The Bloor Street United Church is not only a place of worship for Christians.
Inside the hallowed hallways of the church, towards the building’s offices, layers of duck-egg blue paint are peeling. The old stone is dirty, and the roof has oxidized. The 134-year-old building is weathered now. Another six blocks east from Presse Internationale is the Bloor Street United Church, a norman-gothic building that sits at the corner of Huron and Bloor Streets. Paul’s United Church and Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts, an amalgamation of what was previously two separate churches, combined due to the shrinking population of worshippers at both. Just east of Presse Internationale are two United Churches. A few titles down from The Walrus and right beside Maisonneuve, the shop owners have also stocked North America’s oldest continuously-published publication, a religious magazine, its origins rooted in serving the traditions of the United Church of Canada. Within the multitudes, there is a sense of inclusivity. The shop’s worldly assemblage of publications, each representing different identities, beliefs, and viewpoints, is comforting inviting, even. Beside each other are the literary and politics sections, where celebrated Canadian publications- The Walrus, Maisonneuve, Alberta Views, Newfoundland and Labrador’s NQ magazine-are stocked beside The New York Review of Books and the U.K.’s The Spectator. France’s Le Monde diplomatique is stacked among an array of newspapers from various continents. Vogue Arabia is displayed in the fashion section. The shop stocks countless Canadian and international titles. The inside story of how The United Church Obse r ver turned itself into Broadview, a re-invention to expand the publication’s audience and missionĪt the Presse Internationale Magazine Super Store in Toronto’s eclectic Annex neighbourhood, a vast assortment of publications from around the world line the crowded shelves.