Church of St. Aidan (Toronto)

The Church of St. Aidan is an Anglican church in The Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The church has about 400 members, and approximately 150 people attend on any Sunday. The current priest-in-charge is the Rev. Lucy Reid.

This article is about the church in Toronto. For other churches named for St. Aidan, see St. Aidan's Church.
Church of St. Aidan (Toronto)
The Church of St. Aidan at 70 Silver Birch Ave.
Location70 Silver Birch Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M4E 3K9
DenominationAnglican
WebsiteChurch of St. Aidan
History
DedicationSt. Aidan
Administration
ParishOntario
DioceseToronto
ProvinceCanada

The church's history begins with Pastor H. Dixon who set up a tent around 1880 to serve the residents of the small village in the area. When the streetcar stretched eastward and the area began to grow rapidly in the 1890s, the church remained housed in a tent, but one large enough to hold 500 people. A permanent church was finally established in 1907, and work on the church building was completed in 1908.

St. Aidan's has many pieces of liturgical art by the distinguished Canadian artist and late parishioner Doris McCarthy.

In 2006, the church became the centre of a controversy when the congregation under Rev. Stephen Kirkegaard decided to participate in the Out of the Cold program to provide shelter to the homeless during the winter. The program takes place in various religious institutions across the city, and helps provide extra space during the winter months when remaining outside can be deadly. St. Aidan's proposed providing beds for twelve people once a week. This sparked strenuous opposition from neighbours in the expensive Beaches area. Concerns about the homeless bringing crime and reducing property values in the neighbourhood prompted some local residents to try to get a court order to halt the program. Eventually, after a meeting was held to allay concerns, and critical publicity began to decry the objections, the program went ahead. In 2017, they plan to serve fifty for dinner, and host twenty-five homeless men and women for the night and breakfast.

See also

References
  • Hall, Joseph. "Affluent freeze out homeless." Toronto Star. Dec 28, 2006
  • "Homeless program in upscale Toronto neighbourhood to go ahead." CBC News. Wednesday, January 17, 2007
  • Patch, Nick. "Outcry dogs plans for homeless shelter" The Globe and Mail. Jan 17, 2007. p. A.13

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