Missions, Peace and Justice

Please see some of the highlights of Missions, Peace and Justice including the Advent and Christmas eve offering projects, support for Land back in Waterloo Region as well as 1492 Land Back Lane, and Creation care/yard clean up.

Living Justly and Peacefully

Responding to the call to live in right relationship with God, the earth, our neighbour, and each other, 
we will strive to embody God’s reconciling love in our congregation and our households.
We commit ourselves to be advocates of this reconciling love, 
witnessing in our community and our world to God’s concern for peace and justice.

A heart for and commitment to peace and justice is a significant aspect of our faith life, here at Stirling Ave. Mennonite Church.  It flows out of our worship life and is a significant part of our faith formation across the age spectrum.  There are many ways we try to live that out at Stirling. Whether that is: 

  1. Engaging in Interfaith Dialogue and relationship building within our community

  2. Offering hospitality and support to Refugees

  3. Learning from our Indigenous neighbours and trying to live in right relationship with our Host Peoples here on Turtle Island, by responding to the calls to action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. In response to one of the calls to action, Stirling has incorporated a land acknowledgement statement in some worship services. Click here to see various versions of the land acknowledgement statement. See the following resources from Mennonite Church Canada: Wrongs to Rights and Yours, Mine, Ours
    See also the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

  4. Advocating on issues of poverty reduction, mental health, homelessness and addictions.

  5. Trying to be practitioners of creative Non-Violence

  6. Providing some affordable housing through our HOMES program

  7. Caring for the Environment

Stirling Anti-Racism Resource List

In November our church community will spend some weeks grappling with conversations around racism, whiteness, and our own place in these narratives, committing to ongoing anti-racist learning and action. Missions, Peace & Justice Ministry invites you to prepare for this important conversation by spending some time in this coming month to engage with some resources on racism and anti-racist work in our world today. These resources can be found here.

Peace and Justice Working Group: The Stirling Avenue Peace and Justice Working Group emerged in August, 1985. It grew out of a collective hope to give witness to our faith, with the belief that the invitation to discipleship, at its core, is a call to work for peace and justice. Peace and Justice Working Group members are active in and consider much of their work in other areas of church and community life to be an extension of peace & justice. We value the support and encouragement we are able to offer each other as we work towards peace and justice within the world and within our own lives. Coming together with others committed to working for a more just world is a core reason we gather, offering each other support and encouragement for our inner and outer journeys. For more information please talk to Sue Klassen.