The United, Anglican and Presbyterian churches have signed leases to share national office space at the redeveloped site of Bloor Street United Church at 300 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. The agreement reflects the churches’ ongoing commitment to nurturing ecumenical relationships and cooperation, to reducing costs and their carbon footprint.
The Venerable Alan Perry, General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada; the Reverend Victor Kim, Principal Clerk at The Presbyterian Church in Canada, and Rev. Michael Blair, General Secretary for The United Church of Canada, met at the construction site at 300 Bloor St. W. on March 1 to see the progress of the project and to offer prayers of blessing for the safety and wellbeing of the construction workers.
“We’ve marked a formal agreement between the Presbyterian Church, The United Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, as we prepare to move in together in shared office space in a couple of years,” said Mr. Kim. “I’m very excited about the possibilities of what this partnership will produce in the years to come. A happy day for all of us!”
“This opportunity to be together in this space came out of a relationship and conversation,” said Rev. Dr. Blair. We are excited about the possibility of the relationship and working together, with a commitment to mission and ministry. We collaborate to be witnesses in the healing of God’s world. So, I am excited and grateful for the possibilities.”
Located in downtown Toronto’s Annex-University of Toronto neighbourhood, the development includes a refurbished Bloor Street United Church, office, community, commercial, and worship spaces. The floor plans reflect a more efficient and flexible use of physical space for the new offices, and were drafted with input from all three denominations. The Archives will also be moved to the new national office building, and shared, along with meeting and video spaces.
“The possibility of better ecumenical collaboration in this space will also allow us to make more effective use of our financial and human resources,” said Archdeacon Perry. “Being so close to good public transit allows for easy access to visitors to our offices and means we will have less impact on the environment.”
Besides being a practical solution for resource optimization, the shared space is also a tangible expression of the denominations’ commitment to collaboration, greater impact in the public space and increasing the ability to innovate and share ideas between denominations.
