Representatives from the three partner churches stand in front of the construction site at Bloor Street United Church in Toronto. The national offices for the Anglican, Presbyterian, and United churches will be moving to the newly-built offfice space in 2026. From left to right: Rev. Douglas Ducharme, minister of Bloor Street United, Rev. Victor Kim, principal clerk of the PCC, Rev. Michael Blair, general secretary of the UCC, Rev. Alan Perry, general secretary of the ACC, and Bob Hilliard, trustee of Bloor Street United
Representatives from the three partner churches stand in front of the construction site at Bloor Street United Church in Toronto. The national offices for the Anglican, Presbyterian, and United churches will be moving to the newly-built offfice space in 2026. From left to right: Rev. Douglas Ducharme, minister of Bloor Street United, Rev. Victor Kim, principal clerk of the PCC, Rev. Michael Blair, general secretary of the UCC, Rev. Alan Perry, general secretary of the ACC, and Bob Hilliard, trustee of Bloor Street United (May 7, 2024). Credit: Patrick James Boyd/UCC
Rev. Victor Kim (PCC), Rev. Michael Blair (UCC), and Rev. Alan Perry (ACC) visited the construction site of the new national offices for the three partner churches
Rev. Victor Kim (PCC), Rev. Michael Blair (UCC), and Rev. Alan Perry (ACC) visited the construction site of the new national offices for the three partner churches (May 7, 2024). Credit: Patrick James Boyd/UCC

Anglican, Presbyterian, and United churches sign lease to share national office space

 — May 10, 202410 mai 2024
Matthew Puddister, Anglican Journal

Construction ‘well underway’ on new facility, Alan Perry says.

It’s official; the national offices of the Anglican Church of Canada, the United Church of Canada, and the Presbyterian Church in Canada will be moving in together after signing leases to share space at a redeveloped church site in downtown Toronto.

General Secretary of the ACC General Synod, Archdeacon Alan Perry, said in a May 7 staff email, followed by a public news release the following day, that all three churches had signed leases to share national office space at the renovated site of Bloor Street United Church, located at 300 Bloor Street West in the Annex-University of Toronto neighbourhood. Construction on the new facility is “well underway,” he added, with a target to move in by spring 2026.

“The agreement reflects the churches’ ongoing commitment to nurturing ecumenical relationships and cooperation, to reducing costs and to lessening their carbon footprint,” Perry said. An attached information sheet said the move would save money for the Anglican Church of Canada by reducing its under-used space, such as that taken up by a bookstore it used to run and various meeting rooms.

Perry told the Anglican Journal that General Synod management does not currently have concrete numbers for operations costs at the new building or a firm plan for the property it owns at 80 Hayden Street, current location of the Anglican Church of Canada’s national office.

“We’ll be communicating with staff regularly now that this is becoming more public and will share information as it becomes available,” Perry said.

The information sheet said combining the three offices under one roof will reduce space requirements and energy use. The new building, it said, will feature a high-performance thermal envelope—the exterior structure that separates inside air from outside—and LED lighting to help save energy. It will also incorporate recycled materials such as exterior stonework removed during demolition of the old site.

The new facility will include a renovated Bloor Street United Church as well as office, community, commercial and worship spaces. All three denominations provided input in drafting the floor plans, which an Anglican Church of Canada news release said “provide for a more efficient and flexible use of physical space for the new offices.” Anglican, United and Presbyterian church archives will be moved to the new building and share space, while meeting and video production spaces will also be shared.

Perry recently met at the construction site with the Rev. Michael Blair, general secretary of the United Church of Canada, and the Rev. Victor Kim, principal clerk at the Presbyterian Church in Canada, to see progress on the facility. They offered prayers of blessing for the safety and well-being of the construction workers.

Kim called reaching a formal agreement between the Anglican, United and Presbyterian churches to share the facility “a happy day for all of us.”

“I’m very excited about the possibilities of what this partnership will produce in the years to come,” Kim said.

Though the three churches will share office space, church leaders said administrative structures will remain separate and there are no plans for an organic union.

Posted: May 10, 2024 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=14306
Categories: Anglican Journal • In this article: Anglican Church of Canada, Presbyterian Church in Canada, shared ministry, United Church of Canada Transmis : 10 mai 2024 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=14306
Catégorie : Anglican Journal • Dans cet article : Anglican Church of Canada, Presbyterian Church in Canada, shared ministry, United Church of Canada


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