Latest news with #KevinGeorge
Hamilton Spectator
21 hours ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
New report suggests opening churches to the masses as attendance dwindles
When Rev. Kevin George first arrived at St. Paul's Cathedral, congregants accused him of coming to rip out the pews. 'I was like, 'OK, everybody take a breath. I don't have my chainsaw with me,'' he said Friday, a day after welcoming the public into the newly renovated building in downtown London, Ont. It's been 18 months since he started working at the church, and the pews are indeed gone. After much prayer and consideration, the change came with the blessing of the congregation. George is leading the adaptive redevelopment of St. Paul's in an effort to keep the Anglican church building alive in a model not unlike the one endorsed by a new report from the Canadian Urban Institute. It argues churches must change their approach to managing their buildings because declining attendance is putting their longevity at risk. The institute fears the loss of physical buildings could spell the end for the churches' civic function. The non-profit's report says that in addition to their spiritual role, church buildings have long been places where people go for social services, from food pantries to foot clinics and charity bingo to child care. It was that same argument that got members of St. Paul's onside, George said. They asked themselves, 'What are we doing with the space and what does that space do for us to allow us to be the church that we need to be today, tomorrow and for generations to come?' George recalled. 'And when we did that work, the barriers began to fall.' Without the pews, which seated 700, the space can be used in any manner of ways — as a concert venue, a conference hall, and, of course, a space for worship. The renovations, which also included making the space wheelchair accessible and installing much-needed air conditioning, have cost $1.9 million. The congregation and Anglican Diocese of Huron have together raised $1.1 million, and they're now looking to external sources to cover the balance. They're hoping some funds could come from the City of London, which has endorsed the space as a new creative hub. The church will also expand its civic role, George said. 'When I moved downtown in January of 2024, one of the overwhelming narratives about St. Paul's was, 'I can never get in there. The doors are locked,'' he said. 'Well, that's changed dramatically and will continue to change because our attitude now is 'doors open.'' If churches don't adapt, CUI President Mary Rowe said, they face two major threats: development and decay. 'As urban environments kinds of civic spaces that provide this kind of opportunity for informal, casual social interaction, they get encroached upon because the market pressure is such that that building starts to become more desirable for high-end housing,' Rowe said. 'And in small communities where there may not be the same kind of pressure for real estate development, there's no money or resources to shore up the civic functions of these places.' The report contends church spaces, which for decades have benefited from tax exemptions, have a duty to continue offering civic services. But a 2019 study by the National Trust for Canada predicted that one-third of Canada's 27,000 faith buildings, most of which are Christian, would likely close permanently in the next 10 years. 'What we need are new models that get new resources into these places so that you can actually evolve in a way that serves the community around it,' Rowe said. The report attempts to 'unravel the Gordian knot' of how at-risk, faith-built assets like churches should be managed going forward. That's a question Rev. Graham Singh has spent more than a decade working to answer. He's the senior pastor at St. Jax Church in Montreal and CEO of the charity Releven, which works to preserve and repurpose underused churches. St. Jax, formerly called St. James the Apostle Anglican Church, is a sort of prototype for the Releven model. The grand cathedral on Rue Sainte-Catherine ceased operations in 2015. It was in disrepair and maintenance was extremely expensive because of its heritage designation. It reopened the following year under the new name. 'A challenge is the building itself,' Singh said. 'Raising money to repair the roof, which is this heritage-listed slate roof that has to be repaired with like-for-like materials. And then the same thing with the masonry, which is a very expensive 150-year-old stone construction.' But now, the building is home to four separate congregations and a non-religious non-profit, which will soon handle management of the building. Secular tenants of St. Jax include organizations that work in refugee resettlement, food security and youth employment. Meanwhile, the City of Montreal is in the final stages of a process to acquire the green space outside St. Jax with the goal of turning it into a park. Singh also knows about the complexity of working with the municipal government. In order to make all the changes to how the St. Jax building operates, his organization had to prove they had the historic right to change the site's purpose and use. That heritage impact assessment has become part of the Ville-Marie Pilot Project, which opens the door for other churches in the city to share their space with non-religious groups, he said. 'The city has indeed been updating their zoning and urban planning framework to allow more of that to be happening in other locations in the future,' Singh said. Through Releven, he's taking that experience and helping other churches leverage it. The CUI report found one of the barriers for churches looking to change their business model is a lack of knowledge on the part of local leadership. 'There's very few examples of a congregation or a diocese or an owner of a faith building that have been able to do it by themselves because of the complexity of these buildings and the regulatory environment,' said Jennifer Barrett, managing director of programs, planning and policy at CUI. Some churches have partnered with real estate developers. Among them is All Saints' Anglican Church in Winnipeg, whose lands are now home to West Broadway Commons, a 110-unit housing project. Fifty-six of those units are affordable. But in many cases, Barrett said, churches are resistant to that sort of change and fearful of giving up control. 'It is challenging for faith communities to let go of their buildings,' she said. George said that was true for the congregation at St. Paul's. Ultimately, they decided that they should retain ownership of the property. 'We would have become sort of a tenant in our own space, and the Diocesan structure of the Anglican Church doesn't work well for that,' George said. 'We're working on what we believe will be a public-private partnership to administer this going forward because we know we're going to get very busy. I mean, we've only just moved in yesterday, and we're already receiving calls. There's a demand here for a space like this.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
21 hours ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
New report suggests opening churches to the masses as attendance dwindles
When Rev. Kevin George first arrived at St. Paul's Cathedral, congregants accused him of coming to rip out the pews. 'I was like, 'OK, everybody take a breath. I don't have my chainsaw with me,'' he said Friday, a day after welcoming the public into the newly renovated building in downtown London, Ont. It's been 18 months since he started working at the church, and the pews are indeed gone. After much prayer and consideration, the change came with the blessing of the congregation. George is leading the adaptive redevelopment of St. Paul's in an effort to keep the Anglican church building alive in a model not unlike the one endorsed by a new report from the Canadian Urban Institute. It argues churches must change their approach to managing their buildings because declining attendance is putting their longevity at risk. The institute fears the loss of physical buildings could spell the end for the churches' civic function. The non-profit's report says that in addition to their spiritual role, church buildings have long been places where people go for social services, from food pantries to foot clinics and charity bingo to child care. It was that same argument that got members of St. Paul's onside, George said. They asked themselves, 'What are we doing with the space and what does that space do for us to allow us to be the church that we need to be today, tomorrow and for generations to come?' George recalled. 'And when we did that work, the barriers began to fall.' Without the pews, which seated 700, the space can be used in any manner of ways — as a concert venue, a conference hall, and, of course, a space for worship. The renovations, which also included making the space wheelchair accessible and installing much-needed air conditioning, have cost $1.9 million. The congregation and Anglican Diocese of Huron have together raised $1.1 million, and they're now looking to external sources to cover the balance. They're hoping some funds could come from the City of London, which has endorsed the space as a new creative hub. The church will also expand its civic role, George said. 'When I moved downtown in January of 2024, one of the overwhelming narratives about St. Paul's was, 'I can never get in there. The doors are locked,'' he said. 'Well, that's changed dramatically and will continue to change because our attitude now is 'doors open.'' If churches don't adapt, CUI President Mary Rowe said, they face two major threats: development and decay. 'As urban environments intensify…those kinds of civic spaces that provide this kind of opportunity for informal, casual social interaction, they get encroached upon because the market pressure is such that that building starts to become more desirable for high-end housing,' Rowe said. 'And in small communities where there may not be the same kind of pressure for real estate development, there's no money or resources to shore up the civic functions of these places.' The report contends church spaces, which for decades have benefited from tax exemptions, have a duty to continue offering civic services. But a 2019 study by the National Trust for Canada predicted that one-third of Canada's 27,000 faith buildings, most of which are Christian, would likely close permanently in the next 10 years. 'What we need are new models that get new resources into these places so that you can actually evolve in a way that serves the community around it,' Rowe said. The report attempts to 'unravel the Gordian knot' of how at-risk, faith-built assets like churches should be managed going forward. That's a question Rev. Graham Singh has spent more than a decade working to answer. He's the senior pastor at St. Jax Church in Montreal and CEO of the charity Releven, which works to preserve and repurpose underused churches. St. Jax, formerly called St. James the Apostle Anglican Church, is a sort of prototype for the Releven model. The grand cathedral on Rue Sainte-Catherine ceased operations in 2015. It was in disrepair and maintenance was extremely expensive because of its heritage designation. It reopened the following year under the new name. 'A challenge is the building itself,' Singh said. 'Raising money to repair the roof, which is this heritage-listed slate roof that has to be repaired with like-for-like materials. And then the same thing with the masonry, which is a very expensive 150-year-old stone construction.' But now, the building is home to four separate congregations and a non-religious non-profit, which will soon handle management of the building. Secular tenants of St. Jax include organizations that work in refugee resettlement, food security and youth employment. Meanwhile, the City of Montreal is in the final stages of a process to acquire the green space outside St. Jax with the goal of turning it into a park. Singh also knows about the complexity of working with the municipal government. In order to make all the changes to how the St. Jax building operates, his organization had to prove they had the historic right to change the site's purpose and use. That heritage impact assessment has become part of the Ville-Marie Pilot Project, which opens the door for other churches in the city to share their space with non-religious groups, he said. 'The city has indeed been updating their zoning and urban planning framework to allow more of that to be happening in other locations in the future,' Singh said. Through Releven, he's taking that experience and helping other churches leverage it. The CUI report found one of the barriers for churches looking to change their business model is a lack of knowledge on the part of local leadership. 'There's very few examples of a congregation or a diocese or an owner of a faith building that have been able to do it by themselves because of the complexity of these buildings and the regulatory environment,' said Jennifer Barrett, managing director of programs, planning and policy at CUI. Some churches have partnered with real estate developers. Among them is All Saints' Anglican Church in Winnipeg, whose lands are now home to West Broadway Commons, a 110-unit housing project. Fifty-six of those units are affordable. But in many cases, Barrett said, churches are resistant to that sort of change and fearful of giving up control. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. 'It is challenging for faith communities to let go of their buildings,' she said. George said that was true for the congregation at St. Paul's. Ultimately, they decided that they should retain ownership of the property. 'We would have become sort of a tenant in our own space, and the Diocesan structure of the Anglican Church doesn't work well for that,' George said. 'We're working on what we believe will be a public-private partnership to administer this going forward because we know we're going to get very busy. I mean, we've only just moved in yesterday, and we're already receiving calls. There's a demand here for a space like this.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2025.
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
'Opening the space to the creatives,' London's Anglican Cathedral will continue to be a place of worship, but also a location for community events
London's oldest church has a very new look. The leadership at St. Paul's Cathedral says it's all about making a space for creativity and fostering new connections with the community. Two things stand out in the re-furbished interior of the Anglican cathedral, the first is that the traditional large oak pews are all gone. Kevin George is Dean of Huron and Rector of St. Paul's Cathedral. 'The church was built for a day when parishioners really were meant to sit in straight rows, put in their place and listen to the voice of the big guy up there, or whatever. That's not who we are anymore.' George told CTV News the pews in St. Paul's were designed to hold about 700 people, but many services now attract about 150 people, or less. George said it's important for people to worship in a way that's comfortable and welcoming. 061925 - St. Paul's cathedral St. Paul's Cathedral in London re-imagined as a multi-use space (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London) 'With the pews removed, we can now situate our chairs together. People can talk together; they can pray together. They can hear one another sing.' According to George, the change also means the cathedral can now be a multi-use space. 'Opening the space to the creatives, to people in our community who are looking for a venue on that venue ladder where they can start with five, six or seven hundred people. They can come in here and perform, they can collaborate, they can record. We can have visual art here. And it's a space that can be used for all kinds of different purposes, banquets and trade shows. It's another space, 8,000ft² in the very heart of London, where people can gather. And that, to us, is exciting.' The other very noticeable change is a labyrinth in the middle of the floor. Twenty-eight feet in diameter, the labyrinth is reminiscent of labyrinths found in many European churches. It's made entirely with wood inlay, including an elaborate medallion in the middle. Parishioner Roland Vishnu sponsored the design and installation of the labyrinth. According to St. Paul's leadership, labyrinths differ in mazes, in that they offer a clear path and are designed to promote spiritual contemplation and calm. 061925 - St. Paul's cathedral St. Paul's Cathedral in London re-imagined as a multi-use space (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London) The labyrinth in St. Paul's was designed and installed by Jason Vivash, owner of Paris, Ontario-based J.L. Vivash Custom Wood Floors. 'This was the biggest, largest piece of medallion that I've ever made. And it is absolutely the most unique one I've made so far,' said Vivash. Originally the space in the middle was going to be plain wood, but Vivash offered to make it something more, and at no additional cost. He told the St. Paul's leadership, 'I would like to create something in the centre of this. So, let's work together. Give me some of your ideas, and let's create something incredible, something that would honor the artisans that we see in this building.' The entire cost of the renovation, including new HVAC and air conditioning equipment, is $1.9M, with about $800,000 still to be raised as part of the Dreams and Visions fundraising campaign. George is confident they'll reach their goal, and he says the focus is on connecting with the community. 'A lot of what I heard when I took on this role only a year and a half ago was 'the door is always locked, we can't get in.' Well, we pride ourselves now in making sure the doors are open every day.' The Anglican Church of Canada will hold its 44th General Synod at RBC Place London next week, and the transformed St. Paul's cathedral will be featured prominently at that event.
Globe and Mail
03-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
‘Don't Miss the Next Leg Higher,' Says Investor About Nvidia Stock
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock might have been a major AI play over the past few years, but recent times have proven more challenging for the chip giant. The stock is down 17% year-to-date, pressured by a mix of macro factors (such as China tariffs) and company-specific headwinds (e.g., concerns that huge growth is slowing, the rise of DeepSeek, and issues with the Blackwell ramp-up). Protect Your Portfolio Against Market Uncertainty Discover companies with rock-solid fundamentals in TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter. Receive undervalued stocks, resilient to market uncertainty, delivered straight to your inbox. Still, for investor Kevin George, the selloff marks more of a setup than a setback. After holding a bearish stance, he now views the pullback as a 'stable market correction,' one that opens the door for investors to catch the 'next leg higher.' Part of George's renewed optimism stems from shifting winds in the geopolitical arena. After rattling markets with sweeping tariffs, Trump now appears to be easing off the throttle, a shift that George believes reduces risk and could restore confidence across the chip sector. While global tariffs have been lowered to a flat 10%, the latest rumors suggest a 50% – 60% tariff specifically on Chinese goods (down from the current up to 145%). Additionally, following earlier setbacks with the Blackwell series, Nvidia has had time to sort out the issues with the new product. The company has also mitigated some offshoring risks by initiating U.S.-based supercomputer manufacturing. Production of Blackwell chips is now underway at TSMC's facility in Phoenix, Arizona, and Nvidia is constructing supercomputer manufacturing plants in Texas, which are expected to reach capacity within 12 to 15 months. Furthermore, Nvidia recently unveiled its GeForce RTX™ 5060 GPU lineup. Set to hit the market in April and May, the new series will introduce Blackwell architecture and enhanced rendering capabilities to gamers, starting at a price point of $299. 'This could open additional revenue for the company over the coming quarters,' George points out. Even the $5.5 billion write-down related to the China H20 restrictions can be seen in a favorable light. It is a result of being at the 'forefront of the artificial intelligence arms race,' but it's a setback Nvidia can likely absorb in the upcoming quarters. 'Despite the recent headwinds,' George sums up, 'Nvidia is on a strong fiscal path, with a growing cash pile that is being reinvested into shareholder returns and AI equity bets.' Accordingly, George has upgraded his NVDA rating from Sell to Buy. (To watch George's track record, click here) It's mostly Buys amongst the analyst community on Wall Street too; the stock claims a Strong Buy consensus rating, based on a mix of 35 Buys, 5 Holds and a single Sell. At $165.22, the average price target factors in a one-year gain of 48%. (See NVDA stock forecast) To find good ideas for AI stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks' Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks' equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured investor. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
Business Insider
02-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
‘Don't Miss the Next Leg Higher,' Says Investor About Nvidia Stock
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock might have been a major AI play over the past few years, but recent times have proven more challenging for the chip giant. The stock is down 17% year-to-date, pressured by a mix of macro factors (such as China tariffs) and company-specific headwinds (e.g., concerns that huge growth is slowing, the rise of DeepSeek, and issues with the Blackwell ramp-up). Protect Your Portfolio Against Market Uncertainty Discover companies with rock-solid fundamentals in TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter. Receive undervalued stocks, resilient to market uncertainty, delivered straight to your inbox. Still, for investor Kevin George, the selloff marks more of a setup than a setback. After holding a bearish stance, he now views the pullback as a 'stable market correction,' one that opens the door for investors to catch the 'next leg higher.' Part of George's renewed optimism stems from shifting winds in the geopolitical arena. After rattling markets with sweeping tariffs, Trump now appears to be easing off the throttle, a shift that George believes reduces risk and could restore confidence across the chip sector. While global tariffs have been lowered to a flat 10%, the latest rumors suggest a 50% – 60% tariff specifically on Chinese goods (down from the current up to 145%). Additionally, following earlier setbacks with the Blackwell series, Nvidia has had time to sort out the issues with the new product. The company has also mitigated some offshoring risks by initiating U.S.-based supercomputer manufacturing. Production of Blackwell chips is now underway at TSMC's facility in Phoenix, Arizona, and Nvidia is constructing supercomputer manufacturing plants in Texas, which are expected to reach capacity within 12 to 15 months. Furthermore, Nvidia recently unveiled its GeForce RTX™ 5060 GPU lineup. Set to hit the market in April and May, the new series will introduce Blackwell architecture and enhanced rendering capabilities to gamers, starting at a price point of $299. 'This could open additional revenue for the company over the coming quarters,' George points out. Even the $5.5 billion write-down related to the China H20 restrictions can be seen in a favorable light. It is a result of being at the 'forefront of the artificial intelligence arms race,' but it's a setback Nvidia can likely absorb in the upcoming quarters. 'Despite the recent headwinds,' George sums up, 'Nvidia is on a strong fiscal path, with a growing cash pile that is being reinvested into shareholder returns and AI equity bets.' Accordingly, George has upgraded his NVDA rating from Sell to Buy. (To watch George's track record, click here) It's mostly Buys amongst the analyst community on Wall Street too; the stock claims a Strong Buy consensus rating, based on a mix of 35 Buys, 5 Holds and a single Sell. At $165.22, the average price target factors in a one-year gain of 48%. (See ) To find good ideas for AI stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks' Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks' equity insights.
