Community Ministries put compassion into action

In November, I had the opportunity to visit the Cornerstone Housing for Women’s Booth Street residence, one of our five diocesan Community Ministries. Carole Breton, diocesan director of Communications and Development, and I had the chance to tour the facility and hear about the incredible work that is undertaken there to offer permanent supportive housing, essential care and support to those who reside there. It was truly an inspiring visit, but it also touched me in a very personal way, and it reconnected me to a story and another visit or a pilgrimage of sorts that I made back in 2008. My wife and I had a planned trip to England that year. After some initial communications, I accepted an invitation to visit the headquarters of the Barnardo’s Children’s Charity in the UK and in particular to hear the story of a homeless boy named Joseph.

Dr. Thomas Barnardo came to London in 1866 from Ireland in the midst of an outbreak of cholera that swept through the East End killing more than 3,000 people and leaving families destitute. Thousands of children slept on the streets, and many others were forced to beg after being maimed in factories where they were forced to work. The following year, having decided to abandon his desire to become a missionary in China, the doctor set up a ragged school in the East End where poor children could get a basic education.

In 1870, Barnardo opened his first home for boys in London, and it would become the first of many Barnardo orphanages across Britain. A sign was posted on the front of that home: ‘No Destitute Child Ever Refused Admission.’ While the charity no longer runs homes for boys and girls, Doctor Barnardo’s mission is alive and well in the good work they continue to do: “that every child deserves the best possible start in life, whatever their background.” It is a philosophy that still inspires the charity today.

With the help of Barnardo’s meticulous records, we heard something of Joseph’s story whose father became blind at a very young age and had to leave his employment. Despite his affliction, he continued to support his wife and three children by playing a violin in the streets, until his death of bronchitis at the age of 32. A while later, Joseph’s mother also died of consumption and as a result he and his brother were left homeless.

As you may have guessed, Joseph was my grandfather, and the story of my great-grandfather playing a violin on the streets of London in a desperate attempt to feed his family has had a powerful impact upon my life and ministry. I know, first-hand, the potential that this kind of poverty and deprivation can have to reach down and touch the lives of those in the generations to follow.

What was remarkable to me and so encouraging for all of us in our diocese was the fact that Cornerstone was a ministry that began when a few faithful Anglicans saw a need in their neighbourhood and responded from their hearts and in response to their baptismal calling. As stated on our website our five community ministries: “serve those most vulnerable in our midst. They are often people struggling with issues around homelessness, poverty, mental illness, trauma, and addiction. All are welcome and accepted regardless of faith, race, gender, or orientation. Together, we strive to nurture the health and well-being of all those who seek our services, creating communities of compassion around them.” I invite you to learn more about each of our five remarkable community ministries and, if you are not already doing so, to consider supporting them financially.

We have just concluded our Christmas celebrations and given thanks that in the humble setting of the birth of the Christ-child, the glory of the Lord shone around an unlikely people with a message that has echoed down through the ages: that no life or no situation, no matter how difficult or how impoverished, is beyond the reach and desire of God to enter into and to change in dramatic ways. May we all be inspired by the wonderful directors, staff members, volunteers and board members of each of our Community Ministries so that we too may be instruments of this transforming love of God to the world Christ came to save.