Mission & Values
Sanctuary is a church and a community. Some of us are homeless and some of us are housed.
Some of us are sober and some of us use substances.
Some of us have plenty of privilege and comfort and some of us have almost none.
Guided by the Gospel, we consider people who are poor and excluded to be the heart and center of our community.
Together, we strive to offer the love, dignity, stability and resources that all of us need to flourish.
To this end, we undertake many life-giving initiatives including running community meals, street outreach, a health clinic, an arts program and Sunday services.
The most important thing we do is spend our lives together: from doctor’s appointments to birthday parties; from evictions to finding a home; from jail visits to family visits; from mourning death, violence, and loss, to celebrating life and reconciled relationships. All are welcome here.
Our History
In 1985, the members of and R&B band called Red Rain felt a calling to move from playing in Christian coffee houses and church basements to playing in bars, jails, and festivals—taking the message of Jesus where it doesn’t usually get heard. In 1990, Central Gospel Hall invited the band to use their building at 25 Charles Street East for storage and practice.
By 1992, the congregation at Central Gospel Hall had become so small they made the difficult decision to close. At the time, Red Rain’s vocalist and pianist Greg Paul, along with Karen Paul and a small hand-full of others, had began building a vision for doing outreach work with marginalized people in Toronto’s downtown core. This was the seed of what would grow to become Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto.
Sanctuary began operating out of 25 Charles Street in 1992. In 1999 Greg Paul launched a successful capital campaign and purchased the building (for $750,000!) with the help of many generous individual and corporate donors. Since that time, Sanctuary has been a haven of safety, security and respect for some of the most marginalized people in the city of Toronto. Our staff team has grown from its original 2 to a current total of 20 as we added more activities in response to our community’s dreams and needs. We have also continually relied almost completely on the generosity of individual donors and small foundations to keep our doors open. Today, gifts from these sources make up over 70% of our annual operating budget.