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Bulletin Board

Bulletin Board May 12

Bulletin Board is the Diocese’s bi-weekly e-bulletin for clergy and lay leaders. To subscribe to Bulletin Board, sign up online. To submit an item, email editor@toronto.anglican.ca.

Diocesan business

Diocese to collect online worship statistics
In light of COVID-19, the Diocese needs to find different ways of acknowledging and tracking congregations’ creative online worship responses. Within the next couple of weeks, congregations will receive a link to an online survey to capture some of this data. While not an official count that will be used to determine average weekly attendance (or Synod membership), this information will be collected as a component of the story of how congregations met the challenge of the pandemic and continued to share the gospel and tend their communities. As with parochial returns, the information you submit will be included in your congregation’s record. For more information, see the Measuring Online Worship document.

Donor offers FaithWorks matching grant
Our FaithWorks ministry partners continue to serve the most vulnerable members of society during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a generous donor has offered a $100,000 matching challenge grant for new and increased donations in 2020. That means for every dollar raised over last year’s amount, FaithWorks gets an extra dollar, multiplying the impact of donations. To find out how to donate, visit faithworks.ca.

Diocesan events

Christians join global wave of prayer
From the Ascension to Pentecost (May 21-31), Anglicans across the Diocese are invited to participate in Thy Kingdom Come, a global wave of prayer for more people to come to know Jesus Christ. The initiative will look different this year because of COVID-19, but you can find ideas about how to participate as individuals, families or church communities on the Thy Kingdom Come global website.

Online training considers COVID-19 re-entry
Rob Voyle, founder of the Appreciative Way training centre, is offering a three-week online course on basic appreciative inquiry with a focus on preparing congregations for re-entry after COVID-19. The course will run from May 20 through June 3. Participants will receive content through weekly 45-minute webinars you can watch on your own schedule. You will then meet by Zoom in a small group for an hour each week. The cost is $100. Clergy are encouraged to use their continuing education funds. To register, contact Elizabeth McCaffrey at emccaffrey@toronto.anglican.ca by Friday, May 15.

Diocese continues to live stream from cathedral
Services from St. James Cathedral are being live streamed each Sunday at 11 a.m. on the Diocese’s Facebook page and the diocesan website, with videos posted after the fact on YouTube.

Area events

Areas hold online stewardship workshops
Each episcopal area has been hosting online stewardship workshops, and still to come are the events for York-Scarborough and York-Simcoe. Peter Misiaszek, Director of Stewardship Development, and senior diocesan stewardship coaches will lead a conversation on stewardship strategies during the pandemic and the longer-term implications for parishes.

The sessions are open to area clergy, churchwardens, treasurers and stewardship chairs.

Online discussion explores children and youth ministry
York-Credit Valley’s “Church Online” discussions continue with the topic of children and youth ministry on May 12 and May 14. Join area colleagues to look at how to engage digitally with children and youth without seeming years out of date or looking like you’re trying too hard. These sessions are open to YCV clergy and relevant staff and lay leaders within your parish. Zoom meeting details will be sent after you register. Register online.

Area taskforce shares youth ministry resource
A resource on best practices for youth ministry prepared by the York-Credit Valley Children & Youth Ministry Taskforce is available for download. Anyone is welcome to view, share and download it. The taskforce is hosting a Facebook Live event on May 23 at 4:30 p.m., when it will answer questions and discuss each section in further depth. For notifications and more details, follow the Toronto Anglican Youth page on Facebook.

Area youth invited to Thy Kingdom Come event
York-Credit Valley youth and youth leaders are invited to save the date and plan to attend a Thy Kingdom Come beacon event on May 29 at 7 p.m. The area Children & Youth Ministry and Evangelism taskforces have partnered to curate a selection of resources available on the YCV Area Resources page. They have also created an Instagram invitation you can use to encourage others to come. Register online.

External events

Anglicans, Lutherans gather online for Pentecost
On Pentecost (May 31), Anglicans and Lutherans across Canada are invited to join online to worship, pray and sing together with the Holy Spirit. Want to be involved in this national celebration? Submit a video reciting the Lord’s Prayer by yourself or with your family in the language of your choosing. To learn more about the event and how to submit a video, visit the One Family in Mission website.

Resources

Tech mentorship available to parishes
The Congregational Development department is launching a small team of remote tech mentors who are available to help parishes set up online worship and small group meetings using digital media tools. Mentoring will take place through phone calls, video calls or email. If you would like to be paired with a mentor, or if you’d like to offer your skills as a mentor, contact Elizabeth McCaffrey, Volunteer Resources Coordinator, at emccaffrey@toronto.anglican.ca.

Reach More Grants fund innovative post-COVID initiatives
Do have ideas for local ministries that will help your church begin to gather and rebuild after the COVID-19 quarantine has ended? The Diocese is expanding the Reach Grant fund by $100,000 to provide resources for creative ministry at a time when many churches will be feeling financial stress. This program will provide one-time seed funding grants of $500-$5,000 for missional and attractional initiatives that will help us reconnect with each other and with our neighbours. To be eligible, your ministry initiative needs to be:

  • Local: in the neighbourhood and community around the church
  • Missional and/or attractional: reaching people with the gospel who aren’t currently being reached, or growing the congregation
  • Innovative: doing ministry in a way that is new and untested for the congregation

The Diocese invites initiatives that build on your learned experience of being Church during this pandemic and that point to new ways of being Church and sharing the gospel with our neighbours. For more information on how to apply, visit the Reach Grants page.

Area grant deadlines approaching
The deadline to apply for York-Credit Valley area grants has been extended to May 31. Visit the York-Credit Valley Grants page to learn more and download an application form.

The deadline for York-Scarborough ministry development and FaithWorks grants is June 10. For more details, visit the York-Scarborough Grants page.

Job posts

PWRDF seeking board nominations
The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) is seeking candidates for openings on the board of directors, honorary associates and a representative to the board of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Click on the links below to learn more:

Send nomination forms to Mishael David by May 29 at 4 p.m. Only nominees chosen to be interviewed will be contacted. Elections will be held at the annual general meeting in September.