Every year hundreds of thousands of people arrive in Canada looking for a new start and a place to belong. Canada is known globally for celebrating diversity and welcoming people from many different cultures who enrich our national identity. The Canadian church has played an important role in that welcoming, reflecting God's own heart for all people. We believe that hospitality is an expression of God's own nature, an opportunity to extend mercy unto others, and a means of stewarding the blessings we share as Canadians. Welcoming newcomers to our neighbourhoods and into our homes is an opportunity for us to grow as disciples, together.
In 2024, Welcome Church was adopted as a project of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC).
Welcome Church started as an initiative of Our Common Calling (OCC) and its four partners: the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada; theLausanne Movement Canada; the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities; and Christian Higher Education Canada. OCC and its partners recognized that the Canadian church has not always lived up to God's standards of stewardship, justice and hospitality, both in welcoming hospitality, both in welcoming newcomers and in respecting the first peoples of this land. As a result, the work of Welcome Church began with the goal of multiplying an intercultural and collaborative community in which all nations, tribes and tongues can flourish!
And so, for interested and registered faith communities, Welcome Church provides training and resources to help the Canadian church collaborate and welcome newcomers together. Integrated into this, we connect newcomers to registered churches through our online portal, and grant access to CanRefugee (resources for refugees and churches interested in serving refugees) and CanHK (resources for newcomers from Hong Kong and churches interested in welcoming them).
If you'd like to learn more, please check out how it works.