Harcourt Manna Service

04/03/2025

This Saturday the University of Guelph Choirs will be performing "Considering Matthew Shepard" at 7:30pm. “Considering Matthew Shepard” offers a space for reflection and solidarity with the LGBTQ2IA+ community. You can buy tickets here:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/considering-matthew-shepard-tickets-1260124328789?aff=oddtdtcreator

01/23/2025

Trump’s executive action direct attack on trans, inters*x and gender-diverse people

On his first day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump signed several executive orders, including one that specifically targets transgender and inters*x individuals. The sweeping policy which claims to protect women from “gender ideology”, defines male and female based solely on reproductive function rather than physical or chromosomal differences. It calls for the elimination of policies that recognize gender identity and undermine the rights and well-being of trans and inters*x communities while failing to protect women. By endorsing a binary and essentialist understanding of s*x as strictly "male" or "female," this policy also poses significant risks and harmful implications for inters*x individuals.

While we closely monitor how the developments of the US executive orders may impact 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in Canada, The United Church of Canada affirms that gender and s*xuality are gifts of God, and welcomes people of all s*xual orientations and gender identities. Anti-gender backlash is part of a broader, international anti-gender conservative backlash which targets feminism, women’s rights, and 2SLGBTQIA+ rights. To stand in solidarity and intentionally engage in trans and 2-Spirit justice, we encourage uplifting and affirming the experiences of gender-diverse folks, as we seek to transform structures and systems that speak truth to God’s vision for humanity.

11/12/2023

🪔 Happy Diwali to all our friends who are celebrating! May this festival of lights bring joy, abundance, and happiness to your life.

🪔 Happy Diwali to all our friends who are celebrating! May this festival of lights bring joy, abundance, and happiness to your life. 🌟

[Image by saurabh joshi from Pixabay]

10/20/2023

On Tuesday October 24th, we are having our first ever Manna youth gathering for folks in grade 6 - 12 :)

We are getting together from 6-8pm for pizza and pumpkin carving.

Our Manna coordinator, Pamela, and Manna parent, Melissa Paciulan, will have pumpkins, carving tools, and all kinds of creative supplies ready to go. Our goal is to have fun and get to know one another. There is no cost.

We just need to know how many are coming and what kind of pizza they like :)

See the manna email to sign up or get in touch with Pamela :) ([email protected])

05/31/2023

This made me smile! Donuts yes! We hope your tree planting has gone well everyone! Thanks to all those who planted our trees at Harcourt - we will have a chance to water them together on Sunday :)

Remember when you are planting trees build a donut, not a volcano! This also supports the tree in healthy respiration.

05/08/2023

In partnership with The GO Project, the General Council Office is hiring 16 Youth Climate Motivators to join us in raising our spirited voices for climate care and climate justice.

The Youth Climate Motivators will be employed from July 3 to August 25 to work with a local community of faith or United Church ministry on a climate care/climate justice initiative. They will meet online and come together in person in August at Camp Pringle in Shawnigan Lake, BC. There, they will meet with Moderator Carmen Lansdowne share their local initiatives and develop an action plan to increase the impact of United Church climate care and climate justice initiatives. Learn more about the Youth Climate Motivator positions on the Job and Volunteer Opportunities webpage. Application deadline is May 14, 2023.

See: http://ow.ly/U9Mt50OhsQa

[Image: Dominic Wunderlich from Pixabay]

03/14/2023

12/01/2022

A continuation of the early posted news story:

" Internationally renowned sculptor Timothy Schmalz, whose work is installed at the Vatican, created a statue outside St Stephen’s which is familiarly known as “Panhandler Jesus.” On December 8th, he will be present at St Stephen’s to install a cage around the statue. It is the sculptor’s intention that the cage should remain in place until the City stops criminalizing homelessness, and the encampment residents are offered safe and decent shelter, rather than being evicted and dispersed with no housing plan."

JESUS TO BE JAILED FOR "DWELLING IN STREET"

Sculptor Timothy Schmalz and the Church of St Stephen-in-the-Fields will hold a media event on Thursday, December 8th, at 9:30 am, to protest the criminalization of homelessness, and show solidarity with the encampment in the church yard at 103 Bellevue Avenue, Toronto.

On November 24th, the encampment which has existed peacefully in the yard of the Church of St Stephen-in-the-Fields for the last six months was served with a Notice of Violation by the City of Toronto. The named violations are “obstruct street” and “dwell in street.” The residents of the encampment have been given until December 8th to vacate the place which has become the only safe shelter they can obtain.

Internationally renowned sculptor Timothy Schmalz, whose work is installed at the Vatican, created a statue outside St Stephen’s which is familiarly known as “Panhandler Jesus.” On December 8th, he will be present at St Stephen’s to install a cage around the statue. It is the sculptor’s intention that the cage should remain in place until the City stops criminalizing homelessness, and the encampment residents are offered safe and decent shelter, rather than being evicted and dispersed with no housing plan.

The Anglican Bishop of Toronto, the Right Reverend Andrew Asbil, will be present for the installation, as will the Reverend Canon Maggie Helwig, priest of St Stephen’s, and residents of the encampment itself. Political representatives have also been invited.

For more information, contact the Reverend Canon Maggie Helwig, 416-526-5438.

11/30/2022

"Until we are no longer able, we will be the last safe place."

St. Stephen-in-the-Fields in Toronto share their story:

There has probably never been a time in the last few decades that there has not been one or two people living in the yard at St. Stephen-in-the-Fields. Here, in the heart of the downtown west, in a small pocket of deep poverty surrounded by affluence, we have worked hard to be a space that […]

11/20/2022

On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, we remember and grieve the 2-Spirit, nonbinary, transgender and gender diverse people who have lost their lives due to the violence of transphobia this year.