What's Happeningat Church of the Holy Trinity, Guildwood

Missional Outreach and Discipleship Lay Pastoral Associate

Church of the Holy Trinity, Guildwood

Ministry Allocation Fund Grant

Year 1 Report (2021)

This expanded ministry of Missional Outreach and Discipleship is allowing Holy Trinity, Guildwood to deepen our relationships within the community; create experiences to augment our worship; and strengthen our digital communications, as well as further our vision of building a fully vibrant, diverse, multicultural, and multi-generational self-sustaining parish with the young people and seniors of southeast Scarborough. Thanks to the grant, we will have an opportunity for the church to extend into the community and provide services that are not currently available to young people or seniors through shared in person and/or virtual activities and ministries. 

We are enhancing our ministry particularly to youth and seniors with seven new platforms to be introduced incrementally over a five-year period: 

1. Media Club;
   We have a consultant who has assisted in coordinating as well as program planning. Posters have been distributed to the neighbouring high school as well as the neighbouring seniors’ residence with programming to begin March 2022. We look forward to partnering with Rotary Club of Scarborough and University of Toronto Scarborough Campus on future initiatives. When guidelines allow, we look forward to students and seniors working together with these digital initiatives.
2. An integrated Values, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (V-STEAM) Program.
   To highlight science as a viable option for girls and racialized minorities in a values-based context. We had our first STEAM camp online during spring break 2021 with four parish families and 7 students, which was well received by both children and parents.  Programming anticipated Fall 2022 once students have a ‘regular’ in-person school routine.
3. Vacation Bible School;
   It was a great success with 15 participants mostly from the community. “On Earth as In Heaven” – Connecting Prayer and Service in the World through stories, science, crafts, and games with help from Bishop’s Youth Ministry Committee York-Scarborough Coordinator Ian Physick; Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute students; Joycelyn Williams, St. Margaret in-the-Pine’s leader; and Stephen Kirkegaard, Incumbent, and magician.
4. Missional Outreach and Events;

• • Holy Trinity, Guildwood’s food pantry currently supports 20 community families with food, toiletry and cleaning items, grocery gift cards and tokens/tickets. Community partners’ generosity has kept our food pantry well stocked despite unprecedented use: Cob’s Bread Bakery at Morningside Crossing, Rotary Club of Scarborough, residents of the Condos at 20 Guildwood Parkway, Chartwell Retirement Residence, Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute, YouthLink and concerned village residents.
    
  • ‘At Home and Online Family Day Winter Fair’ with support from McDougall and Brown Funeral Home. Special care packages for Family Day were prepared and delivered to 35 families. It was priceless to see one of the young people receive her bag, immediately dump all the contents on the floor, and jump up and down with her treasures. 10 families participated in a photo scavenger hunt and won special prizes.
  • Five families participated in our Palm Sunday parade on the church property. Ten families participated in our Good Friday Facebook party which included activities, games, colouring contest and prizes and a 12-family scavenger hunt on the church property and The Guild Inn on Easter Sunday.
  • For our backpack and school supply drive, we were able to collect 46 bags and boxes of school supplies which were delivered to neighbourhood schools (Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute, Native Learning Centre – East, Joseph Brant Public School and St. Ursula Catholic School)
  • This year we hosted a Candy Cane Hunt for families to enjoy at the same time as the bazaar. It was very well attended with 45 young people participating with 10 participants from the community. This might become one of our flagship missional outreach events to families.
  • It has been wonderful to see people walking out and about in the community during the pandemic.  For 2022, we anticipate small groups of walkers, coming together in prayer and fellowship, to deepen their faith and friendship as they stroll around our beautiful neighbourhood parks.  Our previous faith walks, such as Walk to Jerusalem by Easter and The Walk to Bethlehem by Advent, have been well received by all ages.  Building on this momentum, we are working on planning another faith walk for the spring of 2022 as well as setting up a labyrinth on the church property for walking, meditation, reflection, and other spiritually nurturing activities in the summer of 2022.
    
  • We held special services to highlight our 2021 Social Justice Vestry Motion. For Black History Month, we welcomed guest speaker Kwame Damon Mason which was our highest viewed livestream service for the year as well as an in-person outdoor National Emancipation Day Celebration with MPP Mitzi Hunter and award-winning artist Shelley Hamilton with 30 attendees.  
  • At Christmastime, the parish supported East Scarborough Boys and Girls Club Holiday Box project. 
  • Denise co-coordinated our FaithWorks appeal for this year with Stephen Kirkegaard, our priest and Myron deSouza, our music director. The concert featured Jay Davis, Jennifer Burford, Evan Desaulnier, Tim Francom, and Stephen Kirkegaard. National Indigenous Archbishop Mark Macdonald presented an inspiring message about the ministry. The concert raised over $4,000. Holy Trinity, Guildwood’s total to FaithWorks for 2021 was over $7,000 which included ongoing monthly donations made by parishioners.

   5. Christian Education and Discipleship; 

• Church School continues to have a small but vital program, with 38 young people on our roster with whom we connect online and in person monthly. It was very special to have families participate in the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany liturgy.
  
• We are thankful to the Bishop’s Youth Ministry Committee and Canadian Lutheran Anglican Youth who arrange regular special in person and online events for youth and leaders.
• York Scarborough Youth Summit with Bishop Kevin on March 6 gathered to pray, have fellowship, give prizes, network, and share local ministry. It was good to hear others’ journeys of self-care during this time. Resources were provided for follow-up.
• 16 Youth Leaders attended the Retreat Day on April 24 which focused on meditation, mindfulness, and finger labyrinths.
• The Diocesan Fall Youth Retreat at the end of September was for students in grades 6 to 12.  Denise co-coordinated the York-Scarborough event which was located at St. Andrew’s at Victoria Park and 401. The theme was ‘God’s Power’ based on Ephesians 3:20-21. There were 20 youth and 10 leaders in attendance.
• We were able to have a small home team participate in the Canadian Lutheran Anglican Youth Gathering in the summer.
• Anglican Church of Canada Youth Leaders Gathering on November 18 and 19 was well done. There were excellent presentations about Spiritual Formation, Gospel-Based Discipleship, Creating Safe Space for 2SLGBTQ+ in the context of the church and Holding Space for Youth
• We had a beautiful day for our Visit with St. Nicholas and Bishop Kevin. There were 27 children and parents who came to the church parking lot to fellowship after the service in addition to the five who participated in our in-person church school.
  
• Adult catechesis included our bi-weekly Bible study, monthly discipleship class and a spring eco-theology session which gathered on Zoom and in the park during the warmer months with 3 to 8 participants each session. Some of the participants lead occasional sessions.
  
• Our seniors have expressed a deep appreciation of our online worship, bi-weekly bible study and monthly book club. These initiatives help them stay connected with others and combat the depression caused by prolonged social isolation.  

  6. Drama
      We have a resource of 90 liturgical dramatic readings and scripts that have been written and performed in house by Holy Trinity, Guildwood’s drama troop, DramaWorks.  We will begin recruiting a new drama ministry coordinator in 2022. 

   7. Leadership and Mentoring

      The leadership mentoring program will connect elementary and high school students to senior partners.  The program will focus on building relationships in the community. We would activate this platform once guidelines allow. Volunteers from Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate assisted with special events – church bazaar, yard sale, Family Day Winter Fair, and summer camp.

• Staffing

The Corporation of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Guildwood evaluated the needs related to a Missional Outreach and Discipleship Ministry in preparing for the Ministry Allocation Fund Grant application.  Recognizing that we had limited time to achieve our goals and move this ministry from something that was financially supported through Ministry Allocation funding to something that Holy Trinity, Guildwood could sustain, we determined that hiring Denise Byard, whose energy, enthusiasm, experience, and skills were known to us was the option that we wished to follow for the staffing component of this initiative. Having a dedicated Missional Outreach and Discipleship Lay Pastoral Associate has allowed for the development of more enriched connections with community partners, which have resulted in collaborative activities that allowed Holy Trinity both to serve the community and to enhance our profile with other groups and residents. 

• Financials/Funding

We are grateful for the support and encouragement of the Diocese.  We have a great story at Church of the Holy Trinity, Guildwood, and look forward to sharing our story with current partners and advocates to encourage them to support our evolving ministry programs. 

Grant funds have supported two primary expense lines – salary and benefits for the Lay Pastoral Associate and program supplies/equipment.  The salary and benefits related cost for the period of January – December 2021 was $55,000.  

The parish financially supported the ministry during this reporting period by funding the portion of the salary of the Missional Outreach and Discipleship ministry salary from January to December 2021, encouraging in kind donations from parishioners towards events and activities and soliciting donations from both inside and outside of the parish.  The Incumbent and Wardens supported and advised the staff person, and a host of volunteers were involved in programs and events.  For reference, please find our 2021 financials attached, in addition to a link from last Sunday’s livestream.

•  Communication

Effective use is being made of:

• weekly Church newsletter – for promotion of events for families, calls for volunteers, and initiatives of the Child, Youth and Family ministry
• Facebook – Family Day Winter Fair and Easter Eggstravanz
• Local media use – Scarborough Mirror, Bluffs Monitor, Guildwood News and Views
• Promotion at the local plaza – flyers for family events
• Flyers delivered throughout the neighbourhood

• PLANS GOING FORWARD

Based on our experience in Year One, we believe that the original plan is still relevant.  

The parish is engaged in a Joyful Giving stewardship campaign.  The results of this campaign, both in terms of commitment of monetary donations and donations of time/talent, inform our plans for the Missional Outreach and Discipleship Ministry.  We have continued parish commitment to use existing funds, primarily from our own resources, to fund the parish’s portion of the Year Two financing, but we are also cognizant of the need to make this a line item in future operational budgets.   Targeted giving is another thing for us to explore, but currently, we are addressing concerns re: keeping regular offerings on target.

Through these initiatives, we will be continuing to build on what we have done during the first year of this grant and seeking to enhance ministries and increase reach and attendance at initiatives.   While it is sometimes easy to feel daunted by challenges, the exercise of pulling together the information for this Year One report speaks to what has been achieved and inspires us moving forward.  We remain hopeful and committed to the ministry we can undertake as a result of our partnership through this Diocesan funding and our own resources.

If any further information is required related to our 2021 activities, please contact Stephen Kirkegaard, Incumbent or Denise Byard, Missional Outreach and Discipleship Ministry Lay Pastoral Associate (denise@nulltrinityguildwood.org or 416-261-9503).