just services on Sundays, but also community outreach with open meals, catechesis, talks and other special community events and the Phos Sunday school program for children. 

We were a nebulous entity, a parish with no home, but with all our community’s hard work and tireless dedication, in a hectic few months, we took root as a church. 

​And then there was COVID….

A Mission Renewed with Passion and VigourFrom 2020 to well into 2022 we postponed, scaled back, adapted and readapted.  But as restrictions lifted, the community regrouped and we rededicated ourselves, with passion and vigour, to engage with our mission to build a full Orthodox church life in central Toronto.

In January 2023, with a few posters we re-launched our Monday Community Hub nights which includes a free evening meal, homework help for children and a knitting circle.  In less than a year, it has grown from 5-10 guests, to 40-50 and more a night. 

Not long ago, our quieter Wednesday evening services saw just two or three gathered but now regularly 15 or more people come, including those who first visited our church on Mondays. Catechesis is also on Wednesday evenings before the liturgy.

Phos (our Sunday school program) now has 2 classes with over a dozen children.  

​Beginning during the pandemic, a team of volunteers has been painting icons to continue the beautification of our church.

Monday Community Hub night birthday celebration.

Blessing of our new altar icon, painted by parishoners.

A Phos class.

We have celebrated marriages, ordinations, baptism of children and adults (a beautiful wood baptismal font was designed and built specifically to accommodate adults) and the welcoming of catechumens into the church.  We have also accompanied dear brothers and sisters through illness, trials, tragedies, and death.  For some, our parish was their family and otherwise these individuals would have faced their final days, alone.

Looking out at the congregation on a Sunday you see so many cultures -- not just those that are historically associated with Orthodox Christianity.  New arrivals and multi-generational Canadians; young adults, families, seniors and people living all manner of economic realities… in short what you see on any given Sunday is an Orthodox congregation that truly looks like Toronto.

So many of our endeavours, from food for the Monday meals, to materials for Phos, to yarn for the Knitting Circle, are directly supported by these parishioners, without submitting receipts to seek reimbursement. 

​We are extremely grateful for these many acts and gifts that give sinew and breath to our church and connect us as a community. 

Ordination of Deacon Michael, Sub Deacon Maurice, Sub Deacon Aubrey, with His Eminence, Metropolitan Gregory, Father Paul and members of the parish.

New adult sized baptismal font being installed.

Father Ephraim's visit and talk.

With you, we can continue and do more
We had a goal to raise an additional $10,000 before the end of 2023.

It is with tremendous gratitude that we can confirm that in just a few weeks, we more than doubled our goal.
The donations, energy, efforts, and prayers when there was no certainty we’d survive another year, were deep acts of faith in our church. 

​Thanks to the hard work of our community and the support of our friends near and far, we have not only survived but thrived and have much to look forward to in 2024!

Thank you again and all the blessings of the Christmas season to you and all those you love.
 
Fr. Paul Tadros
Parish Priest

Bogdan Pospielovsky
Board Chair