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Outreach Projects

Our Church is a community of people called to love, honour, worship and serve God. We invite others to share our Christian Journey as we prepare to be an effective ministry in our City and the World by actively reaching out in love and concern to meet the needs of our neighbours in our church family, in our community, and beyond.

Outreach Projects

• Our Place Society
• Inner City Dinner
• Kairos
• Faith in Action
• Aboriginal Issues
• First†Metropolitan United Basketball
• Out of the Rain Night Shelter
• George Pringle Memorial Camp
• Soroti Project
• Angel Gift Project

Our Place

First†Metropolitan United Church is active in inner city outreach through its sponsorship of The Our Place Society (formerly the Open Door Inner City Ministry and The Upper Room Society.) The society is building new facilities on Pandora Street where the Open Door was formerly located. The services formerly offered by the Open Door, are currently located at 713 Johnson Street.

As well as providing a 'living room' for those who live in rooming houses or on the street and have no safe place out of the rain or cold, Our Place offers hot coffee, snacks, many services, as well as "unconditional love in a non-judgmental way." Here they can also get counselling, clothing, toiletries and a few groceries or use the free phone to contact workers or make appointments.

The Upper Room located at 919 Pandora continues to offer a meal program provides lunch and dinner six days a week as well as temporary accommodation for 23 persons. FOODSAFE training is offered twice a year for those who wish to work in commercial kitchens. Our congregation collects non-perishable goods for Our Place on the second Sunday of every month.

Several members of the congregation serve as members of the board of directors while others volunteer at the Society. Contact Rev. Allen Tysick, Director by telephone at 385-2454.

Inner City Dinner

First†Metropolitan United Church continues to serve over 240 roast beef dinners each month, for nine months of the year. All inner city people are welcome to our Fellowship Hall on the Friday before social assistance cheques come out. Volunteers are always needed to help cook and serve these meals. Phone Tara Channell, 385-9166 for more information or to volunteer.

Volunteers are always needed to help cook and serve these meals.

KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives

First†Metropolitan United Church participates in this national group of volunteers facilitating community education and action toward world justice. Telephone Janet Gray, the contact person, at 478-5066.

Faith In Action (FIA)

Faith in Action is a group of people from many different faith communities in Greater Victoria with a shared concern for the poor and vulnerable in our society. Our focus is to advocate for BC income assistance programs and other anti-poverty initiatives that recognize the dignity and worth of all citizens. All who share this vision of a just and sharing community are welcome to join with us. Telephone Sheila Hanna at 920-3662.

Aboriginal Issues

In response to the revelations brought about by residential school litigations and in support of Aboriginals in their quest for acceptance and justice, this group offers education through workshops, literature and times for questions-and-answers in those issues currently facing our First Nations. Interested? Phone Helen Mackay at 656-9415.

First†Metropolitan United Basketball

For many years, Metropolitan served as the home of the Metropolitan Basketball Teams. Newly renamed the First†Metropolitan United Basketball teams, upwards of 12 to 17 teams practice weekly in the Fellowship Hall and play at a local high school. This service is an "outreach" to the community, giving neighbourhood youth an outlet of healthy activity for six to seven months of the year. Rick and Sheila Vickery at (250) 479-0164 for more information.

Out of the Rain Night Shelter

The nights are long, wrapped in a wet sleeping bag, shivering from the damp and the chill, sleep comes fitfully—five or ten minutes every hour. A tree, a park bench, a doorway... these provide some shelter but safety and warmth and not common experiences for homeless youth.

First†Metropolitan United Church is one of several venues which offers night shelter for street youths each evening from November to April. It aims to provide warm, safe shelter for homeless youths aged 16 to 25 years. The coalition includes Beacon Community Services (lead agency), Cool Aid, St. John the Divine, St. Saviours Anglican, as well as First†Metropolitan United.

Volunteers are needed in two capacities:

1. to be present for an evening or a morning shift to ensure the provision of a meal, and
2. to donate the soup, muffins, eggs and other ingredients that make for healthy eating.

We also launch a yearly financial appeal to ensure that we meet our commitment of $5,000 towards the operational expenses of the coalition. To volunteer or contribute in any way, please phone Carol Fedrau-Ens and Ron Hunter at 920-0149.

George Pringle Memorial Camp

The camp provides opportunities for children, youth, adults and families to experience a closer relationship to God, themselves, other people and the natural world in a Christian setting.

There were two George Pringles, father and son, and both United Church ministers. George Sr. was a much-loved preacher in the Yukon, on the coastal mission boats and ministered in various churches including Centennial United here in Victoria. George Jr. was a champion athlete while at UBC and served as a minister in the Okanogan for a time but was tragically killed in 1943 while serving as a navigator with the RCAF.

When Victoria Presbytery established a church camp in 1950, they named it in honour of these men. The property is 18 acres (7.3 ha) of woodland and sheltered waterfront on Shawnigan Lake, 45 minutes north of Victoria. Facilities include winterized accommodation, a meeting space, kitchen and dining hall, a nature trail, an outdoor chapel plus a boathouse and wharf. The camp relies on the support of its volunteers for semi-annual spring clean-ups, for undertaking specific projects and for financial contributions.

The popular CREW program in the summer is for ages 14 through 16; there are several ADULT CAMPS including a Family Camp, a Parent and Child Camp and Prime Time for seniors in the fall, which offers a week of recreation and spiritual growth in a relaxing setting. In addition, the Campsite is available to groups and seminars year round in the off-season. For more information, phone 472-6877.

Soroti Project

The Soroti Project was founded by two volunteer nurses from Victoria who went to Northern Uganda where rebel forces still hold the civilian population hostage with fear and savagery. At Soroti, about a five-hour drive north of the capital, Kampala, a refugee camp has been established for some time, but no medical services were available. The clinic set up in 2005 by these Victoria volunteers was welcomed and warmly supported by a Soroti-based nongovernmental organization "Learning Empowers Uganda (LEU)."

The objective of the Soroti Project is the provide sustainable medical care staffed by local medical personnel. The estimated yearly cost is $30,000. To fund this project, the Outreach Team of First Metropolitan United Church has entered into a business arrangement with the owner of the Great Finds Thrift Store in Victoria. Church members volunteer at the store and a portion of the sales revenues is contributed to the Soroti Project. Provided enough dedicated and responsible volunteers participate on a regular basis, the project will be sustainable and self-supporting. To volunteer you may either contact:

• Gnanam Govender, the owner of Great Finds Thrift Store, 2676 Quadra Street, Victoria, telephone 389-1911 OR
• Paul and Jean Jenkins, phone 727-7974 or e-mail us for more information regarding volunteer opportunites.

Angel Gift Project

First†Metropolitan participates in a project of the Victoria Presbytery to collect personalized gifts and greetings for over 910 members of the Inner City family each Christmas. Last year 95 gifts were contributed by members of this church. For more information, contact Dawn Williamson, Our Place Coordinator or Penny Bond, First Metropolitan Coordinator at 384-2538.