Posts Tagged ‘engaging community’
DMC and World Renew Collaborate on “Helping Without Hurting” Workshops
Diaconal Ministries Canada and World Renew have collaborated a number of times to lead an interactive “Helping without Hurting” workshop, most recently in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. At that event, DMC’s Diaconal Ministry Developer (DMD) in that region, Jean deBeer felt that participants “left the workshop enriched and challenged to ask themselves if [the ministry] they were…
Read MoreChurches invited to be part of the Restorative Justice Process
Restorative justice, in its simplest form, is the attempt to make things as right as possible between victims, offenders, and the wider community when some harm or crime happens. But what does that look like for those of us who work mostly with offenders, the folks who’ve hurt others or caused some sort of harm…
Read More“Ministry in Mayhem”: this year’s Ancaster Day of Encouragement
“The CRC, and the church in general, is so much bigger than our own congregations. Great to get that larger perspective and be encouraged as we go back to our own community.” The Day of Encouragement (DOE) is all about perspective. It is, as this participant said, about “that larger perspective,” the Kingdom of God, and…
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…
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