Justice and Compassion

What is the family of churches known as The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada doing in the area of justice and compassion? How are local churches reaching out to the disenfranchised and needy in our communities?

Tool Team - A group of men and women work behind the scenes in helping fix minor repairs around people?s homes who are struggling financially. A special focus is placed on single moms and women leaving abusive relationships.

Seniors? Christmas Dinner - A group of 40 volunteers (from the church and community) served seniors a hot Christmas dinner on Christmas Day.

Tree of Hope - In its second year, the church family adopted one of our organizations, Teen Challenge, in meeting their tangible needs through practical helps such as new underwear and clothing to gift cards to Home Depot to buy construction materials to do renovations on an aging facility.

New Canadians Ministry-Through various aspects such as sponsoring refugees, furnishing their homes, a monthly ESL conversation club and relationship building, new Canadians are given a practical and loving welcome to our country.

Annual Food Drive - Every Thanksgiving we support the Food Bank by collecting several hundred pounds of groceries and gift cards to support many working poor in our community.

House Coffee Sanctuary - Five years ago First Alliance leased property outside the downtown core and opened a coffee shop. The sanctuary provides support and assistance of the community and many different types of needy individuals. We have helped addicts get over addiction, helped the homeless get off the street, and provided support to people with brain injuries and mental illness. More than 1,000 have gone through the doors of The House since it opened. A highlight for this past year was a massive renovation and renewed lease to continue and develop ministry support for the future.

Breakfast Program - We have partnered with a middle school in a neighborhood with various socio-economic situations by offering a daily breakfast program to children who come to school hungry. Twenty to fifty children receive a large breakfast brown bag that should have enough for lunch as well.

Community Painting Day - Over 50 volunteers took a Saturday and painted the hallways of our partnership school and gave it a lick of paint and cleaned up the hallways. The school hadn?t had a paint job in over 15 years.

Labour of Love - This past Labour Day weekend, we took church to the streets. People signed up for various foci in the neighborhood as their expression of worship that weekend. Projects included packing backpacks for school aged children, writing letters to the troops, nursing home clean ups, visiting seniors and rebuilding a fence and fixing a garage of a young widow who had lost her husband to cancer earlier in the year.

AIDS awareness and benefit concert - A classical concert was done with information in the community with the funds raised going to help a local organization and AIDS Calgary.

Student Ministries Involvement - Student ministries often adopts a family or two for Christmas by taking care of their needs at Christmas and by cooking meals and then taking them downtown and handing them out to homeless people face to face.

Children?s Ministries Involvement - The children of the church have one project a year on the local level where they support Inn from the Cold. They are also planning a family event in a few months.

Bread Ministry. Each Saturday, volunteers from the church pick up bread and bread products donated by a local grocery store. These are then sorted and delivered to The Salvation Army, a local Anglican food bank and the Children?s Cottage ministry on a rotational basis. Once per month the food is brought to the church itself where it is donated to community and church members in need.

Cup of cold water. A ministry dedicated to gathering furniture and household goods for distribution to families in need. During 2006, furniture was distributed to 93 families.

Community Garage Give-Away. Once a year, just prior to the new school year, gently used clothing and household goods are gathered and sorted at the church. Local low-income community families are then invited to drop in and take whatever their families need. In September 2006, more than 600 people were blessed by this ministry.

After-school programme. The church, along with the City of Calgary, Board of Education and Westminster Presbyterian Church offers an after-school homework programme for students in a local low income community housing area. The children get help with homework in a fun environment and receive a hot supper. The two churches alternate locations and have 30 students attending this pilot project.

Backpacks. The church provides backpacks filled with donated school supplies for those families in need in both the congregation and in the low income housing area.

Shelley Murdoch-Green, Director of Compassion/Care

Coats for the cool. A warm clothing ministry for those in need. The community is invited to give any winter wear (boots, coats, ski pants, hats, etc.) that are no longer needed. These are then offered to individuals and families who need them. Already more than 100 items have been given away.

Garage Boys. When the church bought a new property there was an existing building they did not plan to use. It was turned into a furniture warehouse where the church collects second-hand furniture that is given to families in need. To date, the church has helped more than 100 families, many of whom are single-parent families who get assisted housing but still need help furnishing their homes.

Rev. Al Harvey, Senior Pastor

Take it or leave it. An event held each June where the congregation collects ?gently used? items over a period of moths and then bring them to the church. On the first Saturday morning in June, individuals invited by Calgary Housing come to the church and can take what they need or leave it for someone else. Items include clothing, household items, furniture, toys and sporting goods. Many in the church volunteer including organizing, staffing, clean up and delivery of larger items. Last year, approximately 250 guests attended, mostly new immigrants and single mothers.

Touch Ministry. ?To Offer Unselfish Christian Help? is a group of fix-it men and women who help with repairs of cars, homes and yards for those who cannot do it themselves. This is provided to any community residents who need help, not just those who attend Southview.

Grace Givers. Special projects where we can provide assistance as we hear of needs. Many agencies have called on us for both monetary and practical help including Sonshine Centre, Calgary Pregnancy Centre, Calgary Housing, Inn from the Cold, Mustard Seed, and others. We will collect clothing, money for computers, school supplies, etc. as the need arises.

Jr. High Social Justice Club. The Junior High members find areas of need where they can respond in practical ways. They provide sandwiches to the homeless, collect household items for homeless families who?ve recently be provided with a home, and helped raise money and items for a local pregnancy care centre

Jayne Burnham, Parish Nurse

Manna House. A helping hand to lower income families thought a bi-monthly evening out. A hot dinner and live band entertainment is provided for those families who are having trouble making ends meet. Twenty-five people from the church have been involved in this ministry since it began in November 2005 and the ministry has served more than 100 people, providing them with a place they can feel valued and accepted.

Joanne Giesbrecht, Children?s Pastor

Community impact position. The church hired a social worker into this position to address social justice and compassion issues.

Christian Care Centres. The church supports two care centres. They provide a listening and caring presence for the disenfranchised and marginalized in west Edmonton.

West Edmonton Interfaith Coalition on Poverty. The church participates in this coalition which provides direction and support for various poverty related issues in the community. They support a ?warming place? for people to come out of the winter cold in one of the care centres.

Church family sponsors. One family in the church sponsors a needy family once a month with $100 worth of food items. At Christmas another church family anonymously supported a needy family of five including Christmas presents and a grocery certificate.

Turkey Delight. A chef student from the church and some of his colleagues cooked a complete turkey dinner and it was delivered by the youth department to the homes of four families in need. In addition, Turkey Delight was brought to a care centre where more than 40 individuals enjoyed the dinner.

Christmas Hampers and information resources. Food hampers were delivered to approximately 60 homes. Along with Christian literature, the church provided information cards about a WECAN Food Basket, local community bulk food buying programme. The church also maintains resource lists and provides information and referrals to a number of community resources including food banks, temporary employment assistance, free or low cost clothing outlets.

Irene Mellott, Director of Community Impact

Intercultural Ministries. Offers several opportunities for community immigrants to become more proficient linguistically and more knowledgeable culturally. Approximately one quarter of families living around the church buildings do not use English as their first language. The church offers nine weekly classes on ESL plus individual tutoring, understanding Canadian cultural issues and other critical matters. About 100 community people regularly attend. In addition, the church provides larger events such as an annual Thanksgiving dinner for community immigrants, and an International New Year celebration. The church also assists immigrants who have financial and/or physical needs through the church?s compassion and care ministry.

Patricia Love, Pastor of Intercultural Ministries

• To read what's happening in the Canadian Pacific District, click here.
• To read what's happening in the Canadian Midwest District, click here.
• To read what's happening in the Central Canadian District, click here.
• To read what's happening in the Eastern Canadian District, click here.

  
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