Growth and Renewal at St. Thomas’s — By Michael Rowland
As I speak with parishioners about the Cornerstone project, people often wonder what the future holds for St. Thomas’s. They ask if the parish has recovered from the impact of Covid and if there are signs of renewal and growth. And they sometimes ask the same thing about the broader Anglican Church.
The Big Picture
Peter Misiaszek, the director of stewardship for the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, wrote an article in the August edition of The Anglican that I recommend to all who may have missed it. You can read it here. It highlights some remarkable and encouraging growth trends among parishes in the diocese. He points out that “… in the span of two years, Sunday attendance and the number of donors to the Church in our diocese have increased at a pace unrivaled in the last 50 years.”
Fr. Humphrey and members of the Cornerstone team met recently with the Bishop, the executive director of the diocese, and Peter Misiaszek about the Cornerstone project. They expressed how pleased and impressed they were at what St. Thomas’s has achieved over the past few years, particularly through our outreach efforts to the community through Friends of Music, the Friday Food Ministry, The Thurible, and other ministries.
What about St. Thomas’s?
I will show my age at this point by quoting a line from the television show Dragnet, in which Detective Joe Friday was often heard to say, “All we want are the facts, ma’am.” So here are just the facts on signs of growth and renewal as reported at the Vestry meeting earlier this year and to the diocese through the Incumbent’s Annual Statistical Return.
A. Attendance and Livestream Viewing
The way in which we connect with people through worship at St. Thomas’s—and in many other parishes in the Anglican Church of Canada and around the world—has changed. The pandemic triggered the need to jump into livestreaming to stay connected with our parishioners. With generous support from several donors, and leadership by Fr. Humphrey and lay people, we installed a top-quality livestreaming system, hired a director of livestreaming (Rigzin Tute) and several operators, and launched into a whole new way to connect people around the world with St. Thomas’s.
As a result of our careful attention to liturgy and music, we have built a large audience for our livestreams while also beginning to grow our in-person attendance at services.
Did you know that on average there are now almost five times as many viewings of the Sunday service livestreams as there are people in the pews? It is important to understand that a viewing of the livestream does not necessarily equate to one or more people watching a whole service. It can be someone revisiting a service several times (to re-listen to the sermon or the music, for example) or viewing only part of a service. Nevertheless, these are large numbers that mean we are sharing the Gospel and the experience of worship at St. Thomas’s with many beyond those sitting in the pews.
The charts below show the trends we have experienced in service attendance and in viewings of our livestreamed services. Average in-person attendance across all services between 2023 and 2024 showed a small increase and, based on what we have seen happening at St. Thomas’s this year, we expect that the growth in 2025 will prove to be even higher.
Livestream viewings increased dramatically between 2023 and 2024, and we are beginning to find ways to connect with people through our livestream beyond simply viewing a service.
B. Subscribers to The Thurible
The Thurible is a beloved and much anticipated source of spiritual insights and encouragement, parish news, and information about upcoming events. Masterfully produced each week by Julia Armstrong and containing the Rector’s Letter, articles from parish leaders, and a plethora of other information, subscriptions to The Thurible have increased significantly. It is an important tool to connect people to the parish and the Good News of Jesus Christ.
C. Income
As you can see below, our total income is up considerably since the last year of the pandemic. The Bishop and diocesan staff reported that St. Thomas’s is a very healthy parish and is far less dependent on trust and investment income relative to many other parishes. In other words, our current generation of donors continues to prayerfully provide financial support to sustain the parish and pass on our heritage to future generations. Thank you all for doing your part in this regard.
D. Regular Givers
The number of regular givers, defined as individuals who subscribe to envelopes or use pre-authorized giving (PAG), has also increased. These are some of the best ways to give as people are less likely to forget about a weekly or monthly donation in support of St. Thomas’s.
These are just some of the facts at our disposal about signs of growth and renewal at St. Thomas’s. We will report on what 2025 brings once we have that data after year end.
In the meantime, we thank God for the blessings he has bestowed on us and continue to pray for the parish as we grow towards a bright future.
As Michael notes above, signs of renewal at St. Thomas’s are all around us—from rising attendance and increased giving to a children’s choir that has grown by 30% and the Friday Food Ministry adding volunteers and partner organizations while serving more than 80 to 100 guests each week. The Cornerstone Project builds on this momentum by ensuring that everyone can participate fully in our growing community.
