TEMC Blog

Friends I am so glad to introduce you to one of the most innovative ministries I know in Canada, and worldwide. Because they’re coming to our church.

One thing I’ve learned as I’ve gotten to know United Church polity is that it is really, really hard to change our church’s foundation.

How does it feel as you prepare to leave TEMC?

I feel a lot of emotions. First it was bittersweet, then straight-up sad, and now I’m back to bittersweet. I’ve had an amazing time here. Now it’s time to go and do other things, to better myself and my career. So it’s a bittersweet time for me.

So here’s a wild idea for the new year. I usually resolve to lose weight or spend my time more wisely or take up some hobby that actually takes decades to learn. This far more reasonable. 

What if we worshiped in different spaces?

An interview by Rev. Dr. Jason Byassee with Dr. Elaine Choi, Director of Music at TEMC. 

Tell us about the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting, which you’ve just won?

Last Monday night we were honoured to host a gathering for prayer with three neighbourhood congregations—Grace Church on the Hill, Congregation Beth Tzedec, and Holy Blossom Temple. This sanctuary was full, with some 600 of the 800 people here our Jewish neighbours. It seemed every one of them thanked us, often with tears: ‘it’s been lonely. Thank you for your kindness.’ What we did was not hard: my sermon was short, Elaine’s conducting and Stephen’s playing were simple compared to a normal Sunday.

Friends, I am glad to tell you about a new partner sharing space in our building.

City High School in Toronto is a college preparatory program for Chinese-speaking secondary school students. They are using classrooms on our third floor, down the hall from my office, and office space off our East Chapel. I’m bumping into high school kids when I head down the hall to the water cooler or to the kitchen. And I love it.

As many of you know, TEMC is proud to have recently amalgamated with a Welsh United Church. Wales has more than 1500 years of church history. But if you're like me, you're relatively unaware of that history. So I've planned a pilgrimage to Wales, devoted to learning about Christ's work through the church in Wales, past and present. Wales inherited a unique strand of the Christian tradition called Celtic Christianity. The Celts, called the Galatians in the Bible, were a people with a vast territorial expanse north of the Roman Empire.

There are three other places in town that I’ve preached at most often besides TEMC. One is Upper Canada College for its chapel service. The second is Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. The third is Christie Gardens, where a number of our elderly members live and worship in chapel once a week. I got to preach there again recently and was struck how much I learned.

Friends I’m glad to tell you about some of our upcoming preachers. The fact that there are guest preachers upcoming is unfortunate for me—I love preaching to you. But it’s fortunate for you. These folks are extraordinary. A word about each.