We Are Neighbours for Each Other

In Northern Ontario, distance shapes how we understand community. Towns are spread out. Roads are long. Winter reminds us quickly that we are not as independent as we sometimes imagine. Here, being a neighbour is not an abstract idea. It’s a practical reality, that shows up when someone needs help.

Three years ago, Trinity United Church in Iroquois Falls, Ontario made a courageous and faithful decision. They sold their church building and began worshipping in a public space at the local community museum. For some congregations, that kind of transition might feel like a loss. For Trinity, it became an opening. Freed from the costs and demands of maintaining a building, this lay-led congregation leaned even more deeply into what it means to be church.

What they discovered is something the United Church has known for a long time: the church is not the building. The church is the people, gathered in faith, attentive to one another and to the needs of the world around them.

Trinity United is a small congregation with a big heart. Their members are deeply committed to Mission and Service. They care about their town. They show up for local needs. They pray, worship, and lead together with generosity and trust. Stewardship, for them, is not about holding on. It is about sharing what they have been given.

Recently, Trinity learned about a need at neighbouring St. Matthew’s-St. Paul’s Anglican United Church in Hearst, Ontario. One of the longest-running shared ecumenical ministries in Canada, St. Matthew’s-St. Paul’s is part of a multi-parish cluster that serves many communities across Northern Ontario. 

For decades, the people of this church have cared for their neighbours with their generosity and faithful presence. Like many churches serving large regions with limited resources, they are stretched thin. The manse required urgent maintenance. Safe, stable housing is essential for sustaining ministry when travel distances are long and communities rely on consistent leadership.

Trinity did not hesitate.

With prayerful discernment and open hands, they sent $10,000 to support this work. No fanfare. No expectation of recognition. Just a clear sense that when one part of the body is hurting, the rest respond.

This is stewardship at its best: care among neighbours. 

In a time when many congregations are asking hard questions about sustainability, Trinity’s story offers a hopeful witness. Letting go of a building did not diminish their ministry. It clarified it. Their resources—financial, relational, and spiritual—are freely available to serve others.

We often talk about “loving our neighbour,” but stories like this remind us that love is concrete. It fixes roofs. It provides shelter. It strengthens ministry. It says, clearly and without condition: you are not alone.

In Northern Ontario, we know this truth well. We are neighbours for each other. And when we live that truth, the church becomes exactly what it is called to be.

—Rev. Melody Duncanson Hales offers stewardship support in Canadian Shield and Shining Waters Regions of the United Church of Canada

The views contained within these blogs are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of The United Church of Canada.