Toronto PS Chaplain Wendell Gibbs is passionate about providing emotional & spiritual support to police officers, unifying faith leaders, and spearheading prayer initiatives in Toronto and surrounding areas. On November 30th, the fruit of Wendell's labour came to the forefront during a gathering of approximately 275 persons, with a 50/50 split between police officers and faith leaders converging for prayer, support and fellowship. The event was supported by the TPS Chaplaincy Wellness Service and the Canadian Black Clergy and Allies (CBCA) with chaplains also present from other services such as Peel (Curtis Hinds) and Stratford (Charlie Swartwood). Wendell's vision for the annual prayer breakfast event is to promote strong relations between faith leaders and law enforcement officers and officials through relationship building and shared values.
The CBCA was formed in 2020 in response to the George Floyd murder to aid against anti-black racism as a means to begin to mend the broken relationship between law enforcement and community. The members of the CBCA, and the clergy and chaplains in attendance at the TPS Prayer Breakfast share the common belief that they can be catalysts for change against all racism, while rendering spiritual care for police officers.
Within TPS, all 16 Division commands and community officers were invited to attend to join with CBCA and Citywide Faith leaders for connectivity. All attendees were encouraged to visit, learn of, and offer greater partnership to the local police Divisions. The program was mustered with much prayer and designated speakers, including TPS Chief of Police Myron Demkiw as the keynote speaker. Here is a link to an indepth report of the Prayer Breakfast from the TPS website https://www.tps.ca/media-centre/stories/uniting-through-faith/
Next on Wendell's radar is a call for a Prayer-Walk blitz across all 16 TPS Divisions to take place on April 11th, 2024. It will model the Etobicoke Strategy faith program that has been initiating prayer walks from 23 Division since 2005.
On behalf of the CPCA Leadership Team, congratualtions Wendell and all those who assisted in organizing another successful TPS Prayer Breakfast. We commend your efforts to serve those who serve with excellence. In addition, we agree with you in prayer for many to attend and support the "Prayer-Walk" across all 16 TPS Divisions on April 11th, 2024. We believe in the power of prayer; "When a believing person prays, great things happen" (NCV).
Warmest regards,
Chaplain/Constable Bruce Ewanyshyn
CPCA President
ICPC Director of Region 1
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