Engaging Community
Summer Reading
If there’s one book that you might want to read on charity, I recommend Robert Lupton’s book Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help. Lupton’s 40 years of experience in community development in Atlanta have led him to claim that charitable giving is “either wasted or actually harms the people it is targeted…
Read MoreConnecting with Our Muslim Neighbours
Disability Concerns, the refugee office of World Renew, the Office of Social Justice and Race Relations are a number of CRC agencies which partner with Diaconal Ministries Canada in the work of justice. Partnerships with other networks, programs and agencies continue to strengthen the possibilities and the ways that the church engages in a spirit…
Read More“I chose you!”
(story reprinted with permission from LIFE Recovery, an Operation Manna partner ministry) I came to LIFE Recovery with no hope; addicted to crystal meth, homeless and penniless. My only child was not speaking to me, and my mother had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. I was hard, angry and full of hatred. My…
Read MoreGrowing a Stronger Missional Heart
“Over the last 10-15 years, Bethel CRC transformed from the church ‘out on the highway’ to the church that loves the community.” This is how Diane Leferink describes what God has been doing in Bethel CRC in Acton, Ontario. Many things have undoubtedly contributed to this transformation, but in 2007, the church started a Community Opportunity…
Read MoreDeacons Challenge Congregation to Participate in Reverse Offerings
When Rachel Vroege (Regional Ministries Developer -West) from Diaconal Ministries Canada visited the Deacons of Bethel CRC in Saskatoon last year, one idea she presented to us was that of a Reverse Offering. We were immediately taken with the idea, and went about trying to make it work for our local Rosthern Food Bank. We explained…
Read MoreOffering More
What started as a one-time fundraiser some 40 years ago has become a very popular annual tradition that church members look forward to every Thanksgiving. Hebron CRC in Renfrew, Ontario held their first Thanksgiving Day auction as a fundraiser for the Calvinette (now GEMS) program. It was so popular that congregational members suggested that it take…
Read MoreOperation Manna Partner: Mosaic Centre in Edmonton, Alberta
Mosaic Centre has been a recipient of Operation Manna (OM) funding for the past 4 years. In addition to the financial seed money that OM has gifted us, we have also been blessed by excellent mentoring from Diaconal Ministries Canada. During this time, we have grown from a “green” start-up ministry into a valuable and…
Read MoreOperation Manna Offering: May 4, 2014
In many CRCs across Canada, the Operation Manna offering will be held on May 4, 2014. Operation Manna is a program of Diaconal Ministries Canada. The offering for this program provides an opportunity for CRCs across Canada to support each other as they love their neighbours and bless them through community ministry. It works like…
Read MoreFollowing Jesus in the Community: A COS Journey
From left: Pastor Dean Kurpjuweit (NEXT Christian Community), Pastor John Luth (Christian Reformed Church of St. Albert), Pastor James Ravenscroft (St. Albert United) In the spring and summer of 2012, Christian Reformed Church of St. Albert (AB) members began a project to discern how Jesus might be leading us in our community. The thought of even conducting a…
Read MoreOperation Manna Partner Profile: Families Living Well Society (FLWS)
An Operation Manna Partner since 2011, FLWS (in Edmonton, AB) is an initiative that seeks to support single-parent families by providing hope and addressing needs. This post was submitted by FLWS Executive Director Elaine Mulder. Sometimes when we talk about outreach, we dwell on big things like going on a mission trip, or putting on…
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