Faith At Work In Canadian Cities
Paula Castrucci has lots to say about living as a single person involved in urban ministry. This session was recorded at the Our City Toronto 2019 conference.
Combining her two passions of working with youth and with the homeless, she has found a way to blend these in her work for Youth Unlimited Toronto. Part of this work is with Light Patrol, an initiative helping homeless youth.
Read MoreChurches can become strategic community centres in the fight against poverty. From the book of Acts and the history of ancient Israel, God’s people have shared a responsibility to love their neighbour in practical ways.
As CEO of ‘Christians Against Poverty Canada’ Mark Griffin shares some great insights from a life of ministry in various parts of Canada and the world. We talk about the particular challenges of urban poverty and hopeful ways that we can be part of seeing change come to our communities.
Read MoreAn inside look at the theme music of Sidewalk Skyline Podcast featuring the band 2fish.
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Dr. Michael Krause has a broad range of ministerial experience in an urban context in churches, social service agencies and educational institutions. He was the director of Evergreen, Yonge Street Mission’s outreach to street-involved youth, supervising 20 staff overseeing a thriving menu of programs including health care, housing support, employment training, drop-in and meal programs, and a broad range of advocacy support.
He was the youth pastor at Flemingdon Park Church, the assistant pastor at the Stone Church in downtown Toronto and the senior pastor at Church on the Street, an experimental church reaching out to street youth in the urban core. He has been active as a church planter in other contexts, pioneering Hills Church, an innovative, house church network based in Thornhill.
Before joining the faculty of Tyndale in 2014, he functioned as the Staff Care director at Yonge Street Mission where he provided leadership development, ministry coaching and counselling to staff members working with the urban poor. He has been teaching courses with the TIM Centre Diploma program since its inception in 2010. He also has a private practice as a leadership coach and church consultant. Michael is ordained with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. (description from Tyndale faculty page)
In this session from the Our City Conference (2019) in Toronto, he shares principles of longevity. How do you prepare and maintain a ministry life for the long haul?
Links:
Tyndale University
https://www.tyndale.ca/faculty/michael-krause
Yonge Street Mission
Church On The Street Reunion
Michael & Ejay Tupe
This is part 2 of Kevin Rogers' interview with Chris Chase. In this episode we look at the need in culture for tables of conversation where we can listen intelligently to two sides of an issue. The urban Christian can be a lightning rod that is able to disperse potentially destructive power and ground it in peace-making.
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That Chris Chase
In this two part series, we have a conversation with Chris Chase.
Part one discusses his early years as a kid in Montreal and his journey to adulthood. We joked about how there are six degrees of separation from David Wells, the General Superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies Of Canada; but, it’s just as likely that there are six degree of separation from Chris Chase.
Much of his adult life has revolved around the Greater Toronto Area as a student, pastor, Bible College faculty and family man.
Part two will take us into a deeper discussion on race, theology and urban ministry but this episode tells us his story thus far. When we recorded earlier this year he was between things and has since landed as the lead pastor of The Meeting House in Newmarket.
Catch more of Chris Chase on his YouTube series ‘The House Of Common Show’.
Links:
The House Of Common Show
https://www.youtube.com/c/HouseofCommonShow/videos
That Chris Chase
https://www.thatchrischase.com/
Masters College & Seminary
The Meeting House - Newmarket
https://www.facebook.com/tmhnewmarket
Rielly McLaren is a chaplain at St. Leonard’s House in Windsor, Ontario. This historic halfway house was the first of its kind in Canada for men coming out of federal prison and returning to the community. In the years that Rielly has worked there, he has added to its history by starting a support group for wives and mothers of offenders.
Read MoreDebbie Kunst pastors an inspiring church in downtown Edmonton. Father’s House is a great example of how urban churches can be missional and parish-focused with a strong sense of being Spirit led.
There is a great need for spiritual mothers and fathers in the urban core. For some the ‘family’ gathering will be the greatest sense of ‘home’ that they will experience on a daily basis.
Read MoreDavid Burke is a Mission Canada campus worker to Ryerson University, situated in the core of downtown Toronto. Ryerson is home to over 43,000 students, the majority of whom do not know Christ as their Saviour. David, along with his wife, Krysten, launched a ministry on campus called "LifeLine" to help fill this spiritual need. LifeLine exists to be a vibrant faith community that is actively introducing people to Jesus Christ, and discipling and mentoring those who do know Him.
Read MoreAs the national mission agency of the PAOC, Mission Canada seeks to place uniquely skilled workers into gaps in our nation where the gospel message must be taken. It also exists to network leaders across the nation who are passionate about reaching various people groups. Mission Canada prioritizes five challenges for mission, and has Guiding Groups that strategize together, resourcing one another and our local churches. As the Mission Canada Director, Brian is responsible for working with our districts and churches to identify and release workers who will go to the missional gaps in Canada. He is passionate to see individuals released to reach their God-sized dreams, impacting the unreached regions and peoples of the nation.
Read MoreOur guest on today’s podcast is Dr. David Wells, a Canadian with a global perspective and a view from 30,000 feet. As General Superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies Of Canada and president of the Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America, he is an influencer that is shaping generations of believers and churches around the world.
He is a key architect of Mission Canada and the PAOC 2020 Initiative revitalizing churches and disciples across the nation. He is an urban thinker and intercessor with a high view of cities in the plans of God.
Read MoreI first heard of Kevin Makins through my friend Rielly McLaren. He told me about his college friend that was planting a cool church in Hamilton. I next heard of Kevin as a guest on New Leaf Network podcast where he talked about his ‘Holy Shift’ tour, as he and some of his friends cycled to bars to do stand-up comedy, have conversations about Jesus and have one of his friends perform music on a bicycle. I was not surprised when we first met at Eucharist Church and he showed up on a one-wheel motorized skateboard.
So when the opportunity to read his book and interview him for my podcast came up, I knew that this would be time well spent. So, let me share my thoughts on Kevin and his book ‘Why Would Anyone Go To Church?’
Read MoreI was involved in a local conversation shortly after the death of George Floyd under the knee of officer Derek Chauvin. Christopher Cobbler and I gathered a mixed-race panel of pastors from Windsor and Detroit to talk about the black-white divide.
Because Windsor is a border city to Detroit, we likely have an enhanced perspective on America’s history of oppression against black slaves. Border cities are also part of the Underground Railroad where American slaves escaped. Harriet Tubman called Canada ‘The Promised Land’ and at that time, it was an escape from slavery’s tyranny.
That does not mean that Canada has not had its own struggles with racial tension; that is an unfortunate part of human nature that surfaces in every nation and every generation.
This is part two of that conversation with Chris Cobbler, Nelly Latchman, Kellen Brooks, Josh Bowers and myself. If you have not yet heard part one, why don’t you go back and download that first.
Read MoreMark Goring is the pastor of Church In Regent Park. For decades it was a pocket of poverty, addiction and violence. For the last couple years, the poor are being displaced and development is erasing what once was there. The church has emerged from Church In The City, another urban church with a rich history of intersection with the poor.
Part of Mark’s journey involved ministry in the Malvern neighbourhood where pressure from a gang led to death threats and Mark moving out of the city. But the urban cry never left Mark’s soul and so he re-emerged a few years later to the ministry he now leads.
Read MoreWelcome back to Sidewalk Skyline Podcast where we explore faith at work in Canadian cities. This is our fourth episode looking at gangland preachers. While gang activity is prevalent in parts of Canada, there are also men and women in those neighbourhoods that are making a difference one-on-one.
Today I am talking with Ejay Tupe, an urban missionary in downtown Toronto. I have had many conversations with my friend Ejay and heard about his pimp exit strategies, interaction with gang-affiliated youth and the pastoral care he provides to people in crisis all the time.
Read MoreWell, as we promised we are bringing you part two of my interview with Dr. Anthony Hutchinson, or Dr. Hutch as some of his students call him.
If this is your first time listening, I would recommend that you go back and listen to part one of this interview or go back two episodes to hear all the content so far in this chapter called Gangland Preachers.
Tony Hutchinson is literally in demand across the nation as a leading expert on gang psychology and intervention. Here’s my conversation with him at the Mission Canada office in Mississauga.
Read MoreDr. Anthony Hutchinson is a leading gang expert who specializes in developing and evaluating youth gang prevention programs and presents nationally on anti-gang and gang exiting strategies.
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Olu Jegede
Welcome to Episode 8 of Sidewalk Skyline Podcast. Today we are starting a series that I call Gangland Preachers. In this and upcoming episodes we are going to hear from some people that have firsthand experience when it comes to gangs and their effect on the community. Most of our discussions will focus on the Toronto area.
Today’s guest is Olu Jegede who pastors Christian Centre Church in Toronto.
Hey, do you get those Amber Alerts on your smart phone? More than once I’ve been awakened in the night by that disturbing ring tone to report that a minor has been abducted or has gone missing.
I remember in early March of this year getting the alert about a 14-year-old boy that was missing from the Jane and Finch neighbourhood of Toronto. He had been abducted over a $4 million drug debt that his stepbrother had owed from last summer.
Well that young man was a recent example of someone that Christian Centre Church knows and cares about. He was recovered by police and returned home. These kind of stories are very real and personal for people like Pastor Olu Jegede.
In 2007 Jordan Manners was killed by gun violence inside his high school. This was one of the many young men that Olu has mentored over the years.
Like Nehemiah of old, God calls some people into urban centers to build community and faith in places that have lost both. This session was a presentation that Olu gave at Our City Toronto 2019.
Links:
Jennifer and Olu Jegede
Jordan Manners’ funeral
Cheryl Walsh works for Bible League Canada where part of her job is to study and share trends happening across the land.
This is not just textbook and data details, but also her own experience as an urban missionary with her husband Ejay Tupe and daughter Jemma.
Cheryl spoke at the Our City Toronto conference in September 2019.
We were there and recorded audio of her session.
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Hey, how many times have you seen a street preacher downtown in a major city? God bless them for their courage, but sometimes you wonder if they are helping or hindering the proclamation of the gospel.
There are some that a wonderful job of capturing interest and leading people to encounter Jesus in a beautiful way.
Bob Gal is an old friend from Edmonton who gives street ministry legitimacy. There should be a reality TV show called Brother Bob. I guarantee you wouldn’t take your eyes away as you followed him around on his adventures.
This is an interview I recorded in the spring of 2019 when he was visiting us in Windsor.
LInks:
brotherbobg@gmail.com
Hummer Prayer Station
Baptismal Hearse
Chapel at West Edmonton Mall