Church magazine makes an impression on Toronto neighbourhood
Focus on the arts inspires readers
when Jen Pollock Michel first arrived at Grace Toronto Church in 2011 – a new resident in Canada’s largest city – it felt right. As an American author setting down roots in Canada, she was surprised to discover Grace Toronto had its own literary arts magazine Imprint.
Far from a drab church bulletin-type publication, Imprint was the real deal. It had beautiful pictures, quality writing and weighty pages. It was a magazine anyone would want to read. “There was something city-centric about it, but it was unapologetically faithful too. It was unique from anything I’d ever seen before,” she explains.
Fast-forward to 2020, the date Pollock Michel became Imprint’s managing editor, publishing an annual issue that centres on themes like Keeping Time (2018), Old and New (2019), Freedom (2020) and Together (2021). Published by The Grace Centre for the Arts, a ministry of Grace Toronto, the 64-page magazine values the unique contribution of the arts.
“The cultivation of artists, makers and creators is an important thing in the Body of Christ. There’s not often a way of appreciating those gifts beyond the worship service. Grace Centre for the Arts operates under the vision that the church can bless the city by sharing the Gospel through the arts.”
Supported by a core team of eight volunteers, Imprint publishes select submissions from its congregants, including photo essays, creative nonfiction, poetry, reviews and city-centred articles ranging from the history of Allan Gardens to the Toronto Public Library’s role in helping the homeless during the pandemic. The editing team works with each writer and photographer to “feed that river of creativity,” says Pollock Michel.
Aiming to be a resource that connects common human longing questions to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the magazine is “not marketing the Gospel, but if someone wanted to kick the tires and look under the hood of Christianity, they would be able to do that.”
Imprint shows that by nurturing, developing and sharing the God-given gifts we’ve received as artists, the church and wider community are equally blessed.