https://holyblossom.org/gifts-of-light/

Register for in-person and online here!
 

9:30 am - St Clair Ave entrance

In 1996, the Aboriginal Rights Coalition worked with Indigenous elders and teachers to develop an interactive way of learning the history most Canadians are never taught. The Blanket Exercise was the result; it has since been offered thousands of times and the fourth edition was released in 2016.

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How it works

The Blanket Exercise is based on using Indigenous methodologies and the goal is to build understanding about our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada by walking through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance. Everyone is actively involved as they step onto blankets that represent the land, and into the role of First Nations, Inuit and later Métis peoples. By engaging on an emotional and intellectual level, the Blanket Exercise effectively educates and increases empathy.

Where and how

The Blanket Exercise itself takes about an hour and should always be followed by a talking circle which often requires at least another hour. With youth, ninety minutes for both the Blanket Exercise and debrief is sometimes feasible.

Please note, we require that people undergo facilitator training before accessing the scripts. In addition, if you are non-Indigenous, please ensure you are working in partnership with Indigenous facilitators and Elders when using this teaching tool.

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Want to know more?

Vist the KAIROS Blanket Exercise Website

Hosted by SMAA Sunday May 15th 

On Saturday February 26th I got home after spending several hours outside participating in Coldest Night of the Year: an annual national sponsored walk that raises money for charities who work with people who are hungry, hurting or homeless. I'd been outdoors, walking and organizing for four hours and as I opened the door I realised just how tired, cold and hungry I was. I sat down on my very comfortable couch - my dog jumped up on my lap - my son was making dinner and I found myself thinking - aren't I fortunate? What's to say that my life might not be different - that I might not have a loving home to go to - that I might not have a meal to feed my hungry belly - that I might not have someone to care when the days are rough... Saturday - thousands of people across Canada joined Coldest Night of the Year, walking to fundraise for charities who are working directly with those who are not as fortunate as me. I was walking for St. Michael and All Angels.

 

St. Michael & All Angels was steadily plodding along in outreach  through a small one-room foodbank and a faithful weekly

out-of-the-cold program before Covid hit - but since March 2020, we have been called to become a focal point, safe space, community awareness champion. Because of the crippling effects of Covid for so many in the community - our work has

increased by over 300% (not a typo). So what do we do? 

 

1)The Beeton Cupboard foodbank (including clothing and household items - home-made baked goods...) 

2)The garden work (Including education, seedling giveaways, community gardening) 

3)Our non-faith based youth group (giving our youth a safe space to grow and recognize their worth...) 

4)A thriving volunteer network (over 40 people volunteer through the outreach work we do) 

5)Sunday out-of-the-cold lunches 

6)Family support outreach

7) The Underground Cafe - extending community one coffee at a time

8)A free CRA tax Clinic - helping those who have less keep what they have.

9) Upcoming workshops to support and educate those who are trying to break the cycle of poverty.

 

For those of you who have been able to walk, lead or donate to the work we do -

a HUGE thank you from all of us who work, volunteer, receive and/or find dignity through the outreach

work at St. Michaels. If you would like to donate or learn more about us and what we do -

please email us at smaachurchoffice@gmail.com.

 

                                                  To learn more about Coldest Night of the Year visit cnoy.org.

Here we are Lord: Use us!

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“Let’s go!” program engages youth in community building at St. Michael & All Angels

Not even the COVID-19 pandemic could stop the people of St. Michael and All Angels in Toronto’s

Wychwood-Hillcrest neighbourhood from connecting with their community. “We have carefully run

active outreach ministries since the

beginning of the pandemic with no cases of COVID-19 present,” says Jenni King-Feheley, Lay Pastor

and Director of Community Building and Spiritual Engagement.

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Central to the church’s community ministries are the Beeton Cupboard Foodbank, the Out of the Cold

Sunday lunches, and The Underground Café that provides a safe inclusive space for up to 30 individuals

every Friday morning. King-Feheley explains that throughout the pandemic the church has focused on

building trust and assuring volunteers and program participants alike of firm safety measures.

The net result has been an increase in the favourable reputation of the church, and an increase in the

numbers of young people reaching out, asking to do volunteer work.

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Enter the Let’s Go! program, for which St. Michael and All Angels received a 2021 Say Yes! to Kids grant from the Anglican Foundation of Canada. “Though the children and youth are not present at these outreach programs, we give them opportunities to bake cookies and cakes for the Sunday lunches, take an active role in the annual food drive, and get their hands dirty, addressing climate change & food security, by helping out in our community food garden.”

Launched this past November, Let’s Go! has expanded the church’s youth-oriented programs and includes the services of a part-time children and youth ministry coordinator who works alongside the growing youth volunteer network, now nearly 60 strong. King-Feheley says young people want to make a difference in their community, and Let’s Go! gives them practical opportunities to do that.

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While St. Michael and All Angels is a church that is programmatically diverse, King-Feheley has some simple advice for those who are seeking to branch out into community and youth-focused ministries. “Start small. Begin where God puts you not where you want to be. Our role as a church is to ‘Love thy neighbour.’ God says: ‘Welcome the children’ and that’s what we’re doing. It begins with the ministry of presence with our eyes open saying, ‘Here I am Lord, use me.’”

Part of the church’s success in connecting with young people includes the community partnerships that have been fostered over the past four years. “We have a healthy relationship with two local schools, one scout movement and two Girl Guide programs, all of whom have invited us to come and speak about food security and have joined in various ways to help those most vulnerable in our community,” says King-Feheley.

To those churches that might feel anxious about attempting to partner with schools, King-Feheley says she can relate. “Five or six years ago I felt nervous, too. Reaching young people is challenging due to the decline in trust of the church universal and fears about what might be taught.” Her best advice is to “Trust that God will and does show us the way. And if we are going with a hidden agenda we shouldn’t go.”

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St. Michael and All Angels is situated in Toronto’s St. Clair West corridor, between Bathurst and Oakwood. “We have many families who are financially very stable,” says King-Feheley, “and a large number who are on some form of governmental assistance. Even as we receive calls from families whose children would like to help us, we also receive calls from other families who do not know how to support their children through these difficult times.”

Thankfully, St. Michael and All Angels continues to strengthen community connections, for all concerned, impacting hundreds of lives for the better.

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For more information about Say Yes! to Kids 2022 and how your parish can benefit from this nationwide peer-to-peer fundraising campaign visit Say Yes! to Kids – Anglican Foundation of Canada or email Michelle Hauser, AFC’s Development and Communications Consultant at mhauser@anglicanfoundation.org.

Jenni King-Feheley, Lay Pastor and Director of Community Building and Spiritual Engagement at St. Michael and All Angels in Toronto

Meeting ID: 594 268 086

Passcode: 848886

Dial in by phone: 647-374-4685

This link can be used for all Sunday worship services, weekly bible study meetings, Community Coffee Hour on Fridays, and special services such as Ash Wednesday.

Please email the office for the Zoom link to children & family ministry programs

(eg. Messy Church, Fantastic Friends in Faith)