Many Anglican Churches throughout the GTA, and the surrounding 905 area code, are experiencing decline. Congregations are aging. Churches have been closed as congregations have grown old and tired, and no longer have the vitality to continue; particularly where a shift has occurred in the demographics of the area. More recently, congregations are being encouraged to merge to try to create viable parishes once again. Such a merger was undertaken in Scarborough; another is in process in West Toronto. In other communities – like Peterborough – a cluster parish has been created with four locations and one team ministry in an effort to preserve a presence, while reducing costs. Churches buildings have been sold to realize capital to renovate other church buildings deemed strategic, and to fund new ones in the areas where population growth and new construction are occurring. Sadly, many of the buildings sold have been turned into lofts and other forms of residential accommodation.
It would appear to make sense to follow the course of new residential construction, and build churches in new communities where the church does not have a presence; while closing churches in the older parts of cities that have become commercial and business centres over the years. However that strategy is not yielding its desired result. Actually, many of the new residents of the growing communities around Toronto commute to the City for work. They sleep in the satellite communities, but are absent from them for 9 to 12 hours a day; sometimes more.
I have lived the life of a commuter. While living in Milton I worked at a large Insurance Company as Manager of its Financial Planning Division. I took the GO train to Toronto daily. It was a 12 hr day outside the home. There were only 3 trains daily each way, spread over a 45 minute window during the peak rush hours. To make the train downtown I left home at 7 am. Since my responsibilities included consulting with agents and managers across Canada, I was often on the last train home, arriving at my door at 7 pm. Should I miss that train, my alternative was the “milk run”, a GO Bus leaving from York Mills Subway; in which case I arrived home considerably later. Needless to say I was not up for Church meetings during the week. Saturday was for chores and family time. On Sunday I did go to Church if I was not training with my Reserve Regiment. Friends and neighbours in Milton had similar experiences.
Today, the situation for a commuter is likely worse. Families have been forced to move further and further out of Toronto to find affordable homes, and / or more space. In Millbrook – my last parish, in the Peterborough area – there are recently built subdivisions right behind the church. Sadly, none of the many children living in those homes attended our Church. Few of the families attended any church for that matter, unless they were retired. The subdivision was, for the most part, populated with commuters – working mainly in Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, and many in the GTA. Quite a few took the GO bus to Oshawa, and changed to a GO train for the trip to Toronto.
People are commuting to Toronto, in cars and by the GO system, from all of the communities along the 401, Hwy 35/115, the 404, and 400 highways. They come from as far out as Cobourg, Peterborough, Barrie , Georgetown and Kitchener-Waterloo every day. Union Station, in downtown Toronto, is Canada’s busiest transportation hub, welcoming 65 million GO Transit, VIA Rail and TTC passengers annually. Ninety-one percent of GO Train customers ride to and from Union Station; with approximately 200,000 customers passing through the GO Concourse every day. More come into the Union Station GO Bus Terminal, directly across from the railway terminal. There are 631 bus trips arriving at or departing from this terminal every weekday, up from 275 when it first opened.
In addition to all of these people, many commute to downtown Toronto from their residences within the GTA. Line 1, the YONGE-UNIVERSITY-SPADINA SUBWAY, handles 731,880 passenger trips per day. Line 2, the BLOOR-DANFORTH SUBWAY, handles 509,810 passenger trips per day. With connections, the daily commute for people using the TTC from Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough can easily be as lengthy as that of people using the GO system from communities in the “905” belt around the city.
These commuters have little time for church meetings at night, during the week. The “honey-do” list is still the norm on Saturday, and Sunday morning is the time many children’s sporting activities are scheduled; and then there are the local farmer’s markets, auction sales, The Lion’s Club breakfasts, children’s birthday parties, and so on – all scheduled on Sunday – which keep people away from Church.
It isn’t that people commuting to Toronto are not interested in God or spirituality. Rev Ryan Sim, planting “The Redeemer” Anglican church in Ajax, identified that commuters using public transit had a window of time for Christian study during their commute. He developed an IPhone app called “Redeem the Commute” that has over 3,000 participants taking Christianity 101, Marriage courses, and Bible studies on their IPhone while they travel to and from work. However, efforts to build community by face-to-face programs held in Ajax-Pickering, and Sunday “Family”Church have not translated into new members of Redeemer Church as quickly as necessary to financially sustain the work without continued Diocesan funding.
The missing link, in my opinion, is face-to-face community building where the participants have time they can control near their workplace – before work, after work and at lunch. For many years such was part of my life. As a financial services practitioner I attended and spoke at many breakfast, lunch, and after work meetings. As a member of the Board of The King-Bay Chaplaincy, this was also the case. It was a part of life in the downtown business community; and I believe it remains so today.
St. Stephen’s Chapel (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto), at Bay and Richmond, provides some proof for my contention that people can and will make time for God during their work day. Monday to Friday, St Stephen’s offers mass at 8:10, 12:10, 1:10 and 5:10. An average of 500 people per day come for communion – that’s 2,500 per week, a very substantial parish in any denomination’s terms. The service is about 25 minutes in length, including a brief reflection. It has been structured to give people 10 minutes travel time from work to the chapel, and time to grab a bite on the way or something to eat at their desk. Pastoral services are available throughout the day by appointment. Between services, the Chapel is open for prayer and contemplation.
St Stephen’s only does weekday services and seminars, and does not intend to replace anyone’s local parish church. However, it is recognized that Mass at St Stephen’s may in fact be “church” for some of those who attend. It is hoped, however, that in time people will connect to a local parish.
St Stephen’s provides an example to us, Anglicans, of what can be done to build the kingdom where we are planted – by serving those who cannot, yet, find the space to worship God in the communities in which they live.
However, it is difficult to serve an itinerant population with our parish-based system. The number of Sunday communicants determines representation at Synod, for example, and is the reporting yardstick for the Incumbent’s annual return. Long term parishioners can also be disconcerted by too many strangers in their midst, or meeting in their building at other than regular service times.
For such reasons growing a workplace ministry is, perhaps, better accomplished with a dedicated team of people with a heart for such work; and in the midst of the workplace, not on its periphery. To serve the downtown Toronto financial district, for example, such a ministry really needs to be in the district bounded by Dundas, King, University and Yonge. It also needs to be funded “off balance-sheet”, independent of any expectation of Diocesan support; since it would – by intention – not offer Sunday services, and therefore could not be represented at Synod.
The New Monasticism can provide a vehicle for the creation of an Apostolate to do such work.
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