Re-New Creation is what St. Luke’s Leeds Anglican parish calls its thrift shop and ministry centre, a combined secondhand retail operation and community outreach hub located at 18 County Road 8 in Elgin, within the township of Rideau Lakes in eastern Ontario. Rather than treating the thrift shop as a simple fundraising sideline, the parish has built it into one arm of a broader set of local support programs, so a visit to browse secondhand clothing, housewares, and general donated goods also connects shoppers to a church community actively running food and housing assistance in the same rural stretch of Leeds County.
St. Luke’s Leeds itself is part of Leeds Anglican Ministries within the Anglican Diocese of Ontario, and the congregation currently gathers for worship at two shared spaces rather than a single dedicated church building: Olivet United Church on County Road 32 and Seeley’s Bay United Church on Hellen Street, an arrangement built on partnership with the Seeley’s Bay Pastoral Charge of the United Church of Canada. That kind of shared worship space between two denominations is relatively uncommon and reflects how smaller rural Ontario parishes have adapted to serve spread out communities without the resources to maintain multiple standalone buildings. The thrift shop at Elgin, by contrast, has its own fixed address, giving the ministry a consistent public storefront even as worship itself rotates between locations.
Alongside the thrift shop, the parish runs a Meals To Go program, an Affordable Housing initiative, and a Helping Hands assistance program, plus support for distributing assisted devices to those who need them. Proceeds and donations moving through Re-New Creation help sustain that wider slate of programs, meaning every purchase at the shop indirectly supports meal access and housing support work happening across Rideau Lakes and the surrounding Leeds County communities. The parish also maintains cemetery care responsibilities and participates in Truth and Reconciliation outreach, rounding out a ministry program considerably broader than what the thrift shop storefront alone might suggest to a first time visitor.
For anyone in Rideau Lakes, Elgin, Seeley’s Bay, or the wider Leeds County area, Re-New Creation offers an accessible way to shop secondhand goods while directly supporting local social services rather than a distant national charity, a distinction that matters to shoppers who prefer their donations and purchases to stay visibly local. The shop’s rural County Road 8 location places it within reach of several small Leeds County communities, making it a practical stop for households across the township rather than a single village. Because the parish operates primarily through its ministry and community programs rather than a large retail footprint, interested shoppers and donors are best served by contacting the parish directly or checking its published materials for current shop hours before making a trip out to Elgin.
Re-New Creation, the thrift shop and ministry centre of St. Luke’s Leeds Anglican parish in Elgin, Ontario, combines secondhand retail with Meals To Go, Affordable Housing, and Helping Hands programs that serve the Rideau Lakes and Leeds County community directly.
