News Briefs
Back to Weekly News Briefs...May 5, 2010
- Congregations catch the One Community spirit
- World Fair Trade Day Celebration
- CLWR Sunday 2010 dates set
- CLWR Awareness Builder event set for Kitchener
Congregations catch the One Community spirit
At the beginning of Lent, members of Reformation Lutheran Church, Kitchener, ON, set a goal to raise $5,000 for a Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) One Community project by Pentecost Sunday. They made it with a few weeks to spare.
Spearheading the project at Reformation was the congregation’s honourary pastor, Rev. Ab Lorch. Reporting to the congregation each week, Ab never revealed how much had been raised to date. Instead, he would use a poster board displaying the various gift items that make up the One Community project to indicate what members' contributions over the previous week had allowed him to buy. One week it was flocks of chickens and pairs of goats, the next it was teacher training kits.
At a special luncheon held April 18, Pastor Ab reported mission accomplished. Within six weeks, the original goal of $5000 had been exceeded by $1157. At the luncheon, one member remarked, "This brings tears to my eyes," while another said "What a great achievement. It feels good to do these things. Perhaps we should have tried to fundraise two communities."
Aside from donations from individual members, the project received support from the Men’s Breakfast Club, the Wednesday Women’s Work Group, the Youth group with a garage sale, and the local chapter of FaithLife Financial who hosted a special luncheon that received a matching grant of $750.
Across the country at St. John's Lutheran, Calgary, the congregation held a chicken Sunday to support its One Community project. Youth story time at worship that morning featured a celebrity guest—a chicken named Beatrice. Holding Beatrice in her arms, Wendy Brownlee explained to the youth about One Community and the importance of chickens for meat and eggs. Beatrice was well received and sang along with the hymns. After the service, a chicken-themed potluck luncheon was held.
To find out more about how your congregation can get involved in a One Community project, download the One Community resource package at www.clwr.org.
World Fair Trade Day Celebration
On Saturday May 8th, organizations in 70 countries around the globe will celebrate World Fair Trade Day by drawing attention to individuals and groups who have helped make Fair Trade what it is today—an effective model for economic and environmental transformation.
Canadian Lutheran World Relief has been a long-time advocate for the concept of fair and alternatively traded goods and commodities and had, until recently, operated its own alternatively-traded retail store, Four Corners. CLWR’s programming helped raise the profile of fair trade in Lutheran communities across the country. This support continues through a new alliance with Ten Thousand Villages, the fair trade arm of the Mennonite Central Committee. A link to the Ten Thousand Villages online store is now available from the CLWR homepage at www.clwr.org.
This Saturday, Ten Thousand Villages stores will welcome customers with live entertainment, product samplings, special discounts and more. Canadian Lutheran World Relief encourages its constituency to continue supporting fair trade by being a patron of Ten Thousand Villages.
CLWR Sunday 2010 dates set
Both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) have set aside dates in 2010 for congregations to celebrate the work of Canadian Lutheran World Relief. The suggested date for CLWR Sunday in ELCIC congregations is September 26 while October 17 is the suggested date for LCC congregations.
As in previous years, CLWR will be preparing resources for use by congregations on CLWR Sunday. The resources are expected to be available for downloading from the CLWR website by mid-July.
CLWR Awareness Builder event set for Kitchener
Do you have a passion for spreading the word about the work of CLWR in your congregation?
If so, and you live in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, plan to attend the first CLWR Awareness Builder Workshop on Saturday, June 19.
This free workshop will be held at Reformation Lutheran Church, 456 Krug Street from 10 AM – 2 PM (light lunch provided). To register, contact CLWR at 1.800.661.2597 or by email to blorch@clwr.mb.ca.
Back to Weekly News Briefs...
At the beginning of Lent, members of Reformation Lutheran Church, Kitchener, ON, set a goal to raise $5,000 for a Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) One Community project by Pentecost Sunday. They made it with a few weeks to spare.
Spearheading the project at Reformation was the congregation’s honourary pastor, Rev. Ab Lorch. Reporting to the congregation each week, Ab never revealed how much had been raised to date. Instead, he would use a poster board displaying the various gift items that make up the One Community project to indicate what members' contributions over the previous week had allowed him to buy. One week it was flocks of chickens and pairs of goats, the next it was teacher training kits.
At a special luncheon held April 18, Pastor Ab reported mission accomplished. Within six weeks, the original goal of $5000 had been exceeded by $1157. At the luncheon, one member remarked, "This brings tears to my eyes," while another said "What a great achievement. It feels good to do these things. Perhaps we should have tried to fundraise two communities."
Aside from donations from individual members, the project received support from the Men’s Breakfast Club, the Wednesday Women’s Work Group, the Youth group with a garage sale, and the local chapter of FaithLife Financial who hosted a special luncheon that received a matching grant of $750.
Across the country at St. John's Lutheran, Calgary, the congregation held a chicken Sunday to support its One Community project. Youth story time at worship that morning featured a celebrity guest—a chicken named Beatrice. Holding Beatrice in her arms, Wendy Brownlee explained to the youth about One Community and the importance of chickens for meat and eggs. Beatrice was well received and sang along with the hymns. After the service, a chicken-themed potluck luncheon was held.
To find out more about how your congregation can get involved in a One Community project, download the One Community resource package at www.clwr.org.
World Fair Trade Day Celebration
On Saturday May 8th, organizations in 70 countries around the globe will celebrate World Fair Trade Day by drawing attention to individuals and groups who have helped make Fair Trade what it is today—an effective model for economic and environmental transformation.
Canadian Lutheran World Relief has been a long-time advocate for the concept of fair and alternatively traded goods and commodities and had, until recently, operated its own alternatively-traded retail store, Four Corners. CLWR’s programming helped raise the profile of fair trade in Lutheran communities across the country. This support continues through a new alliance with Ten Thousand Villages, the fair trade arm of the Mennonite Central Committee. A link to the Ten Thousand Villages online store is now available from the CLWR homepage at www.clwr.org.
This Saturday, Ten Thousand Villages stores will welcome customers with live entertainment, product samplings, special discounts and more. Canadian Lutheran World Relief encourages its constituency to continue supporting fair trade by being a patron of Ten Thousand Villages.
CLWR Sunday 2010 dates set
Both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) have set aside dates in 2010 for congregations to celebrate the work of Canadian Lutheran World Relief. The suggested date for CLWR Sunday in ELCIC congregations is September 26 while October 17 is the suggested date for LCC congregations.
As in previous years, CLWR will be preparing resources for use by congregations on CLWR Sunday. The resources are expected to be available for downloading from the CLWR website by mid-July.
CLWR Awareness Builder event set for Kitchener
Do you have a passion for spreading the word about the work of CLWR in your congregation?
If so, and you live in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, plan to attend the first CLWR Awareness Builder Workshop on Saturday, June 19.
This free workshop will be held at Reformation Lutheran Church, 456 Krug Street from 10 AM – 2 PM (light lunch provided). To register, contact CLWR at 1.800.661.2597 or by email to blorch@clwr.mb.ca.
