1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,920 Well, good morning, everyone. 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:06,920 And good morning, guys. 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:07,920 Good morning. 4 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:08,920 Good morning. 5 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:10,000 Welcome to Trinity Talks today. 6 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:15,020 So I'm Elizabeth Archer, and I am really excited to have members of the Neighborhood Assessment 7 00:00:15,020 --> 00:00:16,320 Team joining me today. 8 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:19,560 So we've got Kyla, Jesse, and Tracy. 9 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:20,560 Welcome. 10 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:21,560 Thank you. 11 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:26,480 So about a year ago, or maybe even half a year ago, there was no such thing as a Neighborhood 12 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:27,480 Assessment Team. 13 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:32,520 Now, here I am sitting with you guys and this, I'm just going to move my mic, this amazing 14 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:37,480 document that I actually had a lot of fun and learned a lot from reading. 15 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:42,240 And I'm really hoping that we can go through what the Neighborhood Assessment Team is and 16 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:47,440 what you did and learn a little bit about your findings as well and what that means 17 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:48,720 for us here at Trinity. 18 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,680 Now, Kyla, you talked a little bit about it last week at church, but we're going to go 19 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,120 into it a little bit more in depth today. 20 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,880 Now, I know before we get started, some people may be wondering, what is the neighborhood? 21 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:05,880 And I know that that was one of your initial challenges was defining Trinity's community. 22 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:10,660 So I'm just going to show a map for people who are watching at home online or if they 23 00:01:10,660 --> 00:01:11,660 are looking. 24 00:01:11,660 --> 00:01:16,640 We should have a map of Trinity Streetsville, just a map of the area. 25 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:17,720 There it is. 26 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,760 So these are the firm boundaries of what Streetsville is. 27 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,200 Now, did you stick to the firm boundaries or did they sort of blur? 28 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:26,920 Yeah, they sort of blurred a little bit. 29 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:32,480 Yes, because when we were looking at things like census data, that takes in the sort of 30 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,320 voter municipality, which goes beyond Streetsville. 31 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:37,320 Right into the middle of the Meadowdale area. 32 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:43,080 And we know that folks who are going to church here are not necessarily living in that strict 33 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:44,080 area. 34 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:45,080 That's right. 35 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:46,080 So we sort of spread out. 36 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:50,280 So you use this area a little bit as a guide, but not as a firm boundary. 37 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,920 And then let's just show a picture of our Streetsville village here. 38 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,720 So anyone who's not familiar with Trinity and Streetsville, this is one of our shopping 39 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:00,280 strips right on the street that Trinity is located on. 40 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:06,240 So Kyla, you are the one who sort of spearheaded this whole idea of doing a neighbourhood assessment. 41 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,560 And I'm wondering if you could share why come up with this idea. 42 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,640 Maybe tell me a little bit about your passions and motivations behind this. 43 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:15,220 Yeah, for sure. 44 00:02:15,220 --> 00:02:21,300 So the idea for this really started first with a conversation with Pastor Rob and then 45 00:02:21,300 --> 00:02:25,560 a conversation that expanded to Trinity's Outreach Committee. 46 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:32,560 And it was really the question that kept coming up in my mind was how do we move beyond ministry 47 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:34,320 in the walls of the church? 48 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:40,680 How do we do ministry in a way that's really engaging folks who maybe don't come into our 49 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,160 church building? 50 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:43,640 Right. 51 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:48,400 And one of the challenges with knowing what would that ministry look like is not knowing 52 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:53,520 what are the needs and the opportunities that actually exist around us. 53 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:58,360 And so before, we could just launch out and start a particular ministry to do a particular 54 00:02:58,360 --> 00:02:59,560 thing. 55 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,880 And there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, but it would be helpful to have 56 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:08,240 a sense of what's actually needed and why we're doing what we're doing. 57 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:12,600 And so this neighbourhood assessment process was really about answering those questions. 58 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:13,600 What are the needs? 59 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:14,680 What are the opportunities? 60 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,440 And how has God gifted Trinity to be able to respond to those things? 61 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:19,440 I love that. 62 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:20,440 There's a lot of wisdom there. 63 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,560 I love that you've connected opportunities and needs together. 64 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:24,240 I think that's a great first step. 65 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:26,400 So then you came up with a team. 66 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:28,880 And who is on this neighbourhood assessment team? 67 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:29,880 Yeah. 68 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,100 So there ended up being seven of us on the team. 69 00:03:32,100 --> 00:03:40,480 So myself and Jesse and Tracy, as well as Sue Flack and Paul and Lauren and Adrian were 70 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,400 the other folks who volunteered to join me in this venture. 71 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:44,720 Well, well done, guys. 72 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,600 So I assume there's a little bit of passion behind this for each of you here. 73 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,000 So Jesse, why did you decide to join the neighbourhood assessment? 74 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:52,000 Yeah. 75 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,120 So I've always been interested in trying to find out more ways to help out locally, which 76 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,880 is why my life group's helped a lot with the open door in the past. 77 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:02,520 And then in terms of, I guess, long-term goals for me being here at Trinity, especially now 78 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:06,720 getting more involved in different parts of ministries, is trying to see if there's a 79 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:11,560 way to help Trinity be a visible pillar in the community more than it already has so 80 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:16,040 far and also kind of mentioned this briefly, but I was also part of the outreach committee. 81 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,800 So it seems like a natural fit for me to help out for this particular group. 82 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:19,800 Perfect. 83 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:20,800 Great. 84 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:22,800 Well, what about you, Tracy? 85 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:23,800 Yeah. 86 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:29,120 So in my case, I grew up in Mississauga and lived here most of my life. 87 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:36,160 And I've seen how Mississauga has changed, how it's grown and evolved. 88 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,720 I've seen how demographics have changed. 89 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:44,880 Also on a personal side, one of my interests over the years has been reading books like 90 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,120 Boom, Bust and Echo and Outliers. 91 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:57,240 And through reading these books, we learned that success is not necessarily, or success 92 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:03,800 is necessarily possibly just because of a certain time in history, something can be 93 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,880 successful, or basically because of a shift in demographics. 94 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:14,760 So I enjoy thinking about this when I see how organizations change over the time. 95 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:20,780 And I've enjoyed thinking about this looking at Trinity over the years as well. 96 00:05:20,780 --> 00:05:24,280 So that's how I was interested. 97 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:29,840 And when back in July or August, when Rob mentioned that we would be doing a neighborhood 98 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:35,800 assessment at the end of one of the services, I got really excited. 99 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:42,600 I actually thought that a third party organization was coming in with some consultants to do 100 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:47,360 this because it is a professional thing to do. 101 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:53,200 And so I thought, well, I won't be able to participate in this, but I'm so happy that 102 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:54,960 they're doing it. 103 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:00,040 And then in September, when I walked around the ministry fair, I happened to pass by Kyla, 104 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:01,720 who I didn't know. 105 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:05,160 And she had in front of her the signup sheet for the neighborhood assessment. 106 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:07,600 I got very excited. 107 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,400 And I said, oh, you mean we can sign up for this? 108 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,480 And she's like, well, yeah, sure. 109 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,280 Christmas came early for Tracy. 110 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:16,280 Yes, it did. 111 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:17,280 I was so excited. 112 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:20,000 I was the second name on the list. 113 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:21,000 That's great. 114 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,320 Well, it really was a wonderful report to read through. 115 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,320 And I'm glad that you said that it's something that you might consider professionals to do. 116 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,520 Because when I looked through the process that you took in doing this, it was incredibly 117 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:33,620 intentional. 118 00:06:33,620 --> 00:06:37,080 It was incredibly methodical and thorough. 119 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:41,080 And I would actually encourage anyone who's at Trinity to ask for a copy of it, because 120 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,480 it was really well put together. 121 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,760 And it looks like you sort of did your work over eight sessions, each with its own purpose. 122 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:52,160 I mean, me myself, if I were to do a community assessment or a neighborhood assessment, I 123 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:53,780 wouldn't know where to start. 124 00:06:53,780 --> 00:06:57,600 So how did you start your first session when you guys all met together? 125 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:04,300 Yeah, so the eight sessions of the neighborhood assessment were partly based on processes 126 00:07:04,300 --> 00:07:09,700 that I had done in the past and partly based on some of my own background in education. 127 00:07:09,700 --> 00:07:12,880 So my work is in community development. 128 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,280 And so this fits with that really well. 129 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:22,080 But to start our first session, I thought it was really important to ground ourselves 130 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,320 in, first of all, who we were as a team. 131 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:30,280 So taking some time just to get to know who else is sitting around this table. 132 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,560 So one of the first questions that we asked was, when you hear the word neighborhood, 133 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:36,720 what comes to mind for you? 134 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:41,480 And just getting to know what experiences we're all bringing to the table. 135 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:46,200 But then also really grounding ourselves in Scripture and in God. 136 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:51,360 This isn't a neighborhood assessment that we're doing just because we want to. 137 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,840 It's something that we're doing because we feel like we want to know what is God calling 138 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,480 us to do in this moment. 139 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:00,920 And so yeah, we looked at some different scriptures. 140 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:05,920 We looked at, for example, the story of the good Samaritan, which Jesus tells in response 141 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,640 to the question, like, who is my neighbor? 142 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:14,640 And we looked at some of the Old Testament passages where throughout the prophets and 143 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:21,280 the law, there's this really an emphasis on caring for the vulnerable, caring for widows, 144 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,360 caring for orphans, caring for the stranger in your midst. 145 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,440 And so we looked at those scriptures and we said, who are these people in our context? 146 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:33,040 Who are the vulnerable people in streetsville, in Mississauga? 147 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:37,560 And also the other piece that we looked at was some of Jesus's ministry. 148 00:08:37,560 --> 00:08:42,440 And looking at the fact that Jesus, yes, he came and he preached and he said lots of good 149 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:49,960 things, but he always paired that preaching with deeds, with healing, with feeding people, 150 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,160 with spending time with people. 151 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:57,960 And so this idea that our ministry comes not just in what we say, but also in what we do. 152 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,920 And so therefore, we want to follow that model of Jesus. 153 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:03,000 That's beautiful. 154 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:04,000 That's beautiful. 155 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,880 And I just want to extend just like a sincere gratitude for going through that so thoroughly. 156 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:14,360 So that was just your first session, a great way to make a foundation for your work. 157 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,920 But then you did other types of methods and processes. 158 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:22,360 And some of them that I have here are there was a prayer walk, there was a census review. 159 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:24,960 Tracy, were you part of those? 160 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:26,760 Yes I was. 161 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:32,080 The prayer walk was a practical thing to do and it was a symbolic thing to do. 162 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:38,080 I think all of us in the group knew enough about the general neighborhood here around 163 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:39,320 the church. 164 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:45,560 But when we actually went out and walked around this time, we looked at it differently. 165 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:50,380 We read signs that we'd never read before or we read them a little bit more closely. 166 00:09:50,380 --> 00:09:54,960 We looked at construction areas and we asked the who, what, when, where and why questions 167 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:58,660 around those construction areas. 168 00:09:58,660 --> 00:10:03,500 We also were just more mindful about walking around. 169 00:10:03,500 --> 00:10:09,000 And actually, just to be honest, for me, a highlight of this walk was the people I was 170 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:10,000 walking with. 171 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:17,080 I enjoyed talking to them, asking them questions, getting to know them a bit better and just 172 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,920 feeling free to speak openly. 173 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:24,280 And that's all part of neighborhood and all part of community. 174 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:25,280 So yeah. 175 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:26,280 Wow. 176 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:27,280 A lot of learning there. 177 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:30,200 It makes me inspired to actually start doing that in my day to day. 178 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:32,960 Just see things through a little bit of a different lens. 179 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:33,960 Yes. 180 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,880 And the census, well, of course, that excited me. 181 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,160 I was glad that you asked me to speak on that. 182 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:46,960 Yeah, I looked forward to that particular session for weeks before it came up. 183 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:52,040 So obviously, it was a necessary thing we had to do. 184 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:57,460 We need to look at the census to, you know, we're doing a neighborhood assessment. 185 00:10:57,460 --> 00:11:02,840 We need to know who is who's here, who's in the neighborhood. 186 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,060 And that's the best way to do it. 187 00:11:05,060 --> 00:11:11,040 And of course, Kyla, with her professional background and her skills and just general 188 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:18,000 amazing common sense, knew that she had to organize this this meeting for people who 189 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:25,320 are not census statisticians, which I assume is at least one or two, at least one. 190 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:30,080 So of course, it was organized in a way that we could all manage it. 191 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:36,840 And we were able to answer the questions that we may have had and we were able to find if 192 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,360 we were missing something. 193 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:44,040 And I think at the end of the day, we found that what we saw in the census was what we 194 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:49,000 already knew about streetsville and about Mississauga. 195 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:50,960 So that gave us merit. 196 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,040 It gave what we were talking about merit. 197 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:57,040 And it allowed us to move on in the direction where we seem to be going. 198 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:58,040 Great. 199 00:11:58,040 --> 00:11:59,040 That's great. 200 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:00,040 So important. 201 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,920 And Jesse, you looked a little bit more at our local community. 202 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,960 Maybe I know you drew up some maps yourselves and then looked at some of the actual needs 203 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:09,320 that you saw. 204 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,160 So what did you come up with there? 205 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:12,160 Yeah. 206 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:14,640 So one thing that's really good and I think we saw from the earlier picture from before 207 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:19,200 when you at the very beginning was like defining again what exactly we were actually starting 208 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,760 for both streets from the Mississauga community. 209 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,440 And so we actually drew a map downstairs and we have to use bad sticky notes. 210 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:31,920 And we try to identify all the different organizations and the businesses that were relevant to what 211 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:36,200 the existing community supports were in the area we're actually serving. 212 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:41,060 And actually one of the best things we did after that was actually going out to ask people 213 00:12:41,060 --> 00:12:45,280 both parishioners and outside the church what those needs were and if they're actually being 214 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,240 addressed in streetsville or Mississauga. 215 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:53,120 So we could have a better idea of where exactly Trinity can address those gaps. 216 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,080 It was really eye opening for some of the things that we saw that were actually available, 217 00:12:56,080 --> 00:13:01,720 but the same things that were clearly maybe underserved or an opportunity for us to actually 218 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:05,080 maybe address at some point, especially as we're kind of figuring out the fine details 219 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:13,280 of the neighborhood assessment team, like what some of these suggestions we have for 220 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,480 Wolf Robin and the rest of the congregation. 221 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:16,480 Thank you. 222 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:17,480 Thank you. 223 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:20,880 And then one of my favorite things that I got to read in this neighborhood assessment 224 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:25,120 team, and maybe it's just my visual learner self, but you did a fun activity called Rocks 225 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,640 and Balloons and I actually asked our tech team to put up some of the pictures here and 226 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:33,120 maybe Kyla, you can just talk us through just briefly what this was all about. 227 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:34,120 Yeah. 228 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:39,080 So Rocks and Balloons is like one of the reasons that I like this tool is because it's a very 229 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:43,480 visual tool and it's a way to bring a lot of information together in like a sort of 230 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:45,160 compact way. 231 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,560 And so the point of Rocks and Balloons is you have this middle line and the middle line 232 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:49,880 is the goal. 233 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,000 It's the dream. 234 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,680 And so for Streetsville, we talked about it being a welcoming and a safe community where 235 00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:57,680 everyone's needs are met. 236 00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:03,600 And for Trinity, we talked about it being a place where we are reaching out and where 237 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,180 everyone is feeling welcome. 238 00:14:06,180 --> 00:14:10,760 And so balloons are the things that are lifting us up, that are really pulling us towards 239 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:11,760 our goal. 240 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:16,820 And rocks are the things that are weighing us down, the things that maybe are detracting 241 00:14:16,820 --> 00:14:19,240 from our goal. 242 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:24,700 And so this is just a really visual way to sort of see like, what are we dealing with? 243 00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:25,700 What is our situation? 244 00:14:25,700 --> 00:14:29,300 What are the things that we can be really grateful for and maybe that we should build 245 00:14:29,300 --> 00:14:30,300 on? 246 00:14:30,300 --> 00:14:34,580 And what are some of the things that we're aware of as challenges? 247 00:14:34,580 --> 00:14:38,400 And so we did this exercise first in a team. 248 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:43,640 So each individual member of the team completed this Rocks and Balloons template and then 249 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,360 we talked through it together and we said, okay, what are some of the common things that 250 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:51,440 we all identified as rocks or balloons? 251 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:57,640 And then we went away from that meeting and each person was asked to go and talk to their 252 00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:58,640 neighbors, right? 253 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:03,440 To go and talk to somebody at the church and somebody outside of the church. 254 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,000 So that we could then, you know, we don't want this to just be about, you know, what 255 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,800 the seven of us sitting in a circle think. 256 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,700 But like, what does our actual wider community think as well? 257 00:15:13,700 --> 00:15:18,160 And so we added those insights into this Rocks and Balloons exercise. 258 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:19,160 Wow, that's great. 259 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,000 And I think there's even another one up there too, isn't there? 260 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,240 Yeah, so the one, yeah, there we go. 261 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:26,400 Yeah, so this is the one for Trinity. 262 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:31,560 And what's important to sort of recognize about this is that like all of these things 263 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:38,000 on there are things that are contextual factors of our situation, but they're not necessarily 264 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:42,760 things that we can change or maybe like there are some things that maybe we don't want to 265 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:43,760 change. 266 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:48,000 You know, maybe that's just true of who we are and that's central to our identity. 267 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,600 But it's still important to put it out there and to say, this is a factor, right? 268 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,400 That is impacting what we're able to do. 269 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:57,400 That rock is going to be there no matter what. 270 00:15:57,400 --> 00:15:58,400 Exactly. 271 00:15:58,400 --> 00:15:59,400 All right. 272 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:01,920 Well, I really think that you did a lot of really good work. 273 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:06,320 And then you had to take all of these findings, which I assume was probably another challenge 274 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,000 in itself, but one that you did quite well. 275 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:13,840 And you gathered the information and you addressed the strengths and you looked at the weaknesses, 276 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:18,640 you found opportunities, and then you came up with some, I guess you assessed everything 277 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:23,000 and then you came up with some actions that you wanted to take and that you want to encourage 278 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,640 Trinity to take as well going forward from all of that. 279 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:32,280 So let's talk a little bit about the findings and then also about what you've decided to 280 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:34,660 do with those findings. 281 00:16:34,660 --> 00:16:39,960 So I know you broke down the actions into three main categories, acts of service. 282 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:44,320 You brought up talked about cultivating community and then ongoing learning. 283 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,480 So I can see three different dimensions to all of this. 284 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,080 So do you want to tell us a little bit about the findings and then how we can take those 285 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,160 into acts of service, Kyla? 286 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:54,160 Yeah. 287 00:16:54,160 --> 00:17:00,120 So I think it was important for us to recognize that there are certain particular opportunities 288 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:08,280 or ministries that Trinity could engage in, but also that one of the findings was that 289 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:13,120 some of the things that people are experiencing are not necessarily things that they need 290 00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:17,600 a particular ministry to support them with, but that they just need relationship to support 291 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:18,600 them with. 292 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:25,920 And so we wanted to both set these really specific opportunities, but also give everyone 293 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,840 an opportunity to engage wherever they're at. 294 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:34,800 Yeah, so in terms of the acts of service, there was sort of three really specific or 295 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,400 concrete options that we sort of came up with. 296 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:44,200 So the first was that there was an opportunity to engage in some sort of ministry in long-term 297 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:45,460 care homes. 298 00:17:45,460 --> 00:17:49,800 And so in the past, that ministry has looked like going in and providing something similar 299 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:55,140 to a Sunday service, where there's some scripture reading and some music and things like that. 300 00:17:55,140 --> 00:18:00,920 And that's certainly something that could start again, or it could be something different, 301 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:05,520 just some opportunity for social time and playing games or whatever that is. 302 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:11,200 But just noticing that need to care, particularly for seniors and those who might be feeling 303 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:12,680 isolated. 304 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:16,000 Which actually, I'm just going to cite it, ties in really nicely to the sermon we just 305 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:22,880 had, where Rob was speaking about our aging population and Jesus's care for these people. 306 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:23,880 I love that. 307 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:24,880 Yeah, perfect. 308 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:25,880 Perfect timing. 309 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:26,880 Yeah. 310 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:32,880 So the second ministry sort of opportunity that we thought about was starting some sort 311 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:34,760 of a community meals program. 312 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:43,040 So an opportunity for folks who maybe can't afford a meal or maybe don't have time, or 313 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:45,040 maybe are just feeling isolated, right? 314 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:50,120 Like folks who are living alone or folks who, you know, single parents and things like that, 315 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:56,400 where they can just come and have a meal together and engage in both that physical nourishment, 316 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,120 but also that like social and emotional nourishment of community. 317 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:01,120 Great. 318 00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:02,120 Yeah. 319 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:05,080 And then third was some sort of a volunteer service team. 320 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:09,680 So this would be something that could provide really practical support to folks, you know, 321 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:14,580 so helping with shoveling snow or raking leaves, or if someone's moving and they need help 322 00:19:14,580 --> 00:19:15,820 with that, right? 323 00:19:15,820 --> 00:19:20,520 Just a group of people who would be dedicated to showing up when something needs to get 324 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:22,360 done. 325 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:26,920 So those were our sort of three opportunities that we're sort of presenting to the church. 326 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:31,960 But of course, those opportunities don't happen by themselves. 327 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,800 There needs to be folks who are willing to lead those things or to volunteer and engage 328 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,080 in those things. 329 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:42,400 And so right now we're looking for folks who feel like they might be called to participate 330 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:47,440 in those in some way, particularly folks who are willing to lead them, but even folks who 331 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:53,840 are just willing to show up and to say, I'll show up and help cook a meal or clean some 332 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:57,160 dishes or shovel snow or whatever it is. 333 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:01,580 And so if that's something that other people are interested in, I would definitely encourage 334 00:20:01,580 --> 00:20:05,200 you to reach out to myself or to reach out to Pastor Rob. 335 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,760 You can find his email address on the website if you're not here in person. 336 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:14,760 So yeah, just to think about what opportunities you might want to take advantage of. 337 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:15,760 Well, thank you. 338 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:16,760 Thank you. 339 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:18,760 Those are all I love that they're so practical. 340 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:19,760 So practical. 341 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:21,200 So those were the actions. 342 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:25,640 And then there was this idea of cultivating community, which I suppose makes sense in 343 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,620 this neighborhood type approach. 344 00:20:27,620 --> 00:20:29,380 So how do we cultivate a community? 345 00:20:29,380 --> 00:20:30,380 What came out of this? 346 00:20:30,380 --> 00:20:32,200 Tracy, do you have any notes on that? 347 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:34,240 I do have notes, Elizabeth. 348 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,760 If you don't mind, I do have my notes because I don't want to forget anything. 349 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:38,860 No, I appreciate that. 350 00:20:38,860 --> 00:20:42,480 And I could go on for a long time, so I don't want to do that either. 351 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:48,640 Yes, I love how today's sermon ties in exactly with what we're speaking about. 352 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,600 Today's sermon was about a care community. 353 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,240 It was about relationship. 354 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:59,760 It was about caring for our elderly parents and just the aging population in general. 355 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:00,760 Cultivating community. 356 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:05,400 I looked up the word cultivating finally this morning after I was ready to come in. 357 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:10,120 And you know, cultivating usually is a word around farming, right? 358 00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:12,560 And working, getting your hands dirty. 359 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:18,560 And some words that came up are prepare for crops, dig, turn, plow, fertilize, farm, and 360 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:19,560 work. 361 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:20,560 Wow. 362 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:21,560 That is the word for cultivating. 363 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:22,560 Those are the words for cultivating. 364 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,680 So this will not come by easily. 365 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,560 Well, on the other hand, it will. 366 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:29,620 And that's what I want to talk about. 367 00:21:29,620 --> 00:21:34,760 So again, Kyla's questions to the congregation last week were, what is God calling us to 368 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:35,760 do? 369 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,240 And what can we be quick to respond to? 370 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:43,520 And the acts of service that she mentioned just now are acts of service we can be quick 371 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:45,560 to respond to. 372 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:51,080 In our meetings, these questions came up maybe with different words or in different forms, 373 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:55,180 but we kept coming back to the same thing, acts of service. 374 00:21:55,180 --> 00:22:01,920 And I think that's because that's something we don't see much of in the world today. 375 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:09,200 And it's something that is becoming in higher demand because of the aging population. 376 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,480 And time and action are the hot commodities here. 377 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,900 People need to take the time and the action to cultivate community. 378 00:22:16,900 --> 00:22:21,260 And we're not talking about big things. 379 00:22:21,260 --> 00:22:28,240 And the big thing about cultivating community is it doesn't happen within the church walls. 380 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,640 Most of us are here for less than two hours on a Sunday, and that's it for the week. 381 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:36,240 We live the rest of our lives out in the world. 382 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:43,520 And that's where we can be doing things to make build relationships. 383 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:51,940 So I just want to mention four things of how an acts of service cultivate community. 384 00:22:51,940 --> 00:22:55,760 First of all, as Kyla said, everyone can participate. 385 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:57,620 It's all inclusive. 386 00:22:57,620 --> 00:23:03,580 You don't need skills or special talents to be part of this type of thing. 387 00:23:03,580 --> 00:23:10,100 So if a person feels that they can sign up for something they can do, they feel confident. 388 00:23:10,100 --> 00:23:13,880 They go to do that thing, feeling confident. 389 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,500 The job or the task gets done. 390 00:23:16,500 --> 00:23:20,600 They can stand back and say, I was a part of that. 391 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,740 And that means they feel like they belong. 392 00:23:23,740 --> 00:23:28,560 And when they feel they belong, that's part of cultivating community. 393 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:32,040 And the person they did it for feels like they belong too. 394 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:34,000 I'm a part of something. 395 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:38,560 These people came and shared with me and they did this with me. 396 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,880 I belong. 397 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,720 That's part of cultivating community. 398 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:48,120 Also it's a wonderful way to get, I believe we probably have five generations in this 399 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:49,540 church. 400 00:23:49,540 --> 00:23:56,120 And I believe that acts of service are ways of getting the different generations mingling. 401 00:23:56,120 --> 00:24:00,600 And there's a list that could go on forever on how that might look. 402 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,080 But that's just, let's just leave that for today. 403 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:09,680 Also acts of service are an intangible way for all of us. 404 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:16,360 But I'd like to, I'd like to highlight particularly middle school, high school and young adults 405 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:19,880 to become more well-rounded as people. 406 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:21,800 They can learn new skills. 407 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:25,320 They may find new interests, career interests. 408 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:29,600 They would certainly have something interesting to put on their resume as a fun fact, which 409 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:34,160 then becomes a conversation piece in their job interview, which then sets them apart 410 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,080 from other applicants. 411 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:38,080 Very true. 412 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:43,660 I mean, there's so much that everyone can gain from this. 413 00:24:43,660 --> 00:24:51,160 At the end of the day, if you've experienced the act of giving, you also have the opportunity 414 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:57,000 to experience joyful giving, which is given to you by the Holy Spirit. 415 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:01,840 And if you experience that once, you'll just want to keep doing it again and again and 416 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,520 again. 417 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:12,240 Sunday mornings are a starting place for establishing community, but cultivating community means 418 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:20,200 moving and doing things and stepping outside and serving in simple, tangible ways, which 419 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:23,360 could make the world of difference to someone. 420 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:24,620 Wow. 421 00:25:24,620 --> 00:25:25,740 That's beautiful. 422 00:25:25,740 --> 00:25:27,720 That's beautiful and very true. 423 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,760 And I love that you're so encouraging to everybody. 424 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:35,560 And at Trinity, we've talked, I think, a bit about this ability to connect with all the 425 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:37,080 generations. 426 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:41,680 And I think that you're just dead on that this would be a fantastic opportunity that 427 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:43,760 would have a ripple effect. 428 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:44,760 Yes. 429 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,920 A ripple effect and multidimensional nature to this type of community. 430 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:57,920 And with the church's mission to grow young, you know, the elderly people know what I'm 431 00:25:57,920 --> 00:25:58,920 talking about. 432 00:25:58,920 --> 00:25:59,920 They did this. 433 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,600 Their parents did this. 434 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:08,400 My generation and younger, we don't really know about this as much. 435 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,960 It's more of an idea. 436 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:19,080 And we need to create people who are like the generations three or four older than us. 437 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:20,080 To learn. 438 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:21,680 To learn from them and then to do. 439 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:22,680 Exactly. 440 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:24,520 Yes, which seems to be a theme here. 441 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,640 And then I mean, there was so much good learning that came out of this. 442 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,040 But I love that Tracy said at the beginning, she's lived in Mississauga for almost her 443 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,880 entire life and it's changed. 444 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,640 And one of the elements that came out of this report is that there's a need for ongoing 445 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:38,640 learning. 446 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:39,640 Right, Jesse? 447 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:40,640 Yeah. 448 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:44,200 And you can kind of see from the rocks and balloons picture, there's a lot of different 449 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:48,080 topics and it was actually really hard to narrow down exactly what we could potentially 450 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:49,080 do. 451 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,920 And I think that's one thing we want to keep in mind as a church as we move forward. 452 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,160 Like we're just stretching the surface here, especially with the initial stuff we're doing 453 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:57,760 that's by no means the only thing that we're going to start off with. 454 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:01,120 And one thing I would encourage a lot of people in the congregation, either individually or 455 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:05,440 maybe in your life groups, is maybe try to discuss this further and just thinking like, 456 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:10,480 what things do we notice as a group or what do I do individually on a basis where I do 457 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:16,280 address some of these concerns or community needs, but we can maybe do on a larger scale 458 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:17,280 at Trinity. 459 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,020 And I think that's part of what Kyle is trying to do is asking people to potentially step 460 00:27:20,020 --> 00:27:23,880 up and reach out to her and Rob and share a bit more about their expertise. 461 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:28,080 Because we know there's so many people in our community that actively do help in their 462 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:29,080 own ways. 463 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:34,480 Either they're serving at a food bank, they're doing other stuff for seniors on an individual 464 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:39,480 basis, but we could potentially expand or rely on you guys to kind of get that ball 465 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:40,480 rolling. 466 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:45,480 So again, it's not just a matter of us saying, oh, we know this is what the community needs. 467 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:49,880 Us listening to both people within and outside the church, we can really address something 468 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,920 and make positive change for the better. 469 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:53,920 That's right. 470 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:54,920 That's right. 471 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:56,680 I'm excited to hear what stories come out of this. 472 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:01,260 I would love to sit down with you three again, maybe in half a year from now. 473 00:28:01,260 --> 00:28:04,520 And hopefully we have some teams going. 474 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:06,280 We would have maybe some new needs. 475 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:07,980 We'd also see some new strengths. 476 00:28:07,980 --> 00:28:10,000 We'd see a few more balloons even there too. 477 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:11,320 You never know. 478 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:15,200 But I love that you also said that people at Trinity are encouraged to get involved. 479 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:21,040 So if you are interested in knowing more, in helping more, in just finding out more 480 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:26,760 or even just sharing a story that you have, make sure to contact Kyla or Rob or even just 481 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:31,120 the office in general and we'll be sure to connect with you. 482 00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:32,760 So thank you for taking the time. 483 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:34,880 I keep wanting to say community assessment team. 484 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,520 I was told it was the neighborhood assessment team. 485 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:39,520 All right. 486 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:43,640 So thank you very much, neighborhood assessment team for taking the time away from your coffee 487 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:50,080 hour to share with us about all of this hard work that you've done and all the blessings 488 00:28:50,080 --> 00:29:05,520 that you've given to Trinity and to our greater community.