Contact: paul@churchinthecity.ca
Job at CITC: Creator of chaos. Lead communicator & vision-caster.
Tagline: “I don’t want to be a BS church.”
Random fact: I cycle to work. I’m a partial tree-hugger

I like to visit the country, I like going on hikes & canoeing, but I love the city. I’m fascinated by cities, but I love this city. My heart leaps when I come home and see the Toronto skyline and I know I’m supposed to be here.

In 1994, I moved to Toronto with my wife, Vicki, and started Cornerstone. In 1997, I helped re-launch Church in the City. It was very different back then. Just to get to church, you had to sign in with a security guard and then head to a remote corner on the third floor of a building without any info on how to get in… We had no community presence – changed completely. Now most people who come to our downtown location walk to church.

I learned about grace the hard way; for 15 years, I was estranged from my brother because he is gay. After we reconciled, CBC made a radio documentary about us. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/documentary_archive/6661401.stm)

In 2000, I was in a car accident that left me with a Traumatic Brain Injury. I had a year and a half of speech therapy and physio… I later found out that most people with my injury never get back to work. I will probably be in chronic pain for the rest of my life.

I don’t like what the accident did to me, but it has made me a better person. It’s made me far more compassionate. For the first time in my life, I experienced depression – I realized that some things you can’t just shake off and keep going like you do in sports. There was nothing I could do to make myself better. I felt helpless, and couldn’t make it on my own. I was desperately dependent on God and on people to help me get better. I’ve come to realize that all of us are far more broken than we care to admit – if being honest and admitting my brokenness and struggles helps other people admit their struggles so they can get better…that’s what I want. That’s what it’s about.

I couldn’t go to a “traditional” church. This church has become my primary community – people are here for the good times and the bad times, and these friendships keeps me here.