2023

2023

OUR SENIOR MINISTER’S FIRST BOOK:   LEISURE RESURRECTED

Rev. Dr. Jeff Crittenden was thrilled to announce the release of his first book, Leisure Resurrected, in May 2023. This book is a culmination of years of research and writing, and Jeff was proud to share it with everyone. Book launches were held across Ontario, with the first one in his home city of London, Ontario, on May 7, 2023, at Metropolitan United Church from 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm. Books were $30 CDN, and all proceeds from the book launch were donated to ministries at Metropolitan United and the Centre for Practical Theology. Copies are available at the church office and at www.leisureresurrected.com  

SECOND DOCTORATE DEGREE

In July 2023, Rev. Dr. Jeff Crittenden attended his convocation ceremony in England. He graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Theology at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, England!  He earned his first Doctorate, Doctor of Ministry degree in Preaching at McCormick Theological College, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

Check out Dr. Crittenden in photos as he proudly stands in full graduate garb in Westminster Cathedral in England. The entire church group at Metropolitan United is very proud of our Senior Minister. We were with him in spirit during his convocation, his preaching and lecturing at the University of Oxford in England, and throughout his ministry while in England in early July 2023.  

REVEREND JENNIFER PRINCE

On Saturday, May 13th at First United Church in St. Thomas, Metropolitan United Church members celebrated Jennifer Prince’s commissioning by the Antler River Watershed Regional Council into the Diaconal Ministry in the United Church of Canada. Rev. Jen Prince serves Met United as our Pastoral Care and Outreach Minister, while also serving Richards Memorial United Church in London as Congregational Minister. We offer our congratulations to Jen.

PILGRIMAGE in THE HOLY LAND

 After conducting all Easter services at Metropolitan United in April, Dr. Crittenden led a 3-week pilgrimage throughout Turkey, Greece and Germany as seen in two photographs below. Additional photos may be viewed on our website.

DR. CRITTENDEN in CUBA

In mid-May, Dr. Crittenden travelled to Cuba where he preached in Havana, Cuba. He also taught Theology and Homiletics in a Methodist/Presbyterian gathering during his stay.

REVITALIZE 2023 in HALIFAX

Dr. Crittenden lectured at and participated in ReVITALize 2023 held at Saint Andrew’s United Church in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on June 7th through June 9th. ReVITALize is a gathering for ministry leaders and lay worship leaders to refresh, learn and be supported. All denominations and traditions were welcomed. 

OUR SENIOR MINISTER in MONTREAL

Dr. Crittenden preached at St. James United Church in Montreal, Quebec, on June 11th, while Rev. Anne Beattie-Stokes delivered a sermon entitled Be Ignited or Be Gone at Metropolitan United, with assistance from our Liturgist, Rick Wood.

METROPOLITAN UNITED CHURCH:  2023 HERITAGE LONDON AWARD

The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, London Region and the Heritage London Foundation organize an annual award competition and ceremony to highlight built heritage conservation. Their 2023 Heritage London Award ceremony was held on April 13th. Metropolitan United’s Sanctuary renovation in 2022 was chosen for recognition as an Adaptive Re-use project. The award program cited “A creative partnership between Metropolitan United Church and London Symphonia has enabled the church to retain its fundamental religious purpose in conjunction with a high-quality space for the performing arts.” The award also recognized the contributions to the design by McMichael Ruth as Architect and Kendra Fry as Consultant. Al Edwards, Chair of the Sanctuary Renovation Steering Committee, accepted the award on behalf of Metropolitan United. In his remarks, he thanked McMichael and Kendra as well as Norlon Builders, Gregus Millwork, CEL Electric and Chorley + Bisset for completing the work; Rev. Dr. Jeff Crittenden for his vision of the possibility; April Voth and Andrew Chung of London Symphonia for their participation in design and fundraising; and the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund for their grant support. Al also recognized the tremendous volunteer contributions of Metropolitan United Church members Shirley Smith, Christine Buchanan, Murray Faulkner, Tom Slade, Rob Cairns, and Ross Turnbull. Lastly, he thanked the people of Metropolitan United for their support of the project and their patience while it disrupted our regular church routines.

FAIRMONT COMMUNITY GARDEN

 Fairmont’s new garden project was launched at Metropolitan United on Sunday, May 14th. Freshly harvested rhubarb was offered for sale in the Great Room between worship services. Thanks to a Canada Summer Job Grant, we were able to hire two young people to work in the Fairmont Community Garden. Nathaniel began his employment on May 23rd and worked for 8 weeks. Our second student began on July 3rd and was employed for 8 weeks. Photo to the left was taken on May 30, 2023.

RHUBARB HARVEST 

 Thames Talbot Land Trust generously donated freshly harvested rhubarb to Metropolitan in recognition of our Fairmont Garden Project. Later in June 2023, some rhubarb plants were transplanted from the Thames Talbot Land Trust property to the new community garden at Fairmont Campus. Pictured left to right: Barbara Gray, Murray Faulkner, and Lynda Faulkner. 

In June, freshly harvested rhubarb was also offered for sale at Metropolitan United Church after each Sunday morning worship service, with proceeds funding our Fairmont Garden Project. Frozen rhubarb, eight cups per bag, was available for sale at $10.00/bag in the fall of 2023 at Metropolitan United.  

FIRST HARVEST of VEGETABLES from FAIRMONT CAMPUS GARDEN

On Sunday, July 2, 2023, Metropolitan United Church offered its first lot of freshly grown vegetables from Fairmont Campus Garden for sale between the 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. services. Lettuce, Bok choy, snap peas, and radishes were available, and packaged with a suggested donation of $5 per package. Vegetable sales continued weekly at Metropolitan until Oct. 15th. Metropolitan extended its appreciation to everyone for their support. We donated 60 lb of vegetables to Ark Aid.

In Metro News on Oct. 1st, Metropolitan United extended a warm ‘thank-you’ to Westminster College Foundation who donated $20,000 to this venture, and to members and friends of Metropolitan United Church whose donations made the Fairmont Garden Project a resounding success! 

Dr. Crittenden and others from Metropolitan United Church walked in the London Pride Parade on Sunday, July 23rd. Many members of local United Churches walked together as one large group. 

METROPOLITAN’S 200TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

In September, members of Metropolitan United Church, and their families gathered at the Eldon House in London to celebrate 200 years of Methodism. Guest speaker, Arthur McClelland, London Public Library, shared London’s history from its beginnings through 2023. Dr. Gregg Redner presented an entertaining and most informative history of our past organists at Metropolitan. Dr. Crittenden enthusiastically expressed his thoughts on Metropolitan’s history and thanked everyone for joining in the celebration. The outdoor event was held under tent tops. 

In honour of Metropolitan's 200th Anniversary, our church community donated $26,324.02 to London’s Health and Homelessness Fund for Change, administered by London Community Foundation. Metropolitan’s significant donation would impact the health and well-being of people experiencing homelessness in our community. An anonymous London family would match every dollar donated as an added outreach incentive.

METROPOLITAN’S ARCHIVED TREASURES

Everyone was invited to stop into the Great Room for a look back at Metropolitan United Church’s heritage throughout September! On display were three archived pictures of our beautiful church building. Framed in warm oakwood were two very large black-and-white heritage photos of North Street Church. Built in 1852, it was renamed Queens Avenue Methodist Church in 1877 and was destroyed by fire on February 2, 1895. A fine drawing of First Methodist Church, built in 1895 and renamed Metropolitan United Church in 1925, was also on display. 

On display throughout the month of October were several archived white and black layouts of Metropolitan’s original architecture when our church building was first designed by Burke & Horwood Architects, Toronto. 

November’s display highlighted thirteen treasured white and black archived photos taken in the 1900s of Metropolitan United Church’s congregants seated in the pews within our beautiful Sanctuary. 

OUR SENIOR MINISTER in CALGARY

On Friday, October 13th, Dr. Crittenden conducted a workshop at Hillhurst United Church in Calgary. On Sunday, October 15th, Dr. Crittenden was the guest preacher at two worship services at Hillhurst. His sermon title was Do You Remember How to Ride a Bicycle? which paralleled his lesson on Christ’s exploration of a long, rocky, and dusty road from Jerusalem to Jericho. At 1 p.m. Dr. Crittenden presented a prologue on his research for his recently released book Leisure Resurrected before opening a book chat with everyone at Hillhurst. Copies of his new book were on hand for sale in Calgary.  

METHODISM and HIGH HONOURS: 1823-2023

On Anniversary Sunday, Oct. 29th, Dr. Crittenden’s sermon entitled On This Corner, fully covered the history of Methodism through to the formation of the United Church of Canada in June 1925, when the Methodist Church, Canada, the Congregational Union of Canada, and 70 percent of the Presbyterian Churches in Canada entered into a union. Dr. Crittenden named all former legendary organists who served Metropolitan United. Further, he touched on the finest attributes of Metropolitan United Church’s former ministers. For instance, Dr. Hunter “shepherded us into the United Church;” Dr. MacNiven was a “legendary visitor;” Dr. Goth was an “agitator for truth and justice;” Dr. Boyd was an “orator with a profound majesty.” Dr. Crittenden’s opening prayer was taken from Rev. Frances M. Clarke’s book At Every Corner: Prayers for the Church Year. Dr. Crittenden named our former pastoral care ministers, our former ministers of education and library, and our ministers of outreach and visitation. His history-packed sermon concluded with his words “the greatest strength of this congregation is the people.” Dr. Crittenden closed our 200th Anniversary worship service with Dr. Boyd’s memorable Benediction that he shared with his congregation week after week. The words of his Benediction are also “written” on a large, framed matboard which is stored in Metropolitan’s Archives room. 

ALL SAINTS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2023

All Saints Sunday is always a special day at Metropolitan. It is the day we remember the dear, departed members of our church community. This year was even more special. During the choir’s choral response to Dr. Crittenden’s sermon Remembered Voices, pictures of departed members of our church families were slowly displayed on Metropolitan’s screens for the congregation to see … a very moving part of remembrance. Further, Dr. Crittenden closed our All Saints Sunday service with Dr. R. Maurice Boyd’s standard Benediction. 

OUR SENIOR MINISTER:  GUEST PREACHER in TORONTO

Dr. Crittenden was honoured to be the guest preacher on November 12th at Humbercrest United Church in Toronto as the congregation celebrated the 111th anniversary of their church. Following the worship service, Dr. Crittenden held a book chat with everyone and promoted his new book at Humbercrest.

BOOK REVIEW PUBLISHED 

In December’s issue of the United Church of Canada’s monthly Broadview magazine, Dr Crittenden’s new book is proficiently evaluated by Rev. Christopher White, United Church minister in Hamilton. In his review entitled From Pleasure to Purpose, Rev. White writes, “The author lays out a boldly Trinitarian and eucharist-focused program that recreates the early church.” 

VIDEOS of FUNERALS and MEMORIAL SERVICES

In 2023, Dr. Crittenden began the process of videotaping funeral and memorial services at Metropolitan United Church and sending the video links along with a warmly worded note of caring to the respective bereaved families.

SANCTUARY RENOVATION STEERING COMMITTEE

2023 was much less busy for the Sanctuary Renovation Steering Committee than the period from November 2019 – our first meeting as a Steering Committee – through December 2022 when the construction phase in the Sanctuary was largely completed.  

The main chandelier and the smaller pendant lights were retrofitted to LED in the spring, reducing Metropolitan’s carbon footprint and energy usage.  This retrofit was supported by a Faithful Footprints grant from the United Church of Canada.  

Tuning of the sound and lighting systems continued, led by Rob Cairns and Ross Turnbull.  New assistive listening devices were made available. To enhance the sound for the choir loft and main floor area, supplemental speakers were installed beneath the main chandelier.  The Wi-Fi network was upgraded to improve consistency of coverage. The final lighting controls, ordered in March 2022, arrived at last and were installed in November 2023.

London Symphonia received a Community Services Recovery Fund grant from London Community Foundation that supported them in equipping a Livestreaming control room.

On April 13, 2023 several members of the Steering Committee joined architect McMichael Ruth and consultant Kendra Fry at Museum London to accept a London Heritage award for the Sanctuary Renovation project.  The award was presented by the Heritage London Foundation and the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.