Faith At Work In Canadian Cities
Ejay Tupe has served as an urban worker in downtown Toronto for sixteen years. In this session he shares stories and ideas about listening to the city. What can we learn by listening to the people, the values and the culture?
Recorded at Our City Toronto 2023 conference.
Links:
Mission Canada
Rev. Sileen Phillips is the children’s minister at The Church of St. Peter and St. Simon The Apostle Anglican Church in Toronto. In this session at ‘Our City Toronto 2023’ she brings her insights from working with the vulnerable sector in government institutions and the community.
Links:
The Church of St Peter and St Simon-The-Apostle
Our City Toronto
Dagma Koyi is a visionary woman with an unconditional love and passion for people. She has an overwhelming desire to see all people live enriched and thriving lives and has become known as a social innovator, humanitarian, Minister, impactful teacher, leader, coach, author, and an entrepreneur.
Her passion for social innovation has led her to pioneering several remarkable ventures including REST Centre, a non-profit charity that takes a holistic approach to invest in homeless youth, and prepares them to face the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through structured interventions. Today REST has become a strong community support for hundreds of BIPOC youth in the Peel Region.
More than meeting Practical needs, ordained minister Rev. Dagma Koyi has a great desire to see lives transformed by the power of God's word and prayer. She is the founder Heart-2-Heart Global Ministry, an empowerment program that equips women to live out their faith audaciously. The ministry provides a community encouraging sisterhood and a platform where they can heal and receive transformation through the sound teaching of God's word. Her weekly teaching ministry reaches women across Canada, the USA and the Caribbean.
Dagma is supported by her loving husband, Olubusola. They are the proud parents of twins, Mishael and Rhema, and live in Toronto Canada.
Links:
Heart-2-Heart Global Ministries
After pastoring for 21 years at a large city church, Karen took the risk 12 years ago to live on raised funds as an urban worker, joining with what God is doing in East Vancouver, one of the most unchurched neighbourhoods in Canada. She lives a shared life intentionally in a 100 year old, six bedroom house, as a base to seek the flourishing of her community and extend generous hospitality to neighbour and stranger.
Karen has experienced many 'conversions' in herself as she has rooted into her place, leaning into sustainable living practices, urban gardening, valuing the ordinary and simple and moved away from a busy and fragmented life (since you can't be busy and be present to others). After replacing her car with a bike, she now lives 90% of her life within walking distance. She has forged a slow lifestyle of radical hospitality to strangers and neighbours (vs entertaining friends and family) and her home - called Parker House - has become the primary gathering space for neighbourhood Soup Nights, House Concerts, etc. After living alone for most of her life, Karen wanted to live more deeply into her faith, intentionally living with others inter-generationally (over 200 people have lived in her home in the last decade). She organized her neighbourhood to sponsor Syrian refugees 7 years ago (who lived with her for a year), and seeks to join with anyone in the community seeking the common good.
It has been a wild and wonderful ride - and she is having a blast at this stage of life. Convinced that the Spirit always works in the particular and in place, Karen will share a bit of her story and wisdom from seeking to love God by loving neighbour...and enjoying neighbour as a way to enjoy God....and listening to our community as a way to listen to God.
Links:
QUEST Conversation: Qualitative Neighbouring Part One
QUEST Conversation: Qualitative Neighbouring Part Two
Charles and I work together with Mission Canada, a Christian ‘mission agency to reach Canada with the gospel in unique ways. There are many contexts where there is a gap; campuses, people groups, regions, and communities where Jesus is inadequately represented. Mission Canada is committed to identify and equip those who will pursue their calling to fill these gaps.’[1]
I am the urban ministry consultant and Charles is the Cultural Ministries consultant. As part of that role, he gives leadership to Neighbours & Newcomers Network National.
Links:
https://paoc.org/canada/workers/priorityculturalministries
https://paoc.org/canada/workers/nnnetworknational
From her childhood in Guyana to a life of ministry in Canada, Denise Munroe has had a fascinating journey. Currently she serves as the Family Life Pastor at The Embassy Church in Oshawa, Ontario.
She is in regular contact with people in the community that seek assistance from the church.
We talk about being a newcomer, experiences of racism and the societal needs of Canadian born citizens.
Link:
Rob Good is the founding pastor of Promise Church in Bradford, Ontario. They describe themselves as ‘A community united to show God with us, making all things right.’
Pastor Rob has found innovative ways to do community service, empowered the congregation to initiate good things in their city and interactive technology to assist in their discipleship journey.
Bradford is a bedroom community north of Toronto.
Link:
Ben and Emma Narayanan moved their young family from Australia to plant churches in the Vancouver area. Avant Life Church lives by the mantra:
Remain Helpful
Remain Humble
Remain Hopeful
Remain His.
They are now located in North Vancouver, Squamish, and Surrey with a desire to see a movement of church planting in smaller BC communities.
Link:
Wendy Burton has had a lifetime working in corporate settings and ministry experience in churches, but in recent years her focus has turned to her community. Prompted by the Spirit, she began to make herself available at a local coffee chain to meet people, build friendships and enter into a life of community pastoring.
David W. Fisher has been an organizer since his teen years when he ran a neighbourhood racing car fan club, the Eliminators Car Club. He later organized Couriers for Christ, in which young people helped run weekend crusades. He ran a local bookstore and helped start the Kawartha Church Slo-Pitch League. He founded the Epistle Sports Ministries, a charitable organization which over thirty years or so provided chaplaincy services to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Peterborough Petes, and other sports organizations.
In 2003, he went to Slovak Republic to teach children how to play baseball. In 2009, with his wife Carol, he founded the Kawartha Komets Special Needs Hockey Program, which now has three teams providing opportunities for over fifty players. His counseling energies are channeled through Friends Peterborough. He is a Paul Harris Fellow, a the highest honour bestowed by the International Rotary Club. His lifetime of experiences has depended upon his organizational skills, confidence and willingness to help others.
A true gentleman in the traditional sense, David Fisher is a selfless and humble servant of the Lord.
Links:
From a childhood in Nigeria to his education in Germany to a life in Canada, David Ibhaluobe has had a path filled with signs and wonders of God’s leading. More recently, he has moved to Peterborough with a desire to plant a church among the homeless.
Listen in to his fascinating story.
Bill Reilly and I shadow the team of Street Level Advocacy in Peterborough, Ontario. Scott Couper, Leigh-Ann Davidson, Chris and a growing number of people are spending their days on the streets, in the Overflow tent city, shelters and agencies that work with street affiliated people.
You will meet Joe, the Aboriginal man run over by a snow plow and Will the bicycle recycler. Join us as we find God at work in desperate places.
Links:
YouTube version:
Scott Couper Interview - Season 2, Episode 24
https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/scott-couper-is-a-bridge
Scott Couper Profile
https://paoc.org/canada/workers/scottcouper
News:
On this episode I travelled to McCrary Park in Peterborough and sat by Little Lake to meet a new friend. Todd Carlton is host of The Toddcast where he interviews a wide range of people about their journey to faith. His own story bears repeating.
Todd is connected to a movement called ‘Disciple A City’ with an emphasis on equipping believers to share their faith on the streets, in parks and in the context of their everyday lives.
Links:
The Toddcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-toddcast/id1605174280
Disciple A City
Graham Gibson is the Director of Cultural Engagement Studies at Master’s College and Seminary in Peterborough, Ontario. He and his wife Linda have a life centred in students and mission.
In this interview we talked about seeing Canada as a mission field for the Gospel and the importance of cultural engagement.
Links:
Master’s College and Seminary
Bill Reilly is the video producer for Sidewalk Skyline Podcast. In this episode we are on a road trip to Peterborough, Ontario where we will record several people involved in urban ministry.
As the voice and face of the podcast, I am always aware of the guy standing a few feet away behind the camera. Bill’s experience and ability to tell stories make him a great accomplice with pursuing the story and entertaining the guests.
Our times together often are filled with conversations about Christ and his work in our lives.
Today we turn the camera around and interview Bill Reilly.
Stonethro Media
Brian Yu has been with the Tyndale Intercultural Ministries Centre for more than five years, where he serves as a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI®). He coaches and facilitates intercultural learning for individuals, teams, and organizations.
Brian has been serving as a pastor for over 14 years and is currently one of the lead pastors of The Change Community Church in Scarborough.
He's also the Executive Director of Flow Ministries, a faith-based charitable organization serving a subsidized community housing neighbourhood in York Region.
Links:
Tyndale Intercultural Ministries Centre
The Change Community Church
Flow Ministries
Heskias Mandefro has been serving in pastoral ministry for over 17 years at the Ethiopian Evangelical Church in Toronto. As the English pastor in an Amharic language church, he finds himself functioning as a cultural translator between generations.
Heskias strives to lead with ideas that are well thought through biblically, and culturally. He is passionate to engage ethnic churches in reaching their city.
Ejay and Cheryl live above a coffee shop on Queen Street in Toronto. As parents of a toddler, they exemplify urban disciples of Jesus living on mission in their neighbourhood.
In this session from the Our City Toronto conference (2022) they share life lessons and guiding principles on the power of collaborative relationship. They depend on each other and rely on other community members in accomplishing good work for their city and neighbourhood.
Both have been guests on previous episodes of Sidewalk Skyline Podcast.
Links:
Mission Canada
https://paoc.org/canada/workers/ejaytupe
Urban Trends In Canada
https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/urban-trends-in-canada-cheryl-walsh
Sidewalk Pastors
Gangland Preacher
https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/gangland-preacher-ejay-tupe
Bill Ryan started his ministry in Toronto after graduating from Ontario Bible College in 1982. This led to his work at Yonge Street Mission where he served for over 25 years in numerous roles first serving as Program Co-ordinator at Evergreen, Pastor of Church on the Street, Director of the Christian Community Centre, Director of Staff care and Interim Program Officer. He later served as Director of Men’s Ministry with Scott Mission until 2021. He is a seasoned Urban Ministry practitioner for the past 30 years and teaches from his vast experience in ministry. He is a spiritual director and passionate Social Justice advocate. Bill's ministry life has been grounded by being a husband to Lillian and father to Jordan and Caitlin.
Links:
Yonge Street Mission
Scott Mission
Erinn Oxford was born and raised in Toronto, a city that she loves. She has been working in Parkdale, a neighbourhood in the city’s west end since 2007. In 2012 she was invited into her current role as Executive Director and Pastor. Tasked with re-visioning the work, Erinn sought the feedback of the community and proposed a full reboot, one that would include giving up a building, spilling into the streets, creating a nomadic routine, and becoming The Dale Ministries. She longs for and pursues the building of community in which all people are welcome and those who experience poverty are placed at the core, seeking to nurture relationships where we can understand and learn from one anothers’ histories, experiences and hopes. Erinn is a Christ-follower, caregiver and advocate, mother to Cate, partner to Dion, a musician and lover of the arts, a self-confessed klutz, and an aspiring friend to many.
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