By Sandra Reimer

LAMBRICK PARK Church began in 1964 as a small church plant in the suburbs of Victoria. The church is now comprised of two communities – one called The Gathering and the other called The Place – which share a leadership team and a building.

A number of years ago, a surge of passion around social justice changed the way the congregation at The Place understood themselves. Some church members brought David Collins, then executive director of Canadian Food for the Hungry, to the Lambrick Park leadership team.

“Through David, we were re-understanding missions,” said Simon Goff, Lambrick’s administrator and missional engagement director.

“In 2000, David challenged us to get involved in some container projects going to Afghanistan, then Ethiopia,” Goff recalled. Collins then challenged the group further.

“This kind of short-term project is easy for churches. It’s time for you to get your hands dirty, and kind of commit to the long-term,” Collins told them.

In response, a small group from both congregations went on a trip to Belo, Ethiopia. A long-term partnership, arranged through Canadian Food for the Hungry, was forged with an organization run by Ethiopians.

“We wanted to see how we could resource the dreams of the elders, the professionals and the children of Belo,” said Goff.

“Right from the get go, we came back from Ethiopia with a changed understanding of our role: that all of us are missionaries,” said Goff. The group also realized that “98 percent of us would be spending 98 percent of our lives in Victoria.”

And they asked themselves: “What does it look like to take some of those ideas [gained in Ethiopia] and apply them in Victoria?”

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With a transformed understanding – that everyone is on a mission, and everywhere is the new mission field – their members have created things like the Street Café.  

The café is an attractive venue, where university students create authentic community – filled with music, art and great food. Once per month, the students  get together with people who are caught in poverty, to share conversation, art and music at the café.

In 2005, The Place shut down their traditionally run missions council, partly because they felt the focus was too narrow.

Goff noted: “Often people asked us for support; [but this] was not us using spirit-led strategies about where we would like to partner.”

The congregation has broadened their scope of support beyond exclusively “proclamation evangelism.”

They now are promoting ministries like International Justice Mission, an organization that partners with people in developing nations to improve their justice systems –rather than only converting individuals who live in unjust societies.

“As we have redefined missions, we see ourselves not just as messengers of God, but as ministers of Jesus Christ,” said Goff. They believe their role is “as partners in the reconciliation of all things. God has the ultimate victory. He calls us to be part of his plan in this.”

Originally published in Thinking Ahead, Spring 2010.

July 2010