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
Today, I’m talking with Doctor Meera Grover who works in Calgary, Alberta extensively in the field of addiction medicine.
Working in Vancouver’s notorious downtown eastside to pay for her theological education at Regent College, Meera Grover was faced with questions about whether or not providing people who use drugs with sterile supplies and a place to inject contravened her faith. She knew she wanted to care for people with addiction but did not know how to do so in a way that fit with her own moral code.
She wrestled with these questions over the years and through her transition, from nursing to becoming a fully licensed physician who specializes in addiction medicine.[1]
Meera has written a book entitled “Why I Help People Take Drugs”. In this interview we delve into the often contested practice of harm reduction and the importance of the human connection in addressing addiction issues.
Link:
Dr. Meera Bai Grover
[1] Benjamin Perrin, flyleaf of ‘Why I Help People Take Drugs’
Timothy Meisenheimer has spent decades on the streets with beatitude vision, first in Ottawa and now in Windsor, Ontario. This was his session at the Our City Windsor 2024 conference. Tim takes seriously the path of Jesus in his sidewalk vision of the Kingdom of God.
Links:
Urban Cry School of Mission
https://www.facebook.com/urbancryschoolofmission
Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative
Capital City Mission
https://capitalcitymission.com/
The Ottawa Mission
This is my interview with Andy Gabruch. Besides being a husband to Annick and father of four teens, he is the pastor of Home Church, formerly known as Vancouver Chinese Pentecostal Church.
Andy has his Doctor of Ministry in semiotic studies on Christ, culture and the Church from George Fox University and teaches the Contemporary Communication Course at Summit Pacific College.
Dr. Andy Gabruch has a mentoring ministry called DUCO, meaning “to lead for today.” Since 2016, DUCO has intentionally mentored forty plus young leaders towards full-time ministry, coached dozens of churches on leading, reaching, and discerning younger generations, various strategic projects with non-profit organizations, and planted five next-generation ministries when he was the Next Generations Director with the PAOC British Columbia and Yukon District.
He has written dozens of resources on ministerial leadership and discipleship and is releasing his first book, Infobesity: How to be Followers of Jesus in an Information Overload World.
Links:
Infobesity Assessment (Promo Code: DUCO)
www.andygabruch.com/redeemdigitalspaces
Infobesity the Book
Redeeming Suffering: Contact Andy at duco@andygabruch.com
You’re Not Listening by Katie Murphy
https://www.journalistkatemurphy.com/#ynlbook
The Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/313653/the-organized-mind-by-daniel-j-levitin/
Grit by Angela Duckworth
(Recorded at Our City Windsor 2024)
No one is exempt from the impacts of grief and loss. When serving others in community it is imperative that we learn to recognize when and how their grief is showing up. However, it is just as important to learn how our own grief impacts our ability to serve others. Kim Court and her husband Mike Morency help participants better understand grief and provide tips on how they can help others, and themselves.
For the past 25 years, Kim Court (M.S.W., R.S.W.) has provided a safe place for individuals and families to reflect and experience personal growth. She values the uniqueness of each individual’s journey, and supports people of all ages as they become empowered to reach their goals.
As a Christian counsellor, Kim is experienced in helping people with struggles related to trauma, separation/divorce, anxiety, depression, attachment, parent-child, and family conflict, all through the lens of evidence-based practice and the Gospel. She is a certified Grief Educator, and is trained in, Brief Solution Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and Collaborative Problem Solving.
Alongside her husband, and on her own, Kim provides engaging workshops and lectures on a wide array of topics.
Mike is Executive Director of Matthew House Refugee Centre which provides temporary shelter and settlement services for Refugee Claimants. He is a team pastor at New Song Church and a frequent speaker at conferences and retreats. Mike is passionate about helping the people of God find ways to “live out” Christ in the world.
He is also Lead Strategist for Synergistic Solution Groups where he assists churches and community charities develop effective strategies to increase their impact.
Additional resources:
Exploring the Companioning Model of Grief Care
https://youtu.be/pOlgifO9TEA?si=WcnesOUS2Q8uH9wS
My Grief
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:
With almost 30 years of ministry experience, Cal and Chrissy Krahn have often been drawn to those outside of the church walls. As urban workers with Mission Canada, based in Montreal, Quebec, they care for those around them who are lonely, hurting, or in need of a friend. This can be through involvement at the local food bank, sharing a meal or a coffee with someone, connecting newcomers to Canada with helpful resources, or simply giving a granola bar to a person who’s hungry.
In the words of Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM), "When you take up residence among them, you have an opportunity to do things for transforming that community and those people not only spiritually, but it will change their lives economically, socially, and educationally, and all the things that follow. YOU can make a difference in the world.”
In a province where less than 1% of the population attend an evangelical service on a Sunday morning, and where many do not trust religion or have been hurt, Cal and Chrissy desire to embody "the Jesus way" by living their lives based on the example of Christ - full of generosity, hospitality, and love.
Links:
Mission Canada Profile Page
https://paoc.org/canada/workers/cckrahn
Today I’m talking with my friend Jessica Disabatino. Jess and her husband Dave co-lead Journey Church in Calgary. Our connection goes back to the early 2000’s when they were pastoring Lakeshore Church in Toronto. We began dreaming together with Braeside Camp to launch Camp Inner Change, a week of summer camp for inner city children and youth.
Eventually Dave and Jess moved to Calgary to lead Journey Church. Jess also worked for a season in the lead team of Mission Canada.
She has also been a podcaster and a frequent speaker at conferences.
Links:
Journey Church, Calgary
Braeside Camp
Down To Earth Podcast
Braden Brodeur is a youth worker at Marketplace Chapel at the West Edmonton Mall. The chapel is staffed by Christians and provides spiritual and religious care to shoppers, employees, and wanderers. He is in process to become a Mission Canada urban worker.
The West Edmonton Mall is the 2nd largest mall in North America at 5.3 million square feet.
West Edmonton Mall has over 800 stores and services including nine attractions, two hotels and over 100 dining venues in the complex, and parking for more than 20,000 vehicles. More than 24,000 people are employed at the property. The mall receives about 32 million visitors per year; it attracts between 90,000 and 200,000 shoppers daily, depending on the day and season.
Braden currently interacts with 100 youth on a weekly basis.
Links:
Marketplace Chapel
West Edmonton Mall
Mission Canada Profile
David Wells is the General Superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies Of Canada and an avid devotee to urban ministry in Canada. This is one of his plenary sessions at the Our City Scarborough Conference held at Global Kingdom Ministries in November 2023.
In this session he speaks on ‘The New Humanity - In The City’. This is a call to reveal God’s character and light by exhibiting His peace (Shalom).
Read More
Today on the podcast we are taking a virtual walk on the sidewalks of Vancouver’s Downtown East Side and having a conversation with Aaron White.
Aaron is a pastor, justice worker and prayer instigator in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver for the past 20 years, where he lives with his wife and four children in a community home. He’s part of the team at Jacob’s Well, an ecumenical Christian centre of hospitality where his job description is resident theologian.
He is the co-author of Revolution and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Kingdom of God; co-creator of The Creative Way Down discipleship resource; and author of his newest book Recovering: From Brokenness and Addiction to Blessedness and Community.
Along with one of my previous guests Dave Carrol (Captain Kindness), he co-hosts the Two Wise Fools podcast, a light-hearted and sometimes emphatically, truthful conversation about all things sacred and profane.
Links:
Recovering Book
https://bakeracademic.com/p/Recovering-Aaron-White/41667
Jacob’s Well
Two Wise Fools Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/two-wise-fools/id1547557549
For thirty years, The Extreme Tour have partnered with community groups and clubs, civic organizations, churches, schools, government agencies and municipalities that are working charitably to meet the needs of the disenfranchised.
Collectively they have been in hundreds of communities scattered throughout 20 countries bringing music, art, spoken word, etc. They are musicians on mission and people that want to serve.
In mid-September they spent a week in Windsor, Ontario assisting New Song Church and Feeding Windsor-Essex. This is our round table conversation about who they are and the unique work that they are called to.
Links:
The Extreme Tour
https://www.theextremetour.com/
Danyelle Speaks
https://www.danyellespeaks.com/
Idiomz Da Prophesayer
Manny Hubbard (Flamuel)
https://www.youtube.com/@MannyHubbardMusic
Samuel Kislow (Salmon Friends)
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
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
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
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:
