Faith At Work In Canadian Cities
Kevin Mast has served as pastor of Hope City Church in Barrie, Ontario for all of its 12 years. It has grown to a family of ministries making a difference for the street-affiliated and marginalized of their city.
Kevin and I reminisce about my visit a few years ago and how urban ministry always involves shifts and upheavals.
Hope Barrie
Joe Ritchie grew up with a history of trauma and abuse that nearly killed him. At age fifteen he was in a car accident that left him quadriplegic and without hope. After three times of dying and being resuscitated, it would be a vision of Jesus that would change his life trajectory.
Today Joe serves as part of the pastoral team at Windsor’s New Song Church. Listen as he shares transparently about his struggles with addiction and the journey to freedom.
Alan Roxburgh is a pastor, teacher, writer and podcaster with more than thirty years’ experience in church leadership, consulting and seminary education. I first heard of him through my friend Karen Reed who will be co-hosting our conversation today. Karen has been a past guest on the podcast and is very much entrenched in a life of loving her neighbours, a true example of intentional community building.
Links:
Leaving Egypt Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/leaving-egypt-podcast/id1699200527
Alan Roxburgh - Reflections On The Refounding Of God’s People
The Missional Network
Connie Jakab is planting a church at a new housing initiative in the Ogden neighbourhood of Calgary. As a long time community energizer, Connie has built an enduring presence in Calgary through her work within the arts community, mental health and business sector.
Now her attention has turned to the neighbourhood she lives and grew up in. Ogden Church meets in the common room of a housing development created by The Mustard Seed, a faith-based organization that exists to eliminate homelessness and reduce poverty.
Ogden Church values breaking bread together around a table rather than sitting in rows as passive listeners.
Links:
Connie’s Website
Ogden Church
Ogden Hub 29
The Mustard Seed
For 10 years, New Song Church has been alongside one of Windsor’s more challenging neighbourhoods of social housing. What we affectionately call the Glengarry neighbourhood is a series of four high rise apartments, several rows of townhouses and an assisted living facility. It experiences the most tragic of life experiences as well as a quieter majority that are just trying to survive.
Through collaboration initially with The Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative and partnership with Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation, we run a 4 day per week drop in centre, a community garden, the cafeteria contract in the assisted living facility along with a weekly Bible study and prayer meeting for residents with spiritual desire.
In this episode, Kevin Rogers interviews Kevin and Paula Saunders as well as Elizabeth Anderson.
One of our podcast regulars, Ejay Tupe brought this message ‘Let Nothing Be Wasted’ at the Our City Windsor - Signs Of Hope conference.
His years of experience in urban ministry are informed by his reading of the Scriptures.
Ejay is an urban worker in downtown Toronto.
Link:
Dave Carrol is the lead pastor of Freedom House, a community minded church in Brantford, Ontario. Through many years of working closely with civic leaders, the church has gained a reputation for serving with a great attitude.
There’s a good story here about the day that David donned leotards and a red cape and became Captain Kindness. The Kindness Project was launched to make Brantford the kindest city in Canada. Perhaps podcast listeners will be inspired to release their own inner superheroes.
Links:
The Kindness Project
https://freedomhouse.ca/kindness-project/
Freedom House
Two Wise Fools Podcast (with Aaron White)
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/two-wise-fools/id1547557549
I met today’s guest Doctor Jon Massimi when we were both presenting at the Anchor Ministerial Fellowship conference in Cambridge. Jon and his family live in the Kitchener/Waterloo area presently and has worked and ministered extensively in the community space.
Jon is an Anglican priest and has developed his thesis on the relationship between Asset Based Community Development and the Faith Base.
Links:
Anchor Ministerial Session – 2023
Tamarack Community article
https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/local-business-benediction?hs_amp=true
The Connected Community by Cormac Russell and John McKnight
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
Olu Jegede
Jessie Knight
Godfrey Adderley
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:
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:
With hundreds of beautiful, historic church buildings slated to close across Canada, Trinity Centres Foundation is on a quest to keep the footprints of faith in the urban core. Although congregations may have aged out and unable to create the next chapter for their property, TCF brings together the faith community with a mix of investors, community partners and developers to work on strategies that prevent buildings from being lost the community forever.
In part two of our conversation with Graham Singh, we continue the much needed conversation to help mainline churches and entrepreneurs work together in making our cities better.
Links:
Part one of Graham Singh interview:
https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/graham-singh-and-the-story-of-st-jax
St Jax Church
https://www.stjaxchurch.org/en/home
Trinity Centres Foundation
Canadian Urban Institute
Le Monastère Cabaret de Cirque
https://le-monastere.ca/en/home-en/
Church Planting Canada
https://www.churchplantingcanada.ca/welcome
In today’s episode we discuss Graham’s journey to Montreal and St. Jax’s as a unique model of urban ministry.
Graham Singh is Founder and Executive Director of the Trinity Centres Foundation, a new Canadian charity established to transform 100 historic city centre church buildings into community hubs. TCF’s team of 50+ advisors from the social innovation, property finance, urbanism and faith sectors are currently developing what may become one of Canada’s most significant social purpose real estate investment offerings.
Over the past 12 years, Graham has led four historic building and community renewal projects in the United Kingdom and Canada, including in his current role as Rector of the Anglican Diocese of Montreal’ recent church plant, St Jax Montreal.
Graham also acts as a consultant in the area of social impact investing, in the private wealth management sector. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics, Cambridge University (Ridley Hall / St Mellitus College), the University of Western Ontario and Asbury Theological Seminary. He is currently enrolled in Oxford University’s Saïd Business School Impact Innovations Programme.
Brian Egert is the director of Mission Canada, and co-hosts the interview.
Links:
St Jax Church
https://www.stjaxchurch.org/en/home
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Trinity Centres Foundation
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Canadian Urban Institute
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Le Monastère Cabaret de Cirque
https://le-monastere.ca/en/home-en/
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Church Planting Canada
https://www.churchplantingcanada.ca/welcome
Kevin Rogers sits down with his longtime friend, 2fish band mate and co-pastor Kevin Saunders. On October 1st their 2 urban congregations in Windsor Ontario merged together to become more effective through multiple locations of ministry.
Hear their collective experiences and gained wisdom from being in urban ministry for the long haul.
Toque Evans?
Two Kevins’.
Earlier this summer I hosted a webinar with Steve Pike entitled ‘The Great Reset of Mission in the City’. Canadian urban leaders attended as we talked about 21st century realities of making disciples in our urban context.
Steve Pike has been at the forefront of church planting for thirty years. He served as founding director of Church Multiplication Network (CMN) for the Assemblies of God (USA) denomination.
Seeing a need for more church plants in cities, he founded Urban Islands Project, which exists to “increase the presence of the Church in the Urban O.”
He’s released a book entitled ‘Next Wave: Discovering the 21st Century Church’.
Links:
Previous interview with Steve Pike:
Season 2, Episode 9:
Steve Pike B: Next Wave website
Next Wave Book: Discovering the 21st Century Church
Urban Islands Project
Steve Pike has been at the forefront of church planting for thirty years. He served as founding director of Church Multiplication Network (CMN) for the Assemblies of God (USA) denomination.
Seeing a need for more church plants in cities, he founded Urban Islands Project, which exists to “increase the presence of the Church in the Urban O.” We’ll ask Steve to tell us about the Urban O.
He’s released a book entitled ‘Next Wave: Discovering the 21st Century Church’.
I’ve invited a couple friends into the conversation with Steve Pike.
Brian Egert is the director of Mission Canada, a Spirit-led agency of workers that reach into the gaps of Canadian culture where the church needs to go.
Paul Fraser is the director of the Multiply Network for the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, with a focus on encouraging a movement of church planters in Canada.
Read MoreThis is part 2 of our QUEST Conversation ‘Urban Churches in Canada’. Guests are Simon Gau (Vancouver), Debbie Kunst (Edmonton), Bruce Martin (Winnipeg), Olu Jegede (Toronto), Kyvenz Amadee (Montreal) and Chad Nickerson (St. John NB).
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Tim Keller writes, “Cities, quite literally, have more of the image of God per square inch than any other place on earth. How can we not be drawn to such masses of humanity if we care about the same things that God cares about?” [1] Timothy Keller, Center Church p.143
So what do we mean by the term ‘urban church’? Our working definition of urban includes High Density (population), High Diversity (culture) and High Disparity (socio-economic).
Each of our guests today are pastors in urban churches from coast to coast. Each urban centre is so different from the other, but we are finding lots of common ground in what it means to be an urban congregation.
Simon Gau is at Broadway Church in Vancouver, BC. He serves as the community pastor and Executive Director of Cityreach.
Debbie Kunst is the pastor of Edmonton’s Father’s House.
Bruce Martin is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Winnipeg, another historic Pentecostal congregation that has remained in the downtown core.
Across the Prairies, let’s land at YYZ. Pearson International Airport in Toronto. We’re renting a car and driving 20 kms NE to the Jane-Finch corridor. Olu Jegede is the senior pastor of Christian Centre Church.
Let’s get back on our private jet and fly to Montreal. Kyvenz Amedee is the pastor of Eglise Gospelvie, a multicultural church located in the heart of Montreal’s South-Central district.
And finally our Maritime urban pastor Chad Nickerson. He is at Calvary Temple in St. John, NB.
Broadway Church, Vancouver BC
https://www.broadwaychurch.com/
Cityreach
Simon Gau
Broadway Church, Vancouver
Edmonton Father’s House
http://edmontonfathershouse.org/index.html
Debbie Kunst interview from Season 1:
Video version:
Debbie Kunst
Bruce Martin
Christian Centre Church, Toronto
Inner City Outreach, Toronto
Olu Jegede from Season 1:
https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/gangland-preacher-olu-jegede
Olu Jegede
Inner City Outreach
Kyvenz Amadee
Calvary Temple, St. John NB
https://www.calvarytemplesj.com/
Chad Nickerson from Season 1:
Video version:
Aaron Mix Ross is the new pastor at Richmond Pentecostal Church in British Columbia. Prior to that he served on staff at Heartland Church in Mississauga and before that he was part of the pastoral team at Toronto’s Stone Church.
Aaron is an urban pastor with great insights into city life.
During his years at Stone Church he completed his PhD in theology at the University of Toronto's Wycliffe College. The title of his thesis was "The Heavens Have Become a Highway" The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada Northland Mission and the Indigenous Principle.
With one half living in major urban centres and two-thirds of the Metis living in cities, it’s a worthy exploration for every Canadian.
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