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Maple Grove United is near to minister's heart By Kathy Yanchus METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP While spiritually guiding her congregation for the past 25 years, Rev. Dr. Morar MurrayHayes has experienced a deepening of her own faith. "I think I've continued to grow and learn. I think my faith is stronger because I have been the recipient of the gracious faith of the people that I serve. My own personal faith is stronger as I watch other people live out their faith." Throughout her ministry at Maple Grove United Church, Murray-Hayes has performed innumerable baptisms, marriages, confirmations, funerals, preached weekly to the hundreds who attend the southeast Oakville church, and experienced the joys, sorrows, hardships and celebrations of her congregation. It's been challenging and fulfilling for Murray-Hayes. "I'm very grateful to the community of faith that has made our lives together so rich." Murray-Hayes arrived in town as an experienced young reverend, one of only a very few ordained female ministers within the United Church and the only one in Oakville. She had served at both Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto and St. Matthew's in Richmond Hill, and taught at both the Vancouver School of Theology and Queen's Theological College before returning permanently to pastoral ministry. "My first love was always doing it myself. 9 · Thursday, February 28, 2013 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com "They have a sense of, here's someone who's a constant in my life, in a world where not many things are constant." Rev. Dr. Morar Murray-Hayes, Maple Grove United Church When I was teaching I was always jealous of the students when they graduated so I had to get back into pastoral ministry. It certainly turned out to be my passion in life. I organized the rest of my life around it. And my calling has been affirmed over the years." Her lengthy tenure at Maple Grove United is highly unusual for United church ministers, who tend to be re-assigned before the 10-year mark, but it has had its advantages, she said. "All these are people I've baptized, confirmed, married, buried their grandparents so you have a sense of real intimacy in peoples' lives," she said. "And a sense of continuity when the child who asked you to pray for their rabbit, which has died returns as an adult when something significant perhaps derails them. They have a sense of, here's someone who's a constant in my life, in a world where not many things are constant. Knowing and loving them so deeply, I think there's a huge sense of trust." Her personal goal when she arrived was to stay for 10 years. "I always said as long as there's a challenge that I feel I can meet, then I'm here, and the congregation has always found a way to throw a new challenge my way." Murray-Hayes has perhaps been as active and accomplished within the church walls, where she is known for her conversational preaching style, as she has been in the community at large. She was founding co-chair of the Interfaith Council of Halton, has lectured at Sheridan College, been the on-call chaplain at OakvilleTrafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) since 1989 and has been a presence on many Habitat for Humanity builds. Along the way, she earned a Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary, received a gold medal from the Centre for Human Rights and Race Relations and travelled to India through a Rotary International program to help vaccinate children against polio. "When the kids were younger, there was a lot of juggling. I could not have done it without the huge sacrifices of my husband (Rev. Canon Dr. Alan Hayes) who early on discovered that if I went out for a loaf of bread, I might not come back for three hours because I'd be doing pastoral care or chatting with people in every aisle of the grocery store, so he took over things like shopping." "There were some sacrifices and sacrifices the children made, but this church is child-friendly so they also received huge benefits. The social culture of the church was a very safe place for our girls and they really are children of the church in every sense." Murray-Hayes was exposed to `human need' as a child by her parents, and the church, as a participant in the Canadian Girls in Training program, which developed leadership skills in young women through participation in social justice projects. See Church page 15