Pastor Erin shared her vision for outreach, or Community Connections, on Sunday morning. I hope you were able to be there but in case you weren't or just simply for a refresher, here is her message to the church family for you to reflect on.
- Pastor Tracy
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Community Connections is about stepping outside of the four walls of the church and doing life with those around us. It’s about meeting the spiritual and physical needs of our community while expressing God’s love in ways that build relationships and provide opportunities to share the gospel message.
We have all received gifts and talents from God, and as such it is our privilege and responsibility to use these to minister to others.
At Freedom do this in 3 ways:
1. Partnership
By partnering with neighbouring community associations, we expand our reach by making our facilities and property available for their low-cost programs to bless the community. Through these partnerships, we can maximize our efforts by coming alongside programs that are already running instead of creating new ones.
These partnerships welcome the community into our space and help them see that this is a place they are always welcome.
Whenever possible we endeavour to be present during programs with Community Hosts. These Hosts may serve coffee or give away treats but most importantly they interact with people and build relationships.
2. Community Building
We desire to be intentionally active in the neighbourhood around us, not only as a green space but as a place that fosters community and relationship building. We do this through activities, events and programs that are focused on building relationships between us and the community and within the community itself. Examples of this may be hosting sports days, block parties or kids' drop-in programs.
3. Helping
In the same way that we will intentionally foster relationships, we want to be intentional about being the hands and feet of Jesus in our community. We recognize that we have been blessed and as such we are called to care for the needs of those around us, responding to the obvious needs and hidden poverty found in our community.
We do this by having an up-to-date and reasonable plan on how to address help requests (groceries, clothes, etc.) that we are made aware of. We recognize we cannot meet every need, but we can and will show compassion, love, and kindness in every situation.
We continue to partner with other organizations like Ray of Hope and House of Friendship who are already doing this work well. We will do more together than we could do alone.
Pavilion & Freedom Community Centre
Your investment in the Freedom Pavilion project is an investment in kingdom building. With this new facility, we will continue to host, connect with, and bless the community.
The Freedom Community Centre (FCC) has long been the heart of our community outreach. The Pavilion is an extension of the FCC, allowing us to dream bigger about how the property can be a spiritual oasis for our neighbours. Allowing the Pavilion to take on the role of hosting programs and inviting the community in frees up the FCC space for other opportunities.
In partnership with Matt and Tamara Smith, we have transformed the upstairs of the FCC into a retreat space. Upstairs you will now find a two-bedroom apartment where the Smiths can welcome missionaries in need of debriefing and healing from their work. When not in use for their ministry we will open this space to other churches, ministers and our Freedom Family in need of a quiet respite and a place to seek God.
Next Steps
The beauty of this focus is that every God-given gift and skill can find a place to serve.
Here are a few ways you can get involved (there are so many more):
Love cooking and meeting physical needs? We welcome you to help fill our freezer with meals to bless those on retreat or people and families that need to know they are cared for.
Don’t have the capacity to commit to a weekly program? You can help run a Block Party to connect with the community.
Love people and want to connect? Become a Community Host and get to know the people coming to the Church each week.
There is a way for everyone to IMPACT our community for Christ. We invite you to dream with us and put those dreams into action.
(Pastor Erin, Sunday, October 16, 2022)
