SAGA started as an LGBTQ support group at St.Andrew’s over 30 years ago. It is now a fellowship group for all people. SAGA normally meets in the Great Hall at 6pm on the fourth Friday of the month for a pot-luck supper and a special presentation by either one of the regular attendees or a special guest. SAGA welcomes new members and for more information on joining, please contact info@standrewstoronto.org
PLEASE NOTE:
Zoom meeting information will be sent out one day before each meeting in order to reduce the risk of Zoom bombing.
The next SAGA meet up will be Friday May 20 at 6PM
Please join us Friday, May 20 at 6:00 PM, for an In-Person Gathering, in the Great Hall at St. Andrew’s.
Val Lem, a librarian at Toronto Metropolitan University, will speak about Food and Foodways in Canadian literature by writers from Arabic speaking lands. This talk will be accompanied by a catered dinner that will be served at 6:30 PM.
Please note that all attendees are required to have at least three COVID-19 vaccinations and wear masks when not eating.
Please register with Robert Sheng at egdown@eol.ca before May 19, 2022. While the meal will be free, there will be an opportunity to donate in order to cover the cost.
There will be no Zoom option for this gathering.
********************************************
Please mark your calendar now for our upcoming 2022 meeting dates.
June 24
Sept. 23
Oct . 28
Nov. 25
Dec. 10 Saturday – Please note the day
***********************************************
We learned at our January meeting that Robert Sheng has resigned his position as Program Coordinator – this will become effective as of October 2022.
On Friday, April 22 – Bob Faris & Sue Senior spoke about the Rainbow Communion
On Friday, March 25th Elizabeth Forster brought us “Toronto Real Estate 101″w
On Friday, February 25th we met to discuss Travel Insurance with Redha Belhachemi as the world opens up again post pandemic
On Friday, January 28th we met to discuss our plans for 2022.
On Saturday, Dec. 11th, we met to celebrate the Christmas season.
On Friday, October 22nd, we met to discuss all those books we’ve been reading during lockdown!
On Friday, September 24th, at our first meeting of the Fall, SAGA members met to discuss their Summer activities.
On Friday, June 25th, Rev. Bob Faris reported on this year’s General Assembly and the steps taken toward full inclusion of LGBTQI people in The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
On Friday, May 28th a representative of the Rainbow Railroad joined with SAGA and StARS
The members of SAGA were joined by members of the St. Andrew’s Refugee Sponsorship team to listen to the featured speaker Hazim Ismail from Rainbow Railroad – an organization dedicated to assisting LGBTQI refugees.
For more information about Rainbow Railroad go to their website, https://www.rainbowrailroad.org/
On Friday, April 23, 2021 we celebrated our first anniversary of SAGA on ZOOM!
Many of you shared what has happened, both good and bad, during the past 12 months.
To jump start the event, Tom Threndyle, shared his story of starting his own business during this pandemic. Visit TOMMY his new periodic newsletter detailing cool stuff on design, branding, art and more. Interested? Please subscribe. Thanks!
Click this link to complete the subscription form: http://eepurl.com/hoZNuj
Tom Threndyle, RGD http://www.tombranding.com
Friday, March 26, 2021 featured – EGALE
Senior Development Officer Egale, Jenny Foster, spoke about the ongoing work being done at EGALE and how they have recently expanded their work to four general areas for REAL impact – research, education, awareness and legal advocacy.
If you would like to visit their website and get familiarized with their work they can be found at: Egale – equal not other
As promised, Jenny also forwarded some information about Egale’s Rainbow Table for 2SLGBTQI and Ally Seniors. The Rainbow Table includes a Facebook Group and regular live shows (on Facebook live) featuring experts on a variety of topics including health, relationships, Rainbow Veterans, Faith and much more. Please join the group, check out the past episodes and stay tuned for upcoming events
Rainbow Table Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rainbowtable
Rainbow Table Website: https://egale.ca/egale-in-action/rainbowtable/
Friday, February 26 featured – Chinese Canadian Authors
The presentation, by our member Val Lem, examined the creation of an Asian Canadian cultural heritage website. With a large component highlighting bio-bibliographical entries of Canadian literary writers of “Asian” heritage, in this introduction he will focused on authors of Chinese Canadian heritage.
Friday, January 22 featured – THINK TANK 2021
A discussion of what to feature at our 2021 suppers took place. We thank all of you who participated and we look forward to this year’s meetings – online for now but hopefully in-person before too long.
Our Christmas gathering was held December 12 – thank you to all who participated.
Friday, November 27 featured CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ in 1970
In this Power Point presentation Jeff Schmidt took us on a journey to the past via photos and videos that enhanced the story of a drive to California and his experiences there.
Friday, October 23rd featured:
FROM EXILE TO REINSTATEMENT
Pastor Ralph Carl Wushke shared part of his story and experiences as a Lutheran pastor who came out at a time when homosexuality was grounds for exclusion from ministry. Four decades of gay activism in the church, culminating with his call and installation at First Lutheran Church, Toronto and his reinstatement to the clergy roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada in January 2020 will be discussed.
Pastor Ralph last came to us as the Chaplain of the Ecumenical Chaplaincy at the University of Toronto.
SAGA started as an LGBTQ support group at St. Andrew’s over 30 years ago. It is now a fellowship group for all people. SAGA normally meets in the Great Hall at 6pm on the fourth Friday of the month for a pot-luck supper and a special presentation by either one of the regular attendees or a special guest. SAGA welcomes new members and for more information on joining, please contact info@standrewstoronto.org
