Welcome Rev. Yaa Addison
On behalf of Bishop Kevin Robertson, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Rev. Yaa Addison as the Associate Priest to St. Peter’s Erindale, starting September 1st 2026. Rev. Yaa will be joining us from the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and we keep her, her family and current parish in our prayers during this time of transition. We look forward to welcoming Rev. Yaa to St. Peter’s this Fall and for our journey ahead!
Spring Concert : An Afternoon of Musical Sunshine
It was fitting that the sun shone warmly on the afternoon of Sunday, April 26th, setting the mood for St. Peter’s Music Ministries Spring Concert.
A joint presentation by the St. Peter’s Parish Choir and St. Peter’s Handbell Ringers, this program combined classical, liturgical and contemporary selections to create a heartfelt and uplifting afternoon of music.
As Master of Ceremonies, Lori Dolloff, who has been part of our Music Ministry for 50 years, guided us through the program with a combination of informational insights and personal recollections relevant to the performers and the musical pieces.
From Classical to Polka and Back Again
The program began with Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio featuring Mark Materson on clarinet, guest musician Bill Chambers on viola, and Walt Lemiski on piano.
Western Theme Fundraiser Dinner a Sell-out Success
On Saturday April 18th some 78 cow-folk dressed for a Home On The Range hoedown filled the Parish Hall for an evening of good food, good fun and cowboy games.
Organized by Mary Ellen and Thom Wigle, this year’s fundraiser dinner featured a delicious menu of Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Hash Browns, Creamy Coleslaw, Cowboy Caviar Bean Salad, Dill Pickles and Homemade Peach Cobbler with ice cream.
These photos tell the story of the evening’s success and enthusiasm of all who came.
Special thank yous to all who helped with setting up and serving the dinner.
Depression Glass and Ecclesiastical Needlework
ACW Spring Luncheon Meetings
This spring our ACW monthly luncheons featured presentations on two very different and fascinating topics.
Depression Glassware Yesterday and Today
The March luncheon welcomed Walt Lemiski for an amazing look at the history and traditions of Depression Glass. Coming from a family of collectors, Walt focused his energies on vintage glassware, and in the process has become both a connoisseur and expert on Depression Glass, and has authored a book on the subject.
In his presentation Walt discussed the history of Depression glass and its place in Canadian homes during the depression era, and its current popularity as vintage treasure. Often in shades of pink, yellow or green, Depression glassware comes in many shapes and sizes, from simple etched plates to decorative bowls, pitchers and vases. You may well have seen it in your grandmother’s cupboard or even have some in your own kitchen.
Our lunch sandwiches and treats were served on a selection of Walt’s Depression glassware. After lunch, pieces of glassware were raffled off for attendees to take home and enjoy – or even start their own collections.
Kim Lemiski, Walt’s wife, collects kitchen items from bygone days and supplemented Walt’s display of glassware with samples from her own collection of treasures.
The luncheon was held in the parish hall so that we could seat the many ladies who attended. In honour of the presentation topic, Elizabeth Boyes arranged a retro theme including special scones with jam and whipped cream to enjoy with our tea. White tablecloths, flowers and cloth napkins made it feel very special.
Stitchery and Ecclesiastical Vestments
Our April meeting was preceded by a noon time music presentation in the Church.
We welcomed Ruth Griffith and Peggy Perkins from Ecclesiastical Stitching as our guest speakers, who set up a beautiful display of their work. We learned about the special type of embroidery and stitching that goes into making fine linens and vestments for the clergy and services.
From the simplest white linen cloths used for communion with specially stitched crosses and hems to the most elaborate silk embroidered vestments, all work is done by hand by a dedicated group of volunteers in Toronto.
In addition to creating new pieces, the team of ecclesiastical stitchers repair items that are worn and help to send donated pieces to clergy who might not be able to afford them new.
Ruth and Peggy were able to answer any questions and discuss their work in more detail. Those interested in volunteering are trained and shown how to do the intricate work.
Given this new insight, we will all be looking more closely at the vestments that Rev. Roshni is wearing and with a greater appreciation for the work involved.
Help Us Solve A Mystery
The Museums Committee is hoping to discover who donated this uniform to our archives. Were you, or anyone you know, a member of the Anglican Church of Canada Junior Auxiliary? Do you have any memories or knowledge of this group at St Peter’s Erindale?We’d love to hear from you! Share your stories with us at museums@stpeterserindale.ca
Updates from the Parish Retreat
On Saturday, February 28, around 50 parishioners gathered for our parish retreat! We spent the morning together in worship, Bible study, and conversation about our past 200th-anniversary year, and continued to explore the Cast the Net and Calls to Action. After conversation and prayer, we narrowed the 20 Calls to Action to 3 that we would like to focus on at St. Peter’s over the next 3 years.
I invite you, this Lenten season, to reflect on the three calls listed below. Think and pray about what they mean to you and how St. Peter’s can live out these calls through our existing ministries and new ideas. If you would like to share your insights, please reach out to me by email, phone or we can have a cup of tea (and treats!). I will reflect on these calls and notes from the parish and share them with the Corporation, Advisory Board, and other groups in the coming months. Then, together, we will move forward with an implementation plan to carry out this good work. Thank you especially to everyone who came to the retreat. It was a very meaningful and inspiring time for me, and I hope it was for you, too!
Our Selected Calls to Action
- Call to Action #2: Reinvigorate and recommit to children’s, youth, family, and intergenerational ministries.
- Call to Action #7:Take, sustain and communicate actions that promote diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism.
- Call to Action #13: Enable and celebrate the work of ministries focused on service in the world.
Rev. Roshni Jayawardena
Incumbent
The Stories Within Our Stained Glass Windows:
Highlights of a presentation to the ACW
by Kimberley Lemiski
Within the stained-glass windows of St. Peter’s lies a silent yet vibrant witness to faith. These windows are dedicated to the memory of beloved members of the parish. Much has been written about their lives at St. Peter’s.
On January 6th, Amy Colson and I invited the ACW into the church, where we presented a talk focusing on the artistry of the designers and spiritual symbols found in these windows.
Over the years, three different companies designed the windows for St. Peter’s. The most prolific designer was McCausland and Company (1980-2012), who designed and installed seven of the windows. Smits and Ramsdale of Toronto created two of the windows in the mid 1950s, and Luxfer Studios installed one window in the church and two smaller inserts in the Bell Tower in 1990.
As sunlight dances through these multicoloured panes, it illuminates narratives of faith, history and artistry. The filtered light not only offers a visual spectacle but also illuminates the narrative of Christ and the lives of the saints. Read more…
Celebrating Diverse Music at St. Peter’s
by Walt Lemiski, MA
Listen for Preludes, Anthems & Postludes by many different black composers. At St. Peter’s Erindale, we celebrate Black History with a variety of music. See our Music and Choirs page for dates and times.
In the choral realm, you’ll soon be hearing a well-known African-American spiritual, “My Lord What a Morning.” Later in the spring, we’ll present the gorgeous “That Priceless Gift” — a traditional Ghanaian song.
For organ preludes, listen for a couple of popular spirituals, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” and “Deep River“, both arranged by Marianne Kim with splendid jazz harmonies. In the postlude department, “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” might just get your toes tappin’.
Through Lent at our Musical Meditative services, on Sunday evenings at 7 pm, you’ll hear Chant (Nobody Knows — as played by Fritz Kreisler!) arranged by the early 20th century African-American composer and virtuoso violinist Clarence Cameron White. This will be performed by Bill Chambers on February 22nd. A wonderful vocal rendition of “There is a Balm in Gilead” by Mark Hayes will be sung at the second Meditative Service. Mark your calendars!
As I am a life-long fan of splendid spirituals, you are bound to hear other wonderful pieces throughout the church year at St. Peter’s Erindale.
Christmas Care Program hits record levels.
The generosity and kindness of the people at St. Peter’s reached a new level of caring this Christmas season with donations totalling in excess of $21,000 by December 14th, surpassing our target goal of $17,000 by many thousands of dollars.
These funds enable us to bring Christmas cheer in the form of food, gifts and other needs to the thirty-three families referred to us by Embrave, Trillium Health Partners Oncology and our own parish.
Thank you to all who contributed, and to our team of Christmas angels who will deliver this Christmas cheer to the recipient families.
Special gratitude goes out to Josey Hobbs and Roy Hobbs who, in this their final year of leading our Christmas Care program, guided us to an all-time success.
St. Peter’s Hosts our Traditional Seniors Christmas Worship and Tea
On December 11th St. Peter’s welcomed over 65 people to our annual Senior’s Christmas Worship and Tea celebration. Invitations were extended to residents of retirement homes and long term care homes in our area, as well as members of the parish.
Organized by Helen Baxter and Lenna Mclaughlin, the gathering served up a festive combination of tea sandwiches, sweet treats and, of course, tea and coffee. Read more…
Advent Kick off with Crafts and Carols
To mark the first Sunday of Advent, St. Peter’s kicked off the season with an intergenerational event that included wreath making, Advent Crafts, carol singing and a hot chocolate bar.
The Engler Family (Fritz, Siegrid, Stephanie) and Elizabeth Boyes organized a selection of crafts and activities to create this very happy afternoon of Advent Celebration !
We gathered in the parish hall at 4 pm and together sang a few of our favourite Advent carols. Our director of music, Walt Leminski, played the piano and led us through O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending, and When the King Shall Come Again.
Then we were invited to choose our Advent craft. Read more…
St. Peter’s Advent Calendar – Wrapping up our 200th Anniversary Year
Click on this picture to open our Advent Calendar for 2025. You will be able to open one door at a time from December 1 to Christmas Day, December 25. You can’t open dates yet to come, but you can open back dates up to the actual date.
Behind the dates you’ll find pictures of people, events and the church from the past year, plus historical paintings. And there’s an audio track to each window. You’ll have to wait until Monday to open the first one!
You can click on the link every day and then click on the door to open it, or you can just cut and paste it into your web browser. It opens without installing on your computer.
Huge thanks to Lori Dolloff for creating this amazing wrap-up to what has been an even more amazing Bi-Centennial year at St. Peter’s.
Sellout Success: St. Peter’s Hosts Haunted Mississauga 2025
As darkness fell on the evening of October 24th, spooky organ music emanated from within St. Peter’s, while the churchyard came alive with the shades of early inhabitants of Erindale, then known as Springfield village. A talkative crew, they recounted tales of local controversies and other events in their lives.
Visitors were led through the dimly lit gravestones of St. Peter’s cemetery to engage with costumed storytellers at several lantern-lit stations. Read more…
Sunrise at St. Peter’s
A film by Suyen and Dorian Doan
As we head into the darkest, shortest days of the year, here’s an inspiring short film filled with light and love. Watch the Sunrise video here.
The Church on the Hill
Once upon a time, in the city of Mississauga, there lived a mother and her young son who shared a deep love for capturing the world’s beauty through their camera lenses.
One summer solstice, they planned a special adventure—to spend the night at a charming old church perched atop a hill. This church was famous for its breathtaking stained glass windows, which glowed with dazzling colors when touched by the morning sun.. Read more…
THE MAKING OF OUR 200th Anniversary GALA
A behind-the-scenes reminiscence – from Tom Agnew and Rodney Jackson
In May of 2023, after Roshni formed the 200th Anniversary Committee, one of the early event suggestions was a celebratory Gala dinner. One of the members of the Anniversary committee, Michael Davies, was able to secure the Credit Valley Golf and Country Club in Mississauga as the venue. Tom Agnew and Rodney Jackson were then appointed to oversee this project to its conclusion in 2025.
Organizing this milestone event was very much a learning process for us. Eventually, between the committee and the golf club, a date was set for Saturday September 20, 2025. Then planning began in earnest. Read more…