Guided and inspired by the Good Shepherd, our vision and the ministries undertaken in support of it are centered on caring for our people and our planet. For the foreseeable future, one of our main objectives is to engage the growing number of diverse newcomers in our community who are questing for spiritual nourishment and growth.

In furtherance of our vision, mission, and values, Oriole-York Mills (OYM) United Church supports a number of ministries within and beyond its congregation. For youth in our congregation and community, we have recently appointed a new Minister whose primary role will be on Christian education for young children and developing education and fellowship programs of primary interest to pre-teens and teens. We have an active church school that benefits from a dedicated Sunday school teacher and keen parental volunteers. One of OYM’s new initiatives this year will be to offer confirmation classes starting in November to families in the congregation and the local community.

As well, OYM continues its traditional focus on the elderly, especially vulnerable senior citizens in our community. One example is the 24-room Cedarhurst Residence for those living with Alzheimer Disease which is located on our property and designed, owned and operated by Ewart Angus Homes Inc. (www.cedarhursthome.ca).

Our congregation’s sense of ministry, for our children and adults alike, is already enriched by visiting Cedarhurst’s residents and by welcoming them to our Sunday services and social events. In addition, our Minister and Pastoral Care team provide regular on-site worship services and fellowship for the residents. Also, integral to OYM’s outreach ministry, our Pastoral Care team conducts monthly chapel services for seniors at Amica, Lifestyle and other senior citizen residences as well as visiting ill or bereaved church members.

OYM hosts anumber of tenants including the Kumon school for children, an Alcoholics Anonymous group, and a Seventh Day Adventists congregation. We are also a willing venue for community-wide events such as high school concerts and piano recitals.

We have a dedicated Mission and Community Service group serving the needs of the local community and the world beyond via a speakers’ program and spearheading financial support for a range of charities providing food banks, housing, clothing, and other necessities of life for homeless youth and adults, aboriginal people in urban and remote centres, abused women and their children, third-world refugees starting new lives in Toronto, as well as peoples abroad facing severe living conditions due to poverty, climatic or geological disasters, or political-economic strife.

OYM also supports and benefits from meetings of a very active United Church Women’s Club that responds in various ways to the charitable and social justice needs of the community. And our congregation is known for its generous support for the United Church of Canada’s Mission and Community Service Fund.

1. Designate a gift to the Church’s Emergency Response Fund through giving to the Mission and Support (M&S) Fund of The United Church of Canada.
2. Designate a special gift marked “Haiti Appeal” in your envelope. Our church treasurer will issue you a receipt and then forward one congregational cheque to the United Church.