As part of our Next 1100 Days vision, we’re launching new, emerging ministries as we sustain and shape existing ministries at Knox. That means reconfiguring how we use our space, how we design our budget, and how we define the roles and responsibilities of our ministers.
To provide more info on the changes underway and get your feedback, Knox is hosting a Town Hall on this Sunday, October 14, after the 10:30AM service, to discuss how we anticipate Dave’s and Greg’s roles will be changing as we continue to carry out our vision. Your participation is important. Lunch will also be served! Thanks in advance for planning to be there!
Sanctuary Coffee has started to sell monogram coffee beans to the public after a huge positive response over the quality of our products. In addition to the bags of beans being sold, the ever-popular Pumpkin Spice Latte is now offered at our café. Our recipe for this delectable fall drink was invented and tested by our barista Jenn Young, and is hand made in house from an assortment of spices, pumpkin paste, and Monogram beans. Customers have been enjoying the new flavours and combinations of drinks while reading the metro, now being delivered to the café.
Sanctuary Coffee has been seeing some interesting interactions occurring in the café space! The role of Sanctuary coffee is to fight social isolation by providing a space for people of all walks of life to bond and intermix over a cup of coffee. Some examples of these interactions from the past two weeks involve family, friends old and new, and curious passersby. For example, a customer and his brother, who both share a bond over their love of espresso, decided to come to the café together and have a cup together. There have also been many instances of customers breaking the ice through reading about the stained-glass windows and discussing them together. Lastly, some disadvantaged people have been coming in to the coffee shop, enjoying our suspended coffee, relaxing for a time, and sharing their stories. Sanctuary Coffee is proving to truly be a place for bonding, real conversation, and community for all.
Progress on Historic Kitchen Renos
Grant application complete!
It’s still early days for our historic kitchen renovations, but we recently completed a big step with a major grant application submitted to the Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP). This program provides funding to renovate or upgrade public-use community facilities.
A huge thank you to Chuck Curry, Mardy Roberts, and our administrator Sue Forsyth, who expertly prepared our application! It will be a while before we hear if our application is successful, but we’ll update you when we get the news.
Listening with respect
Elder-led Reconciliation and Trust-building Project
Our first gathering was held in late September, at Mahmawi-atoskiwin, a centre providing family supports for indigenous people here in Calgary. This first meeting was with the church leaders only, as an orientation session (the elders are also meeting on their own to plan the program). At this session, we recognized that this is a cross-cultural project and so we need to learn how to behave with respect! The elders are well acquainted with our culture; we are not so acquainted with theirs.
Our consultant, Suzanne Dzus, also began the process of introducing us to the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and some of the issues that we are likely to be facing as part of this process.
There are 19 participants in total, and the group appears to be very engaged and excited about the process. We will be meeting for the first time with the elders later this month.
We did, also, have a conversation about publicity. We recognize that at least some of the conversation we have in these sessions will be confidential -- personal stories, ceremonies, and such. If we are building trust and relationship, we will need to be a bit vulnerable with each other and that does not belong in newsletters and press releases! Ultimately, the elders will have the final say in how much of our process will be shared in newsletters like this one.
We are all looking forward to working together - to build trust and relationship, to learn to be more faithful to our own gospel, and to set forth a shared plan towards reconciliation and respectful right relations.
Alpha At Sanctuary Coffee
Coming Soon to Knox
Alpha is a course that outlines the who, what, why, where, when, and how of what faith is, and is for people who are not integrated into the church atmosphere or do not have a faith at all. This course is aimed people of all walks of life, who are wanting to ask questions in a safe space about faith and how it can apply to their lives. Alpha is what we are basing our Transition Service on. Knox is excited to announce that we will be offering this course on Sundays at noon starting January 13th, 2019.
Check out our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds!
During the past two weeks, Jenn Herring has been extensively promoting Sanctuary Cafe, of which is under initiative four of our N1100D vision. Soon, she will If you would like to get the word out about your N1100D-related project, please email Jenn Herring with details!
