The members of St. Margaret's Tamil Anglican Church are proud and indeed very happy to celebrate today the growth of this church for over a decade since its founding.

Many of us here do not know the origins of our church, the trials and difficulties it faced and how it overcame those challenges. We do have members who have been attending the church from its inception. But they may also not be able to recollect its beginnings. And so, the wardens felt that it would be appropriate to reminisce on its history and requested me to say a few words.

It is well known that large members of Tamils came to Canada from Ceylon due to the ethnic conflict in that country. The nineteen eighties witnessed this influx. For the Tamils, religion, language and culture have been their firm foundation. Tamils always sought a place to worship and a school to educate themselves and their children wherever they lived and in whatever country they lived.

Among the Tamils here, the Christians belonged to various denominations in Sri Lanka. However, perhaps due to the bond of common ethnicity, they were keen to worship together as a community. As Tamils, we wished to conduct our services in Tamil. Also, we wanted to conduct our worship in our own cultural setting as we did in Sri Lanka! This inevitably meant that we must have a Tamil priest who knows our language, culture and religious practices.

At that time, it was no easy task to find a Tamil priest here. But the Lord heard our cries and did not leave us or forsake us. God found for us a dedicated and ordained Tamil priest from the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India in the person of Rev. Bobby Mather In fact, he was also one of those among the exodus from Ceylon in the nineteen eighties.

Rev. Bobby lost no time in responding to the spiritual needs of the Tamil Christians from Sri Lanka. He gathered these people and together they formed the Tamil Christian Fellowship Church of Canada in October 1988. They held their services as a tenant congregation at the Alliance Church situated at Brimley Road.

Very soon, Rev. Bobby Mather attracted many Tamil worshipers. But the Church could not accommodate all of them because it was a small building. This situation made it necessary to look for a bigger Church to move out from there.

Here again, we witnessed the working of the Lord. The Lord led us to St. Margaret in The Pines and accommodated the Tamil Congregation in April 1989. The incumbent of St. Margaret's, Cannon Jack Roberts, warmly welcomed the Tamil congregation and allowed them to use the church for worship in the evenings because his own congregation worshiped in the mornings. We continued to be a tenant church.

At St. Margaret's, our congregation gathered for worship initially on the fourth Sunday on every month. Then the services were increased to two Sundays a month. In 1990, our congregation worshiped on all the Sundays of each month. Thus, our congregation conducted regular Sunday services from that time onwards. It was after starting regular services that we were able to build up our church, participate in common activities with other churches such as Christmas carol festivals and in course of time we played our part in the mainstream church activities.

The Christian Tamils brought with them their rich heritage-language, worship practices, and their culture. Here in Canada, they found that for their worship and spiritual growth, a Tamil book of Liturgy and Hymns and the Bible were urgently needed. In 1990, a committee was formed to complete this book. It consisted of Pearl Yoganandan, Rajamalar Blanchard, Elmer Niles, Paul Parkiam and Yogan Mather with Rev. Bobby Mather as Chair. The book compiled and published by this committee is the one that we are using in our church today. On this occasion, let us acknowledge the great service and contribution made by the members of this committee and pray for the Lord's continued blessings upon them.

In interacting with sister churches, our Choir had an occasion to participate in an event with the Korean Anglican Church. At the end of the event, that congregation gave our choir a wonderful gift of about $300.00. It was with this gift, that we purchased the Tamil Holy Bible, which we are using in our church today. We remember at this time, the invaluable gift of that congregation and praise God for his blessings upon both these congregations. The introduction of the Liturgy and the Bible enabled members to have more participation especially in the responsive readings. The liturgical and the Hymnbook was the first Tamil publication fore worship produced in the North America.

We thank the Lord for nurturing our Christian life, strengthening our spiritual growth, and leading us along everlasting life by means of these books, which are essential for conducting our worship services.

The congregation quickly started building the church structures and our own tradition.

"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all the earth." Ps 96: 1

The Choir is a very important structure in a church. In 1992, the choir consisted of experienced choristers numbering around 30. It consisted also of violinists, pianists, organists, and guitarists. Choir practice took place on Friday evenings. The Junior and Youth choir met for practice on Sundays after the worship. The choir sang at regular worship services on Sundays, on special events, and at weddings in the church. The Tamil choir's performance at the Christmas carol festival and at the annual carol festival of the Association of Tamil Churches in Toronto was acclaimed by many people.

The institution of the Church Wardens is something new for us. The priest appoints one warden and the other is elected. It confers on them onerous responsibility especially in regard to the security and maintenance of the church and in liaising with the bishop's office.

The Synod representative of our church has been participating in the synod meetings since the time our church was admitted into the Anglican community. The synod is a gathering of lay and clerical members who constitute the governing body of the church. This is the most important structure that involves the members in the life of the governance of the church.

"Suffer little children to come unto me."

The children's ministry carried out by the church school is another important body of our church. In 1993, there were about 40 children on the registry. The regular attendance at the Sunday school was about 30. There were 3 classes divided according to the ages of the children. The children were taught handicraft, music and the scriptures. These children participated in skits, group and individual singing at various special events and especially at Christmas.

The parochial groups contributed in many ways in the life and growth of our church. The Women's Fellowship, Youth Fellowship and the Men's Fellowship were the strong pillars of the church. Members of the Youth Fellowship have participated in plays, dramas and musicals. Their activities brought our church closer to other churches and to our own community. Today they are in various professions and careers and are contributing to the mainstream Canadian society.

We have established in our church the good traditions of our churches, which we brought with us from Sri Lanka. Our children are a delight at Christmas tree programs. The carol party visits the homes of members in the nights during Christmas. Usually, they complete their rounds past midnight and sometimes in the early hours of the morning. Our Watch Night service on the last night of December is a novelty not witnessed in Canadian churches. At this service, families participate by singing songs or by playing musical instruments. The priest conducts a service of thanksgiving for the passing year, the church bell chimes sharp at midnight ringing in the New Year and this is followed by another service for the New Year thanking God to guide us in the future. After the worship, the members gather for fellowship. They are served with the "sweet pongal" which is the Tamil tradition to mark the birth of the New Year.

Our lay members play an important part in the progress of our church. Lay members actively participate in worship services by reading scriptures, say prayers and also in preaching. This participation changes them into spiritual leaders, mould their character and help them to play leadership roles with confidence in the society in which they live.

The backbone of the church life is always prayer. We witness this in our pastoral care program. The pastors and member work together. We have prayer meeting in the houses of members, visit the sick in the hospital and pray for them. We share in the grief of the member in times of bereavement and support in the healing process. Our members are strengthened in their faith because they know their church is with them not only in good times but also in difficult times.

We had many guest speakers and special services. The "Villu Parddu" or Bow songs grew from our Tamil culture. Guest speakers sang songs based on scriptural themes on the Bow strings which was the musical instrument.

Having taken roots in Canadian soil, ideas such as seeking admission in the Anglican Diocese began to float in the minds of our congregation. They expressed their desire to be affiliated with the Anglican Diocese. As a result, discussion took place with Cannon Jack Roberts, the incumbent of St. Margaret. Rev. Bobby Mather played an important part in these deliberations on behalf of the Tamil congregation.

In September 1990, Cannon Jack Roberts informed the Bishop about the wishes of the Tamil congregation. The congregation wanted to be recognized as an Anglican Ethnic congregation in the Diocese of Toronto and that their worship services should be conducted in Tamil.

In all these discussions, Rev. Bobby Mather worked hard to achieve the interests of the congregation. Cannon Jack Roberts was very helpful in presenting the request of the congregation to Bishop Arthur Brown and press for recognition of the Tamil congregation in the Anglican Diocese.

In October 1990, the Tamil Christian Fellowship church held a congregational meeting with Bishop Arthur Brown in attendance. At that meeting, the congregation passed a motion with this phrase in it: "Desiring to affiliate as a congregation with the Anglican Church of Canada" and merging with the Diocese of Toronto as a separate congregation. This meant that the Tamil church could exist and function independently of St. Margaret in the Pine Church.

This was followed by the setting up of a Consultation of Affiliation with representation from both the Tamil congregation and the Diocese of Toronto. Rev. Bobby Mather was recognized as an Anglican Priest of Canada in 1991 and had responsibilities for the Tamil congregation.

In February 1992, a Vestry meeting of the Tamil Christian fellowship church passed a resolution to change the name of the church to St. Margaret's Tamil Anglican Church and to accept the Cannons of the Anglican Church of Toronto. In March 1992, the executive committee of the Diocese of Toronto concurred in the name change. In May 1992, a special Vestry meeting of the Tamil Fellowship church agreed unanimously to change the name of the church to St. Margaret's Tamil Anglican Church. The church Wardens and the Secretary notified of this resolution to the Secretary Treasurer of the Synod.

In September 1993, Bishop Arthur Brown confirmed the appointment of the Rev. Bobby Mather as priest in charge of the St. Margaret's Tamil Anglican Church. Cannon Jack Roberts was named as Bishop's Commissary.

Like human beings, institutions and organizations are also afflicted by problems and difficulties. Our church did not escape such set backs. In 1993, a Diocesan Committee was set up to examine and find solutions to the problems that faced us at that time. This consisted of representatives from the Diocese as Chair, two members from outside the church community. These external members were specialists in their own fields especially in ethnic conflict resolution. The committee reported its findings and subsequently its recommendations were implemented in stages.

This is the genesis of the first Tamil Anglican Church and also first Tamil Anglican Priest in Canada.

The Anglican Diocese has been very helpful to our congregation in many ways. The Diocese carefully selected priests who had experience in understanding ethnic problems and finding solutions to them. In this short period of our existence, we have had five priests. They were the late Rev. Bobby Mather, Rev. Dr. Jack Roberts, Rev. Isaac Mukwasa, Rev. Dr. Ronald Kawano, the late Rev. Jeyachandran, and Rev. Ravi Kalison.

Rev. Ariel Dumaran has been with our church for two years. Our church has always remained vibrant. Our members always want new forms of worship and appreciate changes. With the permission of Bishop the Rt. Rev. Patrick Yu, Rev. Viveganathan joined Rev. Dumaran to look after the needs of the Tamil Congregation. Rev. Viveganathan is an energetic pastor and has brought in new and interesting forms of worship. His ways have captivated our members. We pray for the Lord's blessings on him.

Every one of these illustrious priests has eminently shepherded our congregation, found solutions to our problems and nurtured our spiritual growth. All of them have selflessly and with dedication served our Tamil church with understanding, concern and love. In serving us, they have served the ministry of Christ with excellence. Today we remember their services and give thanks to God, pray for their health that they may continue their service in Christ.

In conclusion, we thank God for his grace upon our Church and pray for his continued blessings in the future.