Today’s crisis around the church, residential schools and so many of Canada’s historic institutions presents both a challenge and opportunity for Canada’s granting foundations and charities.

For many Canadians, the church feels dangerous these days — even, toxic. A much needed conversation including Black Lives Matter, Me Too and the horrors of Residential Schools has been set on fire by the shocking discovery of the unmarked graves of beautiful, precious souls. Souls that deserve recognition in this life — and the next.

There are those that fall into ruin, those that are sold to the highest bidder, those few that still welcome their faithful, and then those that are burning these days. For every church that is reinvented, a dozen are demolished. Yet, in addition to being an important part of our heritage, our churches are above all a vast network of infrastructures at the service of their communities, located in the heart of each Quebec village. What if, in order to reshape Quebec, we made them an engine of economic and social development for our communities?

There are seemingly not enough social impact investment opportunities to quench investor appetite in Canada.

If we remove the opportunities to invest in green energy, and instead analyze opportunities to invest in communities, we see very little by way of investment. Considering this state of the social impact investment landscape, how can investors intent on having an impact, fund opportunities that create lasting social change while generating a fair return?

111-year-old building could be included in a residential or commercial project

Le hasard de la météo a voulu que les Autochtones de Montréal célèbrent leur journée nationale dans une église, comme un pied de nez à cette institution qui les a empêchés pendant si longtemps de vivre leur culture et de l’exprimer.

We face a parallel national challenge: how to “build back better” in the wake of a crippling pandemic that has exposed the myths of a Canadian society free of systemic racism and baked-in social inequality.

Here in the capital of closed churches in Quebec, a pastor has helped turn St Jax into a community centre, a place to explore faith — and a home for a circus.

Is colonialism in the past? The Rev. Graham Singh, priest at St. Jax in Montreal and executive director of the Trinity Centres Foundation—which helps “transform church properties for community impact”—doesn’t seem convinced. In this podcast conversation, Matthew Townsend, editor of the Anglican Journal and Epiphanies, talks with Singh about decolonization, the church and changes that may yoke those subjects together. This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.