Hope, Healing and Beauty in Jesus' name

In 2025, for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the United Church of Canada, the UCC launched an initiative called “100 Tables”, inviting congregations all over Canada to use the idea of a picnic table to explore what it means to offer welcome as a community of faith, and to extend the Church’s commitment to love, justice, and inclusion, into the next century.

Met decided that if we were going to have a picnic table, it should be the largest, most extravagant picnic table possible! So we made it 100 feet long, to make space for as many people as possible, and we stained it in the colours of the rainbow as a sign of welcome, affirmation, and of our recognition of the dignity of every person, inclusive of age, ethnicity, gender identity, differing abilities, and sexual orientation.

Our table was built by staff and volunteers over the course of a week, under the watchful eye of our Property Manager, Frank Cormier. It was a place where people could sit, eat lunch, hang out, socialize, or just rest.

But the table by itself was merely a tangible symbol of an intangible truth: Met is the church with one big table—a table for everyone, without barriers or admission requirements.

The "100 Years" campaign has been a delight and a great success, but it was always meant to be time-limited. Now, it’s time to make this table fully Met’s—not just a centennial symbol, but a lasting expression of our values. We celebrated the 100 years, and now we’re right-sizing the table—literally and figuratively—for Met’s future, needs, and capacity.

So, although we made the decision to dismantle it, we still have all the pieces, and we can build it again, anytime we want remind people who we are.

And even if the table itself is no longer visible in front of the church, the message contained in its cedar boards remains:

Everyone has a place at the table. We have space for you.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.