Who We Are

Gathering Table is:

+ a gathering place on traditional Anishinabe territory where people come together to share stories and conversation, memories and meals; 

+ the place where identity is formed and transformed, community is known, values are shaped and dreams are honoured; 

+ the place where Jesus the Risen Lord is revealed in bread breaking, foot washing (mutual service), and hospitality extended and received; the place where the God in whom we hope gathers people from north and south, east and west, setting before them a feast of rich food in the promised Kingdom! 

+ a community seeking to discern the living message of the biblical narratives for this place and time.

Parish Beginnings

Gathering Table came into existence on June 4, 2018 after the dissolving of St. John the Evangelist parish, and St. Luke’s parish on the day previous.  Respectively, these Anglican parishes were the first ones on the north and south sides of Thunder Bay since the late 1800’s.  As a new parish of the remnants and gathered peoples, we now serve Christ in the world as the faith community of Gathering Table at the former St. John’s building.   

This beginning, or as some might say, a journey of death and resurrection, started in July, 2015, when an assessment of the viability of all Thunder Bay-North Shore parishes was undertaken by the Together in Hope Committee.  In January 2017, the final report recommended that four parishes be merged as soon as possible with a new name.  A Discernment Committee was then formed to determine the best way forward, given the spectrum of traditions, cultures, worship styles and buildings.  The Committee met, prayed and broke bread together until December, 2017.  At that time, it was discerned that St John’s and St Luke’s should be dissolved to facilitate the formation of a single – point parish with a new name, a fresh expression, and a redefined vision under the leadership of the Rev. Canon Dr. George Porter based out of a renovated and painted St. John’s building.  A New Parish Team then prepared a new parish proposal, which was submitted to (then) Bishop Anne Germond for her review and approval.  On May 10, 2018, she issued the mandate letter for the closure of St. Luke’s and St. John’s, and the establishment of Gathering Table.   We held our initial worship service in the parish hall on June 10, as renovations to the church building were underway. On Sunday, September 30^th, 2018, at 2:00 pm, Gathering Table celebrated our opening in the church with the Right Rev’d Anne Germond, Bishop of Algoma presiding and the Rev’d Dr. D Jay Koyle preaching.