The Vision:
Our small-but-growing parish has a community-wide impact. Even through the pandemic, we’ve grown from an average of 21 weekly worshippers in 2018 to 34 in 2020!
Our weekly Catechism for kids has 14 regularly-attending elementary-aged kids. Over a third of our congregation is engaged in one of our mid-week Bible Study groups, in addition to our brothers and sisters from the Pentecostal church who are invited to take part as well.
Until the Pandemic struck, we were hosting a monthly Kids’ Club (using the Messy Church program) and Community Dinner that had grown to over 60, giving rise to the idea for a community kitchen project currently in development.
This Fall we launched a community-wide Celebrate Recovery 12-step program, which has already seen God changing lives in those who hadn’t heard that there is forgiveness and hope in Christ! We host a monthly men’s breakfast for the 3 churches in town, and in addition to the long-standing fellowship offered by our Ladies Guild/ACW, we launched a monthly “Ladies’ Night”: a low-pressure, relationship-building time for the many young, working moms in town to get out, have a few laughs, get to know one another, and change some perceptions about the church in the process.
In 2020 we distributed $74,000 worth of frozen food to the unemployed and low-income families of Fort Smith, in addition to sourcing and managing grants and funding for the town ecumenical food bank run out of the Roman Catholic church basement. Our parish began the only CRA-certified Community Volunteer Income Tax Program site in the territory, returning over $29,500 in unclaimed benefits and refunds to our neighbours. We converted our front lawn into a community gathering place, installed a garden at Northern Lights Special Care Home. Though we’re small, we also create the welcome hampers for incoming student families at the college each September, and run the annual hat and mitten drive to keep our local schools stocked to help kids who come unprepared. Our rector and licensed lay leaders provide pastoral care and chaplaincy to the college, medical centre, and long-term care home; the rector is one of the suicide first-aiders serving the town, and offers marriage and relationship pastoral care and counselling to anyone who reaches out, regardless of church membership or relationship status.
The run-down state of our century-old Parish Hall (built by the Hudson’s Bay Company as their trading post and hauled to our property in 1960) is an obstacle to our ministry. The only bathrooms are up a narrow flight of stairs, we lack the storage to launch a much-needed community kitchen program. The original single-pane windows and 4-inch thick walls with an insulation value of approximately R-10 mean that our heating oil dollars are literally going out the window through the long Northwest Territories winters, which both contributes to climate change and high carbon emissions, while also meaning that heating costs often become a barrier to opening our hall to those needing a place to gather.
The parish has already upgraded the Hall’s furnace and electrical systems in the last 8 years, and installed a new kitchen just over a decade ago. While this small-town congregation’s budget always leaves plenty of room for faith, we have no debt or outstanding liabilities, and have stewarded our funds wisely so that, with an Anglican Foundation grant, we can complete this community-enriching, good-news-spreading project without the need for loans.
The Project - As approved by the Parish at the 2020 AGM
Hall
· Front Windows – 2 windows, same size, internal decorative grids if possible
· Kitchen Window — replace
· Insulation – Bring building to R-30 above grade.
· Entry – New door with window, without sidelights.
Entry drywalled. Broom closet behind interior door.
New flooring in entry.
Shingle and/or replace roof over porch.
· Lighting – Retrofit LED Bulbs in all fixtures, remove magnetic ballasts.
· Interior – Paint main floor walls.
Replace flooring – commercial surface, not white, no grooves to trap dirt.
Seal and paint ceiling tiles.
· Exterior— Address falling snow/ice over emergency exits with snow guards.
· Washroom (Fiscal Year 2022) – Retrofit wheelchair-accessible washroom on main floor.
1 toilet, unisex.
Vertical storage for plastic 6’ tables to be incorporated.
Church
· Install basement egress window
· Replace basement flooring
· Retrofit LED Bulbs in all fixtures, remove magnetic ballasts.
Rectory
· Replace front door and frame.
· Retrofit LED Bulbs in all fixtures, remove magnetic ballasts.
· Front Windows – 2 windows, same size, internal decorative grids if possible
· Kitchen Window — replace
· Insulation – Bring building to R-30 above grade.
· Entry – New door with window, without sidelights.
Entry drywalled. Broom closet behind interior door.
New flooring in entry.
Shingle and/or replace roof over porch.
· Lighting – Retrofit LED Bulbs in all fixtures, remove magnetic ballasts.
· Interior – Paint main floor walls.
Replace flooring – commercial surface, not white, no grooves to trap dirt.
Seal and paint ceiling tiles.
· Exterior— Address falling snow/ice over emergency exits with snow guards.
· Washroom (Fiscal Year 2022) – Retrofit wheelchair-accessible washroom on main floor.
1 toilet, unisex.
Vertical storage for plastic 6’ tables to be incorporated.
Church
· Install basement egress window
· Replace basement flooring
· Retrofit LED Bulbs in all fixtures, remove magnetic ballasts.
Rectory
· Replace front door and frame.
· Retrofit LED Bulbs in all fixtures, remove magnetic ballasts.
Funding
St. John's Anglican Church Building Fund - $25,000
Thanks to all who supported our Auction!
Arctic Energy Alliance - $23,000
Funding non-profit organizations in the North as they seek to reach Canada's climate goals.
The Anglican Foundation of Canada - $10,000
Funding for Diverse Infrastructure and Innovative Ministry
We've almost met our fundraising goals! Push us across the finish line - donations accepted through CanadaHelps.org (designate Building Fund in the Message to Charity box).
