About Us

For well over three decades, St. Paul’s Cathedral has been our host and the home of St. Paul’s Social Services. The Parishioners of this historic and beautiful Cathedral support St. Paul’s Social Services by volunteering their time, donating food, and providing their generous financial support.

Our many hard-working and gracious volunteers come from various faith communities here in London and the surrounding area. Some of our volunteers have been with us for over 25 years! We have young volunteers still in high school, while others attend Western University or Fanshawe College.

We are an Ecumenical organization, supported by the generosity of Individuals, Faith Communities (churches), Corporations, Service Clubs and Charitable Foundations.

Our History

In a recent St. Paul’s Social Services newsletter, the Right Reverend Paul Millward, Rector of St. Paul’s Cathedral Church and Dean of Huron wrote the following notes on the history of social service at St. Paul’s:

As I write this on the eve of the Labour Day Weekend, I do so with a renewed understanding and thankfulness for the work that so many of you do as part of the St. Paul’s Social Services. As I settle in to my new role as Dean and Rector, I have been tracing some of our history. In his historical account of the establishment of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Orlo Miller, in his book Gargoyles and Gentlemen writes:” Disease was not the only problem faced by the city fathers. Boom times, forcing a savage increase in the cost of living, created a new kind of poverty. Common labourers, previously able to maintain a precarious if sub-standard level of existence, now found themselves totally defeated by the price of food-stuffs on the London market and in grave and immediate danger of actually starving to death in the midst of plenty. In this plight the London city council established a formal relief department, the first in London’s history… A few months later, St. Paul‘s Church established the “City of London Mission” under the direction of the new assistant curate, the reverend H.H. O’Neil, in an attempt to feed the city’s poor.” It would seem that in many ways, not much has changed, and in spite of all of our advancements in society, there is still a need to reach out and offer care and assistance to those in need, as our Lord reminds us in the gospel message of Love. I pray that as the Labour Day weekend in many ways ushers in a new season of busyness, that you will know how important and how appreciated your Labours are, as we continue to serve as we are called to do.

Blessings, Paul+ (Excerpted from: Fall/Winter Newsletter 2017)