The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul have been active for many years in its efforts to reach out to those in need in Montreal and afar.  The members and friends of the congregation have shown a true desire to make the world a better place to live in.

The wishes collected so far and shown below demonstrate a willingness to enlarge this ministry.

• Become more involved in our downtown neighbourhood
• Find more opportunities to volunteer to help those less fortunate
• Communicate more with our charitable partners, refugee organizations, and the Saskatoon Native Circle Ministry to understand their needs
• Extend our support to more seniors, the sick and the lonely
• Welcome more Montrealers to take advantage of what we have
• While maintaining our English identity as a church, include more French and perhaps other languages as we reach out to our local community
• Create more programs to help native people including Inuit women
• More outreach by the Music Department
• More collaboration with other churches, denominations, and religions to ensure the longevity of our outreach

The congregation of The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul has been known for years as a vibrant, welcoming and caring group of individuals.  However, due to significant struggles to maintain continuity during so much change within its ministry over the last 5-10 years, gaps have appeared that reduce the overall feeling of support experienced by some members, adherents, and/or visitors.

The wishes collected and listed below show a strong desire to improve this situation and to create an even deeper sense of belonging for all and support for those who need it.  

• Provide more pastoral care and develop a more structured way to manage it
• Increase knowledge of who people are and events where they can have fun together
• Post volunteer opportunities and provide training for more people to become involved
• Celebrate our members’ multicultural backgrounds and traditions in our events
• Make those on the “fringe” feel more welcome and while preserving our traditions, find ways to make ourselves more approachable for new members and visitors
• Create more lectures series on contemporary topics
• Educate the congregation on the governance of the Presbyterian Church and the role of Elders, Session, the Board and the Committees so that there is a better understanding for all of how the church runs and the responsibilities of each role.
• Attract more middle aged families and encourage them to become involved as volunteers
• Include a greater diversity of people in church activities, including the LGBTQ community
• Re-institute Stewardship Saturday where the congregation gets together to help do seasonal cleaning inside and outside the church
• Create more mid-week programs for seniors
• Create a single women’s group
• Make more use of the Quiet Garden as an extension of our physical church
• Publish funerals, christenings and wedding that take place in the church
• Create more social events such a gourmet club, bridge club, side trips to bring people together
• Review the current Committees to see if creating  new ones or adjusting current ones would help attract more volunteers

The survey respondents selected worship, music and preaching as what they most appreciate about The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul.  There is also a desire to continue to grow spiritually and build upon this excellent ministry.

The following is a summary of those wishes:

• Provide more discussion groups, retreats, and bible studies during week nights
  • Create a Christian Book Club
  • Include aspects of our members’ multicultural backgrounds and traditions in
  our worship services throughout the year.
  • Provide a wider range of music to attract new worshipers
  • Encourage greater participation of the congregation in the order of service such
  as opening their Bibles to read-along with the Scripture reader
  • Provide more varied worship services at different times
  • Choose more familiar hymns that inspire the congregation
  • Provide more practically applicable sermons which contain a call to action
  • Consider acquiring inclusive hymn books that use gender-neutral language to fit
  in more with the values of the younger generation
  • Consider retiring the formal wear worn by the elders to appear more
  approachable

The respondents are deeply concerned about the future of the church and want to actively attract and welcome children, youth, young adults, couples, singles and families, including immigrant families and refugees to become part of this community. The following are wishes that have been submitted:

• Provide more programs to attract young people such as summer retreats, camping weekends, and weekly youth events
  •Consider a Sunday afternoon youth worship service and/or once a monthly family service
  •Provide more opportunities for the young people to get to know us
  •Schedule more activities outside of regular business hours for those who work
  •Open the church to the outside world offering more activities 7 days a week
  •Create a youth and/or children's choir with apprenticeship(s)
  •Provide a mentoring program with experienced A&P members
  •Help all our community learn more about being a Presbyterian
  •That one of ministers will be accessible and involved in youth activities
  •Provide better ratio of sermon to music, with a variety of different kinds of music

Traditions, heritage and the desire to provide excellence in worship and music are three aspects of The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul that are held close to the heart of the majority of this congregation. For 100 years, members and friends of this church have played important roles in the development of the city of Montreal, the ministers and music staff have created outstanding services and musical events, and a concerted effort has been maintained to record and share our traditions and heritage.  The respondents’ wishes show a fervent desire to preserve what has been accomplished and to sustain it going forward.

• Continue the beauty, awe, and music of our worship service, and the excellence of the preaching
• Not to abandon tradition in theology or liturgy
• That it will be here for decades to come and as vibrant as it is now
• Our Church provides a strong sense of community for many of its members. This community provides all types of supports and without it a great void would exist in the lives of many especially those without family. My hope is that we continue down this path of generosity not so much financially but in giving time to those who need it in our communities

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