Turning church inside-out
During her community outreach work, Judith McCartney will typically ask people: “Did you know Christ walked 22,000 miles in his lifetime of ministry?” McCartney believes in venturing outside the church doors and putting on some miles. She’s spent nearly 40 years in ministry and non-profit work, and she worries that churches do not focus enough…
‘A bigger impact in the neighbourhood’
In October, Care Montreal opened seven nights a week as a licensed shelter after completing extensive renovations. Now volunteers at the shelter, housed at Hochma, a Mennonite Church Eastern Canada congregation, provide supper in the basement at 6 p.m. for 70 people who are homeless. Guests can take a shower or play games. There…
Churches partner to help residents in recovery
Twenty years ago, two men attending Vancouver’s Sherbrooke Mennonite Church desperately needed a safe place to live so they could find their way out of the world of addiction. Considering what could be done, Garry Janzen, Sherbrooke’s then-pastor, proposed the idea to his congregation of helping people in addiction recovery. “We did a feasibility study…
A very meaningful relationship
In the fall of 2015, members of the neighbourhood community association asked if they could use our lower auditorium at Foothills Mennonite Church here in Calgary for a group of seniors for an exercise program. Kate Janzen was the church’s outreach trustee at the time, and she helped facilitate the request. Two University of Calgary students…
‘It Takes Raindrops to Fill a Lake’
More than 50 years ago, Walter Paetkau founded Abbotsford Community Services (ACS), an umbrella organization bringing various local service organizations under one roof. From humble beginnings in a two-room office, today ACS is now the largest community services organization in the province, with 90 programs fostering community well-being and social justice that encompass employment services,…
Tuesdays at Faith
Like at many Mennonite churches, the back of any given pew at Faith Mennonite in Leamington includes a blue hymnal, an offering envelope, and, for the lucky few, a small, colourful, hand-made encouragement card. These one-of-a-kind cards are something new and they point to a wily group of seniors who are helping to bring new…
‘A place to belong’
Food may be what draws people to the basement of Sherbrooke Mennonite Church every Thursday morning, but it’s not what keeps them coming. It’s a feeling of family, a place to call home. Thirty years ago, Sherbrooke began partnering with Mennonite Central Committee’s food bank to distribute food to refugees. Food ministry is still the…
Church steps up to help local food bank
In December, Essex County was preparing to rest. The land had done its work, providing crops for farmers to harvest and get to market. The temperature dropped and the workload followed suit. Tractors were in the sheds and off the roads. Farmers and rural folk became shoppers and headed to urban centres to hunt down…
‘It was just helping people’
For 34 years, Keith Wagler lived out his Christian faith by serving others through the Appliance Repair Program of the House of Friendship (HoF), a social service agency in the Waterloo Region of Ontario. His job involved servicing and repairing appliances for people living on a low income, who could not afford to pay for…
