St. Matthew the Apostle Oriole Anglican Church was established in 1964 in the Don Mills/Sheppard area. This document profiles who we are, what we do, how we care for ourselves and others, the resources we draw upon, and our goals.
St. Matthew is located in the Henry Farm area of Willowdale, Toronto, west of the Don Mills Road and Sheppard Avenue intersection, and close to the Fairview Mall, one of Toronto’s largest shopping centres. The church is located in the centre of the huge high-rise building expansion along Shepherd Avenue. Major construction projects are ongoing in the Canadian Tire area (Concord Building) and at Parkway Forest, and the original ‘Anglo/Christian’ character of the local community is being replaced by an ethnically diverse and mainly un-churched population. This presents an enormous missional opportunity and an exciting challenge for St. Matthew.
St. Matthew is seeking its fourth incumbent in its 50 years of existence. This person will have proven success in teaching the good news of God’s love in mission and service; helping the congregation to grow in their discipleship through worship, exploring their Christian faith and serving the wider community; and growing the congregation through encouraging the gifts, skills and ministries of others.
St. Matthew is highly driven by outreach and missional projects and is one of the pilot parishes in the Missional Action Transformation process conducted by the Diocese where in the last four years we have undertaken a series of visioning exercises to determine the direction in which the parish should be moving. We were also one of the pilot parishes for the Our Faith Our Hope fundraising campaign of the Diocese.
The parish is able to offer space to a number of licensees, most of which fall under our outreach and nurturing focus as a congregation.
Due to its prime location and the talents and strengths within the congregation, St. Matthew is both an established and influential parish within the York Mills Deanery.