When I was asked to say a few words, I wondered what I should talk about. I thought, wow, Ruth and I moved here in 1964. That means I have been a member of OYM for 44 years. As I think back over all that time, so much has happened. Some of the highlights that come to mind include:

• Having some of the fine people from Yorkminster join us in the late ‘60s;
• The Minglers club for husbands and wives;
• Sponsoring a boat family;
• The music program, including the installation of a new organ;
• Congregational retreats at Cedar Glen;
• The successful Ventures in Mission program;
• The bridge club;
• Making our church accessible;
• Reorganizing our church governance, twice; and,
• I’m sure there are many more highlights that I have overlooked.

And I think back to how fortunate we have been with the fine ministers we have had and still have:

• I think of Don Amos, Bill Smith, Glen Mattinson, Kent Clayton, John Hilborn, Chris Miller;
• And our interim Ministers Doug Brown, Bruce Misener, and Bill Dearborn.

All had and are having a challenging influence on us, whether it be social action, outreach, pastoral care, new theology, or getting back to our roots.

I can’t help mentioning how involved Ruth was. For many years Ruth was superintendent of the Sunday school, back when we had over a hundred enrolled, and space was so tight that we once had a class meeting on the stairway landing. She was also very active with the Youth, headed up the auction fund-raisers, and was Chair of the Board for several years.

I also think of how our church has been made available to other groups and faiths, and how this has had such a positive impact on the community at large. Personally, I have appreciated the opportunity to explore some of the new theology ideas, and again some of the basics, in study groups that are open and respectful. I find the development of my faith more of a journey than a destination. Through all this we’ve all had the help of a welcoming and supportive congregation.

Forty-four years ago the church was packed, with chairs in the aisles on special occasions. Of course, the neighbourhood was filled with young families with a tradition of going to church. As you know things are quite different today. While our numbers have diminished, our hope for the future has not, and I’m looking forward to the future to see what new challenges it will bring.

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This morning I would like to talk about three things that will provide some perspective on my relationship with Oriole-York Mills and my faith journey:

• first, a bit about the church I grew up in, in Halifax;
• second, something about my experience of other churches after I moved to Toronto; and,
• And finally, what makes Oriole-York Mills what it is for me and a few thoughts for OYM going forward.

So to my family’s church in Halifax – I grew up in a church in Halifax called Bethany United Church. It was a time when the church was full of young families like ours. There was an older church building, but a larger church was built to accommodate its growing congregation, probably at about the same time that OYM was built - as the architecture here is somewhat reminiscent.

As an aside on church architecture, I don’t think history will necessarily remember that as the golden age of church architecture – I had occasion one lunchtime recently, to be in Metropolitan United downtown after visiting a friend down the street in the palliative care unit at St. Mike’s Hospital, and I confess a fondness for the glorious structures like Metropolitan. But it may be that architecture in this style puts even more focus on the church as community.

Back to Bethany – it certainly played a major role for my family – my sister and I had lots of friends there at Sunday school and sang in the junior choir, she also taught Sunday school and my father was on the board of management. The choir director – a very special woman - was also our music teacher and we sang duets and quartets as well.

After completing university in Halifax and working there briefly, I moved to Toronto to work. Over the years, I visited a number of churches that happened to be near where I was living at the time – Bloor Street United, St. James Bond United were among those; then there were others that I attended for particular occasions – like Timothy Eaton. Each had its own character, and some things resonated while others didn’t.

After finally buying a house in the York Mills area, I visited OYM off and on. And then the thing that makes OYM stand out started to happen – the thing that makes OYM stand out as a welcoming, open congregation. When I look back I can say that I have met a number of very fine people here – but even among that group, there have been some who exemplify what makes OYM special. And what makes them stand out, the thing they have in common, is that they were so often thinking of others first.

When I started visiting this church, one of the first people who made a point of greeting me after the service was Ted McDowell. And that continued with Ted and Elda, as I gradually began to feel more at home.

Then there was the wonderful Ruth Johnson – what a privilege to have known Ruth and to have had her as a friend. She was certainly someone who was always thinking of others – but one of the things she would be thinking of was what you might do at the church! And so I found myself on the OYM Council.

Some time after I began coming to OYM more regularly, Rev. John Hilborn had come to the church. With his wife Glenna being from Cape Breton, John soon found out that I, too, was from Nova Scotia. I remember how concerned John was when I was trying to decide where to go next in my career – over lunch we had great discussions about what I should do and who I should see that might be helpful.

And then another exemplar of people who are always thinking about others – I have to mention Don Worth – not only for me, but for my mother, who moved from Halifax 2 ½ years ago to join me here in Toronto. She, too, has found this to be an especially welcoming, open congregation, and Don has been a big part of that for both of us.

And so that leads me to some thoughts on what is important for OYM going forward – of course the spiritual life has to be there solidly as the base, and for me the music is always key as well. As an aside, I’ve never understood why the organ and choir are at the back, but I’m always glad when they come to the front to share their ministry of music!

But back to that extra element that makes this church special – and that is how the people of this church are, both with each other and with visitors - welcoming, warm and open. And so I think it is most important that we strive to maintain that. And in order to have a solid foundation for welcoming others and encouraging them to join, we must treat each other with that same consideration and regard and care that as we show to others.

And so I’ll end there - and thank you to everyone who has helped make being a part of OYM the kind of experience that it has been for me and that I hope it will continue to be for us all.

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In the early years, I grew up in Unity Church of Truth, Sunday school. In my 20s I played piano for Sunday school. I also subbed on organ for a solo in Christmas candle lighting service once.

Coming to United Church was a fluke. I was looking for church to get married. Noreen’s work colleague (St. Matthew’s on St. Clair) suggested Eglinton United as it was two blocks from home. We checked it out and talked to ministers – David McKane and Sylvia Hamilton. We agreed we would be married. I also enjoyed the choir – John Ford and Ruth Watson Henderson.

I had no plans to join church but it just happened. I attended regularly and was a choir member for 10 years. Then amalgamation with St. George’s took place.

The first time I visited OYM was a choir concert where I met Moira Mancer whose mom was at Noreen’s program at Taylor Place. Then a common interest in music evolved into a friendship with Dave Johnson. I tried out OYM as a guest a few times, including an outdoor service at Sunnybrook Park.

After Dave stopped coming to band, I wanted to keep up the friendship, and he had been asking me to come to OYM’s choir for a while. So I tried them out in March 2006. I enjoyed the camaraderie and the music. While I didn’t really intend to join the church, the choir leaders, Bob and Lona, were great to work with. Eventually the warmth of the congregation towards me, and a couple of enjoyable bridge nights as a backup, led me to realize that I should transfer my membership.

I have enjoyed the thoughtful ministry of first Rev. John, and more recently, Rev. Chris. And, I am enjoying working with Derrick who has progressive ideas, and a fun demeanor

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I know it sounds strange, but I found my place in the Church when I was 7 years old. It was my first Sunday at the church I would attend for the next 10 years and as the minister’s family we always arrived quite early. The other minister had a daughter exactly my age and our parents introduced us. I was extremely shy as a child, perhaps difficult to believe now, and after children’s time she took my hand and together we went upstairs to the third floor for Sunday school.

That’s exactly where the role of every youth in the church begins. After I had made a new friend, going to church became a fun thing to do. I think this is because it creates a support system: when your friends at school or at extracurricular activities don’t agree with your opinions or your values, when you’re made fun of for what you believe, that’s always that base to come back to, that ‘safe place,’ the church, where you know that you can freely discuss with those who understand your history because it’s a shared history and it’s theirs too.

I have been lucky as a youth in the church. That very first class that I attended became my class for the next decade. That small group of individuals became my friends and we rarely missed Church school, sometimes forgoing other activities. We made up the Teen choir, we did readings, youth services, participated in pageants, plays, bazaars, helped as greeters even helped the UWC wash dishes, collected offering, went on retreats, served communion, we were confirmed together. I think that as a youth the most important thing to do is to learn and explore one’s faith, and then take that knowledge and become a part of the community through those tasks that I just listed.

Looking back now, I can see that out of our class the ones who participated in everything were the ones whose parents were involved: the ministers, choir members, M&P committee representatives, worship committee members. Though it is important to have a dynamic program for the youth, I think that in order to catch the youth, especially those under 13, the Church must provide a dynamic program for the parents as well. I also wonder if the parents don’t look for that same type of support system that my Sunday school class found. That support also, I believe, ensures that church isn’t simply an obligation or that children aren’t forced to go by their parents. The only way for youth to truly find a place in the church is for youth to actually have a desire to attend.

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Good morning, and welcome to the 44th Anniversary of Oriole- York Mills United Church. Oriole has meant a lot to me and hopefully other youth. My first experience here was when I was seven months old, this was my baptism. Though I don’t remember it because I was asleep, this doesn’t mean that it wasn’t important to me. When I was five years old and up until just a couple of years ago I was attending Sunday school. I liked it when Jennifer Mancer was helping in Sunday school. Now I am a helper there. Helping out in Sunday school really makes me feel like I am making a difference in the lives of other kids. I hope that these kids decide to continue to come to church the same as I did.

I feel that I have made many friends from the congregation for example my mentor: Don Worth. When I attended confirmation classes with the youth at Forest Grove we all needed a member of the congregation to discuss topics with. Things like … what the church means to me, talking about scripture readings and other stuff. Don volunteered to be my mentor and also invited me to baseball games. For another part of the confirmation program, we spent a weekend at the Five Oaks Centre. We talked about religion, played games and had fun.

Last fall, youth leaders in the Don Valley presbytery started a youth program called Common Ground. Students in grade 6 through 12 at Newtonbrook, Forest Grove, Jubilee, Donway, Leaside, and OYM are invited. We meet every other Friday night for games, discussions, and snacks. An article about the program will be in an upcoming issue of the Observer. Church means a lot to me. To me Church is a place where everyone is accepted without second guessing about whether they have any money, their race, their personal history, etc. Church is, I find, a very helpful place. It is helpful because you have the rummage sale, youth groups, food drives, etc. I hope that other young people will do the same as I did and choose to go to youth groups, confirmation class, helping out at the rummage sale and other events in their communities. Many of my friends including Ronald and Caroline participate at youth groups, and they find that they really enjoy it. I wish Oriole-York Mills United Church and all its members big and small, old and young a happy anniversary and that this church will live on for many years to come. And hopefully the helpful people like Rev. John Hilborn, Pedro, and the rest of the people at church will continue to come to OYM. Thank you for listening.

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