| St. Thomas's Anglican Church | |
St Thomas Anglican Church
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| Denomination | Anglican |
|---|---|
| Churchmanship | Anglo-Catholic |
| Website | www.stthomas.on.ca |
| History | |
| Founded | 1874 |
| Dedication | Thomas the Apostle |
| Administration | |
| Parish | St Thomas, Huron Street |
| Deanery | Parkdale |
| Diocese | Toronto |
| Province | Ontario |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | Fr. Mark W. Andrews |
| Assistant priest | Fr. Robert J. Mitchell (Associate Priest) Fr. Roy A. Hoult (Rector Emeritus) Fr. Brian D. Freeland |
| Honorary priest(s) | Fr. A. Thomas Little Fr. R. Bruce Mutch Fr. W. David Neelands Fr. Ian D. Nichols |
| Laity | |
| Organist(s) | John Tuttle |
St. Thomas's Anglican Church also known as St. Thomas's, Huron Street is a parish of the Anglican Church of Canada located at 383 Huron Street in Toronto, Ontario. It was one of the earliest Anglo-Catholic congregations in Canada. It was established in 1874, moving twice before settling into its present building, adjacent to the Annex on the western edge of the University of Toronto's downtown campus.
The liturgy and music at St. Thomas's make it a "destination" church. Many people who do not live within the boundaries of the Parish attend services.
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The church is an Arts and crafts building designed in 1893 by architect and parishioner Eden Smith (1858–1949). The building was altered in 1917 to add a baptistry.
The aesthetic theorist and poet T.E. Hulme attended St. Thomas's while living in Toronto briefly in 1906 after leaving Cambridge University. He is an important figure in Modernist literature, influencing, among others, Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot.[1]
The church is known for its high standards in music and liturgy, and is nicknamed "Smoky Tom's" for its use of generous quantities of incense. Liturgy at St. Thomas's is more formal and complex than would be encountered in all but a few Canadian Anglican churches today.
St. Thomas’s draws from the English high-church tradition within Anglo-Catholicism, as distinct from the Anglo-Papalist branch, which took its inspiration from contemporary Roman Catholicism. This tradition, as former rector Fr. Roy Hoult explains, sought
to rediscover the forms of dress and general tenor of worship that pertained in England prior to their destruction at the time of the Reformation. Saint Thomas's is an example of this second kind of Anglo-Catholicism; its lack of lace and the predominance instead of plain albs and long surplices bear witness to this, as does the traditional Anglican arrangement of the chancel with its choir stalls.
The church has a long relationship with Trinity College, and more recently with Wycliffe College - the present rector, Fr. Mark Andrews, graduated from Wycliffe as did the associate rector Fr. Robert Mitchell. As recently as the late 1930s, Wycliffe banned its students from entering St. Thomas's. Presently, however, Wycliffe College not only allows students to attend the church, they have even placed students at St Thomas' for year-long practicums that are required by the College.
St. Thomas's has two full-time priests (Rector and Associate Priest), one part-time Assistant Priest, four Honorary Assistant Priests, and a Rector Emeritus. There is also an Organist/Choirmaster/Music Director.
The Rector, the Rev'd Mark Andrews, has served in the dioceses of Saskatchewan and Toronto. Prior to becoming rector at St. Thomas's, he was the rector of St Aidan's, also in Toronto. As a lay person, Fr Andrews ran an inner-city day camp at All Saints', Ashmont, Boston.
Music is part of the liturgy at St. Thomas's and the high calibre of the music program attracts people to St. Thomas's. The parish's Organist and Choirmaster, John Tuttle, founded and still directs the semi-professional Exultate Chamber Singers, has previously directed the Hart House Chorus at the University of Toronto, and is the Director of Music at Trinity College. The famous English accompanist Gerald Moore, who grew up in Toronto, was a sometime assistant organist at St Thomas's. The choir is semi-professional and, twice, has toured English Cathedrals (most recently in 2010).
St. Thomas’s celebrates the Eucharist every day of the year. There are services throughout the week. On Sundays, there is an 8 o'clock said Eucharist, a said Morning Prayer at ten-thirty, and three sung services:
Major Feast Days are usually observed with one or two said Eucharists during the day and a Procession and Solemn Eucharist at 6.15 pm, often followed by a supper and programme. The service leaflets and service music are posted on the church's website.
Worshippers looking for an Anglican church with good liturgy, excellent music, and a commitment to outreach and/or involvement in the arts will find it at St. Thomas's.
The involvement of women priests in the liturgy has been an ongoing source of debate at St. Thomas's, culminating in a vote at the 2006 Vestry meeting where a majority (2/3) of parishioners supported more involvement of women priests at all services. However, as of 2011, no discernible change has occurred. St. Thomas's has no women priests in official capacities. Women priests are seldom invited as celebrants or homilists (and are allowed to preside only at the Sunday 9:30 a.m. Mass). None of the parish's honorary assistant priests are women, nor have any women priests served in that role in recent memory, if ever. A number of former female parishioners have been ordained to the priesthood and have gone on to assume positions of leadership within the Anglican Church, including the Rev'd Canon Dr Alyson Barnett-Cowan now a senior officer at the Anglican Communion headquarters in London, England, the Rt Rev'd Victoria Matthews, now Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand, and the Rev'd Andrea Budgey, Chaplain at Trinity College, University of Toronto, and the Rev'd Susan Haig, associate priest at All Saints' Sherbourne Street, Toronto. Former parishioner Natalie Klukach, while not ordained, is Programme Executive, Church and Ecumenical Relations / North American Regional Relations at the World Council of Churches' office in Geneva, Switzerland. Recently, two long-time parishioners were ordained to the transitional diaconate (leading to eventual ordination to the priesthood): The Rev'd Maggie Helwig, Trinity College graduate in Divinity, who for many years oversaw the "Out of the Heat/Cold" dinners for marginalized persons in the parish; and the Rev'd Rachel Kesler, Wycliffe College graduate, who, with her spouse, was co-sexton of the parish. Both of these women will be ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Toronto within a year's time. The lack of progress in increasing the role of women priests at St. Thomas's has prompted parishioners (both women and men) to leave the parish. At the same time, this aspect of the church's culture attracts people who do not support the Anglican Church of Canada's ordination of women priests. Since 2007, a group of former and current parishioners (and others)have met regularly to celebrate a House Eucharist. The celebrant is frequently but not always a woman priest.
St. Thomas's publishes a newsletter, The Thurible from time to time. The parish sponsors "Out-of-the-Heat" and "Out-of-the-Cold" programs and operates a "community garden." All are well-supported by volunteers from the parish and the community. It also hosts meetings of the Society of Mary and the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.
Many St. Thomas's parishioners are active in the arts as performers, writers, and artists, and the church regularly participates in events like Nuit Blanche and Doors Open Toronto.
In 2008, St. Thomas's launched the annual Gene Stewart Lecture to honour the late Gene Stewart, a long-time and much-beloved parishioner. The lecture takes place in February, close to the anniversary of Gene Stewart's birthday. Roméo Dallaire was the inaugural guest speaker in February 2008. Subsequent speakers were Roberta Bondar (2009) and Anna Porter (2010).
On Sunday mornings, there is a small church school and a nursery school. The church also conducts an eclectic adult Christian Education program, including programs targeted to young adults, Bible study series during the Lent and Advent seasons, discussion groups, and occasional film series. A recent addition to the educational groups is the St. Elmo's Youth Group for youth. It began in 2006 and is still running.
In October 2006, the parish podcast Smoky Times was launched. This podcast is published roughly every two weeks. Podcasting of services (primarily the Sunday services of 11:00 am Mass and 7:00 pm Evensong) began in April 2007.
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