Vision
The Centre for the City exists to partner, love and walk alongside people in deepest need. We also support new immigrants & refugees, while building stronger bridges between the church, community partners, and concerned Calgarians.
By consolidating our Compassionate Ministries and our New Canadian Friendship Centre into one facility, designed with a missional purpose, we now have the opportunity to transform Central Campus into a hub for mission work, allowing all ministries to work together to serve with more efficiency, building stronger bridges between the church, community partners and concerned Calgarians.
The facility will provide 11,077 square feet of dedicated space, and access to other multi-use spaces in the Central Campus expansion, increasing our capacity to support those in need with food, clothing and intentional spaces for training, classes and community.
The ‘Centre of the City’ will be a place of welcome, refuge and hope for those in need or those simply looking for a place to belong. Just picture it. People coming to a safe place to make appointments and drop in for a cup of coffee, prayer and support in whatever they may be struggling with. They can be a part of mentorship programs (for individuals or families), as well as opportunities to access the gym and other multi-use spaces for fun activities and gatherings like Crossover Sports, monthly community meals, a play structure for children while families connect, and more.
New Canadian Friendship Centre
The New Canadian Friendship Centre walks alongside people who are new to Canada, giving friendship, and practical help to be a part of Canadian life. We help all people, including refugees, and refugee claimants, regardless of their immigration status. Our classes and programs are designed to provide practical learning for Canadian life, as well as opportunities for building friendship, community and conversation skills.
Learn more about NCFC
Compassionate Ministries
CSC’s Compassionate Ministries exists to walk with people out of poverty into fullness of life. (John 10:10)
We see this lived out in 2 ways:
- We offer short term relief for basic needs and a sense of love and community.
- We work with those that wish to pursue a journey of deeper life change. Helping them build a larger plan of action that integrates multiple dimensions of well-being: skills development, job readiness, emotional and mental health, community belonging and purpose.
Build Progress
Our Central Campus expansion continues to progress and we are full of anticipation as we watch this dream become a reality. Read monthly updates, see the latest photos and get a behind the scenes look into the construction of the future Centre for the City.
Watch this to see behind the scenes of the Centre for the City construction from our May Annual Build Update!
Stories
Be inspired by stories of our church community making more space for God in their lives.
Timeline
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CSC history: ‘Benevolence’ approach to outreach
Most common among churches, the benevolence model meant that when people came to the church seeking help, we reactively provided food and resources on a case by case basis. Food drives and mission work to feed the homeless were common throughout CSC history.
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2013: New Canadian Friendship Centre is launched
We launched the NCFC to walk alongside new Canadians, offering them the support they need to navigate a new culture, new climate, foreign language, social isolation, job security and other challenges.
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2015: Downturn
More people come to CSC seeking help for their physical needs, especially food. Church leaders pray for guidance. “God shifted my thinking. We didn’t need a strategy. We needed a miracle. I prayed for mana from heaven,” says Pastor Brad Friesen.
Calgary Food Bank comes to CSC inviting us into a partnership. “We’ll provide the food if you provide the space,” they say. Pastor Brad says, “we’re in.”
NCFC moves from its original location to Encompass Partnerships, allowing us to work more closely with other partners in in NE Calgary to welcome newcomers in Jesus’ name.
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2016: 'Compassionate Ministries' is born
The compassionate approach is a proactive and strategic outreach model. It addresses the many dimensions that contribute to cycles of poverty - the physical, mental, emotional, community and spiritual needs of the whole person. People in need come to CSC to receive short-term relief for basic needs, before being brought into a larger plan of action called a ‘Life Budget’ or ‘Life Journey.’
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2017: Sale of West Campus
West Campus is sold to Chinese Christian Wing Kei Nursing Home Association. Sale proceeds are slated to fund the expansion of Central Campus to address growing demand for space for Compassionate Ministries among other CSC ministries.
Compassionate Ministries launches Monday evening drop-in ministries, including: ‘The Well’ café, food bank, clothing bank, skills training and other classes to help people in poverty move forward in their lives.
NCFC supports an increasing number of new refugees, referred by local immigrant and social service agencies and through word-of-mouth connections in immigrant communities. We gained more recognition for the work we were doing for newcomers in the community.
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2018: BUILD more room for God journey begins
CSC launches its journey to build Northwest Campus and to expand Central Campus to increase ministry opportunities to marginalized people groups and to accommodate the growing needs of Calgarians and other ministry programs.
Compassionate Friends program pilot is launched.
Program connects people in the Life Budget program with mentors from the congregation, providing additional community, friendship and support
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2019: Compassionate Ministries forms partnership with Canada Mental Health Association
Compassionate Ministries launches Monthly Community Meals.
Compassionate Ministries distributes 2,493 hampers and serves 1535 Monthly Community Meals. An average of 70 people per week come to ‘The Well’ café to find true community. 52 people are connected into our Career Connection Network. 200 people go through the Life Journey process to experience deeper life change.
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2020: COVID-19 pandemic hits
The need for food increases among Calgarians as thousands of additional families experience layoffs. We expand our food ministry to include prepared meals, so we can feed more people who are vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19 including seniors, new Canadians, individuals or families facing layoffs, or with low or limited income, families with young children, and individuals with medical conditions, mental health challenges and limited access to support.
From July to December, the number of people being served by Compassionate Ministry increases over 600% as we move from serving an average of 899 people each month (in 2019) to serving an average of 5475 people per month (in 2020).
NCFC continues to provide a sense of stability, safety, connection and hope to people new to Canada - moving some communities online while continuing to provide adapted opportunities for people to connect with familiar faces in person, as restrictions allowed.
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2022: Transitioning out of COVID-19
As COVID restrictions are dropped, we sense God leading us to open our doors for in-person ministry once again. We continue serving some boxed lunches and frozen meals, while transitioning towards more in-person ministries by reopening The Well Café and Life Journey ministry. Monthly Meals will be deferred until construction for the Centre for the City is complete and we have more room.
As borders re-open, NCFC continues to offer English classes, community and friendship to new refugees from war-torn countries. In response to increasing need, we launched the Refugee Friendship Program to connect more refugees to individuals, families and groups in the church for friendship and support.
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2023: Estimated opening
Anticipated completion of construction (or partial completion, allowing for basic use of the space) of the new Centre for the City will be potentially in 2023.
Donate
Interested in learning about how you can be part of our journey of seeing our vision to impact more people in Jesus’ name a reality? Your donations to BUILD more room for God contribute to making our Centre for the City vision possible.
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