All posts by Keith Nunn

Musician, bartender, lover, activist, theologian, athiest, feminist, queerish, generally earnest and troublesome individual.
Justice Issues, News

STAR: Homeless memorial records 995th name as city committee debates new housing action plan

Link

Toronto Star: Homeless memorial records 995th name as city committee debates new housing action plan

Darlene Stimson spoke with anger and grief, standing at the base of the church steps, of the many systems who failed her loving and trusting son.

“He never let illness or pain get in the way of being the most generous human being I have ever known,” said Stimson, about the six-foot-tall man who loved wrestling and karaoke and who, because of early health challenges, viewed much of the world through the eyes of 12-year-old child.

“In the end, while it was a respiratory infection that resulted in Adam’s death, the proximate cause was a social safety net that let him down.”

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News, Reflections

Financial update

Dear members of Holy Trinity,

Here is the annual letter and attached is a statement of your givings.  Please check it and make sure it balances with what you think you gave.  Now is the time for corrections to be made.  You will notice that we are trying to reduce the amount of paper the church uses as well as streamline the process.  You should have received both this letter and your statement via email.  As with all new initiatives there is room for error.  Please check your statements carefully.  You may also have received several statement for various family members.  We have tried to not duplicate but we are depending on you to confirm that.

It has been an eventful year as most of you already know.  In April or May our long time bookkeeper Alejandra took a medical leave of absence and we were not able to replace her before she left.  When we hired a new bookkeeper she had to figure things out on her own, with much help from Margot.  But it meant that I was unable to get financial statements over the summer.  This seems to be under control now and we do have statements to the end of September.  We are also trying to improve and simplify the bookkeeping system.  Wish us luck on that front. 

The Church also hired a new community Director.  This was budgeted for and talked about at the annual vestry.  We have been greatly blessed with an extremely competent new staff person Zachary Grant.  I hope you all got to meet him during the cottage meetings.  Zachary and Sherman have been working well together and managing the transfer of tasks from the incumbant’s job descripition to the Community Directors agenda.  The Vestry Executive’s load has been somewhat lightened as well.  I am saying this just in case any of you are thinking about joining the VE TEAM. 

The upcoming year of 2020 will see more big changes happening.  There will be more new hires and changes in staffing structures.  And there will more expenses as we transition towards our shared vision of a rebirthed Holy Trinity community.  We are also looking for new funding sources for our additional programing.  But as usual any additional givings will be greatly appreciated.

I will continue on as the Treasurer for yet another year and look forward to an exciting and rewarding and forward moving 2020.  I am pleased to have you all with me on this journey.

Marty Crowder

Treasurer

Climate Justice, Sermons

Resisting Apocalypse

As I approached this service and read the appointed readings I was struck by the sense of end times captured there. In our present era it feels as if we are in the end times. It gives me more sympathy for the writers of these apocalyptic pieces and helped me decide not to jettison them in favour of Maya Anjelou or Richard Wagamese as I might otherwise be tempted to do.

Of apocalytic texts in general, the theologian Ched Myers, who has preached here on a few occasions has this to say:

“Apocalyptic discourse in the Bible is not about predicting God’s cataclysmic destruction of the world, as so often assumed in popular culture.  Rather it expresses the fierce imagination of those who long for the end of destructive oppression by the imperial state.  After all, for the poor, the “end of the world” is already and forever being visited upon their communities by soldiers and fortune hunters and police.

Continue reading Resisting Apocalypse →
Activities & Events, Music, Social

Lifting Spirits 2019

cocktails, food, singing
& conversation

Refreshment for thinking (and singing) people.

The 2019 series started Thursday, September 19 and continues

Doors open at 5:00pm
19 Trinity Square (that big church/castle behind the Eaton Centre)
5-7pm — food, drink & conversation with your friendly bartender and others
7pm — Pub Choir (singing while lubricated)
8-9pm — ongoing bar service and conversation
Activities & Events, Reflections

Happiness and community

One of the items on this morning’s broadcast of Metro Morning was coverage of a report on the happiness of Torontonians (or rather the apparent lack thereof). One of the things that emerged from the conversation is that often people in smaller places are happier because they have stronger community connections and that sometimes the connections we make in cities feel more fleeting.

Like many people I have felt some version of this. One of the places that has tried to hang onto stronger connections is churches. Churches however are also struggling against (sometimes justified) suspicion that they have another agenda to win converts. Like many churches we want to keep the vision of an intergenerational community alive, but we have never been about evangelism. If we are evangelistic about anything, it is our desire for a more just and caring neighbourhood, city and world.

We want you to feel welcome to join the HT community, but no specific belief system is required–just a desire to be part of a community that cares about you and others. Many of us are Christians, but we hold an assortment of beliefs with respect to spirituality, including some who are entirely non-theistic. We host events and activities that we hope appeal to people in different places in their lives from cocktail parties, and discussions of the issues of the day to Sunday worship, and concerts.

We have begun developing co-working space in our historic buildings to let us build partnerships with people and organizations who would like to join and build a strong and diverse community of common care in downtown Toronto.

If any of this resonates or you’re curious about this weird and wonderful place, please check out at an upcoming event (I personally recommend Lifting Spirits) or talk to our Community Director about how we might connect with you and what you care about.

Keith Nunn, 2019 OCT 10