EEU Committees

 

Faith Committee

To gather the Congregation in regular worship and praise of God which is celebratory, challenging and inspiring and develop faith through Christian Education of adults, children and youth. To provide opportunity for and encourage all in exploring and expanding their understanding of God and God's ways, of the Christian traditions and teachings, so that all persons at each stage of their lives may know God as revealed in Jesus, the Christ, and serve God in love through the worship and work, fellowship and witness of the church.
​Chair: Christine LeBlanc

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Congregational Life Committee

The Congregational Life Committee helps nurture connections and participation throughout the East End community on many levels.  While we have some major responsibilities, such as maintaining our membership lists and  forming a Nominating Committee before the Annual Meeting (we try hard to match people’s gifts, interests, and talents with leadership possibilities), a lot of our work focuses on having fun! We organize community dinners, picnics, games and film nights, book-reading clubs, walking and biking outings, special events, and more (your ideas are most welcome!).
On the more serious side, we have a Pastoral Care Team that provides care to those who request and require support in their spiritual and life journeys.  Requests for pastoral care can be made to pastoral.care@eastendunited.ca. An important program within our Pastoral Care work is the “We Won’t Grieve Alone” sessions run on Zoom. For more info, contact griefsupport@eastendunited.ca. 
Stewardship is how the members, adherents, and friends of the church support its life and mission through their contributions of talent, time, and money (yes, the church needs money to pay its staff, utilities, programs, etc!). Our committee currently produces a campaign each fall to encourage everyone to support and lead the work of our congregation in worship, music, children and youth programs, social events and social justice activities.  
Finally, hospitality is another part of our mandate and includes post worship service coffee and fellowship and occasional pot luck lunches 
​New members are always welcome and more information is available on REALM and in the eblast.  
Chair: Anne Sanagan

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Community Committee

​The ministry of the Community Committee is three-fold:

1. to raise awareness within the congregation of the needs and struggles of individuals/communities, locally and globally;
2. attempt to address those needs and struggles through works of charity and by seeking justice;
3. By building cross-cultural and interfaith relationships at the local and global level.​

This committee includes interest groups made up of justice and outreach initiatives including shelter programs, food ministry programs, indigenous relations, LGBTQS+ issues and other community-centred diversity and inclusion programs.
​Chair: Karen Somerville

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Ministry & Personnel (M&P) Committee

​The Ministry and Personnel (M&P) Committee carefully balances three key roles:  a consultative and supportive role, a human relations role, and a conflict management role for the staff, volunteers, members and adherents of East End United.  M&P is a committee that the United Church of Canada requires be established whatever type of governance model is adopted by a congregation.  M&P is accountable to Council and make recommendations to Council for decisions on matters that fall under the committee’s responsibility.
Co-chairs: Kathryn MacGregor & Pamela Cameron

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Property Management: Building Operations Board (BOB)

East End United (EEU) is blessed with two beautiful buildings Eastminster (at Danforth and Chester) and Glen Rhodes (Gerrard and Coxwell) that have been the focus of worship, community, and service in their respective communities for more than a century.  While the nature of our neigbhourhoods and our faith communities have changed over the decades, our commitment to being present has not.  Both sites are hubs hosting partnerships and events grounded in nurturing sustainable and healthy communities. 
Managing these valuable community assets is the responsibility of our Director of Community Hubs and the Buildings Operations Board (BOB).  Our goal is to operate the buildings on a sustainable basis as meeting places for the congregation and as community hubs for our neighbourhoods. The BOB collaborates with our Community Partners to encourage long term sustainability reflecting our common missional goals and the values of the United Church of Canada.  
The Eastminster Campus  (310 Danforth Ave) is home to the Danforth Multi-Faith Commons, a partnership of the East End United, Danforth Jewish Circle, and Neighbourhood Unitarian-Universalist congregations.  
The Glen Rhodes Campus (1470 Gerrard Street) is our Food Security Hub, a partnership of EEU’s food bank and program (Nourish East End) and the City of Toronto’s agency, the Applegrove Community Complex.
As part of its sustainability mandate, the BOB manages a robust lease and space rental program.  Movie shoots, concerts, theatre troupes, debates performances, exhibitions, and many other special events are regularly held in both premises. The Eastminster gymnasium and bowling alley are parrticularly popular sites for many events, from community basketball and dances, to movie/commercial shoots (hint: our basketball court appears in numerous clips for a local well-known professional basketball team!) 
Recent improvements to the premises have been accessible gender-neutral washrooms, improved accessibility, enhanced and enlarged stage, extensive technical upgrades for sound, video, lighting, and streaming to accommodate the growing needs of the east-end Toronto community.  
BOB Chair: Victor Chan
Managing Director of Community Hubs: Pino Spano

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Email Pino Spano

Rentals Page

 

Finance Committee

All organizations have to manage their finances by developing sources of revenue and carefully managing their expenses while all the time focusing on supporting its core goals.  Churches are no different, even though we might use words like ‘stewardship’ in referring to the financial commitment and generosity of our members and visitors, and mission when we talk about our goals. Expenses, alas, don’t get a special word in church-land. They are just that expenses; churches have bills to pay just like everyone else: salaries, utilities, repairs and maintenance, insurance, etc.
The congregation, through its stewardship and generosity supports the ‘core budget’ of the church: worship, music, programs, faith formation and education, pastoral care, children and youth activities, support of outreach initatives, interfaith and inter-denominational work. Another portion of of East End’s budget comes from the our partnerships: the members of the Danforth Multi-faith Commons, the Applegrove Community Hub, and our many community partners and tenants.   While this relationships reflect an economic reality, our approach is deeply grounded in our commitment that we and our buildings (and hence, our partnerships) are here to serve and build the communities in which we live: along Gerrard Street and along Danforth Ave. 
The nuances of operating two large buildings as centres of faith and community, managing major programs such as Nourish East End Food Bank, Out of the Cold, Refugee sponsorships, and many other activities, as well as the partnerships means that our budget is both large and complex.  The Finance Committee oversees all the budgets, income and expenses, and contracts of the church and its operations. Working with the Board of Trustees and the Building Operations Board (BOB), the Finance Committee coordinates the funding and sustainability of East End United so it can continue to serve the congregation, the partners, and the wider community for many years to come.  
Stewardship Committee Chair and Chair of Finance and Property: Norman Tanaka

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Board of Trustees

Holds, on behalf of the United Church of Canada, the properties and the trusts for the use of East End United.  Properties include the real estate and funds held in trust by the three founding churches and any churches that join the East End United regional ministry in future.

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