Location: Toronto, Ont.

Presbytery: St. Lawrence

Organization: 1928 (Free Church of Scotland)

Membership: 32 communicant: 2 baptized

Pastor: D Allan MacLeod

Website: epctoronto.org

Click here for a history of the congregation.

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While as a congregation we have our roots in Scottish Highlanders who came to Toronto many decades ago, the makeup of the congregation is very much a microcosm of Toronto. Some attend whose parents came to Toronto long ago while others have African, American, Brazilian, Chinese, Dutch, Filipino, French, Irish, Jamaican, Korean, Malaysian, Mexican, Portuguese, Puerto Rican, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese backgrounds. We give thanks to God for this. We have had an average of 45 people attending morning worship over the last few months.

At times, the various accents can lead to a confusion of tongues. Even after 20 years, Pastor MacLeod is occasionally liable to cause confusion. At times, he will forget that he is in Canada and will use words that mean something totally different than in his native Scotland. For instance, while giving a children’s address, he asked the children if they liked sweeties. On seeing the confused and blank looks on the young faces, he was thankful for those who translated for him. Harmony was restored, as he asked the children if they liked candies!

On the Lord’s Day we meet for worship at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. As of this writing, we are continuing our studies in the book of Romans in the morning, and in Luke’s gospel in the evening. Before the morning service, at 10 a.m., are Sabbath school classes. In the adult class, our ruling elders, Rod Finlayson and Jim Hughes, will teach for a number of weeks on either a book from Scripture or one of our subordinate standards.

Our young adults meet twice a month for Bible study. Not only are they able to teach and encourage one another, but it is also a forum where they can bring non-Christian friends who are interested in the gospel.

A long-term outreach activity has been our co-founding and involvement with the Toronto Pregnancy Care Centre. Since 1984 various folks from the congregation have been involved with this work. Many women and couples who had been considering abortion now rejoice that, with the help and direction of the PCC, they did not choose to do this. In quite a number of cases there has been the joy of both seeing a baby born and seeing the client experiencing new birth by God’s grace.

Toronto is probably one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. We have offered English as a Second Language classes, which have been ably led by one of our young adults, David Finlayson. He and other members of the congregation meet with students at the church on Thursday evenings. They help the students regarding their English skills; Bible discussions occur during this time, too. Some students have come to the morning services through this work.

The ladies of our congregation meet twice a month for Bible study. The men are able to display their culinary skills at the monthly men’s breakfast on Saturday morning. After a hearty breakfast, time is taken for study, prayer, and a sharing of concerns, problems, or hopes.

Within the next few months we will be moving into our new church building. Please pray that we can use this opportunity to raise our profile within the community. In this respect, pray that God would give us wisdom as we seek new ventures in bringing the gospel to those who live nearby. Pray that we might know of God’s blessing so we could be a blessing to the people of Toronto.