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Connection
LEADERSHIP
The Next Faithful Step: A Cyclical PCC Gathering
6 SPRING 2023
PRESBYTERIAN
presbyterian.ca
By the Rev. Rebecca Simpson, Cyclical PCC Cohort Director and Coach
“As ones who are hungry, telling others where food is to be found, we point to life in Christ.” These words from Living Faith: A State- ment of Christian Belief (9.2.1) are my favourite. Knowing deeply my own need for life in Christ, I am eager to point others to the place I have found fulfillment in Christ. This attitude of humble excitement at the potential of new life was typical of the participants at the Cyclical PCC gathering in November 2022.
Organized by Jeffrey Crawford and Jennifer de Combe of the PCC, along with Cyclical Inc. Executive
Director Nick Warnes, a dynamic group of new witnessing com- munity starters met for learning, inspiration and refreshment. After not gathering in-person for a long time because of the pandemic, we were eager for encouragement that comes with being together.
As church planters and new worshipping community star t- ers, we yearn for more—more of the Word of God, more exam- ples of the Holy Spirit at work in the world, more opportunities to share the Good News of Christ’s invitation to new life with others.
Our time together fed our yearning for Christian community. We shared our stories of struggle and triumph, our progress and the signs of new life sprouting up in
Participants gathered for “The Next Faithful Step,” a four-day Cyclical PCC event for church starters and coaches at Crieff Hills Community in November 2022.
the people we serve.
My hope is that Christ has
come, is among us now and will come again, the signs of which are budding all around us every day. At this gathering, I witnessed passionate leaders paying close attention to the small communi- ties their leadership is poised to bless in Christ’s name. There were leaders called to provide spiritual nurture to artists, to the disenfranchised, to single par- ents, to new communities, to people living in remote places and to communities of newcom- ers to Canada. The leaders who gathered at the Cyclical confer- ence are keenly aware of the need
to help the church re-engage, in creative ways, the mission God has given it.
You have heard the motto “go big or go home.” Maybe a new motto to embrace is “go marginal, go small, go a few at a time, go as you can, go to who will have you, just go and see what happens.” I know, it is not pithy enough, but it challenges us. What is keeping us from experimenting with new ministry ideas in our own com- munities? What is holding us back from risking some resourc- es on a new ministry idea that is relevant to our context, despite some doubts? Perhaps we fear it “won’t be big enough” or it “won’t
last.”
In the group of dedicated leaders
of new worshipping communities, I saw God’s hand at work, calling us to the margins, to the particular, to those for whom Christ has so much love. Calling us to try some- thing new and trust that God’s promise, that the Holy Spirit is with us, will prosper our mission to love our God and our neighbours as ourselves with all our hear ts, souls, minds and strengths.
Cyclical PCC has taught me to “go marginal, go small, go a few at a time, go as you can, go to who will have you, just go and see what happens” and trust that in Christ all will be fed.
Relocation of National Church Office
A rendering of what the new building for the national office will look like at Bloor Street United Church in Toronto.
By Cindy Stephenson, convener, National Property Committee
After several years of discussion within the PCC about the options and benefits of relocating the denomination’s offices from 50
Wynford Drive, in Nov. 2022 the Assembly Council directed its Ex- ecutive Committee to finalize the details of a sublease for space at 300 Bloor Street West in Toronto.
The new office space will be available for occupancy after
March 2026 and will be part of a larger redevelopment that will incorporate shared facilities with the national offices of the United Church of Canada and the Angli- can Church in Canada, plus Bloor Street United Church and residen- tial condominiums. It is the plan of the redevelopment to also ac- commodate the Archives on site.
Successive Assembly Coun- cil decisions have been sup- portive of the strategic direction of co-locating with ecumenical partners, while benefiting from significantly lower-than-market rental rates. Sharing space will facilitate dialogue, innovation and sharing of best practices and ideas. Staff within the office have been considering the opportuni- ties for shared services and are identifying early efficiencies in purchasing office equipment and insurance.
The PCC will require 3,500 square feet of office space as well as space to accommodate the ar- chives in the redeveloped site.
The new office spaces have been designed to comply with the
Toronto Green Standards Tier 1 version 3. In this way, the design will meet sustainability criteria comparable to the LEED Silver certification. The location is very easily accessible by subway, al- lowing a reduction in individual vehicle use for commuting.
All in all, the stewardship im- pacts of the move will be signifi- cant.
Over the next few years, the work of attending to the many details related to such a large and exciting change can begin in ear-
nest.
The National Property Com-
mittee of the Assembly Council (Len Chapman, Thomas Guillot, Peter Kinch, the Rev. Bethany Mc- Caffrey, the Rev. Dr. Bob Smith, Cindy Stephenson, convener, and the Management Team of national office) also has the responsibil- ity of studying the benefits and shortfalls of retaining or selling 50 Wynford Drive and making recommendations to the Assem- bly Council. This work will also be initiated in the coming months.
Bloor Street United Church in Toronto, located at 300 Bloor Street, two blocks east of Spadina Road, started life as Bloor Street Presbyterian Church. The cornerstone of the first building was laid in 1886, when Toronto had a population of fewer than 9,000 people. At that time, the church was in the outskirts and there were farms in the area. As Toronto grew, a new church was built on the site to accommodate up to 1,200 people. Among those who were part of the congregation at that time were many members of the faculty and staff at Knox College, which was located just a few blocks away. Today, the active United Church congregation shares space with City Shul, a downtown Jewish congregation.