Revisiting Child of Woe (Maury Blair interview)

Years ago I read Maury Blair’s autobiography ‘Child Of Woe’. I was shocked at the severity of the child abuse he suffered from his step-father. How could a man be so filled with contempt for an innocent child and more miraculously, how could a child of violence grow up to be so compassionate and well-balanced?

In this episode I visited Maury at his kitchen table in Cambridge, Ontario as we revisited his faith journey and ministry. We walked on the streets of Paris, Ontario to see the old homestead, the church and the streets he lived on.

This is part one of two episodes.

Link:

Breakthrough Ministries

https://overcomingabuse.ca/

From Organized Crime To True Religion (Alan Campbell interview)

Years ago, I worked as a federal chaplain at a halfway house. I learned so much about the value of faith-based community friendships for men and women returning to the community.

Alan Campbell has devoted his adult life to Jesus-inspired care for people being released from jail. He is humble and virtuous in his approach and remains focused on the mission. l am grateful to know ‘Refuge Ministries Canada’ and to serve them when I can.

Alan shares his story of conversion from incarceration for his involvement with the Toronto Mafia, God’s call to help prisoners and the role of suffering in his ongoing transformation.

Links:

Refuge Ministries Canada

https://www.refugeministriescanada.com/

Refuge Freedom Stories

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/refuge-freedom-stories/id1524349333

Lessons From The Living Room Church (Bernard Tam)

The Living Room Church is a family of Jesus followers serving the neighbourhoods. One of their co-pastors is Bernard Tam.

Bernard resides in Midtown Toronto with his wife Susan and their two fun-loving and silly boys, Jeddie and Joshua. Learning to live in the urban center has been quite the journey for the Tams, but they are learning daily to see the beauty of the urban jungle. Bernard is passionate about connecting with people and (re)imaging possibilities while wrestling with faith and culture. He is also currently working part-time with The Alliance as a New Ventures Implementor, seeing new churches and new leaders in Toronto. Bernard is also a host of the Canadian Asian Missional Podcast. In the neighbourhood, you can often find Bernard hanging out in coffee shops where his passion for community and coffee intersects. Susan often likens the coffee shops to the show Cheers for Bernard.

To reach Bernard you can email him at btam@thelivingroomchurch.ca

Links:

The Living Room Church

http://www.thelivingroomchurch.ca/

Christian & Missionary Alliance

https://thealliancecanada.ca/

Canadian Asian Missional Podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/canadian-asian-missional-podcast/id1339528072

Homeless In Toronto (Brad Sider)

On any given night in Toronto, there are about 9000 men, women and children that have no place to stay. Brad Sider spoke at the Our City Scarborough conference on the topic of homelessness his city.

As a veteran shelter and street population worker, Brad is currently a director with the Maxwell Meighen Centre, one of several Salvation Army shelters.

Previously he worked with the Mennonite Central Committee with men coming from prison and reintegrating into the community.

As a follower of Jesus, Brad brings insight into how the gospel interfaces with people on the streets.

Links:

Maxwell Meighen Centre

https://www.torontohhs.org/shelters/maxwell-meighen/

Mennonite Central Committee

https://mcc.org/

Brad Sider

A Panel Of Urban Pastors

What are the things that urban churches need to be thinking about? Pastor Duane Henry from Portico Church in Mississauga hosts a conversation at Our City Toronto 2023 with four urban pastors that are on the forefront of strategy and mission.

Olu Jegede is a return guest on Sidewalk Skyline Podcast and continues to pastor at Christian Centre Church.

Jessie Knight is an assistant pastor with Olu with a focus on student ministries.

Godfrey Adderley pastors at Stone Church in downtown Toronto.

Joel Spiridigliozzi is a regional director for Western Ontario District working with pastors and ministries in the Toronto region.

Links:

Duane Henry - Portico Church

https://www.porticocanada.ca/

Olu Jegede & Jessie Knight - Christian Centre Church

https://ccctoronto.com/

Olu Jegede

Jessie Knight

Godfrey Adderley - Stone Church

https://stonechurch.ca/

Godfrey Adderley

Joel Spiridigliozzi - Western Ontario District of PAOC

https://wodistrict.org/

Mental Health In Ministry (Sath Arulvarathan)

Sath Arulvarathan is a Registered Social Worker who has experience working in community and hospital mental health organizations. He is also involved in church planting.

Sath is skilled in supporting individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, substance use, trauma, life transitions and relationship breakdown.

He believes that the relationship between the therapist and client is the foundation for any intervention to be effective, and works from a trauma-informed, strengths-based, and anti-oppressive perspective. A firm believer in the benefits of short-term counselling, Sath aims to support clients to develop the skills and self-understanding they need to live better.

Links:

Sath’s blog posts for Trinity Life Church, Scarborough

https://www.trinitylife.ca/people/sath-arulvarathan/

Toronto Church Planting Video:

https://vimeo.com/77222798

Jesse's Urban Theology 101 (Jesse Sudirgo)

Jesse Sudirgo is the Assistant Professor of Contextual Ministry at Tyndale Seminary. He has a diverse breadth of experience in multiple disciplines of ministry in both the church and non-profit sectors. He is the former Director of Street-Involved Services at the Yonge Street Mission Evergreen Centre and continues to consult with churches in their engagement with poverty in the city. He brings to his work a conviction for interdisciplinary theological reflection that considers those most marginalized in society. His background in church planting in Boston Massachusetts has shaped his interests in missional lay leadership, community development, and urban poverty.

This session was recorded at Our City Toronto 2023.

Links:

Tyndale University

https://www.tyndale.ca/faculty/jesse-sudirgo

Community Exegesis (Ejay Tupe)

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

https://paoc.org/donate/EjayTupe

Cultural Competency For Ministry (Brian Yu)

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

https://www.tyndale.ca/tim

The Change Community Church

http://www.wearechanged.com/

Flow Ministries

https://flowwithoutbounds.com/

Being A Cultural Translator In An Ethnic Church - Heskias Mandefro

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.

Better Together - Ejay Tupe and Cheryl Walsh

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

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/sidewalk-pastors-quest-conversation-part-1

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/sidewalk-pastors-quest-conversation-part-2

Gangland Preacher

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/gangland-preacher-ejay-tupe

Nomads In The Dale - Errin Oxford

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.

Links:

https://www.thedale.org/

https://erinnoxford.com/

Univer-City Life (part 2)

This is part 2 of my conversation with John Engels, Kelly Johnson, Jazelle Johnson and David Ritz. We talk about the effects of deconstructing faith and how university campus leaders are engaging in meaningful conversations. Many students are experiencing an awakening of conscience and sorting through what to believe about right and wrong.

If you haven’t yet listened to part 1 of the interview you can find it here:

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/univer-city-life-part-1

Univer-City Life (part 1)

It is no secret that public education finds its roots in the Christian faith. Study the roots of any historic university and you will find that clergy and prominent Christian community builders believed that education held the keys to greater wisdom and understanding. Christian faith is built on curiosity and wonder about all of Creation and unveiling its mysteries.

But today if you walk onto the campuses of Canadian universities, you may need to look harder to find a place for Christian faith.

Building on a history of campus chaplaincy, Christian outreach, and discipleship groups we are seeing a resurgence of gospel witness and Christian community emerging as Heaven’s counterculture in the midst of an often-hostile environment.

In this episode I have a conversation with John Engels, Milly Li, Kelly Johnson, Jazelle Johnson and David Ritz.

Links:

Serve Campus Network

https://paoc.org/serve-campus

Serve Campus YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN7cP5T3DKgpd2zRWg5lR9Q?app=desktop

Serve Campus Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/servecampusnetwork/

Milly Li @University Campus Ministries

https://ucmsfu.ca/about/#leaders

Kelly Johnson

https://paoc.org/donate/kellyjohnson

Jazelle Johnson @Lifeline Ministries

https://www.lifelineministries.ca/

https://paoc.org/canada/workers/jazellejohnson

David Ritz - Montreal

https://www.paoc.org/donate/davidritz

David Burke - Lifeline @Ryerson University interview

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/post-secondary-lifeline

Sex Trafficking and Courage For Freedom (Kelly Franklin part 2)

This is part 2 of my interview with Kelly Tallon Franklin.

As a young Torontonian living in an upscale neighbourhood, Kelly lived with the secrecy of sexual abuse. Fuelled by her insecurities she took to the street with a vengeance. Her associations would eventually lead to her being trafficked.

Today Kelly Franklin leads Courage For Freedom, an organization committed to ending trafficking in Canada and helping its victims find a new life of healing and recovery.

Learn more at www.courageforfreedom.org

Kelly is available to speak and can be reached through office@courageforfreedom.org

Sex Trafficking and Courage For Freedom (Kelly Franklin part 1)

As a young Torontonian living in an upscale neighbourhood, Kelly lived with the secrecy of sexual abuse. Fuelled by her insecurities she took to the street with a vengeance. Her associations would eventually lead to her being trafficked.

Today Kelly Franklin leads Courage For Freedom, an organization committed to ending trafficking in Canada and helping its victims find a new life of healing and recovery.

Learn more at www.courageforfreedom.org

Kelly is available to speak and can be reached through office@courageforfreedom.org

Sidewalk Pastors - QUEST Conversation (part 2)

In the second part of the Sidewalk Pastors interview, we talk about the stereotypes around poverty and the spiritual formation that is grossly neglected in the field of social work. We will hear more amazing stories about real life people and their courageous struggles.

Our guests are great examples of Street Ministry Workers (letter “S” in our QUEST acronym).

If you have not listened, to part 1 please go back and listen to that first to get a proper introduction to our guests Bob Gal, Anna Morgante and Ejay Tupe.

Links:

Mission Canada

https://paoc.org/canada

Bob Gal

https://paoc.org/canada/workers/bobgal

Anna Morgante

https://paoc.org/canada/workers/annamorgante

Ejay Tupe

https://paoc.org/canada/workers/ejaytupe