Every year hundreds of thousands of people arrive in Canada looking for a place to belong and a new start. Canada is known globally for celebrating diversity and welcoming people from many different communities who enrich our national identity. The Canadian church has played an important role in that welcoming, reflecting God's heart for all peoples. We believe that hospitality is an expression of God's character, an opportunity to show mercy and to be responsible stewards of the many blessings that we share as Canadians. Welcoming newcomers to our neighbourhoods and homes is also an opportunity for us to grow and learn together.
Welcome Church is a project of Our Common Calling (OCC) and its four partners:
Through its partners, OCC recognizes and desires to strengthen the significant role that the Canadian church already plays in welcoming newcomers from many countries. Welcome Church seeks to encourage and multiply that momentum, in partnership with other groups already working with refugees, new arrivals from Hong Kong and others.
The Welcome Church Project recognizes that Canadian churches have not always lived up to God's standards of justice and equity, both in welcoming newcomers and in respecting the first peoples on this land. We seek to journey with newcomers to Canada, so that we may together build a community where all peoples can thrive.
Welcome Church is a project of Our Common Calling that provides training and resources to help Canadian churches and faith communities welcome newcomers to Canada. Welcome Church also connects newcomers to churches through our online portals, such as CanRefugee (resources for refugees and churches interested in serving refugees) and CanHK (resources for newcomers from Hong Kong and churches interested in welcoming them).
Registered churches are able to easily connect with other Welcome Churches to share resources and collaborate to serve newcomers as they move from community to community.
If you want to learn more, please check out how it works.