The Rev. Dr. John Joseph Mastandrea
The Rev. Dr. John Joseph Mastandrea became minister of spiritual growth and pastoral care development at Metropolitan United in 2000. John Joseph cut his teeth in the Etobicoke area of Toronto and now resides in Cabbagetown, he is "connected with the urban landscape, with the internal and eternal song."
He has Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Master of Divinity, Master of Religious Education, Master of Arts and Ministry of Spirituality degrees , all from the University of Toronto. John Joseph completed his Doctorate from Chicago Theological Seminary, May 2009. Ordained in 1989, he is a certified Labyrinth Facilitator, Stephen Leader, and Spiritual Director following in the footsteps of Ignatius Loyola and Teresa of Avila. John Joseph believes in nurturing body, mind and spirit. Monday to Friday at the local gymn, reading and meditating daily weaves three key components of life. Nurture for self to nurture for others. This is the credo he lives by. John Joseph is a Christian Mystic who lives by these words.
“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.” Henri Nouwen
John Joseph has served congregations from the Maritimes, Saskatchewan, northern Ontario and rural Quebec to urban and suburban parts of the Greater Toronto Area.
John Joseph's volunteer work for the church and community includes: Chairperson of the Toronto South East Presbytery Pastoral Relations Commission, membership in the Toronto Area Interfaith Council, Police Chaplin to 51 Division, Membership in the Toronto Rotary, Chair Person the Toronto Rotary Community Services Committee and Chair of the World Aids Concert Committee a benefit for Casey House. Volunteer ministry has included positions as chairperson of the Worship and Liturgy Committee of Toronto Conference for four years, chairperson of the Mission Committee of Toronto South Presbytery, chairperson of the Planning and Development Committee and co-chairperson of the Christian Development Committee in York Presbytery north of Toronto, chairperson of the AIDS Committee of York Region since 1998, and member of the Pastoral Care Committee of York Central Hospital in Richmond Hill. He represented Canada as a delegate to the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland, in February 1990.
Today John Joseph seeks to meet people where they are and build the capacity for relations between people in a diverse spectrum of society.
Dr. Mastandrea's Thesis: 
Mastandrea - Even The Rocks Will Cry Out (2.6 MB)
Dec 11
CITY SIDEWALKS AND MANY SIDEWALKS
City sidewalks and many sidewalks are the places where we live, the streets where we walk. They are quiet and serene, active and filled with vitality. We are defined by the places that we walk. In this season of Christmas commerce and the selling and purchase of gifts for the special someone there is the deeper quest for the gifts and treasure of the heart. There is living treasure In the carols of the season.
Once in Royal David’s City written by Cecil Frances Alexander recalls the City of David.
“Once in royal David’s city, Stood a lowly cattle shed, Where a mother laid her Baby, In a manger for His bed: Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ, her little Child.”
In the city of David and the City where we live we are confronted by moments of birth. The ancients looked to this season where nights lengthen and for the crossing point the winter solstice and the birth of light. In this day of days we marked the celebration of the Christmas Pageant at Metropolitan and the proclamation of birth. The Pageant is the opening of the story where the pages of the Text come to life. In the raw edges that are familiar and new, people don the fabric of coloured costume to become for a brief moment the players of the tale: shepherds, angels, sheep, magi, the star bearer, Mary, Jesus and Joseph. As each person walked the way of the centre aisle something transformed from rough shod fabric to the players in the pageant of promise. In the city of David and in our own city something is born that breaks through the barriers of indifference. The promise of freedom and compassion is the fire path of the heart that breaks into the darkness of the deepest night. In the paths and the city sidewalks that we walk, we ask where are they taking us now? When we don the rough shod fabric of our lives we can find the promise of freedom and compassion born in the path and palm of our hand.