Those who were at our 11am Easter service had the joy of seeing some 15 folks join our church. And since four of them are from Ukraine, we included the recitation of the apostles’ creed in both English and in Ukrainian. The gospel has always been extraordinary for its ability to be translated and to become incarnate in every variety of language and culture. Ukraine is, historically, an Orthodox country, so Ukrainian migrants and refugees can find a faith home here in a church in Canada, especially at a church like ours that treasures Christian antiquity. And these new friends have. It is our joy that they have done so with us.
Volodymyr, Olga, Liudmyla and Sergii first found us through our food bank. They had left Ukraine two years prior, spent the interim time in Georgia, and then made their way to Canada. Standing in line for the food bank, they received an invitation to the Super Bowl Party that Dayle Barrett organized for us, part of our church’s pillar of Awakening Community. They were especially moved by the invitation to volunteer—it was their chance to give back. Volodymyr wrote me, “Since the beginning of the war, we had so few moments of compassion from strangers —but here, we felt that we were not alone.”
Our new members tell a story about being out around town and running into Julian Tassielli, whose catering business is in our church basement and whom we order from often. They had a brief, friendly conversation at a red light and moved on. Small things matter: “It was the first time we encountered a familiar face on the streets of Toronto — and it became a very special moment for us.”
The four met Professor Robert Magocsi that day, professor of Ukrainian studies at the U of T and a ceaseless advocate for that community, especially since the Russian invasion. Volodymyr told me, “He has done so much to make Ukraine better known around the world.” We go to church first to connect with God, but then also to connect with one another. Who can calculate the degree to which Christian community enriches our lives?
It is a privilege we all cherish to live in one of the world’s greatest cosmopolitan cities—some say the most cosmopolitan city in the history of the world. That can just mean newcomers are even lonelier than the rest of us. Mainline churches have sometimes managed to stay the same while our entire city changes around us. But if we are to be a church in and for Toronto today, we will need to look, and be, very different. These new friends are already helping us to be just that.
Watch the Apostles Creed read in English and Ukrainian below: