Mercedes participates on the Pastorate Team as a result of wanting to pass on to others what she has experienced in this community. Coming from El Salvador at the young age of thirteen, her family was taken in by the Willowdale Congregation and it became their extended family with grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles and other children. Coming from this type of experience in El Salvador and finding it anew in Canada was both surprising and encouraging….

Alfredo is a part of our Pastorate Team. He is a passionate community builder. Over the past 30 years, Alfredo has served as a Principal of a private school, a full-time Ordained Minister, a Personal Care Worker with developmentally delayed adults, and as the Inter-school Sports Director for a group of private elementary schools. Alfredo co-founded Community Place+. This is an intergenerational program designed to bring a community-building experience to those individuals looking for deep and meaningful connections...

Bryce Taylor is part of our Pastorate team. He has a Masters of Social Work in Community Development from the University of Toronto and is the CEO of the Sionito Group of Charities that operates three social housing projects in Toronto and will be opening the fourth project in 2023. In this capacity, Bryce took a failed CMHC social housing project, negotiated a new mandate and brought it back into the social service community as a productive 88 unit residence serving high-maintenance seniors with psychiatric and addiction challenges...

Nadine has spent the past 25 years raising a family of four boys and working as a physician focused on families. Her passion is helping families in all parts of their lives which provides a healthy environment for growth and development for everyone. As her children grew, she became more active in her work within the community that gave rise to Gathering Place+ and has worked with growing families in Gathering Place+ as well. Her focus is growing healthy relationships with one another, the earth and the Divine...