Contact Info: Stonegate Community Ecumenical Ministry
30-150 Berry Road, Toronto, Ontario, M8Y 1W3
Tel.: 416 234-9948 Fax: 416 234-0496
or contact the Church Office for contact information 416-233-1125 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ministry Background

Stonegate Community Ecumenical Ministry (SCEM) was founded on the belief that the church needed to play an active role in reaching out to the community and serving its social and spiritual needs. The first step was to call local churches to work together in the neighbourhood. This joint ministry of Anglican, United, Presbyterian, and Baptist churches has continued since the inception of the ministry. In 2001 the Polish Full Gospel Church joined the ministry. Volunteers from the local Roman Catholic Churches are also active in our programs.

The core clientele for SCEM's work are the tenants who live in 79 low-rise apartment buildings in the neighbourhood, a population around 12,000 people. These people earn low incomes; many families are headed by a single parent; and many are new Canadians, recently arrived in Canada. There is a high unemployment rate in the area, and many youth people have experience with the justice system. Another important segment of the community is senior citizens living on limited incomes.

Ministry Activities

SCEM Board: Twelve people drawn from local churches and the community meet monthly to provide strategic direction for the work of the ministry.

Community Coordinator’s Office:

Elizabeth Zinder de Jesus, the community coordinator, serves the residents of the area by coordinating services and events, working in partnership with local services and agencies and attending to people’s social and spiritual needs one to one.

The Outreach Store:

SCEM operates a clothing store in the heart of the community at Stonegate Plaza. The store is staffed entirely by 25 volunteers from the local churches and the immediate community serving local residents with affordable clothing and other necessities including household items such as kitchen utensils, linens, toys and books.

St. James Food Bank:

SCEM is a major supporter of the local food bank operating from the premises of St. James’ Humber Bay Anglican Church. We help to supply the bank and find volunteers to staff it. The community coordinator is often present when it is open to provide help and support to residents. The food bank serves up to a hundred families every month.

Stonegate Community Festival:

This yearly festival is organized by a team of volunteers from the community and has the participation and financial support from SCEM and over twenty organizations, plaza retailers, plaza landlord, ethnic and community groups. In 2003 we had nearly 2,000 people from the community attending the event. This is a huge increase over previous years.

Stonegate Action Group:

In the summer of 2001, SCEM community coordinator set up this group as a means of identifying and responding to local community needs and issues. Fifteen residents from Stonegate have been meeting once a month to address community concerns and needs, and to develop plans for tackling them. The group has worked with local city councillor, local health centre staff, officials from parks and recreation, local business people and the plaza landlord on several projects. It has already achieved improved street lighting in some locations to increase safety, and expansion of a community garden. Presently, the group is working toward the upgrading of the Bell Manor Park. The group will be an important community voice in the anticipated redevelopment of the local plaza.

Stonegate Festival of Praises:

SCEM has organized a festival of gospel music for the past three summers. The event takes place in the second Saturday of September in the parking lot of the Stonegate Plaza attracting hundreds of people from the community. We have the voluntary participation of gospel bands, individual singers and worship dancers from various church communities. Gospel songs are sung in the major languages spoken at Stonegate – English, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian and Spanish. The musicians also share personal stories of how their own lives have been transformed by Christ’s transforming presence.

Prayer Support Group:

Representatives from the SCEM’s family of churches meet once a month to pray for the people at Stonegate so that they will come to know the wonderful and redeeming love of God through Christ Jesus; to pray for the people who are sick in the community believing that God’s healing power can restore their health; and to pray for the church communities to continue faithfully and joyfully being God’s hands extended at Stonegate.

Spiritual Support Group:

The Ministry runs a women’s spiritual support group to help those in the area who are not associated with any church community address their spiritual needs.

Lasting Family Connections:

In April of 2004 the Ministry launched a new program – Lasting Family Connections to nourish and support the development of healthy and lasting relationships between parents and children. The family workshops are formatted into eight sessions of one hour each – only one child and a parent attend the session since the purpose of the program is to develop and nurture parent/child relationship.

Support for Local Service Providers:

SCEM supports local organizations such as the Stonegate Community Health Centre as they respond to the identified social needs in the community. The Ministry has joined the health centre to address major need areas such as: Youth Crime Prevention, Domestic Violence Prevention and Student Summer Employment.

Contact Info:
Stonegate Community Ecumenical Ministry
30-150 Berry Road
Toronto, Ontario, M8Y 1W3
Tel.: 416 234-9948
Fax: 416 234-0496

or contact the Church Office for contact information 416 233 1125 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

All that we do, we do because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. It is a privilege for us to be called to walk with Him at Stonegate and sow His love into people’s lives.
To Christ Jesus be all the praises and glory forever and ever.