Love thy neighbour is a basic tenet of the Christian faith. Judging from the last year’s activities of the clergy and members of the city’s 28 churches, this tenet is adhered to with dedication. Here’s a brief first look at some of the charity and community activities of the city’s churches in 2011.
New Hope Community Church: This 16-year-old church is dedicated to fulfilling the mandate of Christ by giving a 10 per cent tithe of all its offerings. It supports Edmonton’s Hope Mission and Mustard Seed, along with the St. Albert Food Bank, Stop Abuse in Families (SAIF) and a local women’s shelter. The church raised money to help build a water well for a community in Ethiopia.
Services are held at Cornerstone Hall (6 Taché Street) and its website is www.churchstalbert.com. Call 780-459-6732.
St. Albert Evangelical Lutheran Church: The church is very busy in the community, both here and abroad. Among its many activities, its Hosea Ministries provides bag lunches to Edmonton’s inner city residents, while its Mission to Mexico (M2M) sends a mission team every two years to build houses and offer assistance to two orphanages.
The church is located at 11 Glenview Cr. Call 780-458-6012 or visit www.saelc.org.
St. Albert United Church: One of the city’s biggest, busiest and most active churches, it has a long list of community efforts. It is one of the five St. Albert churches that contribute to the Bridge Fund that creates a single contact point for local people in need. Its members work to support and promote affordable housing, including the No Room at the Inn effort out of Edmonton. This year’s project is called Wings of Providence. It is building transition housing for women and children leaving domestic violence situations.
The church also offered front-line help at the Mustard Seed and the Bissell Centre.
It supported the local efforts of Habitat for Humanity and got behind a benefit concert to aid Horn of Africa projects in Ethiopia. It co-sponsored a Burmese refugee last year. It supports the Meals on Wheels program, and offers financial assistance to the St. Albert Food Bank, SAIF, St. Albert Victim Services, the St. Albert Youth Community Centre, the Kinettes’ Christmas hamper campaign, the Youth Emergency Shelter Society (YESS) and several others.
The church is located at 20 Green Grove Dr. Call 780-458-8355 or visit www.stalbertunited.ca.
St. Albert Alliance Church: The church with the large rental hall is a proud host venue of bi-monthly Red Cross blood donor clinics, as well as the regular meeting spot for the St. Albert Army Cadet Corp 3069 and the site of the annual St. Albert CIVC volunteer appreciation lunch and citizen of the year banquet, the mayor’s fundraiser breakfast for the St. Albert Youth Community Centre, and St. Albert Young Life fundraiser dessert evening.
Its semi-annual Share and Wear Family Clothing Exchange events offered free clothing to approximately 1,800 local residents. The church’s members volunteer at the Mustard Seed and the St. Albert Food Bank. They also collected $35,000 worth of food items for its Bless the Community Christmas hamper event, supporting 135 families and individuals. They also helped with the Rendezvous Picnic in August.
The church is located at 25416 Villeneuve Rd. Call 780-458-5335 or visit www.staalliance.org.
