Martha Tatarnic

This is the first in a series (Living our Vision in Place) hosted by the diocese in the summer of 2020.

The Story

In 2015, the Anglican church in Greater St. Catharines (diocese of Niagara) was facing decline in many of its churches, but the diocesan Futures Committee and the Animation Team sought to drive discernment and decisions by hope. 

The diocesan leadership understood that, if they were simply to downsize its Anglican presence, then church decline would be inevitable. One of the most significant outcomes of this work was to create the positions of faith formation director and social justice & community engagement director for the diocese in St Catharines. 

Download the presentation slide deck above under "Media Notes."

As mentioned in Martha's presentation, Revive is the program that came out of the regional commitment to faith formation. The program was created by the Rev. Canon Dr. Dawn Davis, faith formation coordinator for the diocese of Niagara. Dawn is an experienced Anglican priest with professional human resources certification, specializing in training and development, and organizational behavior. She also holds a doctorate in ministry in spiritual formation.