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| Profile | Staff | History | Board of Directors | Partners | Newsletter | Media |

History

It began with the band Red Rain in 1985. Its members had a passion for God and a clear sense that God was calling them to "take it to the streets." They moved from playing in Christian coffee houses and church basements to playing in bars, jails, festivals, and venues - taking the gospel where it doesn't usually get heard. The vision for Sanctuary began to materialize when the band was invited by the Central Gospel Hall to use the church building for storage and practice sessions. That was Fall 1990. 

Richvale Bible Chapel commended Greg and Karen Paul as missionaries to the city in March 1992. Together, they began building a vision for the downtown core and reaching out to the marginalized people in the heart of the city. 

In December 1992, the one hundred year old Central Gospel Hall congregation met to worship for the last time in the funky old church in downtown Toronto. It had facilitated the planting of numerous assemblies in and around Toronto. But with the downtown core desolate of new residents, the congregation had become too small and too elderly to continue. Since that time, the century-old building near Yonge and Bloor, has become Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto, a haven of safety, security and respect for some of the most needy and marginalized people in the city of Toronto.

The Wednesday Drop-In Lunch along with the Street Outreach programs started back in those early years and continue on today. As well, a number of otherprograms have come and gone through the years including various Drop-Ins, Health Care. The number of staff facilitating the various programs has grown from 2 in the earliest years to our current total of 13. 

The opportunity to purchase the Central Gospel Hall building came in 1999. With no organized fundraising initiatives and little development experience, Sanctuary launched a capital campaign to raise $750,000 in less than eight months. With the support of individual donors ­ - both existing and new supporters - ­ as well as a number of large corporate donations, Sanctuary gained legal ownership of the building in early 2000.

With the need for this type of ministry continually on the rise, we look forward to pursuing further developments and expanding our services to this community in the years ahead.