Outreach- we are in the world to change the world!
It appears that the next 25 years will not be easy ones for life here on planet Earth. Every day we see indications that global warming has begun to wreak havoc on the natural world. Cheap energy has created a way of living that is now threatened as carbon-based fuel sources become more expensive. The growing gap between the rich and the poor, the out of control arms industry, and the willingness of nations to risk “war” rather than use political means to solve political problems, cause many of us to lie awake at nights and wonder about the future.
How can a person of faith respond with integrity to the critical issues of our time?
Where is Spirit in all of this?
What is the church’s role in addressing these problems?
These are the kinds of issues and questions the outreach committee wrestles with as it discerns how best to use the financial contributions generously provided by our church family for this work.
Creating a local and global community where everyone is welcome and everyone has enough will always be one of our most important outreach goals. As individuals, some of us are volunteering in local helping agencies, living out Jesus’ call to always be with the poor. Other groups within our church are making casseroles and collecting fresh fruit to feed hungry people: charitable acts such as these are part of what it means to be on the Christian journey together. At CBUC, this kind of outreach will never end as long as there are people in need.
Regular financial donations to faith-based organizations like Our Place and Camp Pringle, as well as to 11 other non-profit helping agencies in Victoria are another way we partner with others to support vulnerable people living in our neighbourhoods.
CBUC also contributes generously to our national church’s Mission and Service Fund*. This fund is how we collectively respond to our United Church’s creed to love and to serve others. With the approx. 30 million dollars this fund raises every year, we ar
e able to make a difference all around the globe.
Beyond the Christian community, CBUC is ever-seeking ways to build mutual understanding and respect among all faiths. We do that through shared learning opportunities and by special multi-faith gatherings designed to deepen our congregation’s appreciation for religious diversity.
But we’ve also learned that it’s important for our children to see the adults in their lives acknowledging the injustice that exists in the world and taking steps to remove the causes. To that end, our congregation does what it can to transform the systems and structures that perpetuate suffering and inequality.
KAIROS **, a national ecumenical social justice coalition, is an organization whose work we value and support. Participating in aboriginal truth and reconciliation gatherings, signing petitions, sending letters to political leaders, adopting a policy to green the church, or walking under our own banner in the Gay Pride Parade- these are only some of the actions CBUC members have taken that signal to our children and to the greater community that Christians have a responsibility to get involved. A healthy democracy should work well for everyone, not just the majority.
Our faith community is always looking for new ways to build a more just world, a world based on right relationship. Right with God, right with the earth, and right with one another- that’s what we’re striving for when we reach out beyond the walls of CBUC. Generous financial contributions by all who share our vision, and compassionate people ready to put their faith into action, enable us to respond appropriately to the critical issues of our time. May it always be so.
(If you would like to make a financial contribution to further the outreach of this church, contact our church administrator at meghan@cadbayuc.org or just click on the Canada Helps icon on this website. All donations are tax receiptable. Thanks so much!)
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