During the 1980s, All Nations Christian Reformed Church in Halifax was involved in “Sunday Suppers,” a partnership between local churches that helped feed the homeless in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. Out of these suppers, it became clear that vulnerable youth in the city also needed a place to go and gather as some organizations, like…
The NewGround program of Diaconal Ministries Canada has been on a 40-year journey of impact and blessings all across this country. Some may remember the program by its former name, Operation Manna. NewGround believes that God is constantly at work, inviting churches to follow him into their communities to work for its transformation. Through partnerships…
What does it take to have a community flourish? At Diaconal Ministries Canada, we believe it takes relationships; moving away from transactional interactions (meeting needs) to transformational relationships (connecting and belonging) so that every single person can thrive. That’s why for the last 40 years, NewGround has helped churches establish or grow healthy and sustainable…
FOR YEARS, Bethany CRC in Fenwick, Ontario, was engaged in global missions work. Yet each time their teams returned, they wondered what missions might look like in their own backyard. The church had a huge heart for youth and was already running a summer kids camp. After much discussion and prayer, a group from the…
When diaconal coaches Helen VanBeilen and Alicia Hamming Navarrete reached out to the deacons of Jubilee CRC (St. Catharines, Ont.), they were delighted to be invited to one of their upcoming meetings. The deacons there were struggling with their benevolence ministry and hoped the coaches could help. Essentially, they were asking “is the help we’re…
With most shelters at capacity, exorbitant housing prices and an increase in negative perceptions of refugees, the lack of proper housing for refugee claimants has become a crisis. Started in 2018, Open Homes Hamilton (OHH) is a multi-church network supporting refugee claimants by offering home-based hospitality. Local Christians with extra space in their houses (called…
What is church and what’s the point of it all? Many have been asking this over the past 18 months, and these questions were also percolating in the hearts and minds of some members at Telkwa Community Church in B.C. “When our in-person Sunday services were canceled for months on end because of the pandemic,”…
The students at Unity Christian School in Chilliwack, B.C. are committed to being good stewards of God’s creation. Four years ago, the Grade 7 class began an educational journey considering ways in which they could actively participate in providing solutions to the problem of waste. Many considerations were given to problems they saw, both globally…
When deacons are installed into office, the charge given to them reads as follows: “teach us to love God, our neighbours, and the creation with acts of generous sharing, joyful hospitality, thoughtful care, and wise stewardship of all of God’s gifts.” In other words, deacons help the church show and share the love of Christ…
A few years back, with a desire for spiritual renewal, Maple Ridge Christian Reformed Church (Maple Ridge, B.C.) realized that in order to move forward they would need to listen – to the Holy Spirit, to their congregation, and to their community. The church’s pastor, Tim Sheridan, had first-hand experience with Diaconal Ministries Canada’s Community Opportunity Scan (COS) and he knew how valuable the process could be.
While many people believe a smile or song can communicate across barriers, Lucinda Klapwyk believes the universal language might, in fact, be coffee. Lucinda is one of 15 diaconal coaches that Diaconal Ministries Canada has stretched out across the country.
Diaconal Ministries Canada (DMC) has been working hard to inspire, empower, and equip deacons across Canada for over 17 years. And yet, on a recent road trip to Winnipeg and Northern Ontario, Ron VandenBrink, National Director for DMC, heard deacons say, “We had no idea DMC existed!”
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