Welcome to Rev. Mòrar Murray-Hayes!
We are happy to have you with us for the next three months to lead worship and to help us move forward with our mission and goals.
From the entire congregation and the Leadership Circle
Mòrar’s Musings
I am happy and excited to join you on your spiritual journey for the next three months.
I am here because of your lay leaders, who are articulate and passionate about the mission of Erin Mills and so caring of you all.
I am here because I believe that you have one of the finest ministers in the region and, like you, I want to give Kathi what she deserves to refresh and re-energize.
In this short time, I know I won’t get to know you as well or as deeply as I would like, but I come to you with some understanding of your church. For over thirty years, I had lunch every Thursday in the conference room to study the Bible with a changing group of other ministers whose goal it was to ask what God was saying to us and to our congregations each week. Harry and Kathy and I were among the founders of the group, and I heard about you from them and Hans and Kathi. Every week Peter and Sylvia and other leaders would greet us. And I was a supervisor for ‘Kathy with a y’s sabbatical during the time you were negotiating with the city about the sale of the eastern section of your property.
When I can’t find a poem I wrote, I go to the internet and find it in one of Harry’s online sermons, so I have even entered into your worship before.
And for your understanding next week, I pray. In the fall I committed to Palermo (a church without a minister) to preach there occasionally and April 23rd is one of those Sundays.
During this sabbatical, you as a congregation have an opportunity to learn, to experience new gifts of ministry and to prepare to welcome Kathi back having survived having a different minister for a while.
In addition, you have an opportunity to fill in for all those things that Kathi did that I will be unable to do in 20 hours a week.
And finally, you have an opportunity to prepare to welcome Kathi back with open arms.
Blessings,
Rev. Mòrar
Bio
Mòrar Murray-Hayes, recently retired Senior Minister at Christ First, is well-known as a strong community advocate, particularly for social justice. As minister of Maple Grove United Church for over 31 years, she created Youth Forums for the local high school attracting hundreds of students, teachers, and community leaders to address issues of addiction and mental health. She was involved in the Young Offenders Diversion program, through which her church became a site for young offenders to do their community service. She provided leadership to create a Chinese ministry for new Canadians. She advocated for the establishment of the largest scholarship for First Nations students at Laurentian University. She co-founded the Interfaith Council of Halton following 9/11 and the interfaith Womengathering which brought hundreds of women of faith together biannually. The Interfaith Council received the Gold Medal from the Centre for Human Rights and Race Relations for Interfaith Youth Festivals which continue to be offered in high schools in Halton. She was a driving force behind an initiative between Maple Grove Church, Shaarei Beth-El synagogue and Al Falah mosque in Oakville and ISNA mosque in Mississauga to be the first to sponsor a Syrian refugee family on an interfaith basis. She has been recognised with Rotary International’s Paul Harris Fellowship and the Centenary Award for Professional Excellence, Canada’s Sesquicentennial award, and Woman of the Year award from Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Services Halton.
Mòrar’s education includes two degrees and a Diploma in Ministry from McGill and a Doctor of Ministry degree at Princeton Theological Seminary in 2006. Following completion of her doctorate, she received a Louisville Institute Pastoral Study Project Grant to study the spiritual lives of the 400+ young adults confirmed at Maple Grove church.
Her ministry at Christ First led to resourcing the community to be a safe and welcoming community for those with mild cognitive impairment. She guided in the amalgamation of the Port Credit and Clarkson congregations. She has guided the church in the beginning stages of Visioning for the future emphasising sustainability and legacy through development.
Her previous ministries include teaching practical theology at two theological colleges, and serving at Timothy Eaton Memorial and St. Matthew’s Richmond Hill, along with teaching many continuing education courses at the Toronto School of Theology. She has been an on-call hospital chaplain for most of her ministry.
Mòrar also teaches Doctor of Ministry students Systems Theory and Leadership at Tyndale Theological College. She is an EDGE coach for the United Church of Canada, assisting churches to discern their vision for the long-term future, emphasising sustainability of worship and pastoral care and planning for a mission which will have a lasting legacy. She is a United Fresh Start consultant for churches in transition, providing live and online workshops for congregations and ministry personnel and facilitating peer support groups.
Mòrar’s husband is Alan Hayes, retired Director of the Toronto School of Theology, and professor of the history of Christianity with a specialty in indigenous and settler church history at Wycliffe College, U of T, as well as being honorary assistant at St Cuthbert’s Anglican Church in Oakville. He is presently the interim director of Graduate Studies at the Toronto School of Theology.
They have two daughters and four grandchildren and are doing a lot of hiking and biking before their joints seize up!
