All Saints Church Community Centre
315 Dundas Street East M5A 2A2 Toronto, ON, Canada

I'm not sick (unless you count being totally sick of this pandemic), but I really appreciate this prayer. You might too..... "This is another day , O Lord. I ...know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me stand up bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do so patiently. If I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen." See more

RSVP: https://www.canadahelps.org//all-/events/carols-that-care/ Help us provide Christmas to the many homeless Torontonians who rely on All Saints’. Help us raise money for more than just a meal!

Watch Rev. Alison’s homily for today, Kinship and Kingdom: Loving ‘the Least’, delivered at Metropolitan United for their Social Justice Sunday. Homily begins at 40:16. https://m.youtube.com/watch

As #TransDayOfRemembrance approaches (November 20), we are unable to gather in-person to grieve and to celebrate the lives of those we have loved and lost. Our ...hearts hurt knowing that we will not be together in the same way this year, but we are looking to create new and safer ways of connecting. As we do every year, The 519 is in the process of gathering a list of names of 2 Spirit, trans, and non-binary individuals whom we have lost. We have created an online submission process to make it easy for you to honour and remember your loved ones. Anyone who has a 2 Spirit, trans, and/or non-binary person in their lives who has passed is encouraged to submit the name of the individual no later than Friday November 20, 2020, 12pm local time. We will create a list of names that will be read out during the virtual memorial at Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR) 2020, and we will ensure that these names are added to our list of loved ones who have passed for future TDoRs. We will remember them this year, and always. Link: https://the519.formstack.com/for/name_submissions_tdor_2020 #TDoR #TransLivesMatter #Memorial See more

If current trends continue, more than 2,200 people will die of opioid overdoses in Ontario in 2020. 2,200 people. 2,200 people. 2,200 people. These are our... friends, our family, our elders, our artists, our leaders, our comforters, our cherished beloveds. Two-thousand and two-hundred, gone. November 22nd, 2020 is the first day of National Addiction Awareness Week, and this year’s theme is stigma. As we mourn the unspeakable losses of the overdose crisis, we must also consider that stigma related to addictions has been at least as deadly as addiction itself. Stigma around addictions creates barriers to almost everything: housing, shelter, medical care, community. When addiction is treated like a bad choice, instead of like the complex biological, social, and spiritual condition that it is, it affects the kinds of treatment and solutions that we consider acceptable or suitable. When addiction is seen as a shameful character flaw, the result is needless suffering and death. Even compassionate perspectives on addiction can misunderstand it in dangerous ways. It’s common to hear people say that: In order to address homelessness and poverty, we have to address mental illness and addiction." The implication is that addiction and mental illness cause poverty and homelessness. This can happen, but equally often, we observe the opposite: people develop a reliance on drugs to cope with the stress and trauma of poverty and homelessness. We would LOVE to see more, better, and more accessible mental health and addictions services. Detox spaces in the city are often full, and many services have barriers that make them inaccessible to folks who are homeless or marginalized. But we would also love to see more people saying: In order to address addiction and mental illness, we have to address poverty and homelessness. If we want to tackle the crisis of addictions and overdoses, we should consider (at least): -Ensuring that everyone has access to dignified, affordable housing. -Making social assistance and minimum wage rates high enough to provide a stable, comfortable life. -Stopping the destabilizing gentrification that pushes people out of their homes and communities. -Ensuring that that all children and their families have access to nutritious food, safe communities, meaningful opportunities, and social support. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus criticizes religious leaders for tying up heavy burdens for other people to bear and doing nothing to lighten the load. That feels like a perfect encapsulation of the many ways that our communities are failing people with addictions. As we approach National Addiction Awareness week, and mourn 1,500 lives needlessly lost, we pray that our communities’ approaches to addictions will no longer be guided by stigma. We pray that instead of heaping shame, stigma, assumptions, and misunderstandings onto the backs of our friends and neighbours with addictions, our communities will take steps to lighten their burdens. #nationaladdictionsawarnessweek #overdosecrisis #justice #Matthew23

Your support this season will literally save lives. Your support will provide a safe place to sleep during the day, keeping people from freezing to death. It will provide nutritious meals, keeping people from starving. And it will support staff members, keeping people connected to the resources and communities that sustain them.

Goodbye 'Michael', sorry that none of us could do better for you.