Ready to Re-open and Be Creative? Next Grant Due Date is April 15! Over the last two years we have seen many communities of faith and community ministries create new ways of engaging, leaning in to supporting neighbours, and creating resilience in our communities. With many places across the country reopening, is this a new time for reimagining?
On April 15 we are accepting both Innovation Grants (up to $5000) and Growth Grants (up to $25,000). See the story map of initiatives that are already happening across the country, and reach out to us to have a one-on-one conversation about your community of faith and some of the things that you are thinking about at embracingthespirit@united-church.ca.
[Image credit: Nicola Jovanovic on Unsplash.com] |
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Camp Kee-Mo-Kee Branches Out  Camp Kee-Mo-Kee, a United Church of Canada camp near Komoka, Ontario, opened its door 60 years ago this summer. It all started with a single family that donated 20 acres and that family still lives near by and is involved. It has a long tradition and legacy with some of the campers returning this summer being third-generation.
However, Kee-Mo-Kee didn’t have an Executive Director until Jill Hodgins joined the team three years ago. She was just in time! Camp Kee-Mo-Kee was entering a period of expansion that would run through the COVID pandemic, right to this day.
When Jill arrived, Camp Kee-Mo-Kee was an overnight summer camp. Its long history in the area meant that everyone had a story about it. People started their journey there as campers, eventually trained to be staff, and were then hired. Then COVID-19 interrupted that progression, as it would for overnight camps all over Canada.
But Camp Kee-Mo-Kee didn’t close down. They used the time to connect with community groups, with churches, and with people that might not necessarily be interested in overnight summer camp experiences, and now they offer the following: - Summer and March Break day camp programs.
- A winter camp experience, funded by an Embracing the Spirit grant.
- Short family camp experiences.
- A 4-part online seminar for youth to help them develop job search skills.
The community’s response to the new programming has been extremely positive, prompting Jill and her staff to consider additional ways that they can both provide opportunities for both onsite experiences at Camp Ko-Kee-Mee and become more of a presence in the offsite community. Jill says that one of the unexpected learnings of her time at the camp is that its location in proximity to several communities is a tremendous advantage. Being close to where people live makes it easy to get out to the camp for an experience that’s even just a couple of hours long.
Jill is looking forward to continuing what she considers stewardship work - engaging people with God’s creation and teaching them how to both create and protect and protect natural habitats, while engaging the community and teaching Creation values.
Learn more about Camp Ko-Kee-Mee at its website and from Zoë Chaytors’ recent EDGEy Conversation with Jill Hodgins!
[Image credit: Artem Kniaz on Unsplash.com] |
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The Necessary Journey: An Orientation to Death, Dying, and Grief Death and dying are among the most difficult topics for people to explore and discuss. Mount Forest United Church has created “The Necessary Journey,” a series of events that lets people do just that.
Reverend Sheryl has assembled a team whose work with death and dying makes them uniquely qualified to provide a safe space in which people can talk with others, voice fears, and ask questions about topics like:- Planning a funeral.
- Advanced care planning, palliative care, and hospice.
- Medical Assistance and Dying (M.A.I.D.)
- Grief and grieving.
- Death as a part of life.
Please visit The Necessary Journey: An Orientation to Death, Dying and Grief to learn about upcoming events and to access resources. The next event, “Families and Grief,” features a guest speaker from Bereaved Families of Ontario – April 13, 7:00 p.m. EDT at Mount Forest United Church.[Image credit: Nick Fewings on Unsplash.com] |
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What Does People-First Look Like?  At this point in the pandemic, as we begin to venture out into the world again, with new questions arising:- How will we manage being out among people again?
- How will work change again now that we can do it face-to-face instead of over Zoom?
- What is people-first in our lives and work, and what does it look like?
Although people-first will look like different things to different people, it is, at its base, about prioritizing relationship in our lives and work, and making space for each other. It’s about putting people, as much as possible, before what’s going on in our own lives. It’s a relational way of approaching our interactions with people that doesn’t always fit into our ideas about how the world works.
But maybe it should.
The thing about embracing a truly person-first orientation is that it requires vulnerability, and a willingness to let go of control. It can feel frightening at first, to adjust our reach toward connection instead of control, but it ultimately uplifts ourselves, our colleagues, and our communities. Connection with others brings about far more good than maintaining the illusion of control.
Our culture doesn’t promote the idea that prioritizing relationships and putting people first is valuable for its own sake and not just as a means to an end. Building relationships takes time and personal work. But without a commitment to that work, who are we? If we’re not people-first, what are we putting first?
Check out this discussion by EDGE staff about “What Does People-First Look Like?”[Image credit: Surface on Unsplahs.com] |
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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. |
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