Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Member church of the Lutheran World Federation

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St. Philip’s Lutheran Church receives $37,500 to address COVID-19 food insecurity in Toronto

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Emergency Community Support Fund grant provides fresh food to 75 families in need

St. Philip’s Lutheran Church is thrilled to receive a grant of $37,500 through United Way of Greater Toronto. This funding means St. Philip’s can provide fresh food to 75 families once a week for two months through its Neighbourhood Table @ Home program.

“We are blessed and overjoyed to be amongst the recipients of this generous grant,” says Pastor Tuula Van Gaasbeek. “Timing is everything, and now we can keep supporting our neighbours through the fall. With more money, we’re adding 10 families to our roster of participants for a total of 75.”

Securing this funding will allow St. Philip’s to help families in central Etobicoke—serving vulnerable Canadians amidst the COVID-19 pandemic—by delivering produce boxes and fresh bread.

“We are also grateful to our volunteer drivers, who are playing an integral role in the program’s success,” says Van Gaasbeek.

Fall programming is aimed at parents and developing their food skills.

“We will have weekly themes supported by Zoom sessions on food preparation and loot bags with tools or products related to the theme,” says project coordinator Eunice Hogeveen.

The grant is funded by the Government of Canada; the $350 million Emergency Community Support Fund aims to help community-based organizations that serve a pressing social inclusion or well-being need caused by COVID-19.

The demand for fresh, nutritious food remains high in central Etobicoke as the pandemic drags on.

“The Neighbourhood Table @ Home was our way of pivoting during the coronavirus lockdown—normally, we’d host families at our church through a summer program called The Neighbourhood Table,” says Hogeveen. “Our congregation put our heads together and quickly found a way to continue nurturing relationships in the community. We’re feeding families and planting seeds of love and hope right at their doorstep.”

A Person of Hope and Kindness

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The time of COVID-19 has sped up what is a very fast-paced ministry on any given day, says Rev. Dan Bowyer, who serves as the chaplain at Trinity Village, Kitchener, a long-term care centre that is a ministry of the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, full-communion partner of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Asked if in retrospect he felt adequately prepared for dealing with the pandemic crisis in his role as a healthcare chaplain, Bowyer points out that he is thankful that he has served in ordained ministry in the Diocese of Huron for fourteen years before accepting this role at a long-term care facility.

“The chaplaincy ministry at Trinity Village is not one that I would have wanted to begin without having had some pastoral experience in ordained ministry”, says Bowyer.

   He admits that he often found himself recalling the words of his supervisor at his parish internship placement back in the summer of 2005, before he was ordained:

“He pointed out the importance of being present in the moment, so that God’s presence could be made known for those I am called to serve in the times of great pastoral need and to find time afterwards to do my own processing.  I have never forgotten this, and it has been particularly helpful now.”

Part of the stress during the pandemic has come from the unpredictability of what each day will bring, says Bowyer. Strict rules introduced at the home care facility have imposed various limitations to the usual way of providing his ministry. Worship, discussion groups, music ministries – all activities he typically leads or co-ordinates at Trinity Village – require group gatherings, and those have been on hold for months. Rev. Bowyer’s role has been directed to one-on-one spiritual and pastoral daily support. And this has been done in difficult circumstances with limited movements throughout the facility while wearing personal protective equipment.

    “We have to change into new PPE when we move from one area of Trinity Village to another and I change into new PPE immediately after I have visited and offered prayer in the room of a resident who has COVID-19”, says Bowyer.

   As the numbers of infected declines and life at the residence slowly returns to what resembles the “old normal”, the chaplain is able to contemplate on what has given him strength to persist in his role in the last several months.

   “This experience has shown me that God’s presence is faithful in the midst of challenges. Prayer and the knowledge of God’s guidance with me, first and foremost has been the source of my strength, hope and encouragement”, reflects Bowyer.

   Many of the staff have told Rev. Dan that prayer has helped them in their everyday tasks throughout these difficult times.

   “Dan’s gentle words of comfort and encouragement gave many of us the strength and courage”, says Charlotte, Trinity Village RPN summing up a notion which emerged at this time of crisis – that having a chaplain on staff at any long term centre is a necessity.

READ REV. HILTON GOMES’ STORY: ‘Give the best you have, and it will never be enough’

   For Trinity Village residents and their families these last few months have only reaffirmed that Rev. Dan Bowyer’s presence covers much more than providing religious services. In the words of Natalie, one of the family members, the time of anxiousness and fear amplified the need to have a chaplain at the long-term care facility, especially one like Rev. Dan:

   “He is a person of hope and calmness – a reason to smile”.

Rev. Dan Bowyer is thankful to his wife Sarah who has been a constant support amid his exhaustion. He has also much appreciated the pastoral care and support of Bishop Todd who has checked in with him pastorally numerous times.  His gratitude goes to Bishop Mike at the Eastern Synod of the ELCiC, his Archdeacon Megan and all colleagues in the Deanery of Waterloo of the Diocese of Huron who have assured him of their prayers and have sent gifts to Trinity Village for the staff, like donations of lunch and “ear savers” for staff’s masks.

   “I have been blessed by God’s work through so many different people to make known his presence both with me and with Trinity Village in these days”, concludes Rev. Bowyer.

Davor Milicevic
From the Huron Church News
Used with permission

Filling a Fresh Produce Gap

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Impacts of COVID-19 have been immense.   On the top of the list for too many Canadians is greater food insecurity.  We at St. Philip’s Lutheran Church noticed the needs for food growing in the neighbourhood around us.  A nearby food bank had closed, the calls to the church for food had increased and our neighbourhood partner organizations told us about increased concerns among their clients.

So we made a decision to pivot from our summer program ‘The Neighbourhood Table’ to ‘The Neighbourhood Table at Home’.  

“We delivered COVID-19 response emergency Good Food boxes from FoodShare”

With our two partners, The Arab Community Centre of Toronto and Polycultural Immigration and Community Services, we identified the most needy families within proximity of the church.   With funding from the Eastern Synod Mission Grant, our own fund-raising efforts and a $10,000 grant through Good Food Access Fund, we were able to scope our program for 65 families for 8 weeks.

On Thursdays, a FoodShare truck pulled into our parking lot mid-afternoon.  The driver unloaded 65 produce boxes filled with fresh vegetables and fruits along with loaves of fresh bread.  At 4pm, 12 driving teams arrived, got their route maps and headed out. 

And in an effort to build community with the families we included family-friendly activities around food.  For example, this is the little planting kit that went out in week one. Other fun and educational resources for children and adults were available on Google Classroom.  We encouraged engagement on social media with our #NHTathome. 

Additional funding from Good Food Access Fund acquired late in the program will allow us to wrap up with the delivery of $150 of grocery gift cards to each family.  

Our volunteer drivers can absolutely attest to the gratitude of the families. They also expressed their own gratitude to be part of a community effort in the time of COVID.  If there is any uncertainty about whether the program made a difference in the lives of these families, you just need to know about one phone call.  My cell phone rang on a Thursday afternoon two weeks after we had finished our 8- week program. A young child told me his mom had asked him to call and ask why we had not delivered boxes in the past two weeks? 

Rev. Tuula Van Gaasbeek

Bethesda Sharecroppers

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On July 8, a group of members from Bethesda Lutheran Church gathered at a distance at our Sharecropper Growing project  to share a blessing for a good harvest.  The crop, 50 acres of winter soft red wheat, will probably be harvested about two weeks on. The site is on the SW corner of Warden Avenue and the Stouffville Road in Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON. The crop and land are provided by Galten Farms operated by Arthur Schickedanz and his family and supported by the Bethesda Lutheran Church in Unionville.  We have also been supported by St. Johns United Church in Oakville over the past number of years.

   Pastor Roy Thakurdyal based his blessing on a scripture passage from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 9, including verses beginning at 6 “The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance so that by always having enough of everything you may share abundantly in every good work…. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us.  For the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. …..Thanks be to God for his indescribable gifts!” 

   It was a beautiful but hot late afternoon as the group gathered to share this blessing. Those present were pleased to gather at a distance in the outdoors to share in this blessing at a time when the pandemic of COVID-19 is bringing great harm to the entire world. The need for aid has never been greater and we hope this project and the generous donations from members of the congregation will demonstrate the thankfulness of the members of Bethesda for the life of plenty we enjoy in Canada today.

Official Historian

Confirmation in a Pandemic

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July 12 2020 was a special day for the South Grey Bruce Lutheran parish of Mildmay, Normanby and Neustadt as the congregation witnessed 6 young people affirm their baptism promise. After studying for two years, these young people and their families were not going to let something like a pandemic stop this celebration! Oh, and did I mention that I arrived as their pastor just weeks before Covid isolation began? The final confirmation class was an email assignment.
 

   Following heath guidelines, one family bubble at a time (up to 9 people) gathered in the church each week over 5 weeks to participate in the worship recording for that Sunday, and to celebrate with the young person as faith was professed. The parents or sponsors were invited to ‘lay on hands’ as the pastor spoke the blessing and prayer to “stir up the gift of the Holy Spirit”. It was a powerful moment.
   The congregation was represented by a ‘word cloud’ – an idea suggested by Sandra Powell, a friend from Resurrection Halifax. Members of the congregation sent words of welcome, faith and congratulations for each confirmand, so no two clouds were the same. These were put on a card along with a personal verse of scripture, and presented to each person. The family celebrated Holy Communion together and then photographs were taken
   Each confirmation was recorded and it is a sign of the connectedness of this community that the families wanted to have all of the individual affirmation events broadcast to the congregation on the same date. Thus followed several hours of learning how to edit and combine videos and the result was shared on July 12 as part of the South Grey Bruce worship broadcast. (www.sweetlutheran.com)A confirmation collage was created from individual photographs for the archives.
   We are excited and blessed to have these young people continue to grow in faith as part of this parish.

Rev Pam McNeil

A Web of Pandemic Prayer

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Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Halifax, Nova Scotia has been praying!

And what a web of prayers it has become!

Started by Rev. Dr. Kimber McNabb, the community has quickly joined in! She writes, “The tags have names on them for people, and congregation members, who have asked for prayer. There is a NS tartan ribbon woven in after the gun massacre in April. The red yarn represents the life of a RCMP officer who was shot in the line of duty. There are paper strips with words of prayer over #blacklivesmatter and reconciliation with Indigenous people’s. It is always interesting to see people stop and read what is in the web.”

What prayer would you add?