Dear Graceview Family,
This year marks 25 years since Graceview’s formation through amalgamation — a silver jubilee of shared faith, worship, and service. Though our building has stood since 1960, it is the steadfast devotion of our congregation that has truly sustained God’s work here.
Our ministry this year shows a congregation that is steady, resilient, and anchored in Christ. Worship remains reverent and spiritually enriching, and our care for one another continues unabated. Even amid the challenges facing mainline churches across Canada, the Lord has preserved us from anxiety or discouragement. We have not only endured — we have grown in faith, mission, and generosity.
One particular joy of this year was welcoming Dr. Glen DeLine as our new organist in June. He brings not only a wealth of musical skill, but also a heart of deep faith and thoughtful vision for shaping our worship life. We are, in fact, one of the few remaining Presbyterian churches in our area that continue to hold onto traditional liturgy and organ-led hymnody. The more I experience it, the more I appreciate the richness of rediscovering such orthodox worship. The profound theology in the hymns, the reverent shape of the liturgy, and the beauty of sacred music remind us that worship is not entertainment, but participation in the life and praise of God.
Our ministry outside the sanctuary also bore fruit. In conjunction with the Presbytery of West Toronto, we embarked on a March Break mission trip to Guatemala. This journey awakened a renewed sense that the Church exists for the sake of the world Christ came to save. Since returning, we have continued building stronger ties with our mission partners through prayer, support, and relationship. Mission has a way of enlarging the heart, and I believe the Lord is using it to enlarge ours.
We were also blessed to host the World Day of Prayer service on International Women’s Day, representing the surrounding district churches in fellowship, shared liturgy, and intercession. We witnessed the Spirit’s work in joyful milestones here at home as well — with a wedding, a baptism, and several new members welcomed into our Graceview family.
Our Bible Study based on The Chosen Christian drama completed its fifth season this year, and we celebrated the season with a new initiative: an Advent Movie Pizza Lunch. These gatherings brought multiple generations together for fellowship, reflection, and laughter, reminding us that the Church not only worships together, but lives together.
I am deeply grateful for all our Session elders — both past and present — whose leadership, prayer, and discernment have shaped this congregation through seasons of transition and blessing. Now that we have a more compact Session team of eight, may the Lord grant us unity of heart and mind as we seek a vision ordained by God for the years ahead.
The challenges facing the Church in our time are real, yet Christ has not called us to measure ourselves by worldly metrics. He has called us to faithfulness — to worship God, proclaim the Gospel, love one another, and serve our neighbours. If we abide in Him, the Lord will continue to make Graceview a light: perhaps not the loudest nor the largest, but steadfast in love, humble in spirit, and confident in the hope of Christ.
Let us pray that the Lord will sustain us as we journey toward the next anniversary still to come — our golden jubilee — should He tarry. For God has placed us here for a reason. It is no small miracle in this age that a community of biologically unrelated people gathers week after week to worship, serve, give, pray, laugh, and care for one another. Count each blessing. Cherish each miracle. We are witnesses together of His grace.
Celebrating His faithfulness together,
The Rev. Eric Lee