The Kirk United Church Centre

The story of Kirk United Church Centre began with a situation that many communities of faith can resonate with: a small, ageing, congregation where there just wasn’t enough people power to look after a 20,000 square foot building. 2015 was the year when that story took a drastic turn...

They asked the question, “If we're not going to be here, what are we going to do with the building?” They were reticent to selling the building, and so the Dovercourt community started to get involved. There were conversations about redeveloping the land, but there wasn’t enough energy or capacity to go down this path.

At this point the Edmonton Presbytery created a building committee to look at "what Kirk could be". There were three renters, including different denominations, and they intended to make sure that they also didn’t lose their home. A new vision emerged.

This is now the Kirk United Church Centre, with multiple community groups, lots of energy, cats (!), and a ministry presence that has never left the neighbourhood.

Watch the whole story here to find out how this building became the commons, and how the ministry of The United Church of Canada continues to happen.

[Photo courtesy of Kirk United Church Centre]

The Accessible Faith Project

The Accessible Faith Project is looking at using YouTube as a teaching platform to discuss subjects such as faith, history, and the Bible. All of this is accessible online and doesn't use jargon.

The idea came from Rev. John Crowdis when he was building train models. He had a large following on YouTube teaching people how to make trains, picking up lots of best practice tips for video along the way. Seeing YouTube’s potential as a teaching platform, he then decided to take these learnings into ministry.

The YouTube channel launched in September 2019—check it out and subscribe here. You can also watch The Accessible Faith Project’s whole story here.

[Photo courtesy of The Accessible Faith Project]

Canada Summer Jobs is Open!

Every summer the Canadian Federal Government supports non-profits, charities, and small businesses in hiring young adults to help them get work experience, and to help these organizations with capacity over the summer months. You can hire a young adult (under the age of 30) to work on any program, project, initiative, idea, or task that you have in community of faith or in the neighbourhood. Be creative!

The due date of February 24 is fast approaching, but this application shouldn’t take you longer than an hour. Find the application here.

Exclusive Discount with Staples

Simply enroll and save money!

Fill out the enrollment form and fax or email it to Shane Smith (or Denise Ponstein for French speaking customers). Once set-up, Shane or Denise will call you back to complete the enrollment. A credit card is required to complete the enrollment, so please have a credit card available so they can provide you access to the Staples Preferred Website.

Enroll in three easy steps:

Step 1: Complete the enrollment form

Step 2: Email or fax the enrollment form to shane.smith@staples.com (or denise.ponstein@staples.com for French customers) or Fax: 1 (866) 556-9857

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You get assigned a dedicated Account Manager, Shane Smith or Denise Ponstein, each with over 16 years of experience.

Find out more on the Buying United website.

[Photo by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash]

Embracing the Spirit is a learning network and innovation fund. It offers funding and support for innovation ideas hatched out of faith communities and communities in ministry. Some of the stories and best practices that are happening throughout The United Church of Canada are shared in this newsletter.

If you have an idea that you want to launch, reach out and tell us about it! Proposal deadlines are quarterly, and due on the 15th of the month: January, April, July and October. Find out more.