Author: beachunited

As the campaign for the June 2 Provincial Election begins, 10 faith groups in Beaches East York have come together to host a Candidates Meeting. The event will take place at The Church of the Resurrection at 1100 Woodbine Avenue. People can attend in person or on Zoom on Thursday May 12 at  7:00 p.m. by registering at  www.therez.ca/election

The meeting will give people of faith and all citizens a chance to hear the ideas of the various candidates and political parties on how they would create strong and vibrant communities following the pandemic.

As people of faith we believe that we have a responsibility:

• to create a more just and equitable world,
• to care for one another … and for successive generations, and
• to protect the environment that we share.

These responsibilities inspire us to shape how we live in our community, how we value people who are vulnerable and how we tend to creation.

Our purpose is to hear how the different candidates would work to meet these responsibilities, if they are elected to represent us in the Provincial Legislature. There will be opportunities for participant to submit questions for the candidates at the meeting.

Our objective is not to instruct anyone on how to vote. We will leave it to the candidates to persuade each person.

This is the 4^th Interfaith Candidates Meeting in Beaches East York in the past few years. Similar events have taken place during the last Provincial election and the past 2 Federal elections. The Beaches East York riding is between Coxwell Avenue and Victoria Park and extends from the lake all the way north to Sunrise Avenue.

Representatives of several Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities in the riding have endorsed the Candidates Meeting. Faith Groups involved directly in organizing the Candidates Meeting include:

Danforth Mennonite Church;  Church of the Resurrection;   St. Aidan’s Anglican Church; Kingston Road United Church;   Calvary Baptist Church;  Beach United Church;   Kimbourne Park United Church;  Beaches Presbyterian Church;  Toronto United Mennonite Congregation;  and Danforth Islamic Centre. Several other faith communities support the initiative but have not been available to help with the planning.

To register to attend the event in person at the Church of the Resurrection or on Zoom, go to www.therez.ca/election  

People attending the event in person will be required to wear a mask;  social distancing will be achieved by limiting attendance.

Please share the information about the event with members of your community and others that may be interested. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Paul Dowling
Animator for Social Justice
Beach United Church

The Daily Bread Food Bank in partnership with North York Harvest Food Bank, have released Who’s Hungry 2021 – a report profiling hunger in the city of Toronto.

This year’s report reveals there were 1.45 million visits to food banks in the past year, the highest number ever recorded in the city’s history. The report also finds that for the first time, new clients outnumbered existing clients at Toronto food banks.

Be a partner in the fight to end hunger. Read and share with others, some of this year’s key findings below:

• While pandemic restrictions are easing and the economy is re-opening, there are many people in Toronto still living in a state of crisis.
•  With 1 in 3 food bank clients reporting having gone an entire day without eating, we need to advocate for systemic change.
• The report provides a clear call to action to all levels of government to respond to the urgent community needs created by COVID-19 and to build greater resiliency through decent work, affordable housing, and strong social safety net. 

Take action today. Here are three steps you can take:

1. Read the Who’s Hungry 2021 report to raise awareness about why poverty and food insecurity are on the rise in Toronto. You can share the findings of this report on social media – please tag @dailybreadTO and use the hashtag #WhosHungry2021.
2. Hunger is a direct result of poverty. With the provincial election fast approaching, you can help advocate for change by sending an email directly to Ontario’s party leaders asking them to commit to bolder action to reduce poverty in your community. Take action now: dailybread.ca/takeaction
3. Join us for a webinar discussion on Thursday, November 25 at 12:30pm EST, on how we can move from crisis to resilience as we discuss our calls to action. https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4rwE9YK9TlqRZ01aHxCiYA

Visit dailybread.ca/whoshungry to read the full Who’s Hungry 2021 report.

In partnership,

Neil Hetherington
CEO Daily Bread Food Bank

Topic: The infancy narratives from Luke and Matthew

Dates:  Monday Dec 6 & 13 from 1.30-3.30 pm in main hall at BUC.

Leader: Ted Schmidt

Host: Allan Baker

Attendance: in person with pre-registration.  Proof of double vaccinationis required.

Register: by email to  allan.baker7878@gmail.com

The obscure birth of a child to a carpenter’s wife was, in view of what came out of it, a decisive moment in history.
C.H Dodd

The Christmas stories are not for children. Christians have for far too long treated the Infancy Narratives as either myth or as pretty harmless legends for kids. They are anything but. They are evangelical dynamite, brilliantly polished nuggets brimming with radical theological import. They challenge the Roman claim that the powerful Emperor Augustus is Lord and rules as “dominus et deus.” a common inscription of the time. In an absolutely outrageous claim, the evangelists point to the itinerant rabbi, murdered by the state as “dominus et deus.”

TED SCHMIDT former Religion Head at Neil McNeil High school is also the former editor of the Catholic New Times As well he is the author of Shabbes Goy: a Catholic Boyhood on a Jewish Street in a Protestant City (2001), Journeys to the Heart of Catholicism 2008, Never Neutral: A Teaching Life (2013), The Season (2017} and I Was a Catholic Zionist (2018)

In a lifetime of teaching he has been honoured by religion teachers and colleagues at large. In 1991 he received the Ontario English Teachers’ Award of Merit, the highest distinction the association grants. In 1998 he received the Glorya Nanne Award for his writing on Catholic education. In 2002 he received the Social Justice Award from the Toronto Secondary Catholic Teachers Association. In 2006 the Ontario Teachers’ Federation honoured him with the Greer Memorial Award for his “outstanding commitment to publicly funded education.” In 2013 received the Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Medal for his work “in Education and Justice.”

A pioneer in Holocaust studies, he was the first teacher in Canada to systematically teach the Holocaust (1968) and has done several workshops for the Holocaust Remembrance committee. In 1993 he co-authored the Ministry of Education OAC course on Philosophy. For 30 years Ted has taught teacher training courses on scripture, social ethics   as well as cross Canada retreats on biblical justice. For 3 years  he lectured on Catholic education at the Faculty of Education at York University.

Ted Schmidt has appeared on Metro Morning, Canada A.M., Sunday Morning and Sunday Report (CBC), The Current, Studio 2. In 2005, he was Global TV’s commentator on the Papal funeral and regularly comments on Catholic issues  for the CBC and CTV.  An award winning columnist for the Catholic New Times he assumed the editorship from 2001-2006.

Ted is married to Joan his wife of 52   years. They have three grown children and 5 grandchildren.  He can be reached at  jtschmidt@bell.net

On December 26, our community will say goodbye to Karen Dale as she completes her last worship service as minister with us at Beach United Church.  

Karen has been a vital part of our community for 12 years. To mark her rich legacy of ministry, we have planned some send-off events:

On Wednesday, December 15 there will be a Zoom goodbye from 8 to 9pm. Feel free to “drop in” to spend some time with Karen and wish her well. At 8:45pm we will raise a glass to toast her with some formal remarks. Mary Anne Lemm will send this link out the week before. 

On Sunday, December 19 our worship service (in person and on Zoom) will include a time when you can, if you feel comfortable, share your best wishes with Karen. Jim McKibbin is also preparing some remarks to share on behalf of the congregation and community.  (You will be required to be double vaccinated to attend in person and pre-register on Eventbrite).  It would be great to have as many people as possible in attendance or online to wish her well!

Please let us know if you have any questions. Mark your calendars and let’s make this a fantastic send-off for Karen!