Churches invite their neighbours to celebrate Canada Day
OTTAWA, ON–Churches in the nation's capital are celebrating Canada Day, from performing simple acts of service to offering free carnivals.
Alta Vista Baptist Church organized its third annual Canada Day party for the community. Its event has grown from a few dozen attending the first year, to several hundred this year.
"[A few years ago] the elders decided we needed to be more in touch with the local community," says event coordinator Bonnie Clark. "It's outside the church walls, so it's very open to non-believers and people come back year after year."
The party is held in the large church parking lot, on a residential street, right across from a high school. Clark says being in the parking lot helps unchurched people feel less intimidated.
"We're targeting families so we have face painting, a dunk tank, simple Canada Day crafts and a barbecue–all free." Clark explains, "the motto of the church is 'exalting Christ and loving people' and we hope to do both through this event. We want to show love to the community and let them know that we are doing this in the name of Christ."
St. Peter and St. Paul's Anglican Church serves the Canada Day crowds in a different way. Located downtown, they have a constant stream of people passing their doors, going to and from the festivities.
"We offer basic Christian hospitality: cold water to drink and the use of our washrooms, in the name of Jesus, with no strings attached," says Penny Long, Canada Day Water Project coordinator. "It's a service project rather than an evangelism project. We've been doing [this] for the last 12 years."
Another downtown congregation, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, is right beside Parliament Hill. Every year they have a "Summer Open Doors" program running from June to August. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. their doors are open for anyone looking for a quiet place to pray, de-stress or simply relax.
"We have a lot of stained glass and lots of history," says Sheila Urquhart, Summer Open Doors program coordinator. "The sanctuary is very serene. You can come in very frazzled, but the atmosphere and architecture just relax you. On Canada Day especially, we often find that people are so grateful to come in and sit, in a quiet, cool place."
St. Andrew's is the oldest Protestant church in Ottawa, built before the Parliament buildings, so they also have historical displays as part of the program.
Woodvale Pentecostal Church incorporates Canada Day into its Sunday activities. Members of the congregation wear red and white, have confetti guns, children receive face painting, and they serve an enormous Canadian flag cake after the service.
This year, National House of Prayer representatives joined the service, the leadership greeted their Member of Parliament, John Baird. They even tried inviting the Prime Minister.
"It's a regular Sunday [service], just beefed up," says church administrator Joe Nyenhuis. "The goal is to celebrate Canada. It's a very patriotic time. Having fun in church is something people don't usually expect, so when you have a big event like this they get really excited."
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