ANNUAL REPORT 2021
In Hebrews Chapter 11, Paul reminds the church that “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. Is this not a beautiful hymn for our last year of ‘are we there yet?’ pandemic waiting? Yet, we have been faithful and God has been so good to us.
This year, we have seen our church brave the challenges of more Zoom church and within the ever-rolling waves of COVID-restrictions, carry on with the life of the church. Worship, Prayer, Alpha, Date Nights and so much more have continued, as a testimony to God’s steadfast love - and your courage. A special mention must be given to our Centre St Jax team for their passion, skill and generosity in keeping our centre open to so many - and to our rental partners whose revenues have kept our ship afloat.
I commend you to a careful read of this year’s annual report, hearing the stories of how it all happened and where we’re heading next. In this year’s Annual Vestry, we face some challenging yet hopeful decisions around our property and all of this is informed by a knowledge that we have kept our shoulders to the wheel and God has responded, in blessing.
Let us continue to play our part in sharing again the good news about Jesus and the transformation of society.
Yours in Christ,
The Rev’d Graham Singh
Incumbent
TEACHING AND PASTORAL CARE
Pastoral care in our church continues to show adaptability in the conditions brought on by the pandemic. We are focusing our team efforts on regular phoning, sending of video greetings, essentially using online media to foster connections and a sense of caring. Our Sunday teaching continues to feature various members of St Jax and a rich mix of guests and eminent Church leaders. We adhere to a philosophy that there is depth and wealth in a panoply of speakers representing different ethnicity, gender, and age.
welcome and hospitality
Perhaps as much or more than any of our other ministries and things we do as St Jax, Welcome Team and Hospitality has been impacted by the pandemic. We have a wonderful team of volunteers, but we find that we have to allow space for those who are nervous to meet onsite; others are just so eager to be together. So all things considered, our team is facing a stop and start syndrome and will need a rebuild. But we also have some very dedicated people who serve most Sundays and have a passion for Jesus and St Jax. Our coffee bagel time is one of our best welcome features at St Jax. Friendship and conversations around our coffee bagel time are such a highlight each week. Why not be part of the welcome and hospitality we will offer as people come back together?
WORSHIP
2021 has proven to be another very unique year for the worship team in our church. Primarily, we were focused on choosing songs for our Zoom services, but we had a beautiful fall session onsite, culminating in our annual Christmas Carol Service. For this, we added several new members, performed a number of choral pieces, even featuring some Latin! We’re looking forward to growing and developing our new, young members and providing our community with an atmosphere of beautiful worship.
ALPHA
Once again, Alpha was a beautiful journey together, with deep friendships forming, quality discipleship happening. We also find Alpha an excellent format to grow leaders. There were young people connecting with their faith, as well older folk who have been away from the church for most of their adult life. Like last year, we did Alpha online, and despite not eating together as is customary to traditional Alpha, the online format allows a genuine bonding and sense of togetherness that is enjoyed by all. We were so surprised how beautiful Alpha online could actually be. Hooray for Alpha!
DATE NIGHTS
Because of the ongoing pandemic, Date Nights (as we have dubbed our version of the Marriage Course), was held exclusively online. This format works very well. We ran our course with 20 couples, most of whom were in some way connected to St Jax. However, our door to door flyer drop and social media drew a number of “outsiders” whom we were so glad to meet. Very likely, we will continue to run Date Nights as an online event even as the pandemic restrictions come to an end.
KIDS & YOUTH
God bless the children! St. Jax is blessed with so many beautiful children! This year the children were taught by many who love them, including Zuzanna & Michael, Tori, Jen, Molly-Claire, Olivia & Kathy. Many of the youth joined in helping lead the children and prepare Shatford hall on a weekly basis. We adapted to the changing times by switching back and forth between Zoom and on-site gatherings. We continued to practice hearing from GOD, learning how to pray and worship using many different bible stories and passages. The children dedicated themselves to the LORD, “a holy priesthood” learning how to hear and obey. We also learned different prayers including the Shema and some Celtic prayers. In September we had a welcome back celebration with live gymnastics and wise interpretation that was enjoyed by all. May GOD continue to bless the children, and may they, like Jesus, “keep increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favour with GOD and men.” Luke 2:52
After many months of prayer for St. Jax youth, the LORD graciously answered our prayers and hopes with Olivia as an Intern. Thank You Father for Your faithfulness to us.
The Youth Alpha course started in the Fall of 2021 and went on for nine weeks. Olivia took the initiative to start up youth because she believes it is important for the youth to come together and build a community with each other. Youth Alpha is a safe space for the youth to be able to share anything. The youth were so talkative. They enjoyed sharing their thoughts, telling stories, laughing with each other and simply being together.
PRAYER
Prayer at St. Jax continued to grow and adapt through a second year of the pandemic with its changing restrictions and opportunities. 2021 started off with a Zoom day of prayer with 40 participants, including our Farsi speaking brothers and sisters. We sought the Lord for wisdom, insights and guidance to help us navigate the year ahead of us. Regular prayer times continued on Sundays and Wednesdays throughout the year, both on Zoom and on site, when permitted.
We participated in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s prayer initiative “Thy Kingdom Come” in May. This prayer plan of 11 days found us contending for loved ones and acquaintances to come to know Jesus. This included a Sunday Day of Prayer where the St. Jax community joined together on Zoom praying for each other and our loved ones.
Praying members of St. Jax met weekly to support Date Nights and two Alpha courses, including one in Farsi! And finally, through weekly Prayer Focus Points we prayed with one accord for personal, communal, and global requests. God continues to draw us into the center of His heart and will through prayer, teaching us to “always pray and never give up.” Luke 18:1
CENTRE ST JAX
The space rental operations of St-Jax, commonly known as the Centre St-Jax, experienced significant change and growth in 2021.
Building on three years of fruitful development and collaboration, our main rental partner, Cirque le Monastère, signed a 10-year lease agreement with us. The new arrangement has already brought increased revenue, and has also significantly streamlined our operations. Le Monastère has greatly matured as an organisation. Their core team has tripled in size, they’ve become much more structured and professional, almost every weekend is booked for events, and St-Jax is a beehive of activity every day. Their transformation of the garden into a beautiful circus and performance venue during the summer months has vastly increased the visibility of our operations.
Another significant change is the arrival of a new major tenant, Church 21, who now occupy the Mackay Gallery offices and who use the basement gym for Sunday services. Their team is very professional and well-structured, and their services in the basement are so popular that they often have to turn people away. We expect that they’ll be with us for a long time.
Other new regular building users include the Wolfpack Street Patrol, an Indigenous-led organisation that patrols the neighbourhood two nights a week to bring comfort and support to our unhoused neighbours; and the Medicine Bear Drum Circle, an Indigenous men’s support group.
We have also broadened and deepened some of our most strategically important relationships with the city of Montreal, the downtown merchants associations, Concordia, and others.
Revenue from rental operations grew substantially in 2021 and is 23% higher than our pre-pandemic rental revenue (2019). Considering that the pandemic made the building unusable for events during about a third of 2021, we expect to do much better in 2022.
FINANCIAL REPORT
CONCLUSION
What a year! What a great God we serve! As we look ahead to the many decisions facing our future, let us give thanks for all that has come so far. Please join me in thanking our tireless ministry leaders, volunteers, network of supporters, friends and donors as we look ahead. Thank you for your time in considering this report and we look forward to discussing it, in the annual church Vestry meeting.
Yours in Christ,
Graham