TEMC Blog

A mentor and friend tells a story of jogging on campus when a car stopped to ask for directions. Its occupants were a family in distress—a member was having a health crisis of some sort. My friend gave them directions to the hospital and then offered all he had: “I’m a minister.” They responded with an earnest question: “Are you a healing minister?” No, not that kind. “Well, then what good are you?” And they sped off to the actual healers.

One of our longtime leaders taught me something new about our church recently. We celebrated our 100th anniversary in 2013 with a massive granite plaque you can see on the east side of our sanctuary wall. That 4x8’ piece weighs some 1800 pounds, and required a special mounting system and removal of pews to put it in place. Not to worry, it’s not going to fall down—each of six iron bolts can hold up to 1000 lbs. That thing is steady and secure.

​Our team is doing their part to engage community and mend the world in one way or another. Take a look at what's going on: 

Who doesn’t love a festival? The very word conjures up delicious images of parades in the street and enforced non-employment. More of this!

For years at TEMC we have had an annual Festival of the Word in the summer in which some of the best preachers alive have blessed all of us. It’s so glorious in fact we might as well spread it out throughout the year.

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.

We are grateful to have Ryan McDonald (TEMC, alto) curate a meaningful Maundy Thursday musical reflection for us once again—now for the third time. Read the program note and join us on Thursday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. for an evening of inspiring music and thoughtful messages as we prepare our hearts and minds in prayer during Holy Week.

– Elaine Choi, Jason Byassee

Guest blog post by Ryan McDonald

Near where we now live in the Annex is a church building you probably know as the Hare Krishna Church. I was stunned to discover recently that two giants in Canadian church history once preached there. Charles Templeton took over a building abandoned by Avenue Road United Church and converted it into a fast-growing evangelical church, before later losing his own faith. A.W. Tozer pastored it as Avenue Road Alliance Church while becoming one of the Canadian church’s best-selling authors.

By Dr. Elaine Choi

Music Through the Storm: Elaine in Ottawa Choir Festival 

On February 26, the eve of my last chemo session, I had the privilege of working with over 120 students from the Ottawa-Gatineau region at a choir festival hosted by the University of Ottawa.

(Gen. 12:1, Mt. 28:19) – One generational shift at our church is that we cannot assume everyone’s life revolves around the calendar of the school year or seasonal living for the weather. Once, many Torontonians could afford a shack up north, but those houses are often now as expensive as these in the GTA. Families look different now, and so do our socio-economic brackets. My predecessors often took the summer away, inviting in excellent summer preachers, and in Andy Lawson’s case, even writing his sermons for the next year!