Gathered around the font for Sunny Side Up – reflectioning on our faith journey, left to right:
Back row: Anqui (Kay) Zhan, Cameron Saunders (Theological student intern), Matthew Pope (Director of Music at Luke’s Place) Victor Berryman, Jonah Murphy
Front row: Britney Kinyanjui, Charlotte Toyne
MAY GOD grant you the grace to dream God’s purpose for you and the courage to live that purpose from the depth of your being.
That’s what happened at Luke’s Place: God placed a dream in our hearts and gave us the grace to build a Special Ministry in the Diocese of Huron. Over a five-year period, ending in December 2023, Luke’s Place served the student community that surrounded it with enthusiasm, imagination and passion.
We began by saying yes! when our neighbours knocked on our door looking to use our space for their peace and justice initiatives. We partnered with them, held them in prayer while they traveled the world and, on their return, invited them to share their learnings with us.
Through them we learned about rebuilding after genocide in Rwanda, vigils to remember ‘the disappeared’ in Central America, projects in Kenya, and Bangladesh, to name but a few.
Then we took it farther. We learned about evangelism and developed an evangelism plan growing out of our music programme. We offered our time, our listening, our enthusiasm, and our hospitality. That was the seed we sowed. And we reaped so much in return: the thrill of pioneering in this day and age. We did something we had never done before, or even thought was possible…who knew church could look like this?
We got to meet wonderful new people. And we had fun! Joy filled our hearts and laughter filled the space. We loved learning from the students who came to Luke’s Place. Some of them even joined the Worshipping Community, singing in the choir, weeding the Garden4Bees, helping at various events.
Luke’s Place was our gift to the community: serving our neighbours, making a difference in God’s world.
We held coffee houses, jam sessions (the musical kind), study groups…we even read the Rule of St. Benedict together. During exams we opened our space for studying. Student interns helped run our programmes.
We took food insecurity amongst our neighbours very seriously, partnering in Love Western…operating a Food Pantry on Thursday evenings, providing 30 to 40 food hampers a week to struggling students.
And of course, we were not alone…we had the support of the Anglican Foundation, the Huron Development Fund, the Deaneries of London and Delaware, the Community of Deacons, our neighbouring parishes, to name a few.
Luke’s Place will forever be in our hearts! That's why we end this story with some of the feedback we received about the difference Luke’s Place made…
Thanks be to God!
Jennifer, a Music Education in Action intern: I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am to have had my placement at Luke’s Place. I felt so at home…you have really shown God’s light to me. Thank you for being there to talk to, and helping me regain my confidence and faith. Keep shining your brilliant light.
Julia: I love how they’re reaching out to the community and really getting the community involved.
Hannah: My experience at Luke’s Place was one that opened my eyes to what a church really should be like. You made me feel welcomed, loved and appreciated. I hope that I can find a church like yours when I begin studies in my new school in a few days.
Cameron, a theological student intern: they were so helpful, encouraging, and just warm; I really learned so much from them – I don’t think I will ever forget them or all they’ve done for me. Please know that you all will forever be in my heart.
The Luke's Place Team