Our Faith in God's love moves us to celebrate
spirituality, to care with compassion, and to
welcome all warmly.

Everyone is welcome at our church. Come and join us for fellowship, music and song, prayer and thought-provoking messages. Think about participating in one of our outreach activities. There is something for everyone at TUC.
Everyone is welcome at our church.  Come and join us for fellowship, music and song, prayer and thought-provoking messages.
Think about participating in one of our outreach activities. There is something for everyone at TUC.

Our Future

SPIRIT GARDEN INITIATIVE

FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

    Q 1. Who is Edge Consulting?

        Edge is a United Church of Canada affiliated property development consulting firm looking at overall stewardship of United Church owned properties as the United Church is going many changes.In a recent national survey, TUC is designated as one of 215 premium properties with development potential out of 3000+ sites. They have expertise, and access to deeper expertise, to recommend what is possible to develop on our site.

    Q 2: Why are we looking at this now?

        At last year's Annual Meeting, Council was authorized to form the Spirit Garden Team, to have a strategic view of possible options related to use of our property, according to congregational sense of mission to meet the surrounding community's needs and to address congregational sustainability for the long term. The Team has sharedits work so far with two workshops, updates in Hands and the Annual Report, and numerous announcements. It's goal is to present a recommendation at the upcoming March 3, 2019 ACM.

    Q 3. We heard that one United church per week is being closed. Where does the money go from church properties that have been sold?

        Some closings are mergers or amalgamations, so some funds from the sale of property are used in renovations etc. of the new combined church. Previously any “surplus funds” from a sale flowed to Toronto Conference, and were subdivided more or less equally among the four Presbyteries in Toronto Conference. The goal was for each Presbytery to manage a minimum balance of $3M and release funds for capital (building) and non-capital (programs) through an application process. Toronto Conference was one of two that had excess funds to share with” have not” conferences in recent years.
        In the new organizational structure of the United Church, without Presbyteries and with Regional Councils instead, the new legal bodies will hold those funds.

    Q 4. Where will the $25,000 to pay the Edge consultants for the next phase of the work come from?

        We have two options for consideration. The first would be to borrow the money from the Region. If we proceed with a development
        project, the loan plus interest will be factored into the total cost of the project as we move forward. If we do not proceed with a development option, the loan plus interest is payable upon the closure of TUC. It should be noted that the interest rate charged will be below prime.
        The second option is to take the money out of the “Visioning Fund”. This is money that the church set aside for this kind of work.

Send Us Your Spirit Garden Questions