The Redeemer

Learning at Redeemer: Redeemer Explorers

Learning at Redeemer: Redeemer Explorers

At the Redeemer, we know that asking deeper questions and exploring issues of faith in a safe environment help us grow both as individuals and as a community.

The Redeemer Explorers committee offers a rich diversity of learning opportunities, drawing from members of our own parish and the community at large, including courses led by Sylvia Keesmaat and Brian Walsh through Bible Remixed. In collaboration with other Redeemer initiatives such as our Refugee Settlement committee and Creation Matters, we offer presentations, reflections, small-group discussions, and one-time programs on specific topics.

Current Opportunities to Explore

 

On Sunday, September 27, come and hear the Rev’d Angie Hocking, former director of our Common Table ministry, speak about ‘The Shower Curtain Gospel’ in our continuing series of events on Building Compassionate Communities.
Angie is excited to return to Redeemer to share about what she’s been learning in her ministry in the downtown east. In particular, she has discovered that there are some ideas and attitudes we all hold that are well-meaning, but can actually hold us back from true engagement and mutual transformation. Angie will talk about some of the learnings she is being challenged by, and the people who are transforming her perspectives.
Join us at 12:15 PM for lunch following the 10:30 AM Eucharist, with Angie’s talk to follow.

Our informal drop-in conversations and presentations continue this fall, beginning October 4. Come downstairs to the Board Room for 45 minutes of discussion and presentations from 9:30 AM to 10:15 AM, on topics listed here week by week. There’s no advance preparation, and no commitment from one session to the next. But there is coffee, along with an opportunity to get to know others better in an environment of open mutual sharing.

October 4: Lectio Divina (Fancy Latin for Scriptural Reflection)

Who are the rebellious tenants of the vineyard in today’s Gospel reading, Matthew 21:33-46? After the parable, Matthew tells us that the Pharisees and chief priests see themselves as the object of the critique. But can we dig a little deeper and see something in the story that we maybe haven’t seen before? David Townsend will lead a discussion.

October 11

We’re taking a break today in honour of the long Thanksgiving weekend.

October 18: Care Across the Life Span

Across a lifetime, all of us have been cared for and have cared for others. The human experience is fundamentally one of interdependence, rather than a mythical march toward increasing independence, followed by decline into an old age of dependency. Today, early childhood educator and essayist Jonathan Silin, author of My Father’s Keeper: The Story of a Gay Son and His Aging Parents, will invite us into peer reflection on our own experiences of giving and receiving care, and their meaning for a life of faith. Relevant to all ages, and all ages welcome.

Watch Previous Events on our YouTube Channel

 

Building More Compassionate Communities

These events are co-sponsored by Redeemer Explorers and the Common Table drop-in program based at Church of the Redeemer.

Compassionate Communities: Addiction, Recovery and Their Connection to the Poor (March 4, 2026)

Jim Willis, Case Management and Support Worker; Amanda Hintzen, Addictions Counsellor; Dr Jonathan Wong, ICHA street doctor; and Nithyen Manohar, ICHA street nurse, discussed the challenges of addiction, the paths to recovery, and how it affects the most vulnerable in our communities. You can watch this panel discussion online through YouTube.

Compassionate Communities: Encampment as Community and Toronto’s Underhousing Crisis (September 24, 2025)

The Rev’d Maggie Helwig, Incumbent at St. Stephen’s in the Fields and author of the acclaimed recent book Encampment (Coach House Press), reflected on experiences of love, solidarity, hope, mutual support, and the enlivening presence of the Holy Spirit in and around her congregation and the tent community it hosted, before its forced removal by the City of Toronto. You can watch the presentation and Q&A at the YouTube Livestream.

Other Events

Face to Face with the People of Palestine

Thanks to all who attended the panel discussion on a very snowy Sunday afternoon. The event on Sunday, January 25, 2026, was live-streamed on YouTube.

Imagining the Life of Julian of Norwich

Thank you to all who joined in Imagining the Life of Julian of Norwich on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. If you weren’t able to attend the live presentation, you can watch it online through YouTube.
Violence, Polarization, and Hope for a Better Future

On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, Jon Allen, former Canadian Ambassador to Israel and Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, delivered a talk: Violence, Polarization, and Hope for a Better Future. The live stream is available through our YouTube channel.