To draw people back to church, make it relevant to them, church planters say
TORONTO — Congregants of Mercy City Church file out of a strip mall storefront that has been converted into a place of worship, carrying battery-operated flameless candles into the cold December night.
They and members of six other churches in the community are celebrating Christmas a few days early, some gathering at the unconventional church in east Toronto before heading to a nearby parkette where they will light a Christmas tree and, they hope, spread the gospel to curious non-Christian onlookers.
Mercy City is nestled between a laundromat and a defunct pharmacy. It has no steeple and no pews. White plastic chairs face lead pastor and church founder Chris Yu, who delivers a sermon that clocks in at under 10 minutes. Nearby, computers line a red wall emblazoned with various Bible verses.
Yu says this type of facility is accessible and makes sense for his community. Mercy City if one of a number of so-called “church plants,” startup churches intended to draw non-believers to Christianity, and non-practising Christians to church services — not an easy task as the face of religion changes in Canada.