Nine simple ways your church can engage with MCC

Your church may decide to have us come to you. We can share MCC’s work and the projects we‘re involved in through speakers with a wide range of passion and expertise. They are eager to share with you in large or small groups. You may also want to host an interactive learning activity such as a blanket exercise that helps participants encounter the history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada on an emotional and intellectual level. Another option is training events, such as Training Active Bystanders, that provide participants with tools to intervene when they witness abusive, isolating or stigmatizing behaviour. You can also have an MCC display at a church event. For example, The Landed Buggy display is an artistic land acknowledgement that reflects a web of connections between settlers and Indigenous People.

Welcoming refugees and helping them find a safe home in Canada can be a rich and rewarding experience. MCC provides an opportunity for churches to open their hearts and welcome newcomers to Canada. We are here to walk with you every step of the way. We partner with Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in the Blended Visa Office Referred (BVOR) Sponsorship Program where the costs of supporting a refugee are shared for the first year. Under this model, IRCC provides refugees with six months of income support and the sponsorship group provides social and logistical support, while covering the remaining six months of finances as well as start-up costs. Refugee sponsorship allows churches, friends, families and communities to participate in refugee resettlement at a time when it is needed most.

Learn more about sponsoring refugees

MCC produces a wide range of materials that share the work of MCC - everything from email newsletters, magazines, podcasts and social media. Follow MCC online, subscribe to a podcast or email update, keep growing and learning about how faith intersects the world in which we live. MCC also produces materials to help your church mark special days such as Peace Sunday and World Refugee Day. You can use these resources to shape your worship and provide resources for discussion and exploration. MCC also has resources to help your church build peace, deal with abuse, interpersonal conflict, anti-racism and respond to violence.

Find resources for your church

To do our work, it is important that MCC addresses policies that contribute to poverty and injustice. Our advocacy work is rooted in the understanding that we are called by God to be a voice with and for the poor, oppressed and marginalized. We base our advocacy on what we hear from workers and partners on the ground and we believe loving our neighbours means their voices shape our message to governments. Churches can join this work by praying for government leaders and officials and participating in letter-writing campaigns, engaging with educational materials and signing up for our newsletter for more information. Visit our advocacy webpage for info on our current advocacy initiatives.

Learn more about MCC's advocacy efforts

MCC’s relief work depends on sharing valuable resources with those in need. Those resources include a variety of special kits such as relief kits, hygiene kits and school kits. Kits contain soap, towels, toothbrushes, pencils, notebooks and sewing supplies. You can collect items for a kit, pack it and send it to MCC. Your group can also work with Material Resources staff to fundraise and have supplies delivered to your church for a kit-packing event. Groups also have the ability to go to the Material Resources warehouse in New Hamburg to pack items for which they have fundraised or gathered. Church groups can also work together to create handmade comforters that provide not only warmth but also a tangible message to people in places like Syria that their needs are not forgotten.

Learn more about material resources

MCC is always looking for people to join our work of serving others in the name of Christ. Check out the latest job postings or shoulder tap a young person to be part of SALT (Serving and Learning Together or Seek (MCC‘s young and young adult programs).

Careers

Raising money to support MCC’s work can take many forms. You can create an event to raise money for an emergency appeal or participate in an MCC fundraising campaign connected to a specific time of the year. Many churches also support MCC work through regular giving from the church annual budget.

Donate today

Plan a fundraiser for MCC

Encourage people in your church to donate, shop or volunteer at an MCC Thrift Shop. There are six MCC Thrift Shops and three MCC-affiliated shops scattered around the province. You can also purchase soup from the Raw Carrot program at your local MCC Thrift Shop or at an MCC event. 

Find an MCC Thrift Shop near you