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There was a time when the majority of folks had a religious affiliation and had a local church of their denomination to which they were attached. A church didn’t have to worry about making the wider civic community aware of its existence. As we know, that has changed over the decades. Churches now have to find ways to make the wider civic community aware of their existence, their mission, and the fact that their doors are open. St. Matthew’s in Abbotsford used a Parish Development Grant from the diocese to develop a robust social media presence that has led to growth in its congregation. 

In 2022 St. Matthew’s decided to prioritize it’s online presence. With a parish development grant from the diocese, they partnered with Post Meridien - a local social media management company - to produce content for youtube and social media. This partnership produced a series of videos aimed at explaining the basics of the Anglican faith and what to expect when attending a worship service. Even though the parish was going through a clergy transition, content continued to be produced. Post Meridien and St. Matthew’s focused on thematic series: advent and lent. Eventually they started a podcast video series called Pray Tell, in which two parishioners sit with invited guests to chat about various faith topics. 

In the first year that St. Matthew’s focused on it’s online presence, the parish saw an increase in Sunday attendance from an average of 38 to an average of 59. Overall, attendance increased 38% from pre-covid numbers. While it is common to see a dip in attendance over the summer months, St. Matthew’s has seen the opposite trend. 

The leadership at St. Matthew’s credits the Parish Development Grant with enabling them to think about new ways to reach the people of today and given them an experience of church that inspires them to walk through the church’s doors. 

Growing a congregation in numbers in a legitimate concern. So too is fostering deeper engagement among existing parishioners and creating space for current parishioners to make the parish truly their home. 

This was a dream of St. Clement’s church in North Vancouver. After taking part in a diocesan Dismantling Racism seminar the parish felt called to offer increased pastoral support to BIPOC folks within the congregation and - hopefully - in the wider community. The Lynn Valley neighbourhood where the church is located had seen an increase in incidents of racism. The parish sought to provide this support by making spiritual direction more widely available to parishioners. 

St. Clement’s received a parish development grant, which enabled them to partner with a VST student specializing in trauma-informed spiritual direction. For one year the VST student was able to provide spiritual direction to eight people at a reduced cost/ sliding scale fee. 

As the directees entered more deeply into their spiritual lives, they also became more involved in parish ministries. Two of the directees actually helped start a new ministry - a support group for caregivers experiencing trauma from supporting loved ones with dementia. 

In late 2025, the parish plans to offer a trauma-informed workshop to further support parishioners and community members carrying trauma. 

Both St. Matthew’s social media content development and St. Clements’ spiritual direction offering were funded by parish development grants. The range of projects that can qualify for such grants is vast. Does your parish have an idea for a project, program or iniative aimed at helping grow it’s ability to carry out its mission in the world? 

The 2025 Winter Cycle of Parish Development Grants is now open and accepting applications. Details and application forms are available HERE.