How we’re loving and serving our community
AYLMER, Ont.—Our vision at Mount Salem Community Church (MSCC) is to “inspire people to follow Jesus.” Our hope is to live and love in such a way that it compels people to consider faith. By serving the community that God has planted us in, we have the unique opportunity to build a mission centre called The Family Central, and we are working toward establishing a community centre called the Malahide Athletic Centre (MAC).
Journey for Change
In rural communities like ours, services for individuals with challenges such as mental health, addiction, and homelessness are limited, forcing them to go to bigger cities where they can easily get lost in the system. The Family Central works with local partners to change that. Operating out of a three-story building (formerly the town pub) in our downtown core, the centre offers food security, life coaching, transitional housing, emergency shelter, addictions recovery support, as well as courses such as Celebrate Recovery and other life skills programs. The centre employs three program managers, a chaplain, a nurse, and an executive director.
The food security program launched in June 2021 and is a first point of contact with most people. It offers a healthy breakfast and lunch without cost or by donation, serving 50–90 meals a day. While there is one full-time staff member in this program, most of the meals are cooked and served by volunteers from multiple churches and community members who are drawn to serving the poor. Since 2021, we have served over 30,000 meals and logged over 13,000 volunteer hours.
As we meet physical needs, we also have opportunity to build relationships and walk alongside people to help them find hope and a better future. We partner with professional system navigators so participants who enter the program are taught life skills, provided with financial courses, and encouraged to continue their education.
The second community-based initiative that MSCC has undertaken is the vision for a centre for community and sport. Our region lacks year-round athletic facilities, so sports or recreational activities are limited in the winters. The MAC will be a 54,000 square-foot sports dome located on a leased portion of the church property, featuring three courts and an indoor turfed area. It will provide a location for families to learn, play, and be more active through local affordable sports.
Summer Camp
How does this “inspire people to follow Jesus”? We were inspired by the church in Bolivia who connected with the young people and community through sports. MSCC has many members who love sports and volunteer through coaching and officiating in local sports programs and summer sports camps. The MAC will be a space for us to grow our summer camps and for new programs to come to our region. We are aware of the need around us, and our church can invite people in and create points of connections with the members of our community and offer opportunities for families to connect through sports. Those connections lead to conversations about faith and life.
The MAC is in full fundraising mode with nearly 2 million raised of the 7.5 million needed. Hopes of ground-breaking in 2024 remain strong.
– Patrick Stanat