EDGEy Conversation with the Rev. Allan Smith-Reeve  The Rev. Allan Smith-Reeve knows about the power of social good initiatives. He has used Bedford House Community Ministry and its programs, such as Bridges Peterborough, to build relationships with his congregation at Greenwood United and to strengthen the community of Peterborough, Ontario in which it’s located.
Smith-Reeve started half-time at Greenwood United as its pastor in 2015, right after it had amalgamated with the second community of faith in its pastoral charge. That same year, The United Church of Canada put out a call for new ministry ideas. Intrigued, Smith-Reeve and his partner Lynn bought a house and put a board in place for Bedford House Community Ministry, a “faith-based community development learning centre.” With grant money from presbytery in place, they were ready to start.
Bedford House experimented with several small group ministries initially, their Bridges Peterborough program proving to be among the most impactful. A group of mentors (“learning partners”) with lived experience of poverty would meet weekly with people currently living in poverty for some food, fun, and the opportunity to do the Bridges Out of Poverty curriculum together and learn about the Hidden Rules of Class. This was the first Bridging Team.
When Greenwood United signed on as a charitable partner, Bedford House started to slowly expand the initial Bridging Team concept into Bridges Peterborough. The project was able to hire people with lived experience of poverty and train them to become leaders of additional Bridging Teams to help people understand the poverty experience and the barriers that classism creates.
Then, right before COVID, Fairview United Church’s decision to amalgamate with Greenwood United uniquely positioned the small community of faith to take a bold step. With now over a million dollars in its bank account, it hired Smith-Reeve full-time to serve as minister at Greenwood United and as Community Innovator at Bedford House. “I remember the chair of our Region saying it was the first time he’d seen a congregation pay someone to look after other people,” Smith-Reeve told Zoe Chaytors.
Alan is excited for the future. “In 2023, we’ve now trained six facilitators that we hope will start three Bridging Teams.” Also, people on the Bridging Teams designated as Storytellers now periodically come to Sunday services at Greenwood United to speak about their experiences of living in poverty. Smith-Reeve says that this “cross-cultural experience” of people learning about each other has been positive for everyone involved. You can hear from this team, which has formed a social enterprise called The Company of Conversation Changers, on their weekly podcast.
When asked why Greenwood United United’s congregation supported a ministry like Bedford House, one that wasn’t necessarily going to bring in new members, Smith-Reeve credits a shift away from a mindset of scarcity— after just getting by for years, the community of faith suddenly had to ask itself what it was going to do with its newfound abundance. That brought up questions of best ways to invest in the community, and of legacy, especially for the two communities of faith that had amalgamated with Greenwood United and lost their buildings.
“We’re still in the midst of grappling with that,” Smith-Reeve says about legacy. “We have, as a United Church, a vision of the kind of community that we would like to see— we’re asking ourselves who else shares that vision and how can we, maybe with some of our abundance, plant seeds so it’s not just up to is to create a community, a congregation…who are our partners in God’s vision for this community? How can we support them?”
Smith-Reeve admits that it can be challenging to raise funds for Bedford House but chooses to believe that “abundance will lead to abundance.”
Listen to Allan Smith-Reeve’s full EDGEy conversation with Zoe Chaytors!
[Image credit:Canva]
|
|
Pause to Embracing the Spirit Grants As The United Church of Canada embraces the exciting transition into the new strategic plan it will pause some current granting opportunities, including Embracing the Spirit (Innovation, Growth, and New Ministry Grants.)
EDGE will continue to support new initiatives through a variety of offerings: Idea Days, Curiosity Cohorts, Leading Adaptively, etc. Please visit our EDGE website and CHURCHx to find out more about these learning opportunities. Registration opens soon!
EDGE is still committed to supporting you. We can direct you to other sources of grant funding and help you explore new sustainability models, so please continue to book consultations with us about any new initiatives or opportunities that you are exploring.
Also, please consider applying to grants through the United Church Foundation: |
|
Applications for Video Licenses Due by December 9 Does your community of faith want to show movies? Maybe you want to show an inspirational scene during a sermon, or show a movie on a summer evening for families with kids? If so, your community of faith needs a public performance license to remain within copyright laws.
The United Church of Canada offers group discounts for public performance licenses through Audio Ciné Films and Criterion Pictures Canada. These public performance offer exclusive viewing rights to movie studios including:- 20th Century Fox
- Columbia Pictures
- MGM Studios
- Many more
Please visit Buying United for more information and to purchase a one-year public performance license (January 1, 2022–December 31, 2023) for your pastoral charge. Applications will not be accepted after December 9, 2022.[Image credit: Canva] |
|
Buy Social SUPER Training Starts in January: Storytelling for Social Value Providers  Start 2023 off right by taking Storytelling for Social Providers, a learning opportunity offered by Buy Social in partnership with the Government of Canada’s Investment Readiness Program.
This virtual training will be of particular interest to:- Social providers
- Communications staff in organizations/agencies
- Anyone wanting to learn about simple tools that can help them create impactful stories.
Students will learn about the art and importance of storytelling through the lens of a social provider and will produce a short video using free online software to share on a website or social media. Once you have fine-tuned your product, you’ll have an opportunity to rejoin your cohort and share your work with each other.
Read the course information sheet to learn more and to register.
Course Dates: January 19, 26, and February 3, 2023; 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. PST/1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m. EST
Price:- Early Bird (Deadline Dec 8): $69
- $89 Regular (Deadline Jan 5): $89
- Reduced Price for Buy Social Canada Certified Social Enterprises: $35 (Early Bird); $45 (Regular)
[Image credit: Canva] |
|
| Embracing the Spirit will be taking a break during the Holiday Season. Please look for our next newsletter on January 4, 2023. |
|
Embracing the Spirit supports 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! We're happy to consult with communities of faith about the supports available to help them develop their new ideas. |
|
| Sign up for the Embracing the Spirit newsletter! |
|
|
| Donate to The United Church of Canada and help fund life changing work around the world! |
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment