TORONTO, ON—When Celebration 2005 begins, organizers for a Toronto event intended as part of the national initiative are hoping local Christians go grocery shopping.

That’s because they are planning an evening of praise and worship featuring some of the top musical talent in the country, admission to which will be a shopping bag filled with at least $10 worth of groceries.

Toronto Praise! is being billed as a “unique” event because all of the participants—singers, musicians, technicians, organizers, etc.—will be contributing their time and talents completely free of charge.

Tickets will not be sold in advance or at the door. The only cost to enter will be a bag of groceries, which will be donated at the end of the event to Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank.

Event coordinator Terry Bridle says Toronto Praise! will feature “the highest calibre” of Christian music by high profile artists and award winners such as Mark Masri, Aileen Lombardo, Hiram Joseph, Rena Gaile and Kelita.

But, Bridle is quick to add, this will not be a concert. “This is for God,” he explains. “There’s nothing that pleases Him better than when we lift up our voices in worship to Him. But our worship also has to translate into practical action.”

The practical action Bridle and his colleagues are hoping some 2,000 audience members will take is to attend the May 27 event at Agincourt Pentecostal Church in Scarborough at 7:30 p.m., and join in a collective “act of worship.”

“We envision seeing this mountain of $20,000 plus worth of food items all piled up to one side of the stage,” Bridle says. “It’s an act of worship when you give like [that],” he adds. “That is worship too.”

It is worship the food bank will be grateful for, says Daily Bread’s director of public involvement, Jim Russell.

“That’s a lot of food,” says Russell. “And while most of the food we get comes from corporate donors, the 20 per cent that comes from the public tends to be the most nutritious; tuna and baby formula and so forth. So while it’s a smaller portion [than corporate donations], it’s often a quality-filled portion.”

David Macfarlane, Director of National Initiatives for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, says he fully supports Toronto Praise!, and for more reasons than just the benefit it will provide to believers and to the broader Toronto community. “The church needs to rediscover the arts,” he says, “and this is a wonderful introduction, through having these artists worshipping together in celebration.”