WEBVTT 00:00:03.510 --> 00:00:06.129 Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode 00:00:06.129 --> 00:00:10.029 of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla, and I am really 00:00:10.029 --> 00:00:12.349 excited to be sitting down with a couple of folks 00:00:12.349 --> 00:00:15.589 who are members here at Trinity and have a really 00:00:15.589 --> 00:00:19.289 interesting, really fun story to tell about the 00:00:19.289 --> 00:00:23.390 history of this church. So thank you for joining 00:00:23.390 --> 00:00:27.370 me. Thanks, Kyla. Yeah. Maybe we'll start with 00:00:27.370 --> 00:00:29.170 an introduction. Do you want to introduce yourself? 00:00:29.789 --> 00:00:33.509 Oh, I'm Diane Toyson, and my husband and Dave 00:00:33.509 --> 00:00:36.049 and I have been coming to Trinity for 38 years. 00:00:36.310 --> 00:00:39.210 Okay. Wow. That's a long time. Yeah. Well, yeah. 00:00:40.590 --> 00:00:44.429 And go ahead. So I'm Wally Vogel. My wife, Jane, 00:00:44.490 --> 00:00:48.509 and I have been coming for 36 years. Okay. When 00:00:48.509 --> 00:00:52.030 we came, we were basically newlywed 20 -somethings, 00:00:52.030 --> 00:00:53.770 and we're grandparents now. Okay. So that gives 00:00:53.770 --> 00:00:56.329 you some idea of the arc of our timeline. Yeah. 00:00:56.329 --> 00:00:59.920 A long time. Yeah. So we're going to zoom in 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:03.020 on a little bit of Trinity's history here. As 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:07.700 Rob said in our service, the church is 120 or 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:10.920 more years old. We're going to zoom in on the 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:18.040 past 30 or so years. So in 1998, there was a 00:01:18.040 --> 00:01:21.439 fire here at Trinity that burned the whole building 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:25.879 to the ground. But before that, there was actually 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:28.599 some other changes that were taking place. So 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:32.760 can you take us back to 1998, 1997? What was 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:35.799 happening in the life of the church then? Well, 00:01:35.859 --> 00:01:38.900 Harold Percy was our rector at the time, and 00:01:38.900 --> 00:01:43.620 things were really going strong. Lots of people 00:01:43.620 --> 00:01:48.340 coming. We had two services at the time, 9, 15, 00:01:48.420 --> 00:01:51.159 and 11, and they were getting really packed. 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:55.680 Not much room, and so we wanted to make room 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:01.359 for more new people to join us. So we got space 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:05.920 at the Hazel McCallion School at Gymnasium and 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:08.960 started having a 10 o 'clock service there. Okay. 00:02:09.259 --> 00:02:13.120 And there were maybe 40 people that were over 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:16.219 there, and our music director, John McDonald, 00:02:16.439 --> 00:02:19.500 would shuttle back and forth between the services. 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:24.800 cover the music. Okay. And it was really an exciting 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:28.659 time. Sure. We ended up calling it St. Hazel's. 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:33.840 Okay. Very cool. And so what was happening here 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:37.150 at the building during that time? So we were 00:02:37.150 --> 00:02:40.169 looking for ways to expand because while the 00:02:40.169 --> 00:02:43.770 school was a good satellite congregation, you 00:02:43.770 --> 00:02:45.870 know, really people were tending to come in through 00:02:45.870 --> 00:02:48.330 the front doors here, spotting us on Queen Street. 00:02:48.389 --> 00:02:50.889 So we were really looking for a way to expand. 00:02:50.969 --> 00:02:54.270 The very first plan was to build, you know, a 00:02:54.270 --> 00:02:58.620 lovely church right here. house everybody. But 00:02:58.620 --> 00:03:01.759 the obstacles were we didn't have the budget. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:05.439 We didn't have the parking. And we would have 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:07.939 trouble getting some of the city permits. So 00:03:07.939 --> 00:03:11.439 with all those obstacles in our way, that project 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:13.379 wasn't able to move forward. So we were really 00:03:13.379 --> 00:03:15.280 looking for alternatives. And we looked at everything. 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:18.000 We were looking at leasing some industrial space 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:21.060 up the street and what have you. So we were looking 00:03:21.060 --> 00:03:24.840 at all kinds of alternatives. And then I'll tell 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:26.669 a little bit of a story. I'll try and tell it 00:03:26.669 --> 00:03:30.129 quickly. I remember I was at one of the last 00:03:30.129 --> 00:03:35.610 board meetings, probably 1997. And I was like 00:03:35.610 --> 00:03:38.090 a junior assistant warden, whatever. I was one 00:03:38.090 --> 00:03:41.710 of the new kids on the board. And we were talking 00:03:41.710 --> 00:03:43.110 about the building and saying, oh, we can't do 00:03:43.110 --> 00:03:44.509 anything for five years. We don't have the money. 00:03:44.569 --> 00:03:45.729 We don't have the parking and so on and so forth. 00:03:45.909 --> 00:03:48.949 And in my youthful exuberance, I was a little 00:03:48.949 --> 00:03:51.009 frustrated. I said, we must be able to do something. 00:03:51.389 --> 00:03:54.729 And then Harold called me up the next morning. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:57.379 Went, yeah, well, you don't know what you're 00:03:57.379 --> 00:04:00.139 talking about. And then the next morning, Harold 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:02.280 called me up and he said, listen, what you said 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:03.500 last night, let's get together and talk. And 00:04:03.500 --> 00:04:06.599 he actually had a bit of a dream that told him 00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:08.599 that, you know, you kind of have to step out 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:13.000 before things will happen. met at the time that 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:14.900 keg was up the street we met there and had lunch 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:17.120 and we're writing down well what if we raised 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:18.860 this much from the diocese what if we did this 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:22.560 did this yeah and uh and uh diane was there at 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:25.259 lunch too and she came by at our table and said 00:04:25.259 --> 00:04:26.680 what are you guys talking about and harold picked 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:28.339 up the napkin he said we just built a church 00:04:30.159 --> 00:04:32.879 Okay. So that was the beginning of the construction 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:37.139 project. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Okay. So we 00:04:37.139 --> 00:04:40.459 also have a few photos to share to sort of help 00:04:40.459 --> 00:04:42.819 us tell this story a little bit. So the first 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:45.100 picture we have is the original church building 00:04:45.100 --> 00:04:50.720 back in 1893. So obviously none of us were around 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:56.060 to see this. But yeah, just this really... A 00:04:56.060 --> 00:04:59.439 very basic sort of building that, you know, has 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:02.800 the big brick steeple, very similar to our steeple 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.000 today, but just a long sort of worship space. 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:09.040 And then we have a picture of the building in 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:14.620 1962. And so you can see that there was an expansion 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:17.120 built on the side of the building. So what was 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:20.300 in that expansion space? Well, that was called 00:05:20.300 --> 00:05:23.259 the Education Center, sort of. There was a middle 00:05:23.259 --> 00:05:27.069 hall. Yeah. It was sort of a meeting area, and 00:05:27.069 --> 00:05:29.829 then there was a parish hall on the upper level 00:05:29.829 --> 00:05:34.430 over on the extension. And then underneath, we 00:05:34.430 --> 00:05:38.370 had Sunday school space, office space. We had 00:05:38.370 --> 00:05:42.009 a nursery school that was running. Ida Dundas 00:05:42.009 --> 00:05:45.670 was the director of that. So that was quite a 00:05:45.670 --> 00:05:48.269 going concern. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you had lots 00:05:48.269 --> 00:05:49.889 of space for all this other stuff, but it was 00:05:49.889 --> 00:05:52.610 the worship space that was sort of, that was 00:05:52.610 --> 00:05:55.529 a bit of the constraint. And so then we have 00:05:55.529 --> 00:05:57.470 a picture of construction that had started in 00:05:57.470 --> 00:06:03.769 1997. Yeah, so you can see, obviously, the sanctuary 00:06:03.769 --> 00:06:07.769 is no longer there. Just a big empty space there 00:06:07.769 --> 00:06:11.370 as the church is expanding and getting ready 00:06:11.370 --> 00:06:18.160 to grow. and so what was the sort of hope or 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:21.620 vision there like was it it was a growing church 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:24.579 at that point absolutely we were growing quickly 00:06:24.579 --> 00:06:26.800 we had lots of young families i remember when 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:30.180 we were raising the the money to do the uh construction 00:06:30.180 --> 00:06:33.800 yeah We rolled a cement mixer, so we were meeting 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:38.699 in the schools at St. Hazel's, and we rolled 00:06:38.699 --> 00:06:41.040 a cement mixer up the middle, and people were 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:44.800 to put their commitments for the building fund 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.660 in an envelope, throwing it in the cement mixer. 00:06:47.819 --> 00:06:50.399 And the kids were dancing behind, there was music, 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:52.139 and the kids were dancing, and it was marched 00:06:52.139 --> 00:06:56.000 up. We raised the commitments for everything 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.360 that we needed, which was just amazing. I mean, 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:00.660 God was so good to us because we needed parking. 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:02.800 For example, we were trying to figure that one 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:04.660 out. That was one of the toughest problems. And 00:07:04.660 --> 00:07:08.220 then just before our annual vestry, the lot across 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:11.579 the street came up for sale. And we were able 00:07:11.579 --> 00:07:14.779 to very quickly put together an offer. And I 00:07:14.779 --> 00:07:16.500 think it was, I want to say it was within 30 00:07:16.500 --> 00:07:19.199 days we had acquired that parking from when it 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:21.720 went. So that same parking lot that we use now. 00:07:21.899 --> 00:07:24.500 Yeah. parking lot that we have across the street 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:26.300 at the time there was a salon in the front of 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:28.459 course because this is streetsville yeah yep 00:07:28.459 --> 00:07:32.759 very cool that became a police station became 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:35.259 a police station for a while okay interesting 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:37.920 lots lots of different things happening there 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:42.439 and we still had our offices underneath the old 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.199 parish hall area okay still meeting there yeah 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:52.829 yeah okay So then, April 26th, 1998 hits, and 00:07:52.829 --> 00:07:57.370 we have this very dramatic photograph of the 00:07:57.370 --> 00:08:01.610 church fire. And we have these history books 00:08:01.610 --> 00:08:05.629 of the church, and this image of the steeple 00:08:05.629 --> 00:08:09.959 on fire. roof. You can't even see it there anymore. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:12.959 And I've been told that the kids will walk by 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:15.100 and see these little books and are all very intrigued 00:08:15.100 --> 00:08:18.579 by this particular photograph because they want 00:08:18.579 --> 00:08:21.220 to know the story of what happened. And so I'm 00:08:21.220 --> 00:08:24.060 wondering if you folks can take us back to that 00:08:24.060 --> 00:08:29.660 day, April 26, 1998. Where were you? How did 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:32.039 you hear about this? What was your sort of reaction 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:35.200 to that? Do you want to start, Wally? Sure. I 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:39.919 remember it distinctly. It was a Saturday night. 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:42.419 Jane and I were going out for dinner. And I said, 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:44.179 before dinner, can we swing by the church and 00:08:44.179 --> 00:08:45.860 check on the construction? Because it was something 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:48.580 that we just kind of did every day. And we came 00:08:48.580 --> 00:08:51.320 by here and checked on it to see how it was. 00:08:51.419 --> 00:08:53.220 And everything was in pretty good shape. And 00:08:53.220 --> 00:08:55.620 then we went out to dinner. And we got home and 00:08:55.620 --> 00:08:57.659 went to sleep. And around, I'm going to say it 00:08:57.659 --> 00:09:00.019 was close to midnight, the phone rang. And it 00:09:00.019 --> 00:09:03.139 was Diane that called me. And she said, Wally, 00:09:03.179 --> 00:09:05.340 there's a fire at the church. I didn't ask any 00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:06.779 question. I just said, I'll be there in five 00:09:06.779 --> 00:09:09.759 minutes. I hung up and got dressed very quickly. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:12.240 And as I'm getting dressed, I'm praying, caught 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:15.440 small fire, small fire. I get out in my driveway. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.159 I live south of Eglinton here. I got in my driveway. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:20.200 I could already smell the smoke. By the time 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:22.700 I turned on to Mississauga Road, I could see 00:09:22.700 --> 00:09:26.440 the flames. Wow. You told me you'd gone in the 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:28.960 building. Yeah, we had gone in the building on 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.720 the Saturday. The day before. A few hours before. 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:34.320 Yeah, they had just completed the roof, and I 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:37.440 saw the rolls of tar paper. I stepped over them, 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:39.860 actually, to come in. And it was those rolls 00:09:39.860 --> 00:09:43.279 of tar paper that the young man set aflame later 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:47.440 that night. Wow. And the stained glass window. 00:09:48.649 --> 00:09:51.190 that we have now in there used to be over the 00:09:51.190 --> 00:09:54.470 altar and it had been taken out and stored. And 00:09:54.470 --> 00:09:57.250 because we were getting close to finishing the 00:09:57.250 --> 00:10:02.350 construction, the, the crate, whatever, holding 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:04.950 the stained glass window had been brought back 00:10:04.950 --> 00:10:07.850 in and it was laying on the floor of the, of 00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:12.629 the church. And well, there's a story in that. 00:10:12.990 --> 00:10:15.610 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we can see the picture there. 00:10:15.669 --> 00:10:19.519 You can see the, So it was in a wooden or cardboard 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:23.820 crate of some kind. Yeah, so all of the wood 00:10:23.820 --> 00:10:26.460 around the windows is completely charred. The 00:10:26.460 --> 00:10:29.379 window itself is quite black. It's hard to see 00:10:29.379 --> 00:10:31.220 through. But this is the same window that now 00:10:31.220 --> 00:10:34.159 sits in our sanctuary. That's right. And it was 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:37.200 restored with funds from the Bread and Honey 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:41.460 Festival in memory of Sam McCallion, who was 00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:47.309 the chairman or convener of that event. So now 00:10:47.309 --> 00:10:51.169 it's in our new building, which is lovely. I 00:10:51.169 --> 00:10:53.970 think it was restored. There was a company down 00:10:53.970 --> 00:10:55.809 the street here. Yeah, it was called Red Hill 00:10:55.809 --> 00:10:58.190 Art Glass. It's where there's a coffee shop now. 00:10:58.250 --> 00:11:02.429 And they restored it. That's right. And it's 00:11:02.429 --> 00:11:06.570 hard to really describe how miraculous it is 00:11:06.570 --> 00:11:08.370 that that stained glass survived. I mean, there 00:11:08.370 --> 00:11:11.340 were steel beams that were... twisted and warped 00:11:11.340 --> 00:11:13.899 and fallen from the heat there like yeah it was 00:11:13.899 --> 00:11:15.779 an incredible fire as you saw from the picture 00:11:15.779 --> 00:11:17.419 and right in the middle of it was this stained 00:11:17.419 --> 00:11:20.659 glass window yeah and yet it was at least it 00:11:20.659 --> 00:11:23.419 wasn't undamaged but it was restorable yeah yeah 00:11:23.419 --> 00:11:27.220 very cool i heard about the fire harold called 00:11:27.220 --> 00:11:30.500 me what dave and i had been out to a play or 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:33.600 some some kind of event and had gotten home and 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:37.509 had received the call and so we Quickly drove 00:11:37.509 --> 00:11:39.850 over here, parked at Tim Hortons, and I remember 00:11:39.850 --> 00:11:42.049 running down the street to get down here to the 00:11:42.049 --> 00:11:45.529 parking lot. And we stood out in the parking 00:11:45.529 --> 00:11:48.570 lot watching the firemen work on the building. 00:11:49.330 --> 00:11:54.769 Yeah. Something. Yeah. It's amazing. I was working 00:11:54.769 --> 00:11:57.549 on the staff at the church. Okay. I was director 00:11:57.549 --> 00:12:01.139 of programming and parish life. And I did that 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:05.139 for 24 years. And so I was pretty much involved 00:12:05.139 --> 00:12:08.460 in things right here. Had my office downstairs 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:14.559 and everything was going. Yeah. Yeah. So then 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:18.659 what was it like being part of this congregation 00:12:18.659 --> 00:12:21.759 in the weeks and the months after that fire? 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:24.759 I'm sure there's a lot of sense of grief and 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:30.159 loss. Yeah. Yeah. Well, one of the. Nice things 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:35.659 was that parishioners Ross and Davis Mitchell 00:12:35.659 --> 00:12:40.720 invited our staff to come over to their house 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:45.120 and set up our offices in their basement. So 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:48.840 we were there for several weeks, I think, until 00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:53.159 we looked and found a warehouse on Century Avenue 00:12:53.159 --> 00:12:57.779 up by Argentina, and we were able to rent that. 00:12:58.299 --> 00:13:03.299 big open warehouse, and I worked on a floor plan 00:13:03.299 --> 00:13:06.559 of designing the different spaces that we could 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:08.860 set up in there for offices and some meeting 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:12.679 rooms. There was a little kitchenette and washroom 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:17.320 and stuff, so we could have our 8 o 'clock traditional 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:22.919 worship service there. In the warehouse. Yeah, 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:25.639 in meeting rooms there. And we had our offices 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:30.220 there, and we could have meetings and midweek 00:13:30.220 --> 00:13:32.960 kind of things. And then we still worshipped 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:36.659 at St. Hazel's. Yes. And everybody moved there. 00:13:36.860 --> 00:13:41.379 Yeah. And then we had at least one service at 00:13:41.379 --> 00:13:44.220 Meadowvale Theater. Okay. I think an Easter service. 00:13:44.259 --> 00:13:50.000 Sure. Do you remember anything else? I just think 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:51.779 it's worth mentioning, you mentioned Ross and 00:13:51.779 --> 00:13:53.620 Davis Mitchell. Ross Mitchell, who unfortunately 00:13:53.620 --> 00:13:56.700 is no longer with us. He passed away a few years 00:13:56.700 --> 00:13:59.840 ago. But Ross was just such an integral part 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.850 of all this. Harold and I designed the church 00:14:02.850 --> 00:14:04.809 on a napkin. It wouldn't have gotten much further 00:14:04.809 --> 00:14:07.730 than that if we hadn't asked Ross to be the head 00:14:07.730 --> 00:14:10.289 of the building committee. Ross was absolutely 00:14:10.289 --> 00:14:12.370 a force to be reckoned with, and he made sure 00:14:12.370 --> 00:14:14.389 through the first building project, through the 00:14:14.389 --> 00:14:16.769 fire, through the second building project. I 00:14:16.769 --> 00:14:19.250 remember Ross saying to me one time, he and I 00:14:19.250 --> 00:14:20.950 were both entrepreneurs and had our own business. 00:14:21.049 --> 00:14:22.669 He said, it's a good thing we have our own business 00:14:22.669 --> 00:14:24.389 because if we worked for anybody else, we would 00:14:24.389 --> 00:14:26.049 have been fired for all the time we're spending 00:14:26.049 --> 00:14:32.049 in the church. Sure, sure. Yeah. There's one 00:14:32.049 --> 00:14:34.809 more photo I want to share of the church itself. 00:14:35.269 --> 00:14:38.850 So obviously there was a lot of damage done to 00:14:38.850 --> 00:14:43.860 the church, but then not there. The bell tower, 00:14:44.139 --> 00:14:46.419 I think, was not entirely damaged. Is that right? 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:49.960 Oh, yeah, it was. It was destroyed. OK, OK. The 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:53.379 fire was set underneath. Right. OK. It was like 00:14:53.379 --> 00:14:56.299 a chimney. After the fire, what was left here. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:59.899 So, you know, I had the unfortunate distinction 00:14:59.899 --> 00:15:02.620 of maybe being the only warden to sign two demolition 00:15:02.620 --> 00:15:05.860 orders for the church. The first demolition order 00:15:05.860 --> 00:15:08.639 was partial demolition. Sure. To prepare for 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:10.879 the renovations. Yeah. The second one was complete 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.840 demolition. Right. This place we're sitting in 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:15.919 was literally just a hole in the ground for about 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:18.000 a year. Yeah. While we tried to settle up the 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:19.740 insurance claim. So you can see in the image 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:22.039 there that they're clearing away all of the bricks. 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:25.500 There's really not much left there. There was 00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:28.320 literally nothing. We preserved some of the brick, 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:30.379 which has been used downstairs and behind the 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:34.139 altar. Yeah. But no, there's nothing. I can see 00:15:34.139 --> 00:15:35.960 there's nothing left of the original structure. 00:15:36.019 --> 00:15:38.720 Yeah. It was literally just dug out and we started 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:41.740 from scratch. Yeah. And then another picture 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:44.480 from the newspaper that I want to share with 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:46.639 you folks, because you are actually featured 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:50.159 in this picture. So at the top there, we have 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:53.200 Wally and Diane, along with Harold Percy, who 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:55.320 was the minister at the time, and Hazel McCallion, 00:15:55.419 --> 00:15:58.139 who is, of course, famous mayor of Mississauga, 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:03.120 but also a member of this church. Yeah, all just... 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:05.740 And Ross Mitchell. Okay, and Ross Mitchell as 00:16:05.740 --> 00:16:07.860 well. Okay, yeah, that we were just talking about. 00:16:08.059 --> 00:16:11.399 And I can remember standing outside when they 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:14.840 removed the old bell from the tower. That's what's 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:16.840 happening there. Yes. The bottom picture. And 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:19.679 that bell is out in the lobby right now. Yes, 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:24.799 yeah. And then you see the sign out in front. 00:16:25.059 --> 00:16:28.179 Right. It talked about we had rising from the 00:16:28.179 --> 00:16:34.210 ashes. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, very cool. And so the 00:16:34.210 --> 00:16:38.509 sub headline of this was that it was a team who 00:16:38.509 --> 00:16:43.789 started this fire. But then there's actually 00:16:43.789 --> 00:16:47.090 quite an amazing story that comes along with 00:16:47.090 --> 00:16:49.950 that. So do you want to share a little bit about 00:16:49.950 --> 00:16:53.169 how this team became sort of a little bit of 00:16:53.169 --> 00:16:55.970 part of Trinity's life for a little while anyway? 00:16:56.250 --> 00:17:00.600 Yeah. So, yeah, there were three young men that 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:02.299 came into the church, and one of them started 00:17:02.299 --> 00:17:05.619 the fire. One of the other ones, I guess, you 00:17:05.619 --> 00:17:09.299 know, was apprehended and gave his name. So it 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:11.970 was fairly quickly that... You know, the young 00:17:11.970 --> 00:17:14.589 man that started the fire was apprehended. My 00:17:14.589 --> 00:17:19.829 recollection is he was 17. Yeah. Yes. And so 00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:23.630 actually, Harold and Diane and I were invited 00:17:23.630 --> 00:17:29.380 to the courthouse when he was being tried. And 00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:32.920 the judge asked Harold to recommend, you know, 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:34.819 sentencing. He said, you know, by default, this 00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:37.099 young man would go to prison. Right. And, you 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:38.599 know, what would you like? And I think, Harold, 00:17:38.700 --> 00:17:41.519 you said sought some advice, I think, from somebody 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:47.640 for that. Lou Smedes was a famous professor at 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:50.480 Fuller Seminary. And he wrote some books. And 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:55.059 Dave connected Harold with Lou Smedes. And he 00:17:55.059 --> 00:17:58.289 made some recommendations of how to. make it 00:17:58.289 --> 00:18:03.789 a more healing process for everyone. And so he 00:18:03.789 --> 00:18:10.109 was, the sentence was that he was to do, set 00:18:10.109 --> 00:18:15.410 up and take down chairs at 200 community hours, 00:18:15.490 --> 00:18:17.750 and that was part of taking up and setting up 00:18:17.750 --> 00:18:22.250 chairs at the school. He used to do some lawn 00:18:22.250 --> 00:18:26.630 work here at the church. He was to give 10 % 00:18:26.630 --> 00:18:30.970 of his part -time job money, and he was to make 00:18:30.970 --> 00:18:35.529 an apology, a public apology to the congregation. 00:18:36.470 --> 00:18:40.410 And that was an amazing experience. We were over 00:18:40.410 --> 00:18:46.390 at the school and packed an auditorium there, 00:18:46.549 --> 00:18:51.569 and he and his mother came, and he got up and 00:18:51.569 --> 00:18:55.579 made an apology. it's written out in one of the 00:18:55.579 --> 00:19:00.380 books we've got out on display. And it was really 00:19:00.380 --> 00:19:02.980 an emotional experience for everyone, but it 00:19:02.980 --> 00:19:06.119 was a very healing experience for the congregation 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:09.940 too. Yeah. It was known as a service of forgiveness 00:19:09.940 --> 00:19:13.799 and, and it was really important for us to go 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:17.759 through that. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. It's 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:21.299 really neat to sort of think about that from 00:19:21.299 --> 00:19:25.960 the lens of, what it means to be a church, what 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:29.359 it means to be a follower of Jesus, right? Because, 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:31.519 so like you said, the sort of default sentence 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:36.000 would have been prison, which is a space of isolation, 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:38.920 right? It's a space where we take people to get 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:41.480 them out of our community. But instead, what 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:44.039 the church was able to offer was... community 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:48.160 and integration, right? And yes, sort of community 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:51.380 service hours, there was some hard work that 00:19:51.380 --> 00:19:55.980 was involved in that. But community service in 00:19:55.980 --> 00:19:59.759 the context of community, in the context of being 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:05.859 part of this church family, yeah, I think that 00:20:05.859 --> 00:20:08.900 must have felt, I'm sure there's a lot of emotions 00:20:08.900 --> 00:20:12.519 wrapped up in that. Yeah, a lot of tears. Yeah, 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:15.740 for sure. For sure. But I think it was, it was, 00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:18.000 and, you know, I'll credit Harold for this. It 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.559 was sort of a model of how to deal, if you've 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:23.099 been wronged, how do you deal with it? And I 00:20:23.099 --> 00:20:25.599 think forgiving is more important maybe for the 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:28.799 victim than the perpetrator, right? Because you 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:31.680 have to learn to let go of it. The other thing 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:34.079 was, I mean, I think that was maybe the most 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.819 covered church service in Mississauga. We had 00:20:36.819 --> 00:20:40.890 news. News vans out for that apology service. 00:20:41.250 --> 00:20:44.970 And it showed the community what was going on. 00:20:45.029 --> 00:20:47.349 And the community rallied around the church in 00:20:47.349 --> 00:20:51.170 an incredible way. Hazel did a fundraiser up 00:20:51.170 --> 00:20:56.430 at the Delta Hotel and raised money from the 00:20:56.430 --> 00:20:59.710 community. People were just showing up with donations. 00:20:59.710 --> 00:21:03.230 Other churches that had experienced fires were 00:21:03.230 --> 00:21:07.740 sending donations. It was incredibly affirming 00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:10.099 just to feel the support of the community. Sure. 00:21:10.220 --> 00:21:12.859 That's a big part of how I think we built some 00:21:12.859 --> 00:21:14.859 connections into the community at the time while 00:21:14.859 --> 00:21:17.059 we didn't have a building. Yeah, yeah. And another 00:21:17.059 --> 00:21:21.380 interesting thing is that we had a connection 00:21:21.380 --> 00:21:26.079 with St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church down the 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:29.160 street from us. Okay, yes. Where Doug McQuay 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:34.359 was the pastor there. And we were... permitted 00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:38.920 to have some services there. They could use it 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:42.619 for weddings or funerals, and we had our annual 00:21:42.619 --> 00:21:49.240 lamb dinner there one year. And now we have Doug, 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:53.980 and when Doug retired, he and his wife Liz started 00:21:53.980 --> 00:21:58.829 coming to Trinity. And his son, Scott McQuade, 00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:05.109 is a drummer and looks after the sound and lighting. 00:22:05.230 --> 00:22:09.650 And his wife is Libby McGrath, who is our music 00:22:09.650 --> 00:22:14.170 leader and worship leader. So it's amazing to 00:22:14.170 --> 00:22:17.250 still have that connection. Lots of family connections, 00:22:17.450 --> 00:22:20.089 community connections, all these things. Yeah, 00:22:20.150 --> 00:22:25.660 very cool. Yeah. So now we're moving along in 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:27.920 the story towards rebuilding. And we have one 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:31.200 last photo to share of the rebuilding the bell 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:33.920 tower at the church. And you can sort of see 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:36.259 at the bottom there, reopening spring of 2000. 00:22:36.500 --> 00:22:39.740 So there's this real new momentum, new process 00:22:39.740 --> 00:22:42.960 underway. So what was that rebuilding process 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:47.640 like? How did that get started? What was involved 00:22:47.640 --> 00:22:50.400 in that? And there were some limitations before. 00:22:50.579 --> 00:22:53.859 So were there still limitations? Well, that was 00:22:53.859 --> 00:22:56.480 a really interesting time because we did actually 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:59.359 see an opportunity coming out of the fire in 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:01.740 that before. As you saw, there was the old church 00:23:01.740 --> 00:23:04.700 building, the middle hall built in 1930, the 00:23:04.700 --> 00:23:08.160 parish hall built in 1962, and a big empty courtyard 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:11.019 in the middle. Right. So we couldn't, because 00:23:11.019 --> 00:23:13.319 of some restrictions, we couldn't just, we had 00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:15.119 to work within that kind of footprint of the 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:18.970 building. But after the fire and we had a hole 00:23:18.970 --> 00:23:20.650 in the ground, well, now we said, okay, now we 00:23:20.650 --> 00:23:22.750 can recapture that space because it would be 00:23:22.750 --> 00:23:25.190 more economical to just build a big envelope, 00:23:25.289 --> 00:23:27.730 which is what we have now, just basically a big 00:23:27.730 --> 00:23:30.190 rectangle over the whole space. So we actually 00:23:30.190 --> 00:23:33.269 ended up picking up a lot of usable space in 00:23:33.269 --> 00:23:36.009 the new configuration. The problem with that 00:23:36.009 --> 00:23:38.170 was, and I remember distinctly because we had 00:23:38.170 --> 00:23:42.109 a meeting down at St. Andrews and Doug McQuaid 00:23:42.109 --> 00:23:45.910 was kind enough to allow us to meet there. And 00:23:45.910 --> 00:23:48.569 we were going to present the new plans. And I 00:23:48.569 --> 00:23:50.809 talked to the insurance company and, you know, 00:23:50.809 --> 00:23:51.869 they said, don't worry, we're going to cover 00:23:51.869 --> 00:23:53.930 you for replacement costs. And so we went down 00:23:53.930 --> 00:23:55.609 there to unveil the new plans and get everyone 00:23:55.609 --> 00:23:58.410 excited about the building. And like literally 00:23:58.410 --> 00:24:00.869 hours before the meeting, I got a call from the 00:24:00.869 --> 00:24:03.349 insurance company and they said, yeah, so here's 00:24:03.349 --> 00:24:04.849 the number you're going to get. I'm going to 00:24:04.849 --> 00:24:06.750 say it was something like 500 ,000. I'm like, 00:24:06.809 --> 00:24:12.569 no, we need 1 .5 million. And I remember going 00:24:12.569 --> 00:24:15.450 into that meeting, just I've never. prayed so 00:24:15.450 --> 00:24:18.069 hard in my life as going in front of the congregation 00:24:18.069 --> 00:24:20.529 to say, yeah, we can't rebuild right now. And 00:24:20.529 --> 00:24:22.329 we sat with that hole in the ground for a full 00:24:22.329 --> 00:24:23.990 year while we tried to work out the insurance. 00:24:24.589 --> 00:24:26.390 Eventually we did. I'm pleased to report that 00:24:26.390 --> 00:24:29.029 we got, my recollection is 1 .8 million by the 00:24:29.029 --> 00:24:31.150 time we were done, because when we had to go 00:24:31.150 --> 00:24:34.049 through, we actually found other items that were, 00:24:34.109 --> 00:24:35.890 you know, should have been covered by insurance. 00:24:36.190 --> 00:24:39.170 Sure. So ultimately that all got settled and 00:24:39.170 --> 00:24:40.849 that's when we were able to start rebuilding 00:24:40.849 --> 00:24:43.150 again. Okay. But it was, it was quite a time. 00:24:43.190 --> 00:24:45.029 I'll tell just one other story really quick. 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:49.279 And while this was all happening, Hurricane Mitch 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:54.519 hit in the Honduras. Okay. And it was devastation. 00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:58.380 And Dave was head of World Vision at the time 00:24:58.380 --> 00:25:00.259 and brought it to the attention of the board 00:25:00.259 --> 00:25:01.839 and said, you know, could Trinity do something? 00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:04.180 And I know we're doing great things now in Nueva 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:06.859 Frontera, but our first, you know, forage into 00:25:06.859 --> 00:25:09.759 Honduras was then. And I remember being in a 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:13.160 board meeting and it came up and we said, okay, 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:15.309 you know, what can the church do to help? help 00:25:15.309 --> 00:25:19.910 the victims of the hurricane. And somebody said, 00:25:20.029 --> 00:25:22.490 oh, you know what? It's not the time. We're trying 00:25:22.490 --> 00:25:24.150 to rebuild the church. We don't have the insurance. 00:25:24.869 --> 00:25:27.950 And somebody else on the board said, well, you 00:25:27.950 --> 00:25:31.250 know what? These people were hit with a storm 00:25:31.250 --> 00:25:33.410 and they're homeless. And we're homeless. We 00:25:33.410 --> 00:25:34.970 should understand what they're going through. 00:25:35.109 --> 00:25:37.109 And this is the time for us to step up. And we 00:25:37.109 --> 00:25:41.309 did. And I was really encouraged at how the church 00:25:41.309 --> 00:25:43.609 supported that and reached out. And that became 00:25:43.609 --> 00:25:45.829 a big project. We built a computer training center 00:25:45.829 --> 00:25:48.029 that hundreds of people were able to get jobs 00:25:48.029 --> 00:25:51.849 as a result of that. So there was a lot. And 00:25:51.849 --> 00:25:55.000 we built. I think a school, right? A small school 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:58.859 room. We went down and visited in Honduras. Yeah, 00:25:58.940 --> 00:26:00.640 there were several trips that went down. So it 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:02.680 was, again, something good. You know, this is 00:26:02.680 --> 00:26:05.240 the amazing thing. I mean, you know, God, we 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:06.819 go through terrible things in our life sometimes, 00:26:06.980 --> 00:26:09.799 right? It's a tough world. But God can redeem 00:26:09.799 --> 00:26:12.380 things in wonderful and unexpected ways. Yeah, 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:16.559 totally. It was great. Diane, when you think 00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:20.819 about that rebuilding time, how did you see God 00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:26.579 at work? It was certainly a sense of community 00:26:26.579 --> 00:26:29.279 working together, supporting one another and 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:31.960 being behind that. And just seeing it all come 00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:37.200 together was just amazing. And still new people 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:39.099 were coming to the church, even though we were 00:26:39.099 --> 00:26:43.299 meeting over at St. Hazel's. It was still growing. 00:26:43.380 --> 00:26:47.559 And so the grand opening that weekend, we had... 00:26:48.220 --> 00:26:51.400 big event for the community and tours of the 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:54.259 building and out in the parking lot. And we all 00:26:54.259 --> 00:26:57.660 set up with refreshments and stuff and just a 00:26:57.660 --> 00:27:02.380 lot of excitement about coming together and how 00:27:02.380 --> 00:27:05.400 we were able to reach out to a lot of people. 00:27:05.559 --> 00:27:09.660 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think like one 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:11.619 of the things that sort of stands out to me in 00:27:11.619 --> 00:27:14.099 this whole bringing all the pieces together is 00:27:14.099 --> 00:27:18.799 just the way that Trinity was able to be a witness, 00:27:19.079 --> 00:27:22.240 a presence in this community of what it means 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:27.980 to go through really hard things, to lose everything 00:27:27.980 --> 00:27:33.319 as a church, but to remain faithful. Yeah. We 00:27:33.319 --> 00:27:36.380 had the bread and hunting parade. Yeah. Always 00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:39.380 a big deal at Trinity. This week's congregation 00:27:39.380 --> 00:27:43.049 would sit out. front of the church sure and watch 00:27:43.049 --> 00:27:45.930 them watch the parade go by and hazel was always 00:27:45.930 --> 00:27:49.569 trooping along in front in front of it and we 00:27:49.569 --> 00:27:53.609 had a big banner that we had in the parade that 00:27:53.609 --> 00:27:56.349 one year that said rising from the ashes and 00:27:56.349 --> 00:28:01.069 a big uh float that we had with a band and people 00:28:01.069 --> 00:28:03.869 on it and everything and so it was it was really 00:28:03.869 --> 00:28:07.390 a a wonderful witness to the community yeah yeah 00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:11.400 Yeah. And yeah, I mean, I also just go back to 00:28:11.400 --> 00:28:15.279 that story of bringing this youth into the community 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:19.640 of, yeah, doing the hard work of love in the 00:28:19.640 --> 00:28:24.859 midst of the hard stuff of life. So when you 00:28:24.859 --> 00:28:29.259 reflect on the past 25 years now that this building 00:28:29.259 --> 00:28:32.900 has been open, yeah, what stands out to you? 00:28:32.940 --> 00:28:34.660 How have you seen Trinity grow? How have you 00:28:34.660 --> 00:28:38.410 seen God at work in the last? 25 or so years. 00:28:40.390 --> 00:28:42.809 Do you want to start us off, Wally? Sure. So 00:28:42.809 --> 00:28:46.069 I think we've been through our ups and downs. 00:28:46.309 --> 00:28:49.410 Time won't permit to describe all of them, but 00:28:49.410 --> 00:28:51.910 let's just say there was a bit of a roller coaster. 00:28:52.009 --> 00:28:54.269 Certainly moving into the new building was a 00:28:54.269 --> 00:28:56.690 high, but there were lows that came along the 00:28:56.690 --> 00:28:59.430 way. But I think what I've seen, particularly 00:28:59.430 --> 00:29:01.869 in the last few years, is just how God has blessed 00:29:01.869 --> 00:29:04.779 the church with... people coming from different 00:29:04.779 --> 00:29:07.759 backgrounds, different ages, a lot more young 00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:14.009 families and kids that we see. And just the energy 00:29:14.009 --> 00:29:16.910 in the community. Trinity has always been, like 00:29:16.910 --> 00:29:19.130 throughout the highs and lows, Trinity has always 00:29:19.130 --> 00:29:23.069 had this very strong sense of community and just 00:29:23.069 --> 00:29:27.329 support for one another. And that's been great. 00:29:27.390 --> 00:29:30.329 But I think the energy can kind of wax and wane 00:29:30.329 --> 00:29:33.730 over the decades. And I just love the energy 00:29:33.730 --> 00:29:35.589 that's in the church now. It's amazing. Yeah, 00:29:35.670 --> 00:29:39.809 for sure. I think one of the... most noticeable 00:29:39.809 --> 00:29:43.029 things is the the broad ethnic group that we 00:29:43.029 --> 00:29:46.930 have represent and people from all over the world 00:29:46.930 --> 00:29:49.809 yeah i mean the trinity yeah and that's really 00:29:49.809 --> 00:29:54.430 lovely yeah like when i think about our current 00:29:54.430 --> 00:29:58.170 congregation there are some folks like yourselves 00:29:58.170 --> 00:30:01.190 who have been here for 30 or more years but there 00:30:01.190 --> 00:30:04.920 are lots of folks who are very new to this congregation. 00:30:05.160 --> 00:30:06.839 Like even myself, I was just saying, you know, 00:30:06.839 --> 00:30:10.119 I've been here three or four years, maybe. And 00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:14.740 so don't know this long history of God's faithfulness, 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:18.720 this history of Trinity showing up as a space 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:23.039 of love and light, even in the midst of devastation. 00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:26.839 Right. And so I think to hear all of this, to 00:30:26.839 --> 00:30:30.000 think about, you know, this is who we are. This 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:33.529 is our DNA. Even if we don't, know that that's 00:30:33.529 --> 00:30:35.730 our dna that's right like this there's something 00:30:35.730 --> 00:30:38.529 about this story that forms us as a community 00:30:38.529 --> 00:30:42.329 together um yeah and so i'm really grateful to 00:30:42.329 --> 00:30:45.410 both of you for sharing your perspectives on 00:30:45.410 --> 00:30:48.309 this to get us thinking about this in a little 00:30:48.309 --> 00:30:51.740 bit of a different way yeah So thank you both 00:30:51.740 --> 00:30:54.599 so much. Thank you, Kyle. Yeah. And thank you 00:30:54.599 --> 00:30:57.339 for tuning in to this week's episode of Trinity 00:30:57.339 --> 00:31:01.720 Talks. I'm so grateful for whatever role you 00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:03.880 play in our church community, even if it's just 00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:05.880 listening to this podcast or if it's coming on 00:31:05.880 --> 00:31:08.700 Sunday mornings. Thank you for being part of 00:31:08.700 --> 00:31:11.859 this legacy, this story of rebuilding together 00:31:11.859 --> 00:31:14.839 and trusting that God will continue to sustain 00:31:14.839 --> 00:31:17.440 us into the future. And we will see you again 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:17.880 next week.